Most airlines suggest somewhere between two hours and 60 minutes depending on the airline, the airport and where you are flying to. However, a US professor affirms that the best time to arrive at the airport is as late as possible.

The Daily Mail reports that Professor Jordan Ellenberg, from the University of Wisconsin, states that every hour a traveler spends at the airport is a negative unit since they have have spent that time relaxing at home instead.

In his book How Not to Be Wrong - The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life, Ellenberg says the risk of missing your flight compared with the wasted hours you would spend at the airport over your lifetime is worth it.

It depends on how you personally feel about the relative merits of missing planes and wasting time. But if in the course of a lifetime you never miss a flight then you may not have the best strategy. If you've never missed a flight, you're not doing it right.

However, this theory is a bit contradictory because people are supposed to catch their flights as you pay for a ticket, you go to the airport in time to board your plane and you fly away.

Perhaps it is not the best strategy to arrive to the airport as late as possible risking missing the flight if there are any unexpected delays on the road or check-in or security.

You can use the extra time to relax in the lounge and problem solved. You can even give yourself extra time to enjoy a drink at the airport. This doesn't have to be a negative time; in fact, it can be a great time.

If you are on a business trip, which is usually a short trip, you might want to travel light, and in this case, the hand luggage is the answer to your prayers. Indeed, carry-on bags give you a special kind of freedom when you are traveling. No checked luggage to slow you down, you don't have to wait at baggage carousels or having your bags head to another destination different from where you are headed.

Carry-on luggage gives you the freedom to walk straight off the plane, out of the airport and be on your way to your hotel, your first meeting or your first pre-dinner drink. Here are some tips to leave your checked luggage behind and pack like a pro.

First of all, when in comes to shirts, you need to invest in some non-iron or crease-resistant cotton business shirts from quality brands and retailers.

The best way to pack a shirt is to fold them with arms to the rear and then roll them from the bottom to the top.

Don't pack your suit jacket. Wear it onto the flight and have it hung in the wardrobe or gently folded and stowed in an overhead locker. If you are going to pack your jacket, fold one of the shoulders inside the other to avoid wrinkles.

As to the shoes, you are better off taking a pair of shoes that you can wear on the plane as well as to the meetings and dinners.

If there is space in your carry-on bag to pack your shoes, you can take advantage of the extra room inside of them to place loose items or even jewelry.

When you buy fragrances or lotions, ask if you can get samples which are perfect for traveling. Otherwise, you can get mini shampoos and lotions. Always make sure that the liquids you are traveling with comply with the guidelines for flight within each country.

Go for smaller version of noise-cancelling headphones (in photo by Bose). It makes no sense to travel with huge noise-cancelling cans.

If you are burdened by a bag-full of brochures or samples to hand out to clients, instead of taking those materials with you, you can have them sent directly from your office to the hotel via courier or parcel post.

As business travelers with frequent flyer status often enjoy priority boarding ahead of other passengers, you can make the most of it by making an early claim on overhead bin space directly above your seat.

Always be prepared, make sure you know if it's going to be busy. The more passengers there are, get ready to leave the lounge early and aim to be among the first on the plane to guarantee you get room for your bags.

The golden rule for every world traveler is to never miss a chance to earn points, either airline points, hotel points or credit card points. All of these points are a form of currency that at some point can be converted into another currency; for instance, funneling credit card points into your favorite frequent flyer program, or used to buy goods and services (anything from a free flight or hotel stay to a coffee machine or headphones.

So you can sign up for any airline or hotel loyalty scheme through which you might earn points. If you are going to travel on an airline you've never flown before, it can make sense to join their frequent flyer program, considering most are free, and there's not the option to earn points in the reward scheme of a partner airline where you already hold a fair few points.

Some loyalty schemes are free to join, you can sign up online. These schemes can offer your advantages, such as an upgrade to a larger Premier room on one of the hotel's top floors, free WiFi Internet, credit for the minibar or the hotel's restaurant bar, handy for a cocktail at any time.

That could be just a welcome triple-treat and it could cost nothing except for the few minutes necessary to join the reward program.

Most business travelers have more control over where they stay, but sometimes, often, there will be times when a client or a conference gets you out of your comfort zone and you end up visiting a new hotel brand. So, if you find yourself in that situation, go online and look at signing up to their loyalty scheme, so you can make the most of the perks of the scheme.

Image from

marriott.com

If you have a huge presentation to deliver after you land and you didn't have enough time at the office, the time on the plane can be very productive. Here are a few tips to make the most of your time on the plane.

First of all, you have to edit like a film director. If you consider that filmmakers cut from 8 to 10 hours of footage to get the final 2 hour edit you see at the cinema, you learn to get the gist of the message. You need to ask yourself why am I showing this? to determine what is relevant enough to be on the presentation and what isn't. If it's not important enough, leave it out so you don't distance the audience from the main content and you can keep their attention.

Don't waste time on the graphics, fonts, fly-ins, fades and frippery. Choose a template, sans serif font (easier on the eye), blue-ish background and something like a 24-point minimum font size. Search for suitable images and that's it. Always keep in mind that all the graphics have to be seen easily as some of your audience might have some kind of vision impairment.

If you can rehearse your presentation out loud paying attention to where the pauses, highlights and key stories are, you will be more confident when you get there. If you can practice at the lounge in business class, that would be helpful, but if you are traveling with a colleague, ask them to listen to your presentation, discuss, defend it and justify it. Get feedback and review.

Watch your presentation back from the audience's perspective. Consider all members of the audience - key players, influencers, sceptics, hangers-on. Then stop thinking as a presenter and watch it back from each audience member's perspective. Asses if there is something compelling for each member of your audience, and balance out your presentation differently so that everyone is included and engaged.

Warm up your voice by humming and don't drink water or fizzy drinks because it constrict vocal chords and causes hiccups. Choose room temperature water, tea or black coffee and give the booze a miss.