Travel hacks and advice

[alpinevibes]

seeing tix on google for 5 peeps at $3600 on air portugal: SFO-lisbon-Milan; $3750 on british air/american: sfo-heathrow-milan; and $3750 on american: sfo-philly-milan.... claims of rates at ~$1700 lower than usual. Are they likely to go lower?

What do you all do for travel insurance? get a sapphire credit card? find insurance with squaremouth.com? or something else?

$3600 looks like a good price; your only better option on price is to fly into Milan, which is showing $2880 R/T for four people for mid-June dates. Not a terrible itinerary either, with TAP. Hard to say if anything will go lower on price. At this point, with inflation and travel demand in 2024: I would say under a $1000 R/T per person is pretty good for SFO to specific area in Europe at this point.

We've only purchased "extra" travel insurance (travelguard) a couple times - Australia with infant twins, Kenya during a presidential election. We always have a quiver of cards, including a Sapphire, which cover any issues with delays, lost bags, etc etc. Rarely, if ever have had to use it, but we're usually on flying on miles, so we're not as concerned about recouping $5000-10,000 in greenbacks if things go south. Definitely have a Sapphire or similar card with good benefits and book all your flights, cars, hotels on that card.

[m2711c]

I got an annual policy from Allianz. It’s pretty handy If you travel a lot. It covers any trip over 100 miles from your house. No matter your mode of Travel.

I think the price is reasonable for what I get. And I like Not having to deal with Insurance on every trip individually.

they get three levels depending on your needs

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.c...rips-basic.htm

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.c...rips-prime.htm

https://www.allianztravelinsurance.c...ps-premier.htm

after working on the trip committee at our ski club for a few years , I got to see firsthand what happens to people when they decided not to get insurance And ended up having something happened to them. The cost of dealing with unexpected medical needs can be quite high. Especially if you need any sort of medical help during the travel back home.

Ski club of Great Britain can also be a good place to pick up Insurance. I believe they do both travel insurance and Slope insurance in case you get injured off piste where you’re not going to be covered by ski patrol.


https://www.skiclub.co.uk/ski-club-travel-insurance/

[bodywhomper]

Thanks all! Hadn’t considered ski club sourced travel insurance.

[plugboots]

We’re doing some research and the top three things to do in Dublin are visit a prison, a distillery and a brewery.
It’s really crazy how what my wife and I like to do on trips is just wildly different from what most people like to do.

[jm2e]

We’re doing some research and the top three things to do in Dublin are visit a prison, a distillery and a brewery.
It’s really crazy how what my wife and I like to do on trips is just wildly different from what most people like to do.

Does that mean you’re going to the prison?


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[The AD]

I mean, it's not just a brewery, it's the Guinness brewery--almost certainly the most famous brewery in the world.

[old goat]

We’re doing some research and the top three things to do in Dublin are visit a prison, a distillery and a brewery.
It’s really crazy how what my wife and I like to do on trips is just wildly different from what most people like to do.

So it's going to feel just like home.

[Lvovsky]

Few tips come to mind after a recent trip:

Wipe your luggage with Clorox wipe after the trip. Keeps it looking good for years.

Expend the bags for packing. Compress and zip up the expansion for transport and travels.

Have some zip ties, ziplock bags, small roll of duct tape,and Velcro straps for just in case. Had an extra bag to drag back. Velcro strap attached one behind another to roll with one hand.

Public bathroom in London are nonexistent. Go to a nearest pub. Toilets are usually upstairs or downstairs. No need to ask for permission even. Large department stores are a good bet too.

Know local 911 number.

[nickwm21]

Not sure what people do for foreign currency… but I ordered Euros through my Bank of America app… swung by the branch day before I left and picked them up… super easy. Exchange rate was competitive.

I still prefer to swipe the CC abroad, but a lot of places still prefer cash…


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[zion zig zag]

Not sure what people do for foreign currency… but I ordered Euros through my Bank of America app… swung by the branch day before I left and picked them up… super easy. Exchange rate was competitive.

I still prefer to swipe the CC abroad, but a lot of places still prefer cash…


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I just go to the ATM when I get in country and get enough for a couple of days at a time.

[jm2e]

Not sure what people do for foreign currency… but I ordered Euros through my Bank of America app… swung by the branch day before I left and picked them up… super easy. Exchange rate was competitive.

I still prefer to swipe the CC abroad, but a lot of places still prefer cash…


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ATM. Zero reason to use any other system.


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[riser4]

Not sure what people do for foreign currency… but I ordered Euros through my Bank of America app… swung by the branch day before I left and picked them up… super easy. Exchange rate was competitive.

I still prefer to swipe the CC abroad, but a lot of places still prefer cash…


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I use an ATM in Euroland.

[singlesline]

I haven't touched cash the last few times I've been in europe (or canada)...otherwise ATM.

No need to get any in advance and I use a bank that refunds all ATM fees.

