Offer Your Best Travel Tips in the Comments by 10am Eastern Saturday morning to Win.
Some of y’all will remember that I hosted an online forum about technology and travel that was sponsored by National Car Rental coinciding with the launch of their new mobile app.
I rent regularly from National and had been looking forward to the introduction of a mobile app (finally!) and the folks participating in the chat were friends and travel heroes.
I like the products I like, I share the reasons why here, and I don’t want there to be confusion over my motives — if I benefit personally from a referral link I always say so in the post, I frequently try to arrange to give any miles I may earn from referrals back to you in the form of bigger bonuses (some companies are receptive to this, others are not) and I prefer to do giveaways rather than take freebies myself.
There was modest compensation for participating in the National forum, and I already gave away half the amount here on the blog. I split it up into more than one giveaway largely because I didn’t want to have to do tax reporting!
I want your best travel tips in the comments.
- You may enter as many times as you like, but each entry should be a bona fide travel tip. I will compile the best tips in a subsequent post.
- I will select two winners, largely at random but to be eligible to win the entry must be (in my sole judgment) a genuine tip.
- Two prizes of (2) $100 Visa Gift cards each will be awarded.
You have a great chance of winning because internet traffic drops like a rock on Friday evenings, second slowest only behind Saturday evenings.
So.. what are your best travel tips? They can be anything from ways to improve the odds of getting an airline upgrade, a hotel suite upgrade, clearing airport security quickly, the best place to eat at a given airport, anything at all.
I love to learn from this community of readers, and love to be able to share your knowledge back with everyone else. I look forward to reading your submissions, and of course to selecting two winners!
- You can join the 30,000+ people who see these deals and analysis every day — sign up to receive posts by email (just one e-mail per day) or subscribe to the RSS feed. It’s free. Don’t miss out!
tripadvisor app has a wonderful point me there feature to help you get to your destination/attractions
ask nicely if there’s upgrades possibilities. don’t act entitled
Safeguard the credit cards in your wallet by lining it with aluminum foil. It’s cheap and it works!
For international travel, make sure you have a “suite” of no-foreign-transaction-fee cards – a Visa card, a Mastercard, and a debit card at a minimum. You don’t want to get stuck in a situation where the only card they accept is the card you don’t have, or that charges you a fee!
google translate is great while traveling overseas
So you’re allowed a carryon bag and a personal item like a purse. i pack bigger tote bag to hold my magazines, ipad, anti nausea rx, meds and stuff my purse inside it and wheel a carry on. it’s like a bonus when you stuff your purse in a bigger tote. so technically it’s still 2 items
when traveling (esp. foreign) bring your AMEX, VISA and MASTERCARD preferrably from different banks in case one decided to shut you off (like AMEX FR, or Chase closure, etc…).
even if checked baggage was free i try my best not to use it and stick with carry on.you can check in a lot quicker and by pass the long lines at the counter. like southwest and other budget airlines, you print your boarding pass and go straight to the security checkpoint. LOVE IT
in addition to hating fees and the possibility of losing my bag, I HATE waiting for the carousel. I want to get in and out of the airport quickly.
another tip for when traveling (esp. foreign) bring your AMEX, VISA and MASTERCARD preferrably from different banks: some dept store gives discount (5-10%) if you use certain card (example: certain electronic stores in japan give 5% for Visa signature holders)
japan is so dang expensive. on top of that, the us dollar is weak. so when i want to buy legit Japanese gifts and trinkets for friends and family. i head up to their dollar store equivalents. it’s got amazing things that trumps our dollar stores here in the States. It’s really nice stuff, not junk like dollar stores here.
Do leg exercises frequently and drink lots of water to avoid leg problems upon arrival.
another tip for when traveling (esp. foreign): make and keep copies of your ID, cc, pasport at home with your family; a copy to bring with you but keep separately from the originals
check out costco for great deals on car rentals
Borrow travel books from the library instead of buying them and throwing them away after one use.
The taxes listed for Avios award flights on the British Airways site are not always accurate….to your benefit. Don’t make a decision based on what is listed on the website. Call. The taxes could be much less, as they were for us when booking recently.
For the road warriors, have a separate toiletry bag always stocked and ready to go with duplicates of your every day items. Saves time and hassle of remembering
bring duct tape on to cruises. it’s your cure all for amazing multipurpose solutions. from keeping your drapers closed to jerry rigging something.
i use it to put a giant X on my bags so that i can identify them from the other similar bags
for longer trip…avoid putting the from and to dates when you are away on your auto reply email. you are telling people (or maybe thiefs) that you are not home please come during that time.
as chic as black luggage bags are, STAY away from black.
if you do check your luggage and you’re waiting for the merry go round for your bags, someone could easily take your bag by accident or on purpose but if it’s fugly or has a giant mark on it, you know it’s yours.
i usually tie a big ugly ribbon on it, my mom uses pipecleaner wires and my hubs uses duct tape to put a giant X on it. it makes identifying your bag a whole lot easier.
When landing at a large airport on a busy day that’s a ways from your destination (e.g. IAD on Sunday after Thanksgiving, trying to get back to DC proper or Arlington, VA), find others going to the same general area and split a cab. It’ll save you a lot of money (important as a grad student!), waiting time (especially if you find someone already in line who’s willing to split), and you may even meet interesting people.
