Norm’s Travel Tips (Again)
In fact, when it comes to travel planning, good information is invaluable, so that’s why we polled our panel of expert travel bloggers to come up with some juicy tips that will help you save money, stay safe, and have a kick-ass trip. Here are five more travel tips from this ongoing series:
1. Did you book your airline ticket, only to find that A) you spotted a cheaper deal elsewhere, B) you booked the wrong trip and, in fact, DO NOT want to fly for 30 hours including a layover in Siberia, or C) you booked this trip as a way to salvage your relationship with your boyfriend/girlfriend but he/she already broke up with you moments after?
Don’t worry – you’re entitled to a full refund within 24 hours of booking with almost all major airlines. Just make sure you contact them well ahead of time and get an email, text, or carrier pigeon to confirm so you have the refund acknowledged in writing!
2. Speaking of booking flights, you’ll want to clear your computer’s cookies and search history before you do each flight search. Believe it or not, the data stored in your internet browser can restrict or taint the results of your search, causing the prices to go up! It’s crazy to think about this, but it does make a difference.
Also, check out this site for booking flights: Booking.yeah.
3. On the topic of airfare, most people don’t realize that WHERE you are when you’re searching and booking airline tickets can also affect prices. For instance, the same person looking up flights in their living room in the U.S., compared to searching for the same flights but when they’re already abroad, say in Europe, will probably come up with different prices. Same computer, same routes, same person – just a different location as you search, and you may well be presented with pricier options.
4. Which brings us to our next travel tip: download good IP masking software before you go abroad. Not only will this let you get around the problem documented above (by registering an IP address that’s still in the U.S. even when you’re abroad), but you’ll have to deal with fewer travel nuisances. For instance, you won’t have to cope with different languages on websites, your banking websites, Facebook, Google, Gmail, Netflix, YouTube, and more raising red flags because you’re trying to log in from a different country, and, just as important, you’ll have enhanced security.
5. Are you flying to another continent, which usually includes longgggggg flights? Make sure you get comfortable by bringing heavy sweatpants and a sweatshirt (these long international /overnight flights can get especially cold), some thick comfy socks that you can walk around the cabin with (and then wash 10 times), eye shades and earplugs if you have trouble sleeping, and definitely a neck pillow! In fact, some people don’t mind lugging around the comfy foam kind, but you can also use an inflatable variety to save space in your luggage.
Of course, Tim also wrote a very solid post on accessories to bring when you travel. You can find that post right over here.
Stay prepared, and safe travels!
About Norm Schriever
Norm Schriever is a blogger, Amazon best-sellling author, cultural mad scientist, and enemy of the comfort zone. His work appears in the Huffington Post, Business.com, Good Morning America, The Anderson Cooper Show on CNN, NBC, MSN, Yahoo, Hotels.com, and media all around the world.
Norm grew up in Connecticut and graduated from the University of Connecticut, where he was never accused of overstudying. After expatriating to Costa Rica in 2011, he started traveling the world and documenting what he saw. He now lives in Southeast Asia, writing his heart out and working with local charities.
