12 lessons learned from life on the road

[imbues]

DO any of you seasoned travelers want to add to this list?










12 lessons learned from life on the roadStory HighlightsPutting your travel purchases on a credit card offers you some protection
Always call to confirm reservations
Join loyalty programs even if you don't plan to collect miles or points

By Christopher Elliott
Tribune Media Services

(Tribune Media Services) -- Lesson No. 1: Travel is no fun.

Really. If you think it's all about smiling stewardesses attending to your every whim, friendly hotels offering fawning service and romantic sunsets on the beach, it's time for a reality check.

Your stewardess will probably stop smiling when you refer to her as one, because no one calls a flight attendant a stewardess and gets away with it today. Your hotel? They'll be pleasant until you check out. The moment you complain about that surprise $20-a-day resort fee or the $5 charge for receiving a fax, the grin on the manager's face will tighten into a grimace of icy resolve. You'll hear insincere apologies, but you will probably still pay.

And the sunsets on the beach? Last time I went to the beach, there was a hurricane.

The point is travel can be hard work. Travel can be hard, period.

But when you do it for a living -- when you're a true blue, card-carrying, sleep-deprived business traveler -- you learn the ropes quickly. By the time you're a million-miler, and maybe sooner, you know travel isn't always fun but you also know travel can be tolerable.

What lessons can you learn from these veterans of the road? I asked some of the most experienced travelers I know to tell me what traveling has taught them. Here are a dozen tips from them, in their own words:

Expect nothing

That way, you won't be disappointed. "Lower your expectations when you travel," says Steve Powell, an Internet consultant in Orlando, Florida. It's great advice, considering a recent Travelocity survey that found a near total disconnect between what air travelers expect and what they get. As a result, nearly two-thirds of the respondents said they would avoid using an airline altogether if they had a comparable choice. Ouch.

Be nice

Lisa Wiser, a computer consultant from Indianapolis, Indiana, learned about the power of nice when her flight to Pittsburgh was delayed by weather. The gate agents looked stressed, so she bought them a $7 box of chocolates. "They looked up at me and said 'What's this for?'" she remembers. "I said, 'Because it isn't your fault, there's nothing you can do ... but you will be catching hell for this all evening." Not only did she receive two food vouchers, but she also got an unexpected upgrade to first class. It's true -- nice pays.

Never pay cash

Wendy Margules, a real-estate agent from Newtown, Connecticut, lost $6,000 when she reserved a villa in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. "The owner asked us to wire transfer the money and fax the contracts back to him right away, and we did," she says. "Ten weeks later, there was no villa -- and he was gone." Putting your travel purchases on a credit card offers you some protection. Margules could have disputed the charge and received a refund.

Travel light

"The single most important lesson I've learned is, pack light," says Michael Hollander, a manager of a marketing company in Torrance, California. "Ask yourself: 'Can I live without this?' If the answer is yes, leave it home." This is particularly important, given that airlines are losing checked luggage at an epidemic rate, while some are beginning to charge their customers a fee for all checked luggage. The less you take, the less you pay for. And the less you can lose.

Have a Plan B

No matter how simple your itinerary, no matter how many times you've traveled the same road, no matter how sure you are that nothing will go wrong, don't go anywhere without a backup plan. "You need a Plan B," says Alan Brill, an information security consultant from New York. Sometimes, a backup plan can be as simple as looking for another way out. Case in point: a recent flight from Minneapolis to New York, which was canceled for mechanical reasons. It was the last flight of the day. "Long line of yelling passengers," he remembers. Brill went to another counter, explained his predicament, and was immediately handed hotel vouchers, meal vouchers and a ticket on the next day's flight.

Be skeptical

"Don't believe everything you read," says Timothy O'Neil-Dunne, a managing partner for a technology consultancy in Claymont, Delaware. That applies to pretty much anything, from airline schedules to guide books to travel columns. "Do not put your ultimate faith in them. You will be disappointed," he adds. Which isn't to say they are totally untrue. O'Neil-Dunne says you should use them as a guide, instead. (As someone who writes a travel column, and has gotten it wrong a time or two, I completely agree.)

Don't trust a reservation

Inga Smith, a photographer from Columbus, Ohio, learned that lesson a few years ago, when her flight was delayed and she tried to check in to a Holiday Inn. "My room was given away to someone who arrived earlier than I did," she says. "I was sent to another hotel, which was a real dump." Getting something in writing helps, but always call to confirm. That's particularly true for an airline reservation.

Visualize first class

Most of us are stuck in economy class, but not all of us stay there. How do people snag upgrades? Well, one of the secrets of frequent travelers is to look the part. "I wear a sport jacket," says Jason Hupe, a project manager from Long Beach, New York. "If they are doing upgrades, then you have a better chance of getting one." This is true. I've spoken with several airline folks who have admitted they'll pick someone who looks like he belongs in the forward cabin.

Join the club

Even if you don't plan to collect frequent flier miles (and my advice is to avoid becoming a collector, because points are as addictive as they are useless) you should still become a member of a loyalty program. Rick Damiani did, and it made his trips go a lot smoother. "Before signing up, I was getting selected for additional screening by the TSA," says Damiani, an applications engineer for and educational computing company in Los Angeles. "But since I became a member, I've only been selected twice."

Keep a photocopy of your passport

It will help you get a replacement much faster when you've lost it. Candice Sabatini lost her passport in Paris recently, but was able to secure a replacement within hours because she had a photocopy. "Now I'm always telling others to make sure they have a photocopy of their passport -- just in case," says Sabatini, a publishing consultant in New York.

