Category: Tips and Tricks

YMMV Travel Deals: Tuesday., Oct. 23, 2018

When we see travel deals, we always want to spread the word. So as we see them, we make sure to let you know. They run the gamut from hotels to flights to points to miles to car rentals and even stuff you need while you’ll traveling, like equipment, Uber discounts, theme park tickets, food for when you’re on the road, etc.

Heads up that some of these deals might be really limited in time or amount, or some could go on for days or longer. Some deals might be good for some people and not so much for others. There may be better deals out there and we just don’t know about them. We take no responsibility for any transaction you may or may not do; we’re just telling you what’s we’ve seen that’s out there at that very moment and it’s up to you to decide if it’s something useful, beneficial and worth it for you, and if you can take advantage of it before it’s too late.

Here’s what’s out there right now:

Continue reading “YMMV Travel Deals: Tuesday., Oct. 23, 2018”

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Want A Quick Reply From Your Hotel? You Need To Speak Their Language

When you need to ask the hotel staff a question, what should be the preferred means of communication?

  1. Pick up the phone and call
  2. Send an e-mail
  3. Send a message on Twitter or Facebook

Continue reading “Want A Quick Reply From Your Hotel? You Need To Speak Their Language”

What To Do When A Rental Car Company Is Out Of Cars

We don’t rent cars all that often. We’ve become much more comfortable taking public transportation to/from the airport in major cities like New York and Chicago and then using Uber/Lyft/Taxi to get around whatever city or town we’re in. We only need a rental car on trips when we’re going to places where public transportation isn’t an option (like when we went to South of the Border).

So why is it that on about 50% of our trips, there are no available cars when we get to the rental car counter/garage?  Continue reading “What To Do When A Rental Car Company Is Out Of Cars”

How To Learn A Language For Travel (Or Because Learning Klingon or High Valyriand Would Be Cool) FOR FREE!

Joe and I have traveled to several countries where English was not the native tongue. Joe took Latin in school so his ability to translate is limited, but I took Spanish for 8 years, which helped when we went to Cuba in 2016, and immersed myself in Japanese In 10 Minutes A Day back in the mid-90s, which helped quite a bit the very first time I visited there.

Over the years we’ve noticed less and less need to learn much of other languages when traveling. If you have internet access, there are plenty of ways to get translation on the fly, and even without data access, there are offline apps, plus miming can go a long way, or you can even wear clothing that will help with the basic of basics.

That being said, it still helps immensely to have a little bit of knowledge under your belt of the language of the country you’re going to visit, even if it’s just a limited yes, no, thank-you, you’re welcome, I’m sorry, the numbers 1-100 and the “question” words of who, what, why, where, when and how. Obviously, for such limited words or phrases, you may not want to spend a fortune. Fortunately, there’s an online series of courses that can teach you close to 40 languages, and they’re FREE! And besides the typical Spanish, German, etc., you know what else they teach?

Klingon and High Valyriand.

I see your eyes lighting you, travel friends who are nerds on the side ;-)/

Continue reading “How To Learn A Language For Travel (Or Because Learning Klingon or High Valyriand Would Be Cool) FOR FREE!”

The Airlines Most Likely To Lose, Misdirect Or Damage Your Luggage (& What To Do If It Happens)

It’s happened to everyone at some point. You arrive in Austin on American Airlines, while your checked luggage arrives in Boise (that really did happen to us, several years ago. They got the bag to us about 12 hours later). Or you arrive at JFK on United and your 4-wheeled bag now has 3 wheels…or a rip…or a dent (that happened to me too, 20+  years ago). Or you arrive in San Francisco on SouthWest and your bag just…disappears. Forever (Well, eventually they’ll find it, but if they can’t figure out who it belongs to, like if your luggage tag broke off and there’s no airline sticker on the bag, it’ll eventually wind up at this place. You don’t want it to go there.).

As it turns out, there is a group paying attention to, not only how often peoples’ bags are lost, misdirected or damaged, but also which airlines do the most and least amounts of losing, misdirecting and damaging. Of course, trying to figure out the U.S. Dep’t of Transportations’ info is like searching for a needle in a haystack, but luckily another group has done the hard work for us.

Continue reading “The Airlines Most Likely To Lose, Misdirect Or Damage Your Luggage (& What To Do If It Happens)”