[old goat]

Nice to have cash if you take tours, for the tip. At least in Scandinavia they don't seem to mind dollars, which is helpful because all the Baltic countries have different currency.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

When I was living/working in Mexico in 2009, my paycheck was auto-deposited by my US company in a US bank, then every friday I would withdraw my pesos for the week from an affiliated Canadian bank ATM. And immediately after, my card would get locked for possible fraudulent activity because the withdrawal was in Mexico, so then I would have to call the bank support line and talk to someone in India to get the card unlocked, until next week when the whole process would repeat itself despite me telling them I was in Mexico and to stop locking my card. Good times.

[riser4]

Nice to have cash if you take tours, for the tip. At least in Scandinavia they don't seem to mind dollars, which is helpful because all the Baltic countries have different currency.

Just the tip. 8)

[old goat]

Just the tip. 8)

Yeah, just the tip. Not in stores AFAIK.

[The AD]

I'm sure many of you use the website flightaware.com for flight tracking. One of the features I use frequently is "where is my plane now?" The airlines are usually pretty slow at posting flight delays, but if you can see that the airplane being used for your flight is still en route and delayed in arrival you can often predict delays well before the airline makes it official.

[old goat]

We flew from Sacramento to LAX en route to Paris. When we got to LA we glanced at a TV screen and there was video of a plane on the ground in Tahiti. The locals had bombed the empty Air Frnace plane in protest of French nuclear testing in Tahiiti. It was our plane. We spent a lovely night at LAX.

[alpinevibes]

I'm sure many of you use the website flightaware.com for flight tracking. One of the features I use frequently is "where is my plane now?" The airlines are usually pretty slow at posting flight delays, but if you can see that the airplane being used for your flight is still en route and delayed in arrival you can often predict delays well before the airline makes it official.

Truth. United is pretty good for this type of visibility through their app but FlightAware gives you instant and overall visibility.

[Meconium]

Snag the blanket on international flights. Free picnic blanket.

[Not DJSapp]

I'm sure many of you use the website flightaware.com for flight tracking. One of the features I use frequently is "where is my plane now?" The airlines are usually pretty slow at posting flight delays, but if you can see that the airplane being used for your flight is still en route and delayed in arrival you can often predict delays well before the airline makes it official.

Yup. Very useful for SW when you're sitting at the bar trying to figure out if you have time for another round or not.

You still need to be on your toes though, they can switch planes and you can suddenly go from a 3 hour delay to boarding now, depending on the airport.

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[Kevo]

A few observations and predictions for a brave new world future of international travel-

-I recently traveled from the US to the UK. I've been many times in the past but this was my first time in three years.
-I have a new passport, this was my first time traveling with it.
-In the past, an airline employee had to inspect and verify a new passport. Now, there is only a need for an online photo upload of the passport.
-I left the US without anyone ever confirming that i had a physical passport in my possession. Instead, there was a facial recognition device that was used for walking through the gate to board the plane. As best I could tell, there is no ability to bypass the facial recognition at the gate.
-Arriving in the UK, I scanned my passport at an automated immigration kiosk. Said kiosk let me through to the customs and baggage hall. My passport was not stamped. I passed through customs by walking out with hundreds of other people through "nothing to declare" exit door without ever interacting with a human.

-Leaving the UK, I made it all the way through security and to the gate with only a boarding pass. There is no longer exit passport control, at least for flights leaving to the US. My passport was not stamped.
-In the past, there was no way to get issued an app based boarding pass without checking in at the airport. You had to check in and talk to ITS security people who would always question you on the nature of your travel, who packed your bags, etc before every flight bound for the US. This is no longer the case, or at least wasn't for me.
-At the gate, I did have to present a passport. I was asked why I didn't have an ITS sticker on my passport. I told the agent that I hadn't been interviewed this time around. They waved me through.
-I never had to present a passport upon arrival back in the states. The global entry line is now entirely facial recognition. You walk up to a kiosk, it scans your face and then you walk out.

I predict that the future of international travel in the developed world will be entirely facial recognition and that passports will largely be obsolete. I predict that this will also be the case for domestic travel, given that the TSA is now using facial recognition at many airports.

My trip was the most convenient international trip that I have ever experienced. That said, I do think that the future will likely be one of increased intergovernmental control and coordination in the name of anit-terrorism. Governments will be able to bar people from travel with the click of a mouse, and there will be no bypassing the facial recognition software, with data being shared around the world. I would bet that this system will be abused by increasingly authoritarian governments from now to eternity.

[plugboots]

^^^Pretty much the same for me coming and going through Schiphol.

[The AD]

-Arriving in the UK, I scanned my passport at an automated immigration kiosk. Said kiosk let me through to the customs and baggage hall. My passport was not stamped. I passed through customs by walking out with hundreds of other people through "nothing to declare" exit door without ever interacting with a human.

Yes, that part floored me, too. I couldn't believe I could just collect my luggage and walk right out to the train station at Gatwick.

Coming home I flew into Vancouver and it was a bit more complex: had my photo taken at an automated kiosk and had to answer a series of questions, but then it was simply hand the printout to an agent and proceed to the luggage carousel, then out of the airport after getting luggage. Pretty quick and simple.