Jim’s Travel Tips

The electronic age has provided some nice airline travel enhancements. The major US airlines have features on their web sites that will provide you with electronic reminders and flight updates, for example: delays, cancellations, gate changes, etc… This can be in the form of a cell phone call or an e-mail. Some airlines require you to register your flights on their web sites while other have a “blanket” program that will cover all your flights logged to your frequent flier number. (And if you don’t have one of those, read this tip!) This is a nice way to keep informed. TIP: Do not rely solely on these messages as they are not always 100% accurate – check the arrival/ departure boards in the airport to verify the information. Running to Gate 42 when it was just changed to Gate 20 does not help.

When looking at foreign travel, it’s usually good to take some extra steps of planning and security. The State Department has made it easier than ever to register your overseas itinerary with them, thanks to the internet. It may seem unnecessary, but it doesn’t take long and is free to do. The ten minutes it takes you to fill out the report is well worth it should you ever need help in a foreign country. Here is what the State Department’s website has to say about it:

“Millions of Americans travel abroad every year and encounter no difficulties. However, U.S. embassies and consulates assist nearly 200,000 Americans each year who are victims of crime, accident, or illness, or whose family and friends need to contact them in an emergency. When an emergency happens, or if natural disaster, terrorism, or civil unrest strikes during your foreign travel, the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate can be your source of assistance and information. By registering your trip, you help the embassy or consulate locate you when you might need them the most. Registration is voluntary and costs nothing, but it should be a big part of your travel planning and security.”

TIP: Go to https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ to register your trip.

Traveling by subway can be a great cost effective method to get around a city. Many cities offer discounts to travelers for multi day passes. New York City and Paris are just two examples of systems which offer great multi day passes. TIP: Use this link to research subway systems in many cities around the world: www.reed.edu/~reyn/transport.html

(Authored by my best traveling partner, my wife)  A primary rule for air travel with children is to be aware of the “ear pressure” thing. For adults, it is a barely noticeable plugging of our ears. Close your nose with your fingers and pretend to blow it. That will “pop” your eardrums and suddenly your hearing improves. This is a hard thing to teach to children. TIP: For babies, have a bottle ready to feed as soon as the plane takes off. If it is a long flight, save the second feeding for landing. Shorter flights, let the baby suck on a pacifier or, at the very least, cup your hands over its ears during descent. For older children, a lollipop or gum will get them swallowing and should help keep their ears clear.  (Thanks, honey!)

Traveling internationally requires thinking in terms of different monetary values or currency exchange rates. The tip that I am providing here can provide you with the easiest exchange reference that I have come across. It makes it a lot easier to determine if you are getting a good deal or not abroad. TIP: Go to www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet. This site lets you pick the country to country exchange you desire, which you can print. With the click of a button you can print the reverse exchange. These can be cut out and taped back to back creating a credit card sized exchange reference. Just be sure to run the rates relatively close to your trip date as exchange rates will vary somewhat from day to day.

The State Department has a good site for international travel planning. This is an excellent site to check before you travel to any international destination. The Consular Information Sheets provide you with information on the countries you may be traveling to including entry requirements, medical services, crime, etc… The sheet also includes the US Embassy information in that country. They also list any travel warnings that may exist for a country, which are especially important to note, as some life insurance policies are nullified by traveling to a country with a warning. TIP: Check out this web site out before you travel internationally: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1765.html