5 No-Nonsense Travel Hacks You Must Know
/Smart Travel Tips You Can Use
First Published Date: October 22, 2016
No, I am not going to insult your intelligence by giving tips like put a binder clip over a razor or use the hotel iron to make a grilled cheese sandwich, and so on. Rather, I will talk about 5 smart travel tips that work and will come in handy when you travel.
Taxi Scam: Most taxi drivers are honest and hard working. But you need to be prepared for a very few who might scam you, especially in foreign land. The most common scam is shuffling larger bills to smaller ones, like you give the driver a $50 bill, but he claims you gave a $5 bill. Another variation of this scam can be shuffling your bill to a fake bill and demanding more money. You can easily prevent this scam by taking pictures of larger bills before handing them out or use smaller bills, which are hard to shuffle and scammers will be reluctant to scam for so many smaller bills because it involves more work for them and more chances of getting caught.
Author/Copyright: Ahmed Dawn www.adawnjournal.com
Travel Undergarment
It can be difficult or impossible to wash your undergarments everyday while you travel. To prevent this, when I am about to get rid of my old undergarments, such as underwear or an undershirt, I save them and use them when I travel and throw them out each day after use. This way I am still using fresh, washed undergarments everyday, but don’t need to worry about washing and drying them. You can achieve the same result by using disposable undergarments (yes, they exist) and toss them out daily.
Wi-Fi
Many hotels charge for Wi-Fi. However, if you are a member of their rewards or loyalty program, you can get it for free. Sign up for the hotel’s rewards program to get free Wi-Fi. You don’t need to have any points in your rewards account to enjoy free Wi-Fi.
Hotel/Resort Upgrade
Sometimes you may be able to score a room upgrade in hotels or resorts just by tipping the receptionist. You may need to be discrete when you tip the receptionist and ask for the upgrade. For example, keep the note in sight of the receptionist (but not too obvious for other people working in the lobby) and say something like you will take care of them if they possibly can arrange an upgrade. However, you need to make a judgement call in which hotel or what country you can possibly apply this trick. For example, this is not going to work if you are in hotels like Hilton or Marriott in Canada or Germany, but you may be able to work this out if you are in hotels or resorts in the Caribbean or in Asia.
Fake Wallet
To protect yourself from robbery or pickpockets when you travel, carry a fake wallet. Fake in this instance means the wallet is real, but put expired credit cards, bankcards, library card, etc. and some small notes in it to make it look like your real wallet. Hide your real credit card and money in a separate place on your body. You can use a hidden money belt or hidden neck or leg wallet to keep your real credit card and cash. In case of a robbery, hand over your fake wallet or distract pickpockets with your fake wallet.
