Following on from last week, when I talked about how many toiletries people travel with, I had a very frustrating week with fellow passengers and their luggage . At Melbourne airport, a family of five were checking in, in front of me. They had fifteen bags – for a vacation. They had a huge argument with the check in staff about their baggage allowance. They were claiming the first class luggage allowance whilst travelling in Economy. The check in clerk was not giving it to them despite their posturing and yelling. The end result of a lot of wasted time, was a re pack…
Travel Tips (Monday)
Category Archives for Travel Tips (Monday).
Travel Tip: Take No Toiletries
I am amazed at what people carry with them in their as toiletries. Most, if not all of us take too much. The more toiletries you take means the more space they take and the more weight they create. You have to carry that weight. These days airlines are tightening up what you check in . If you are paying for your luggage then, you are paying for those toiletries. Should, you try and take them on board the plane, you may find yourself throwing stuff out because you cannot get the items past security courtesy of the 3-1-1 rule that applies to all US domestic flights and many international flights across the world. This rule limits passengers to Liquids, aerosols and gels must be in containers three oz/ 100 ml or less, Items being in one, clear plastic zip-top bag, and Only one zip-top bag per passenger. So my goal and suggestion is to cut back on toiletries. Taking none is impossible. . Here are my 4Rs for travelling with toiletries: Reduce what you take to one of every item. Do you really need three body washes, perfumes or aftershaves? Remember shampoo, soap and body wash are available in your hotel. The stuff they give away in most 3, 4 and 5 star hotels is perfectly acceptable. No, it may not be the brand you are used to but the point of travel is to try and new things. Reassure yourself that most toiletries are available universally around the world. If you are going to backpack in Cuba or Togo, that may be a different proposition. I used to carry around a roll of toilet paper – for years- I never used it.…
Travel Tip: Don’t Stress
‘Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, then it’s not yet the end … Don’t stress about travel. Its not worth it. Life is stressful enough. Things will go wrong with travel. – its inevitable. There are some things that can help: Time Leave enough time for your check ins etc. I add an hour to my check in time at Los Angeles compared to Melbourne Australia. Avoid flying on the day of an important meeting or wedding. Also choose flights with longer layovers. If you have the choice between 60 and 90 minutes, take…
Travel Tips
I get a lot of requests for travel tips, especially Money saving ones. From next Monday, I am going to share a travel tip each week. Feel free to send questions and/or suggestions! Thank you!
AA JFK to EZE 777 [updated x 2]
I have unintentionally caused some offence with one of my statement in this post. You will see this reflected in the comments. I have updated it in an attempt to better explain what I clearly messed up saying. I want to say on the outset that I am opposed to discrimination on any basis. I also unreservedly apologise to those people who were concerned I might be advocating age discrimination. My major feeling, which I have hopefully explained n a better way, is as a customer the attitude I have experienced from key personnel. Now read on and I hope you find the rest of the post interesting!…
Wild about travel has moved!
As foreshadowed, Boardingarea.com is our new home. Thanks for inviting us aboard! I am Wild about Travel. I love it. Both the journey and the destination. I want to share about my experiences with both. Thoughts and observations from where I have been and how I have got there. Expect cities, nature, planes, trains, advice, hassles and good times. I have flown 786 times (as of now) for a total of 1,785,449km (1,109,427 miles) to six continents with 78 airlines. I have experienced boat travel and train travel on or between five continents and buses plus cars…
Irene cancels 6000 flights–what to do?
Irene is coming to the world’s busiest air region. Its already chaos. New York port authority will close all 5 airports to arriving domestic and intn’l passenger flights beginning at noon Saturday. Across the east coast, carriers are scrambling to cancel flights American Airlines has canceled 235 flights for Saturday so far. It will shut down its Washington operations for 24 hours starting at noon EDT on Saturday Amtrak has cancelled flights. Delta Air Lines said it was canceling 1,300 of its 16,500 flights systemwide from Saturday through Monday. This includes all flights on Sunday to and…
Road Warrior Help and Advice sought!
I travel with a whole stack of electrical cords, plugs and outlets. I have stored them all together in a little box. They got all tangled up and the box is thicker than I want for my hand luggage. I then stored them in 3 little bags which fit into my small pockets of my laptop bag- I then forget what is in which bag! How do you store your cords, plugs and adaptors? I need something which protects, is light, 2.5cm thick (can be 60cm wide), not too expensive, is easy to access stuff from my…
No Baggage vindicated again
I flew two international sectors today from Brazil to Miami to Toronto My first flight left almost three hours late getting in 91 minutes before my second flight was due to leave. My long layover has vanished. Even though I was transiting from Brazil to Toronto, the US requires transit passengers to clear immigration and customs and then come through security again. I have blogged about not checking luggage in. Today’s experience vindicated my decision!Arrivals 1859h: Plane touches down at Miami International airport (right) 1907h: Plane reaches gate- I am off quickly with no shoving 1911h: Four minutes run/walk from gate to people mover to…
Airports with Wireless- where to find them
In today’s modern world, it is infuriating the inconsistency in wireless internet access in airports. There are four types of airports in my experience: Airports with no wireless internet (mostly regional) Airports with free wireless internet (these are airports I like) Airports with one internet wireless carrier that you have to purchase airtime from (these are airports I dislike a lot) Airports with multiple internet carriers that allow you to choose a carrier you may have a monthly plan with The third option is frustrating because you have to sign up a new carrier for…
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