You could turn it on when you get there, but it is going to take hours to heat up. Mine (an LA Spa) I believe heats at around 10 degrees an hour. I keep a good insulated cover on mine and keep it hot year round, and I seriously believe it is only costing me about $20 a month to do it. Besides wanting it hot when I (or my husband) want to use it, I use an enzyme based water treatment, that needs to be at least 90 degrees to work, so it's a requirement that I keep it hot if I want to use that type treatment (which by the way I have been using for 3 years and am sold on)