Here's a startling statement: There are good thing about life on the road as a business traveler.

You have to look for the good stuff. There aren't as many good things as there used to be. You have to accept that "good" is a relative term. And you have make some of the attitude adjustments I suggested a few weeks back. But you can find the good, the better-than-the-alternative choices and the genuinely laudable.

In case you've become so jaded and so disgruntled that you can't find the good stuff on your own, let me suggest a short list of the small perks and tiny privileges that make my life on the road bearable.

National Emerald Aisle

The dreary and relentlessly commoditized nature of car rentals has changed in recent years. It's actually gotten worse: Base prices for rentals have risen, incomprehensible add-on fees have skyrocketed, and states and municipalities have loaded on the taxes to fund all manner of infrastructure projects. Oh, and the vehicles themselves have gotten older as the rental firms have trimmed fleets and kept higher-mileage cars in service. Which is why National Car Rental's Emerald Aisle service is such a standout. Once you join, your midsize reservation allows you to choose any car in the specially marked Emerald Aisle area. Choice is a rare commodity in business travel these days, and Emerald Aisle at least gives you the impression of freedom as you wander the lot to select the vehicle that most matches your mood or personality. On two recent rentals, I bypassed SUVs, sporty sedans, and more familiar luxury cars and chose the intriguing, 5-cylinder Volvo S60 T5 and the big, honking Hyundai Genesis. In the long run, neither car was my personal chariot of fire, but they were fun to test-drive while I was otherwise engaged in the day-to-day minutiae of a business trip.

Hyatt Place Hotels

Hyatt's newish entry into the "focused service" lodging market currently dominated by Courtyard by Marriott and Hilton Garden Inn, Hyatt Place is not universally loved. Built on the bones of a renovated Hyatt acquisition and built out with new properties, some of Hyatt's own best customers criticize Hyatt Place's less-than-lavish bathrooms, occasionally distracted service, and even the loud air conditioners. But I like the simple foods available in the lobby's 24/7 kitchen-cum-café, and I like what Hyatt Place guest accommodations offer: a 42-inch flat-screen TV monitor with a panel that connects to your laptop, tablet, music player, or smartphone; free WiFi; a wet bar; a decent table/desk and comfy desk chair; and the big sectional sofa that lets you spread out. Do I want to stay in a Hyatt Place on every business trip? No. But I like that they are there and upping the competition in the most cost-effective segment of the business-travel lodging market.

Global Entry

The Transportation Security Administration deflects the endless (and more-often-than-not legitimate) criticism of its operations by claiming it offers the most speed and efficiency it can without compromising airport security. The most effective counterargument to the TSA's bureaucratic and officious stance: Global Entry, a truly simple, effortlessly effective,, and quick-access program operated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It allows registered and approved travelers to use automated kiosks to bypass the customs and immigrations lines at nearly two dozen U.S. airports. The fee is ridiculously low ($100 for a five-year membership); the application process is thorough yet relatively painless (an in-person interview at a convenient-enough enrollment center); the data you surrender is not overly intrusive (a reasonable amount of business and personal background and biometric information); and the payoff is great (fast, secure bypass of the long lines that the hoi polloi face when entering the United States). And as far as anyone knows, not a single undesirable has undermined the nation's security by being a "trusted traveler" using Global Entry. And the TSA has tacitly admitted how good Global Entry is: It's the basis of the too-timid, long-overdue bypass program that the TSA has been testing for the last month.