Get plenty of rest

Travelers tend to be sleep-deprived. And worse, they're often unaware of how tired and cranky they've become. Peter DeForest, a risk management consultant based in San Rafael, California, says the importance of a good night's sleep can't be understated. "Get some rest," he advises. "In the morning, you'll find that what set you off was maybe pretty minor and can be overlooked."

Enjoy the perks

Despite all the recent cutbacks, travel still has a few things going for it. And even a few freebies. Don't look the other way when they're offered. "I steal the soap," admits Jim Daniel, a traveling salesman based in Stockton, California. "I carry a preferred bath soap and shampoo, so I always throw the hotel amenities into the bag with dirty laundry. When I get home, I put them aside to donate to a local homeless teen outreach program." Again, I've spoken with hotel people and they don't mind their guests taking the soap. That's who the soap is for, after all.

So there you have it -- 12 tips from the people who are in the know. Take their advice with you on your next trip, and you never know. You might actually have ... fun.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. E-mail him at [email protected]

Copyright 2007 CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT, DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

[obrienkf]

One thing that I would certainly add is:



take a photocopy or original copy of your medical prescriptions / including eyeglasses. One that's legible. Nothing worse than misplacing either essential medications or eyeglasses while travelling, and having to try to figure THAT out in a language that is not your first language. Medications are not always referred to with the same name in all parts of the world, so at least having the name in a legible form, is a start.



kind regards

[imbues]

Thanks for the reply. This is an excellent suggestion in general for those with medications they couldn't do with out (such as diabetic and hypertension meds). Having verification, like copies of prescriptions, of meds is more helpful than just having a list. I'm an RN and verifying meds is sometimes impossible here. I can only imagine how impossible it would be from another country.

You sound like you experienced this first hand?

obrienkf wrote:

One thing that I would certainly add is:



take a photocopy or original copy of your medical prescriptions / including eyeglasses. One that's legible. Nothing worse than misplacing either essential medications or eyeglasses while travelling, and having to try to figure THAT out in a language that is not your first language. Medications are not always referred to with the same name in all parts of the world, so at least having the name in a legible form, is a start.



kind regards

Message Edited by imbues on 12-27-2007 01:30 AM

[slimzone]

Another good idea is to photocopy the front and back of all your IDs and credit cards you'll be carrying on the trip and leave it with a trusted relative or friend at home. This makes it easier to obtain replacement IDs and cancel credit cards in case they're stolen or lost. All the numbers and identifiers are readily available.

[obrienkf]

imbues,



i have had no direct first hand experience, but some of my travelling companions have, leaving me to be the one who has responsibility to 'sort it out', and depending how far off the beaten track you are... this can be a herculean task. Seasoned travel teaches big lessons.



Another trick that I have used when travelling long distances, for lengthy periods (before the days of ATMs and internet banking.... by the way), was to 'load my credit card' before I departed, so that I had a temporary higher range of funds. When I checked into my hotel for a length of time, on arrival (once satisfied that I liked the hotel to stay for a few weeks or longer), I settled the bill for room in advance. Credit card balance was reduced as a 'paid item' in advance, and I had no worries if the card went astray, and I was in a silly posture with a Hotel Manager. It also minimized that serious ouch that happens a month after you return and you have a massive bill to face. Paid, gone, done. Life is somewhat simpler now, cell phones that work everywhere, internet at every street corner, but 20 years ago, it was not such a simple matter...



One last trick that a friend of my uses all the time. Print sticky labels with all the addresses of all the folks to whom you intend to send postcards. Makes that moment dead easy, and no searching for little pieces of paper with addresses, or trying to remember them. Just slap that label on the postcard, write the 'wish you were here' comments, and you're done. I am always annoyed at myself for not doing that --- i forget addresses, zip and postal codes, and there are loads of people who still relish the arrival of a post card with a picture of some exotic place that they likely will never visit.

[bonniejoy03]

Another addition with the credit card. Please don't forget to notify your credit card company if you are travelling abroad, etc. (especially if you don't travel much abroad.) Many credit card companies and/or banks have an alert that will stop activity if the user is somewhere out of the country. Theuser will then be turned down for purchases. The user will then have to call their company to start use again. It is a BIG pain especially if you are in a remote location. All you do to avoid this is call the company, tell them where you are going, and the dates you will be out of the country.

[mlmccarthy]

Notifying your credit card company becomes doubly important with a new card. I was stuck in a UK supermarket for 45 minutes after presenting my card. They had to call the US and have me verify all my personal information. They wouldn't let me pay cash, they wouldn't give me back my card until they were able to check it out. Was my face red!

[andybigs]

I'm not a "seasoned" traveler, but here's my 2 cents:

Read the fine print. Some gadgets I bought on my trips had warranties that weren't honored in my home country. Had to pay more just for the items to be repaired, and it didn't come cheap.

[CMDAVILACLI]

I would add the idea of opening a second ATM account at home with a few $$ in the account. Carry this extra ATM card in a separate place from your "regular/normal" ATM card. Then if you loose or get your first card stolen, you have immediate access to some cash through this second ATM card/account. Plus you can go to any internet cafe and zero out your original account by transferring all the cash to your second account. Just make sure you bank on line and then you can do this. I had to do this for my daughter who's wallet got stolen overseas, and boy did this come in handy... no waiting for a replacement card to show up before she could access cash.

cmdavilacli

[christian07]

to add, if you're going out of the country, contact your credit card issuer to make a few adjustments to your credit card so that you can make credit card purchases. this is in lieu of a fraud-protection step. also, we can let at least one trusted person know of our destination.