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More Vacation Planning Tips
to Make Your Life Easier
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Carefully organize
To save a lot of problems,
stay organized. Keep every confirmation number. Keep records
of when you called places and
with whom you spoke to. Documentation is the key to ensuring that you receive what you
planned on getting.
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cations that the average
person might not know,
like a great little bed and
breakfast on the outskirts of town or a holeLook into unexpected
in-the wall restaurant
fees
with the best cuisine you will
Don’t forget about taxis, posever eat.
sible checked baggage fees,
tips for services and other unexSafety
The world can be a shaky pected costs that you might enplace. Investigate the safety of counter when you travel. Costs
the area you are planning on can add up quickly while traveltraveling to. Some parts of town ing, and random problems like
may not be safe for you to ex- needing to buy a new suitcase
plore. Be aware of your location might pop up. Add a little bit
and do not be naïve of current of extra cash into your finance
world issues. Be sure to check planning to cover these costs
the State Department’s Web site and still stay on budget.
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5
Check out message
boards
To make sure you are paying
for something worthwhile, do
a little online research. Searching the Web for message boards
and hotel reviews can give you
a good look at what you are getting yourself into. Other travelers can provide useful informa- for travel warnings and alerts.
tion, and you can learn from the
mistakes other people made.
Consider quality vs.
quantity
Plan ahead
Before embarking on your vaOdds are you will get bet- cation, set your priorities. What
ter rates if you plan ahead. Air- is more important to you on
line tickets are expensive when the trip? Where do you want to
buying them at the last minute. spend your money? Your priorWith planning, you can have ity might be taking luxury transtime to research various hotel portation like first class airline
offers or package deals.
tickets, staying in nice hotels
and or dining at expensive resConsider a travel agent
taurants. Consider staying in
Perhaps your research hostels or bringing along your
skills aren’t quite up to par. No own cheap snacks instead of
biggie. There are many travel buying food while you are out
agents out there more than will- and about.
ing to help you. Often, they can
give you information about lo-
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INSIGHT
March 2014
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Think about alternate
means of transportation
Often traveling like the locals is
the way to save money. Learn
subway, trolley or cable car
routes and save yourself cab
fares. Ask local residents what
they suggest for transportation.
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Don’t stress
Always remember, have
fun while planning this trip and
don’t stress. You don’t want to
be bitter about the whole thing
before you leave the house.
Having the mindset of “wow,
this sure better be worth all the
hassle” is no way to begin a vacation.
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