So yesterday the United States of America (and United Kingdom Later) declared an electronics ban on all travelers from many Middle East countries. Business travelers were the most affected by the travel ban that prohibits carrying electronics as laptops, iPads or tablets on board the flights.
The travel ban was put into effect on passengers traveling on Arik Air from Lagos; Egyptair from Cairo; Emirates from Dubai and Athens; Ethiopian from Addis Ababa, Lome in Togo and Dublin; Etihad from Abu Dhabi; Kuwait Airways from Kuwait; Qatar Airways from Doha; Royal Air Maroc from Casablanca; Royal Jordanian from Amman; Saudia from Jeddah and Riyadh; South African Airways from Johannesburg and Dakar; and Turkish Airlines from Istanbul.
But it seems this travel ban is mainly directed to slow down the growth of the famous 3 Gulf Carriers; Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways. They provide direct flights from the middle east to most US cities with competitive prices and amazing service.
Well what if you’re a business traveler who needs to work on the go. Well we decided to give you a few hacks to the travel ban.
1. Fly Emirates:
Emirates have introduced a twist around the new ban. Passengers can give in their laptops at the gate, then their laptops are stored in the plane storage and then given back to the passengers at the arrival gate.
Some thing that shows how flexible and superior, emirates airlines is after they posted their awesome Jenifer Aniston ad a few hours after the ban and mocked the decision. Here is their Ad showing off their Inflight Entertainment:
Let us entertain you. pic.twitter.com/FKqayqUdQ7
— Emirates Airline (@emirates) March 21, 2017
Other Airlines as Royal Jordanian, tried to be as cool and offered “other” entertainment options during the flight.
2. Work at the lounge free terminals:
If you’re a frequent traveler or traveling in business class, you can work at the lounge. Most lounges as Oryx in Doha airport have free computer terminals to work on. Doha airport itself has free terminals in the passengers area for free. So you can travel in transit, sleep and eat on the plane then work after landing again (read about our experience here).
Next time you travel on Qatar Airways, Etihad or Emirates make sure you have a middle east issued Mastercard. Almost all issued Middle Eastern Mastercards allow access to at least one regional lounge for FREE!
3. Carry an iPhone plus or similar android device with a big screen.
16 inches is the maximum screen allowed on board. An iPhone plus can do browsing, emails, video conferencing and writing. We’re writing this article now on an iPhone and sending itfor publishing, you can do that too. Cloud computing as using Dropbox, Google drive or Apple icloud drive can ease the cross device work.
4. Private jets:
You can hire a private jet with your friends. A flight with 5-8 people might cost the same as a business class ticket. A few apps help you hitch a ride on a private jet as Uber. Companies like Jetsuite or Jetsmarter.
5. Finally, why work in-flight when you have a cart Blanche not to!
There’s nothing your boss can do about it. It’s your free time now, business travelers. Enjoy traveling in luxury for free.
Have other ideas for beating the travel ban as iPad hire, leave in the comment section below.