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Tips
Advice On Locks And Locking Systems For Luggage
Aug 22nd
If you have ever had the misfortune of having your bag stolen, or an item removed from your bag, you will know how horrible this is, and how much it can ruin a holiday very quickly. Whether it involved something really drastic such as the loss of your passport, your credit cards, keys or money, or whether it was easily replaceable, doesn’t always matter. The sense of personal intrusion can make you feel miserable for a long while afterwards.
There are ways in which it is possible to increase the level of security of your possessions, although it is always best to use a wide range of methods rather than relying simply on one alone.
Of course, the most effective method of making sure your possessions stay safe is to keep them with you at all times. If you are travelling by plane, this is not always possible because of your luggage being handed over to the baggage handlers. However, as many people have discovered, it is very possible, with enough planning and honest effort, to reduce your luggage requirements to a single carryon. If you can achieve this, then your luggage is far safer, and you will also be able to move through the airport much faster.
A word of warning about locks and locking mechanisms for cases. If your case has a lock on it, and you are sending this via the luggage handlers, you need to make sure it is unlocked. This seems strange, but most airlines these days require your bags to be unlocked. If they have reason to check your bag, and they find it locked, then they will force it open. This could mean damage to an otherwise good and possibly expensive bag, for which the airline will not compensate you, or the damage to your bag could mean it won’t close effectively. This is another reason to consider reducing your needs down to a single carryon.
Of course, even carryon bags that are with you at all times can prove subject to theft or tampering. There are travel bags with a number of security measures built in to them, Read the rest of this entry »
Real Spain in Spanish Villas
Jun 27th
Some of these Spanish villas are best experienced with services included into the package. This makes for a more relaxing experience without the worry of doing your own cleaning or cooking your own meals. However, the downside is making sure you make it on time for meal times as most come with continental breakfast and sometimes with cooked dinner. This would be good for people who do not have intention of going out a lot and want to stay indoors more.
Staying in Spanish villas will mean that you are further away from any main city centre spots as many of these villas are located nearer the countryside or in the outskirts of the holiday destination. Some villas are smaller, but are situated near the main centre areas with beachfront views. These tend to be more expensive because of their location, easy access to local amenities and have good transportation links.
The villas that are situated in remote areas nearer the countryside indeed have great views and beautiful surrounding sceneries; however, they may exclude internet and even a telephone line. Therefore, you will need to look into the basic facilities offered in these villas.
Very often with a packaged holiday in Spain, you get what you pay for, but with a bit of research and hunting around you may be lucky enough to find something that will offer something slightly more generous for the asking price. These can be booked up very quickly so it is a good idea to start searching for these early on when looking to book a holiday. Villas have quickly become a popular choice for accommodation in Spain. These can be booked through an agency or directly with an independent owner.
Many of these Spanish villas can be booked online and are guaranteed to have pictures on the website. If you are unsure about staying in your chosen villa then going for one with recent pictures and good reviews will be the best option for you. You can find out more about the villas by reading up on forums and discussion boards where people talk about their experiences in the villa.
Fully Prepared For Your Cruise
Jun 21st
Booking a cruise and counting the days down until you depart is a tremendously exciting experience, but there are common, every day issues that still need to be sorted out well in advance of your leaving. So here are a few tips on things to consider before you leave your familiar surroundings.
It is always a good idea to start your packing at least a week or two in advance of your departure date. This gives you plenty of time to not only reduce the initial pile of essentials to a more reasonable amount, but also for you to identify things that either no longer fit, or have been damaged or lost since your last holiday. Trying to find last minute replacements is no fun at all, so plan for your packing in plenty of time.
If you have a home burglar or intrusion alarm system you will need to talk to a trusted neighbor or friend and provide them with a house key, and explain how the alarm system works. A good tip for security is to change the code on your alarm, so that your friend or neighbor has their own code for that week, and then afterwards you can change it back to your own regular, secret code. It is important to let your security firm know, if it is the kind that’s linked by phone to an office. They will need to know you’re away, and who the contact is in the meantime. If your alarm goes off in your absence, it will still need dealing with.
