Pre-trip planning

Before traveling, consider subscribing to a daily deal website like Groupon, LivingSocial or Double Take Deals in your destination city and take advantage of discounts at restaurants and attractions. You can easily access the vouchers from your mobile phone.

Last-minute lodging

Most travel apps offer significant discounts for same-day hotel reservations. It’s a great way to get a deal on high-end lodging.

Confirm it

When you reserve a car, always ask for a confirmation number and an email confirming the reservation. When you pick up the car, verify the cost before signing the agreement and ask whether a better rate has become available.

Thanks for that last tip about the hire car. I am about to book one of those.

how come this bloke can get a handle here?

Paulm35 said:

Last-minute lodging

Most travel apps offer significant discounts for same-day hotel reservations. It’s a great way to get a deal on high-end lodging.

It’s also a great way to find out everything in the entire fucking city is booked out for a conference.

When you reserve a car, always ask for a confirmation number and an email confirming the reservation.

—

Given that 2013>1998, everyone just books online anyway so gets an automatic email with confirmation number.

dv said:

When you reserve a car, always ask for a confirmation number and an email confirming the reservation.

—

Given that 2013>1998, everyone just books online anyway so gets an automatic email with confirmation number.

Ah, yes now that you point it out, that’s true.

Travel tips:

• Take two toothbrushes, you will leave one in a hotel room somewhere
• Take holidays straight after a work trip to save on airfares.
• 1A is the best seat on most airplanes. Lots of legroom, with a bulkhead in front of you so you don’t have other passengers taking up your personal space when stretching their legs or having to make eye contact with the flight attendants when they are seated. You are also two steps away from the nearest emergency exit.
• Booking a rental car online will get it at a cheaper rate than just booking it over the counter.
• When returning a rental car for an early morning flight, fill it up the night before your flight rather than filling it up close to the airport that morning. The rental company don’t care for the few litres it is away from full.
• The airline “one carry-on bag” does not apply to laptop bags. So you can have your laptop bag and a normal carryon.
• When going through the metal-detector screening, remove laptop from bag and place in tray. Remove phone from pocket, toss in laptop bag. Place items on belt and walk through the detector. Remove phone from bag, place laptop in bag, and leave the bag open when you walk past the bomb swabber. If you are pulled aside for swabing, present open bag for the swab, raise arms slightly, and zip up your bag while waiting for the machine to do its job. The process need take no more than 30 seconds.
• If you are flying Jetstar, don’t.

Handbags also don’t count as one-bag-carryon.

When I was coming back from Perth, I brought a hand massager machine I’d bought at the Show onboard (couldn’t fit in my luggage). I was pulled aside for the drug swab, the guy asked what it was, I told him. He looked at me sceptically and said, “Why did you buy one if you don’t know how to use it?”

“It’s a hand massager, you plug it in and turn it on. That’s all it is.” Took me five minutes to convince him… he wouldn’t let me through otherwise.

Carmen_Sandiego said:

….

• If you are flying Jetstar, don’t.
  

+ eleventy one

I flew Virgin down to Hobart, they were very professional, I suspect that they had done it before.

Peak Warming Man said:

I flew Virgin down to Hobart, they were very professional, I suspect that they had done it before.

At least once that I am aware of, probably more.

chemtrails

Please replace 1A in my list above with 1F. :)

If you are lucky enough to get near the pointy end of the plane or even occasionally in economy, just mention to the attendant that the wine was delicious and could they please jot down the name of it. Chances are they might come back with a bottle and ask you to casually place it in your carry on luggage.

Generally works on evening flights.

stan101 said:

If you are lucky enough to get near the pointy end of the plane…

If you look at a plane in profile, the non-pointy end is typically pointier than the pointy end.