Flying 200,000 miles a year worldwide, strategic marketing consultant Dr. Jim Taylor has his own rules for preserving his sanity: “No matter what happens, don’t get angry. I chose a life that requires me to fly. For me, traveling today is like waiting in cafeteria lines.”

Taylor is no saint or Zen master who meditates when the last flight out of Oshkosh is cancelled for weather and he has a 9 a.m. client meeting in Washington, D.C. “If the plane can’t take off or land in wind shear conditions, that’s a good thing,” says the vice chairman of Harrison Group, a Waterbury, Connecticut branding and market research firm.

“I don’t hold airlines or hotels accountable for problems that are not their fault,” contends the consultant to companies like Microsoft, Coca Cola, GlaxoSmithKline and the Wall Street investment house Neuberger, Berman.

That said, he expects—make that requires—razor sharp and gracious customer service from every airline, hotel, car rental company and restaurant he books. And since his time is his money, he won’t waste an extra minute on any travel purveyor that bumbles and stumbles more than once. 

On flights to London, Paris and Dubai, Taylor “tends” to fly British Airways’ Club World or United’s business class but he despises Heathrow Airport. “I think Heathrow has the longest hike from airplane to customs of any airport in the world and that’s agonizing when you see the European travelers zip through.”

So instead of mellowing out in the long, snaking lines, he switched airlines and uses airports that are smaller and hassle free. “I’ve gained a certain affection for Eos, which flies from New York to London’s Stansted Airport, which I can get through quickly. Even though it (Eos) only has one flight a day, I accommodate their schedule.” (The all-business class airline just added a second flight daily in September.)

Taylor shops for comfort, not necessarily the cheapest price, especially if he’s flying halfway around the world and back in less than two days. “I had to go from New York to Shanghai and back in 36 hours to give a speech, took United out and Singapore Airlines back, and had first-class sleeper seats in both directions.” He found the Singapore plane was “newer and spiffier but the real difference between the two airlines was Singapore’s excellent service.”

However, Taylor is an elite 1K level frequent flyer with United and books it for many of his flights around the United States. He’s especially fond of the business class service on United’s nonstop PS flights between New York and Los Angeles and San Francisco. “It’s a real boon to business travelers and shows that United is sensitive to those of us who live on planes, where comfort is a big issue.”

(Still, it seems that United can’t leave well enough alone with its popular three-class PS service that has drawn rave reviews from everyone who’s flown it including yours truly. I just learned the airline is going to ditch the surprisingly tasty, free, hot meal in the roomy economy plus section and will start selling its $5 snack packs instead. So if you’re flying coach on United PS, pack a lunch.)

Taylor isn’t a slave to anyone’s frequent-flyer program just to rack up miles. Again, he wants to be treated well in the air and on the ground, wants a comfortable seat so he can work, and if he can save money to boot, all the better.

Taylor is also a fan of Hawaiian Airlines on transpacific flights, not just inter-island hops. “It’s amazing that Hawaiian’s first class is such a bargain and I find their people are very happy working for it. It’s not important to me if their in-flight amenities aren’t spectacular because their employees are very nice.”

His “greatest sadness” as a businessman on the fly “was the death of Independence Air,” he insists. “Indy Air was a wonderful airline with great rates to a lot of second-tier cities that I fly to.” He loved its Dulles hub since he spends considerable time in Washington, D.C.

Interesting that Taylor, former CEO of the big market research firm of Yankelovich, Skelly & White, is such an egalitarian willing to fly barebones airlines as well as imperial class carriers. As co-author of the recently issued Worth-Harrison Taylor Study of the Status of Wealth in America, he found that the nation’s richest people don’t blink twice at spending $65,000 a week for a vacation if it’s “exclusive, private and memorable.”

What will these same high-rollers spend on a business trip for a week? That question wasn’t posed.

Taylor’s tastes in hotels are just as eclectic as his airline preferences. He usually chooses “small upscale hotels” like Threadneedles in The City, London’s financial district, The Lowell in New York and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Pasadena, California. “I look for hotels that cater to professional travelers because the last thing I want is to be hustled,” he says. “I will not stay at a hotel twice if I have problems getting on its Internet and don’t like paying a daily charge but sometimes there’s not much I can do about it. I find most hotels pay more attention to stocking their minibar than ‘stocking’ their Internet.”

(He totes a Dell laptop with a 12-inch screen and a Cingular cell phone because of its wide coverage. “I keep meaning to get a world phone and keep forgetting to do it.” He’s not addicted to the BlackBerry because “I’m clumsy and I keep breaking them.”)

He also checks into the Anatole in Dallas and the Sheraton at Los Angeles International Airport, which he praises as “very nice, with low rates and two minutes from LAX.” Taylor also likes “old Southern mansion hotels” once in a while but, overall, any hotel that pampers him with comforts and friendliness and isn’t “too exotic” wins his loyalty.

Taylor isn’t a big customer for car rental companies. “I just don’t like to drive on unfamiliar roads, I’m not a good driver, and I lose my way easily,” he confesses. “But if I have to drive, I like Avis’ Wizard program. It works great. The car is always ready, I get in and go.” Translated: Whoever can save Jim Taylor time and make him feel good has a customer for life or until he discovers something better.

Right now, Taylor does not think the double-decked A-380 is going to make his life on the road any easier or faster. He can already see the lines forming. “It’s hard enough getting off a 747 or 777 and clearing Customs. So can you imagine what it will be like when three A-380s land at, say, Heathrow at the same time and you have 1,800 passengers or more trying to get their bags and get out?” he frets.

“That plane may make economic sense for the airlines,” he sighs, “but it makes no sense at all for the passengers.”