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!
NEVER check luggage. Get a good carry-on bag (we use the flight crew bag – PNT Stealth NG Pilot Bag – designed by pilots to last for decades) and stop standing at baggage claim for 30 minutes hoping they haven’t lost your luggage (again). For longer trips, find a local laundry. In Bangkok, for example, $10 will get everything you’ve packed washed, dried and ironed – it will look better than it ever has! Save time, money and hassle.
Pack black pants, shorts or skirts. They don’t show dirt, can be worn several days and anything goes with them.
When traveling to a hotel and cruising for an upgrade/special occasion, it makes a HUGE difference if you email the GM beforehand. Try for a week at least in advance. You not only can start feeling the staff out based on the response but also create a paper trail in case there are any problems.
When my family gets to the airport, I usually have my husband drop me and the kids at curbside check in. By the time he parks and gets back, we have our luggage checked and are ready to head to security, and we didn’t have to schlep everything (including the kids!)from the parking lot.
Look for play areas in airports. The kids play areas have been lifesavers when delayed at DFW and LHR!
Make sure to scanned and email you passport VISA and other travel documents to yourself…
Make sure to scan and and email your passport, VISA and other travel documents to yourself…
When traveling on two different airlines, see if the carriers participate in interline baggage checking which allows you to check your luggage through to its final destination, thus saving you the trouble of picking it up and rechecking it at the connecting airport.
when traveling to an unfamiliar city, put the address of your hotel, hostel, etc in your phone prior to departure. if it’s an iphone, sometimes you can get bus transfer options to go with walking and driving directions. most importantly, this will keep you from being swindled by a less than trustworthy cabby looking to pad his fare (call me skeptical, but i would rather be hyper vigilant than a mark).
When renting cars outside the US, most rental agencies will try to convince you to pay for “excess coverage” insurance or pre-authorize $2000-$5000 on your credit card if you decline this extra insurance coverage (this is essentially the deductible for the CDW insurance).
If you are renting even occasionally, buy an annual Excess insurance policy. For £50, you’ll be covered for an entire year (Google “Questor Insurance”). Save the $10-15/day for every rental or the hassle of a big pending transaction on your credit card.
Don’t over plan it-explore!
1) Get an unlocked smart phone and/or iPad or tablet that’ll accept a local SIM card when traveling internationally (because wifi is not always available).
2) Instead of discarding old (but still decent) clothes/underwear, save them to take for long trips. When it’s time for you to return, you don’t have to take them back with you – thereby freeing up space and weight baggage limit to pack extra items (like souvenirs) that you may have bought. You’d potentially save yourself excess baggage charges!
Frozen pizza is allowed through security. When it thaws out, cold pizza is better than coach food on a TATL flight
At BWI, use the lesser-known downstairs security line by the baggage claim
Department stores or Sephora are generous with samples. Perfect sizes to meet the 3-1-1 rules.
Take a screen shot of the mobile boarding pass to avoid connection issues at the checkpoint or when you actually need it.
Take tiny packets of hot sauce from fast food restaurants or red pepper from pizza places. Makes coach food more bearable
Tip the maid and leave a note asking for more toiletries. Save $ at home.
One of the most useful travel apps – Get the free Métro application for iOS or Android. You’ll be a pro at navigating the public transportation systems in 400+ cities around the world. Very easy to use, and it doesn’t require an Internet connection to function.
Using the mass transit system is a great way to see a city, hang out with locals and save money. Using the Métro app will allow you to do this with ease and confidence.
When traveling on an award ticket, make sure you carry with you the credit card you used to pay taxes and fees.
If flying Southwest, make sure to check in at exactly 24 hours prior to scheduled departure to get the best number, unless you want to pay the early bird fee ahead of time.
When traveling with small children, dress them in odd color combinations. Take a picture of them each morning. Ir they get lost you’ll have a picture and they will be easier to pick out of a crowd with the odd color clothing.
When things go wrong during your travels (and at some point, they will) keep a positive attitude, know your options ahead of time, and catch more bees with honey than with vitriol.
Get Global Entry! No customs line when coming back from international flights, and almost guaranteed TSA PreCheck when traveling domestically. PreCheck line is usually much faster than the elite line!
When you check into a hotel, check the shower to make sure it works. You don’t want to find out there is a problem in the morning as you are getting ready with no time to spare.
When checking into a hotel alone, put always request 2 keys. Put one in your wallet immediately, then put the other in a conspicuous place. If you forget to pick up our room key on the way out, you will always have a “spare” in your wallet.
1) always use carry on baggage only.
2) travel on the airline that will benefit you (lounge access , preferred seats etc.)
3) get global entry as it saves tons of time
My favorite travel buddy is my Amex Plat card. I use it for lounge access when I travel and always check with the lounge agents if there’s a better seat available.
Remeber to bring your positive attitude and at least 2 of your best rewarding credit cards. A smile takes you a long way in resolving any issues…
Get the Chase Sapphire card!
My travel tip is always email the manager or manager of reservation department at hotel your staying at before you arrive. Tell them that your celebrating some special event and thats the reason for your travel. In my experience the manager will always email you back and give you a upgrade to the room or have a special something when you arrive. Think about it like this, will have have something to celebrate, be it a beautiful day or your happy to be alive, there’s always a “Special Event” in your life to celebrate.
Scan and email copies of important documents such as your passport and reservations to yourself at an email address that you can access from any computer (such as gmail, yahoo etc.)
When visiting San Francisco, fly in/out of OAK rather than SFO to avoid delays and fog.
for family vacations or trips longer than a couple days, check out apartments and condos on vrbo instead of a hotel
Always ask for an upgrade everywhere.
Sign up for volunteer denied boarding even without an announcement.
Checkout seatguru before picking a seat.
Use charles schwab for no fee atm when travelling abroad.
Use chase no fee credit when travelling abroad.
Carry multiple copies of your passport and DL and leave it in different bags.
Check out wikitravel to get a quick summary of the place you are visiting
When travelling international get local sim cards at airport instead of using your AT&T or Verizon network
Convertible pants (so the legs zipper on/off) when flying between different climates. No news to change. Just zip on or off the legs and you are good to go.
Visit grocery stores at your destination to reduce your breakfast and snack costs.
Carry extra batteries in case your camera does not have a rechargable batteries
Save all your old clothes that you don’t like for trips. Then wear them on the trips and discard or give them to local goodwill type places (they usually wash them first anyway).
Ok, do you might look like a hobo some days, but your suitcases will be a lot lighter on the way back, and it’s much easier to pack!
Carry a power with you all the time. Helps both at hotel and airport.
Invest in a toiletry travel bag. That way you don’t have to pack and unpack stuff every time you travel and no way you will forget anything.
Label you phones/iPads or anything else you use on a plane or in the airport, with your name and phone number. If you forget it on a plane, they will call to return it to you.
If its not labeled, there is no way to know whose it is. Airlines find tons of phones each year.