Always make sure that you have collected together more than enough film, media cards and video tape for your holiday. It is always remarkable how quickly this is used up, and if you try buying film or media cards either on the ship or at ports you can expect to pay two to three times what you normally would. The general rule of thumb is to think carefully about how much you expect to use, then add another 50% to it, and buy it all in well in advance. Don’t forget to make sure you put this in your carryon bag, since media cards and high speed film can be damaged by the scanning that is carried out on other luggage.
Finally, another important thing to think about is how you can be contacted in any emergency. Obviously we all hope this doesn’t need to happen, but it is important to have a backup plan just in case. The ship’s phone will be very expensive to use – sometimes $12 per minute, so it is a good idea to nominate one member of the family to be your direct contact, then if anybody needs you, they can go through this person who can be the single point of contact, to reduce the risk of repetition. You may well find that your mobile will work, and be even cheaper once you stop at a port and are back on land, although you’ll need to check with your network operator that your phone is compatible in the countries you’ll be visiting.
How To Halve Your Luggage Easily
Jun 18th
It isn’t too difficult to put this into practice, but it does need a little more planning than the average holidaymaker tends to carry out. There are three simple stages that are required in order to achieve this considerable reduction.
The first step is to consider the actual case or bag you are planning on using. If you automatically head straight for your largest suitcase, then mentally you will be collecting together and packing the quantity of items which will fill it. You will allow yourself all the extra luxuries that you wouldn’t take if you didn’t have such a monumental volume of space. So, instead, try to limit yourself to a small suitcase, a holdall or carryon bag. Once you start to plan to use a smaller bag, you will find yourself thinking along much tighter lines, and as a result, your luggage will immediately begin being reduced in your head.
The second stage is to think about clothing, since this is what tends to take up most of the space in the average tourist’s luggage. People often think about combinations of clothes they usually wear, yet this may require you packing items which can only really go with one or two other items of clothing, or requiring you to take a very bulky or easily damaged item of clothing. Instead, think about clothing that won’t damage by being rolled up tightly, and think about the weight and size of each item. For example, woollen clothes are very bulky, whereas cotton is much less so. Rather than a big bulky woollen jumper, a couple of layered cotton tops with a light jacket will prove just as warm, more flexible with use, and far smaller and lighter to carry. In fact, you are taking more clothes, with more possible combinations, yet taking up less space and weighing far less!
The third thing to consider is your toiletries. Very often people just hurl the cans and bottles they use each day into their case. These bottles are usually very large, and sometimes much of their volume is empty space! Instead, buy a set of small, tester sized bottles with screw caps, and transfer your toiletries into these, not forgetting to label them all. By doing this, you will find that most of your toiletries will fit into the space in your shoes, thereby saving you a tremendous amount of space. The liquids and gels in toiletries are very heavy, and by reducing the number and volume of these you will save considerably.
These are the three top tips to reducing your luggage, and put into honest practice it really is possible to halve the amount you take. But, it does require planning and preparation. The further in advance you plan to be more economical, the more successful you are likely to be.
Choose Your Luggage
Jun 13th
Some people have decided to purchase a complete set of matching luggage, but one thing that we all have to decide, is which one to use for a particular trip?
It is a common dilemma – because deep down we all know what will happen. We’ll either choose a bag which is rather too small, and cram in thousands of items, all of which become crumpled and worn, and almost inevitably, unreachable without unpacking the entire contents. The alternative is to use a bag which is really far too big. Feeling delighted with ourselves, we see all the extra room we have after packing the essentials, and enjoy wandering through our home looking for any other items which we can squeeze into the extra pockets and spaces we still have left. Interestingly, it is often the case that we entirely forget this part of the packing process once we are trying to haul the enormous case around with us, wishing it had wheels, or we had our own chauffer, or that we had used the smaller bag instead. Or maybe just stayed home.