Even better, go to the Departures drop off area and have a cab (or friend) pic you up there. I do this at DTW every time, and it saves me at least 20 minutes versus waiting in the cab line or a friend to drive their way through Arrivals area traffic. For Thanksgiving or similarly busy times, it can save me up to an hour.
keep a recycle/tote bag in your luggage in case you need an extra bag to carry something
i always carry an extra set of clothes with me on long haul trips with layovers. At least you’ll have something to change to in case you get stuck on a layover!
buy your luggage from costco. my 1 month old luggage set got destroyed by my puppy and costco replaced them no questions asked. didn’t have to file a warranty reimbursement or anything. HASSLE FREE
Sign up for no foreign transaction fee credit cards.. like chase sapphire!
Book your rental car off an airport site and do not take an airport shuttle, even if run by the rental company. There are significant extra fees added. The rules vary from airport to airport. Check with the specific rental location to get the charges and rules.
always check boardingarea.com for the latest and greatest news regarding travel deals and happenings!! woohoo yes I said it.
If you have a cold when flying, buy EarPlanes or some other flight specific earplugs. They can help prevent your ears getting clogged. Be sure to follow instructions on the box. Not as straight forward as you may think.
when you board a plane and your seat is way back, always try to put your carry on in a luggage bin closer to the front never behind your seat. it sucks big time when you’re trying to deplane and grab your bag but it’s way behind you and everyone is trying to get off the plane. so you have to wait till everyone deplanes to get your bag.
if you are getting to your seat and you see that overhead bins are getting full, just park your bag on the nearest overhead bin before you get to your seat.
if you can’t find a award for R/T flight try breaking up the flight into 2 one ways/. so far it’s worked for me on my international trips
Learn to say the magic words: please & thank you, in the local language. It goes a long way!
check tripadvisor, yelp, boardingarea, and flyertalk as well as your fave blogger’s site and search for previous trip reports to help you with your research
Mark your calendar to show when you need a transaction to keep any miles from expiring.
Always be ready to show the credit card that you used to pay for the tickets/taxes upon check in.
Take a ZipLoc bag filled with anti-bacterial wipes. Use them to clean plane armrests and trays. In the hotel clean the tv remote, phone and door knobs. Also…Lysol spray is the only thing that kills norovirus, the plague of cruise ships, other than bleach. Lysol makes a tiny spray bottle that is perfect for travel. It is not fun getting sick on vacation.
Always have a photocopy of your important IDs like passport, driver’s licenses, etc.
to go through security check point lines faster, avoid strappy heels, sneakers, or anything with laces.
i wear flats, flip flops or Toms so I can slip in and out really quickly.
if you are in a foreign country. always take a business card with you so that you can ask for help when you get lost or need a taxi ride. also take a pic with your phone in case you lose the card
Take a picture of your hotel address with your cell. You may need at it immigration or a number of places and you could be in trouble if you lost the print out and can’t access the Internet. Saved me soo many times!
pack grocery bags (to keep wet swim suits, or keep your dirty clothes from your clean clothes)
i bring medical face mask and mini lysol spray. because people cough around you and do not cover up.
i’ve gotten sick one too many times so when i look like a weirdo with the mask on i’m the one who gets the last laugh because i don’t get sick anymore.
the nasty air gets recirculated and you’re inhaling that junk
roll up socks into the shoes you pack
makes sure you utilize every nook and cranny of space in your luggage
use travel packing squares. they are very efficient lil packing buggers
When traveling to a major metropolitan area such as NYC, DC or London, download the local subway/ metro/ tube map on your smartphone before departure.
pack your meds in your carryon not checked luggage.
nothing worse than having no meds and being sick on vacay.
if your luggage gets lost you’re SOL
Learn how to say “Where can I fix my flat tire” when renting a car in the language of where you are visiting. You could be driving through a small mountain village, where you have no reception and no one speaks English. It happened to us and it could happen to you!
It’s very helpful to keep all points accounts together in 1 system like AwardWallet or Points.com. It helps when making award bookings!
A lot of great general comments in here, so I’ll be specific. When searching for award flights on Delta.dumb, er… delta.com, make sure to search each leg of your trip as a one way award, find and write down all the low level segments that work for you, then plug them in one by one to the multi city tool. If done properly, you have a good chance at it actually pricing correctly, even with stopovers and open jaws. Good luck!
Be aware of the cultural significance of the dates you travel. Attempting to go to Japan during Golden Week, for example, is a bad idea. New Year’s can be another difficult date, since so many places are closed, much like the U.S. on December 25th.
Make sure you get your flu shot a few weeks before traveling! They are now covered under most insurance plans, since they are “preventative care”. Next time you stop into a CVS to pick up VRs, get a walk in flu shot and you’ll get a 20% off a shopping order coupon good through March of next year!
always bring a pen with you in your purse or carry on.
do you know how many times we get custom/immigartion forms and people are begging to borrow yours? i don’t mind at all. glad to help. i feel bad for those who get to immigration/customs and they have to step out of the long @ss line to fill out their forms. i hate lines and i hate waiting.
bring a pen, people. others will thank you.