If you travel regularly or are planning an extended trip, get TripIt. Tripit works like this:Whenever I get an itinerary from an airline, rail company, hotel (pictured below) I forward the confirmation to Tripit. Users can currently forward confirmation emails from over 1,000 different booking sites. Thirty seconds after Tripit has got my email, they send one back: Its like magic! Every now and then one doesn’t work (Interislander ferries in NZ didnt work yesterday!). Tripit creates an itinerary from the confirmation. You can see my upcoming trips below on my Tripit homepage: Each of these Trips will include…
Travel Tips (Monday)
Category Archives for Travel Tips (Monday).
What the H*ll is this Code Sharing? (Travel Tip #9)
I was at a party recently and a guy I was talking to, was reflecting on his recent holiday. He had been shocked to find despite being booked on what he thought was a Qantas flight, it was in fact operated by British Airways. “What the hell is this Code Sharing?” was his comment. This experience can be a bonus. For example, being booked on an American Airlines flight but the carrier is Qantas. The service will be better and the food better! I have also found it can save you money. When I booked…
Amtrak goes Electronic
Amtrak, the US Rail system has some of the most archaic ticketing systems of any rail system in the world. One element of their system is that you have needed a paper ticket to ride. Not anymore. As of last Monday, Amtrak passengers may print out their own tickets at home or download them to their smartphone or tablet. Yes, E tickets have arrived on trains, only years after airlines abolished paper tickets. The system was trialled in California and had a massive uptake. I have been generally using the electronic ticketing machines at stations which…
Free Kindle London Airport Transfer Guide
One of my Boarding Area colleagues The Wandering Aramean notes that there is a free Kindle guide available for those travelling to the Olympics. Useful for the rest of us at any time.
Instant Upgrade Please
I like sharing some of the wackier things I see when travelling. A passenger on my Air France flight last week, moved himself from Economy to Business Class just on pushback from the gate. The flight attendant very swiftly chased the passenger back to the economy section. A few seconds later, while the plane was stil taxiing to the runway, the same passenger moved himself into an exit row seat (middle seat actually). I had a few questions: 1. Was this a regular trick he tries? If so, does it ever work? 2. Was he not aware…
Travel Tip: Walk
When planning a trip for a day, list the attractions you want to see in a city or area. Then group them by locality. Plan your itinerary for a day so you can walk between attractions. You will save money and time and see a lot more than from a taxi, bus or subway. Just make sure you pack good shoes! Related Posts: Travel Tip #6: Take Travel Insurance Travel Tip #7: Be Date Flexible .
Travel Tip #7: Be Date Flexible
I am trying to identify the Top things I do to save me money when flying! Be flexible with dates. By doing so, airfares and accommodation prices can vary enormously. My Dad found on one occasion when booking an airfare found that the same fare was $1495 one day and $3050 the next. The difference? School holidays! When I book flights I always try to use the tools that let me see fares over a week. For example: kayak.com allows you to search for airfares three days before and three days after a selected date. Related Posts: Travel Tip #3…
Travel Tip: Take Travel Insurance
Do I really need to suggest that if people travel, then they need some??? Apparently yes! The horror stories of people flying without insurance and have something go really wrong, continue to float around. I spend about $500 to $600 per year for a one year policy that covers me everywhere in the world. I have claimed twice. One for medical care in the USA that had more zeros in the medical bill than I liked and once for a hire car accident. I feel my insurance investment was worth it. I wonder how my…
Travel Tip: Back up Your Documents
Photocopy and scan your key identity documents eg Birth Certificate passport or drivers licence. I upload a copy to the cloud to my dropbox (a free service that allows me to store photos and documents). You can use Google docs for the same purpose. You can also send it as an attachment in an email to yourself or your travelling companions. That way if everything you own is lost or stolen, your documentation is always available. (as long as you remember your password!). Make sure you log out of your email or dropbox when you finish at a public computer. You don’t want someone…
Travel Tip #4 Treat People with Respect
I had flown in six hours late and found my four star hotel had given my room away. In return, however, they had upgraded me to a five star hotel next door and added a couple of extras. Grateful for having a bed for the night, I thanked the agent. She said “you are not going to yell at me?” “No”, I replied. “you sorted out the problem and I have a better deal. Why should I yell at you?” She said “The last three guys yelled at me” After apologising on their behalf, I wheeled my suitcase…
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