Travel Tips

Category Archives for Travel Tips.

Best Tip In All Of Travel? Book Yourself A Cheap Second Seat For Extra Room

by Gary Leff on January 10, 2022

Jan 10 2022

One of the best tips in travel is to why yourself a second seat when you’re flying coach. Each of the major airlines has a procedure to let you do this, and it can be a great value when fares are cheap. Do it yourself first class, or at least it can be extra room at a value price (and you’re not getting a great meal if you were flying real first class anyway).

The process to do this is different with every airline, but oddly it’s not something U.S. airlines advertise. One airline, though, just made it much easier.

How A Face Mask Can Ensure Working Seat Power On Your Next Flight

by Gary Leff on November 27, 2021

Nov 27 2021

I travel with UK power adapters. The three-pronged grip will stay in the outlet, while U.S. plugs will fall out of an outlet that’s not properly maintained just enough to lose charging capability. But there’s another solution to the problem that doesn’t even require packing something extra.

Rimowa Luggage: Laughably Bad Customer Service

by Gary Leff on October 10, 2021

Oct 10 2021

Shortly before the pandemic the handle on my Rimowa carry on bag broke. Or, rather, the rubber piece that forms the bottom of the handle of the bag broke off on one side. I tried to figure out how to fix it but had no luck. I wound up putting the bag aside for the pandemic, and only just came back to it. And boy have I been down the rabbit hole.

11 Tips For Traveling In The Current Environment

by Gary Leff on September 4, 2021

Sep 04 2021

Things are rough out there. There are fewer agents to help you and more changes to flight schedules. Everyone is stressed on the road. Here are 11 things you can do to make travel go a bit more smoothly. Some are very basic tips, but even if they aren’t new to you they’re good reminders I think.

You Have A Brief Window To Take Working Vacations Before You Have To Return To Office

by Gary Leff on May 16, 2021

May 16 2021

With the pandemic increasingly under control in the United States, more people vaccinated, and some offices gradually re-opening there’s a brief window where you can really travel and work at the same time. While work from home is likely to be more common than in the Before Times, we may not have the same flexibility in the future that we do right now. Become location independent, if only briefly. Go take a trip and work from somewhere else. Combining work and vacation is actually the best way to vacation anyway.

How to Look Like an Idiot Trying to Upgrade to First Class

by Gary Leff on May 1, 2021

May 01 2021

Travel & Leisure is promoting dressing up so you look like someone airlines want to upgrade. That doesn’t work, but reminds me of an equally silly claim in Bloomberg that there’s two magic words that work every time that do not work at all.

These are great examples of the genre of travel writing that claim you can fly first class just by pretending it’s your honeymoon. I prefer equally silly — and equally effective — suggestions that might be a little more fun.

[Price Dropped Even More] N95 Masks $1.04/Each With Free One Day Prime Shipping

by Gary Leff on February 15, 2021

Feb 15 2021

Two guys started the United States Mask Company in the fall, set up a factory and got NIOSH certification for their N95 masks. They’ve manufactured 200,000 masks but haven’t been able to sell them. How can you make money manufacturing masks when you can now buy Made in the U.S. N95s on Amazon for $1.16 each with free shipping?

13 Ways to Make Flying Economy More Enjoyable

by Gary Leff on January 3, 2021

Jan 03 2021

You can make flying economy more enjoyable. It doesn’t have to be the miserable experience most of us have come to expect if you know these 13 tricks. So let’s look forward to when everyone is traveling again and talk about staying comfortable on a long flight, when your class of service isn’t going to do it for you?

If you know these 13 things ahead of time you can make flying economy more enjoyable.

People Are Selling Leftover Foreign Currency On eBay For More Than Face Value

by Gary Leff on September 21, 2020

Sep 21 2020

When you travel abroad you invariably find yourself with leftover foreign currency. I always get money out of an ATM wherever I go. That way I’ll get a bank rate, and my bank doesn’t charge me currency conversion fees.

Who knew that people are selling their leftover cash on eBay, though, for more than the money is worth?

New Yorkers Are Eligible For Global Entry Again

by Gary Leff on July 23, 2020

Jul 23 2020

In early February the Trump Administration announced that New York residents would no longer be allowed to enroll in or renew Global Entry (along with NEXUS and SENTRI). They claimed they needed access to New York’s DMV database as part of their identity verification process, and a change in state law denied them this access.

New York has changed its law to provide an exception for Global Entry applications, but not for immigration enforcement.