Do you know more travel tips?
Mar 18, 2016, 5:35 pm
#31
formerly dave h.
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Mar 18, 2016, 8:49 pm
#33
Join Date: Jul 2015
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Tip #1: I still use a Garmin nuvi and will bring it with me on trips. When I'm putting together plans for a trip I will throw various addresses into a spreadsheet and then a week or so before I leave I will load them into the GPS. Saves time while away and also I'll occasionally find out that I have a street name wrong or a street number that I have doesn't exist. We do a lot of repeat travels, so once I have them entered as favorites they will be there for future trips.
Tip #2: Always recheck hotel and rental car rates. I find that more than 50% of the time I can find a lower rate after the initial booking.
Tip#3: Throw a winter hat into your golf bag, even when traveling to a "warm" weather destination.
Tip #2: Always recheck hotel and rental car rates. I find that more than 50% of the time I can find a lower rate after the initial booking.
Tip#3: Throw a winter hat into your golf bag, even when traveling to a "warm" weather destination.
Mar 18, 2016, 10:28 pm
#34
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Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,045
I'm not a hardliner either way on the carry-on vs. checked bag debate. I choose whichever is most appropriate for my trip. Here are several counterpoints to what you've written that cause me to avoid checking bags on many trips:
-- Buying clothes at my destination is difficult if it's a foreign country and I don't speak the primary language.
-- Buying clothes at my destination is a frustrating time sink if it's a business trip.
-- Buying specialized clothing (think tailored suits and certain sporting gear) is expensive and time consuming even with language fluency.
-- If I'm traveling between locations frequently after I land, a bag that's delayed by a day may never catch up to me as the airline/shipper fails to deliver it to the proper address on time.
-- While many airports are able to deliver my bag within 5 minutes or less of the time I arrive at baggage claim, certain airports at certain times of day commonly take 20 minutes or more. When traveling on a tight schedule or simply tired, that's frustrating.
-- Buying clothes at my destination is difficult if it's a foreign country and I don't speak the primary language.
-- Buying clothes at my destination is a frustrating time sink if it's a business trip.
-- Buying specialized clothing (think tailored suits and certain sporting gear) is expensive and time consuming even with language fluency.
-- If I'm traveling between locations frequently after I land, a bag that's delayed by a day may never catch up to me as the airline/shipper fails to deliver it to the proper address on time.
-- While many airports are able to deliver my bag within 5 minutes or less of the time I arrive at baggage claim, certain airports at certain times of day commonly take 20 minutes or more. When traveling on a tight schedule or simply tired, that's frustrating.
Mar 19, 2016, 1:53 am
#35
Join Date: Aug 2003
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Mar 19, 2016, 9:02 pm
#38
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Mar 19, 2016, 9:56 pm
#39
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Mar 20, 2016, 2:59 am
#40
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Save carrying hair gel and use marmalade as a cheap substitute instead, but beware of wasps in the summer.
Mar 20, 2016, 3:22 am
#41
Join Date: Oct 2015
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I always carry a little/thin cardboard on me where I write down booking codes and essential contacts (e.g. Hotel/Workplace) for just in case contingency. Enough cash.
Checked bags: yes, I am forced to ("dangerous" goods); but I usually have a "ranger roll" and some basic toiletry in my carry-on. "Lost" my bag only once - on the way home.
Checked bags: yes, I am forced to ("dangerous" goods); but I usually have a "ranger roll" and some basic toiletry in my carry-on. "Lost" my bag only once - on the way home.
Mar 20, 2016, 7:16 am
#42
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Cayman
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Posts: 100
At check-in, 2 Nepalese guys asked if we would check bags for them: we looked at their stuff and given they appeared to be cornering the region's snow-washed denim market, we did.
Ate like pigs at the airport, on arrival in Katmandu, grabbed our own rucksacks and legged it from arrivals.
Not sure I would do the same nowadays....
Mar 20, 2016, 10:37 am
#43
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Mar 20, 2016, 10:52 am
#44
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 9,307
But then you have more lines and have to go to bag claim. A big time waster, especially on frequent domestic biz trips.
What's more, in the event of a missed connection or lost bags, you can end up without a change of clothes for a few days. Having it with you all the time makes sudden interruptions easier to deal with.
What's more, in the event of a missed connection or lost bags, you can end up without a change of clothes for a few days. Having it with you all the time makes sudden interruptions easier to deal with.
Always take clean underwear in a carry on bag with my laptop and spending an airline's money on clothes is no hardship, although it's a lot of years since I last had a bag go astray.