Got a new smartphone? Wondering what apps to download? I am not sure how I travelled before the internet and my smart phone? Today I travel with a lot more information and a lot less paper. There are plenty of list of apps but they can be overwhelming. The first ten on my list are the apps and tools that I consider “essential” and the remaining are “very useful”. 1. Kayak.com Free: Web, iPhone and Android This is my favourite fare and hotel search engine. My only niggle is that Kayak have evolved from just a travel site to a seller…
Travel Tips (Monday)
Category Archives for Travel Tips (Monday).
Bundling
As noted last week, for the last decade. airlines have been “unbunding” their fares- separating as many cost components as possible including baggage, boarding, meals, miles and entertainment, and selling them apart from the basic fare. By buying all of these components, a passenger can end up paying more for a ticket than they originally planned. Now airlines are creating bundles which include a range of these add on services, within the total price of a fare. For example: United Airlines have two bundles: Premier Travel and Premier Travel Plus which give faster security access, earlier boarding and…
Main Airline Fees
Once upon a time, an airline ticket guaranteed you a seat, the ability to take a bag with you and to schlep one onto the plane. With the flight came a meal, drinks and some sort of entertainment. In the modern world, people want to pay as little as possible so airlines began stripping out some of the options they used to include in an effort to reduce the base fare we pay. Then airlines began selling back to us what we used to expect for free. It seems to me there are six major types…
Credit Card Compatibility Fails
In Washington DC, last week, I inserted my Visa card into a subway ticket machine to buy a metro card so I could ride the trains. The machine requested I type in my five digit zip code. I don’t have one as it is an Australian card. I entered the four digits of my Australian postal code. Not accepted. So I tried again but added a “0”at the start of the four digits. Believe it or not, this sometimes works in other machines! Not accepted, this time. I then entered 00000 which I have also successfully used in some other machines. I still could not use…
Splitting Rail Journeys- Saving Money
This is a trick I have utilised in Australia, the Uk and USA. This weekend I needed to travel from Penzance in the south of England to Manchester in the North west. A distance of 639km / 397 miles. The cheapest ticket was 169 Pounds in Standard (Economy) Class. This is around $US269. So I split the journey up and booked three tickets: Penzance to Exeter ( 21a km / 13a miles). I found a fare for 12 pounds on First Great Western trains Exeter to Bristol (12s km / 76 miles) The cheapest ticket was 24 pounds in Economy but I…
Negotiating US Security- an appeal and a guide
I have just spent three weeks out of the last five in the USA flying 21 times. This is a lot of checkins! Flying can be very frustrating at the best of times but people’s dilly dallying at airport security really raises my impatience levels. If a passenger “wastes” a minute at security, that can be a be an annoyance. If 15 people in a security line all “waste” one minute, this time delay adds up. For some people, this can mean missing a flight! In the book and movie “Up in the Air”, the…
Medical Tourism in Hungary
I have joined the world of medical tourism, getting some major dental work done this week in Hungary. There are few accurate figures estimates on how many people are travelling to countries other than their own for health care procedures but it is thought to be in the millions. The most common procedures are dentistry and cosmetic surgery but eye care is also popular and some people opt to travel overseas for major surgical procedures because of pricing. The top countries for medical tourists are: Brazil, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey. It is estimated that in 2011, between 70 and 80 thousand people travelled to Hungary for dental treatment generating revenues…
Travel Tip: Mystery Rooms
Hotels with spare capacity will offer their rooms up to companies that sell them as a mystery deal. The companies that i most deal with are Wotif.com, Lastminute.com and Hotwire. Expedia also has Secret saver hotels but I have not used them. As a customer, you are advised of the location, the Star rating, some of the amenities and price for the selected nights. Once you accept the mystery deal, it is generally not refundable or changeable in any way. Is it worth it? Yes! I have got some great rooms at a great deal. I…
Travel Tip #16: Priceline
Priceline is one of the riskiest ways of booking a hotel room (you can also use them to book cars and flights). Risky because, the actual hotel name and excess location are revealed after you have paid. Both sites rely on hotels and suppliers who have excess capacity of rooms. As a consumer, it has meant getting rooms at amazing prices. I have stayed at the Westin St Francis, in Cardiff, Wales, on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, in Seattle’s heart and off Times Square,New York in four star hotels and on Orchard Rd, Singapore in a five star hotel, all for around $100 a night.…
Travel Tip #15 Wimdu and AirBnB
On my last New York City trip I checked into a room one block from Times Square. The queen size bed was comfortable. There was a full kitchen, a very clean bathroom and small living/dining room. A balcony gave a view of the Manhattan skyline. Downstairs we had a concierge in duty with dry cleaning services if we needed it. All this for $100 a night! Through AirBnB, “a social website that connects people who have space to spare with those who are looking for a place to stay” we got a place that was…
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