Business Travel to the U.K. on a Budget

Forget lost luggage and flight delays; the nose-diving dollar is today's real international-travel nightmare. The United Kingdom is the worst, with pounds sterling now trading at over $2, the biggest edge it's had on the dollar since 1981. And with the euro worth nearly $1.50, the Continent's not much better. While all American travelers are feeling the pinch, business travelers may be the hardest-hit, especially since, unlike vacationers, they have little choice about where and when they go. Indeed, rates at international business hotels are skyrocketing this year, forecasted to jump by as much as 24% in Europe and up to 22% in the Asia-Pacific region, compared with a U.S. increase of about 6%. Business airfares are up too, with companies reporting an 84% spike last year in international tickets priced between $3,000 and $4,000.

The industry hasn't totally ignored travelers' plight, with some European hotels offering dollar rates and airlines running business-class-fare sales. But at most companies the response has been what you'd expect: downsizing perks. Tactics include restricting business-class flights and changing per diem limits "from suggestion to requirement," says Priscilla Campbell, practice leader at American Express Business Travel's consulting group. In fact, according to recent surveys, nearly 75% of corporate travel buyers are shifting from luxury to midprice hotels, with nearly 40% of companies now auditing every expense report, up from a quarter in 2004.

Can you still eke out a pleasant trip overseas? To find out we put together our own excursion, and because we like a challenge (you may prefer to call us masochists), we chose London, one of the world's biggest — and priciest — business destinations. Our goal? Keep costs below $3,171, the average for an international business trip, and with the help of tour guides, hoteliers and other locals, we succeeded (grand total: $2,338). What follows are our tips for doing business on a budget.

Booking a flight, of course, is never easy. We'd hoped to hold on to those front-of-the-plane perks by flying an all-business-class carrier, but the cheapest would still eat half our budget before we even cleared immigration. Banishing our dreams of leather seats and warm towels, we find two economy fares below $800. Unfortunately, one connects in Chicago (two-plus hours of flying in the wrong direction), and the other is an Air India flight with a recent delay record of nearly 90%. Our final choice is a $757 flight on Zoom Airlines. Never heard of it? Neither had we, but it turns out Zoom is one of an increasing number of low-cost carriers to take on long-haul international flights, a trend that analysts say we'll be seeing more of.

One person not looking forward to the low-cost revolution is our fellow traveler Holly Fitzgibbon. "Never again," says the Oakland, N.J., marketing executive, yanking her suitcase from the carousel. Fitzgibbon's travel coordinator booked her on Zoom "as an experiment" after discovering it charged half the price of British Airways. Fitzgibbon's misgivings started early, as the airline repeatedly changed her seat and flight time on the days before departure. (Zoom says such changes are infrequent.) But the real deal breaker was the flight itself, during which she spent more than seven cramped hours in the last row, too far away to even see the movie screen. Exhausted, Fitzgibbon sprang for a taxi into the city, a ride that cost her $180. "Big mistake," she sighed. "For that I could've gotten another flight!"