One of the most important aspects to consider first of all is whether we will be using any kind of transport which will restrict the amount we can take. The obvious example is, of course, the plane. If traveling by plane we will all face a limit to the weight we can take. This will vary depending on the airline you are using, and whether you are travelling first class, standard, or in the luggage hold yourself. If, instead, you are using trains, coaches, buses or taxis then this will vary, but above all, it is the practical side of things you will need to consider. When getting onto, or off a train, there is often a step, and sometimes a gap, to cross. How will you manage to get a huge case into the compartment?
Naturally, the greatest freedom is to be found if you have the luxury of packing your bags into your own car, although again it is worth considering the practicalities. For example, one huge case packed in a car means that you have to be very careful about packing it – almost certainly you will need a number of items from it sooner, and do you really want to be unpacking it by the roadside, or in a car park, looking for the one item you accidentally packed first?
Travel Advice For Those Wishing To Use A Hire Car
Jun 11th
Car hire can be confusing for some; it can be a complex procedure of choices and paper work that can leave you tired before you even leave for your onward journey. Here a few hints however that will help those who have never used a hire car to get the best from their experience.
Firstly it is important to book in advance. As with many elements of travel, booking your hire car early can pay dividends. Some companies will in fact increase their rates if demand is great, so by booking at least a week in advance you should be able to secure the price you will be paying. Also by booking in advance over a longer period it is possible with many car hire companies to receive considerable discounts on rates. It must be remembered that the company’s cancellation policy should be studied in detail to see if any fines will be applicable.
When choosing a car hire company there are certain factors that you should base your decision on. Firstly of course should be rates, then vehicle availability and finally services. While it may be tempting to take the cheapest option it may be the case that services and availability suffer.
Regular travellers may want to look into frequent customer benefits while the occasional traveller will be more interested in the types of car that are available. Remember that if you are after a specific model you will have to book well in advance and perhaps call many car hire companies to ensure that model is available for reservation.
Service, as with many things in life should be of primary concern. If you have used a car hire company previously and liked the service or if you have a personal recommendation it is usually worth using this company again; selecting a company will however take some consideration. Research the efficiency and effectiveness of a company on travel websites to find a company that has a good track record; as stated previously, while a cheaper company may offer fantastic rates, service is something that is harder to quantify.
Whilst at the desk you will be bombarded with a variety of extra insurance policies for your hire package. This smorgasbord of options can be befuddling and while the benefits for some of these policies might be evident, the price does not always relate to value. A general rule of thumb is that if you are renting on business or for a short period these extra policies will probably be worthwhile, however if you are renting for a longer period of time it may prove to be an expense that is not viable.
Remember that when booking it is important to include all of the drivers that may be in control of the vehicle in the hire contract. By letting someone drive the car without them being included on the contract can void any protection you may have had. It may cost a little extra, but this sum will seem trivial if anything serious does occur.
Before you head out on your journey it is essential to inspect the hire car carefully and ensure that any damage is reported to the representative immediately. Charges for any damage above average wear and tear can be costly, so by doing this you cover yourself from any claims that the representative may have when you return the car. If the car does happen to break down, check you hire contract as many companies have their own free towing service.
By following this advice you car hire experience should go smoothly. While you cannot help accidents and breakdowns, you can plan for them, so look in detail at the insurance and policy extras. By finding a company with a good reputation any problems should be settled quickly and easily and you journey should be stress free, apart from the traffic of course.
Living The Lap Of Luxury Without Breaking The Bank
Jun 9th
Staying in luxury hotels certainly helps to keep all your troubles away and give a taste of the high life. In the past, these kinds of hotels were only made available for the rich and privileged individual; however, times have changed for the better with more hotels offering their unique services to individuals at a cheaper rate. These hotels are often situated in warmer climates, in luxury destinations that attract plenty of tourists.
Many of the luxury hotels offer various services with the majority of them giving unique experiences such as a sauna, steam room, massage, indoor and outdoor swimming pool, spa and beauty, hairdressing and a gymnasium. The hotels are based on their star rating which determines their level of service. Five star hotels are considered the most luxurious and very often the most expensive, but as mentioned earlier these are fast opening up to the wider public.
Staying in a luxury hotel can be considered a holiday in itself. Some of the top end hotels offer golfing, tennis courts and fitness classes. All of which are introduced by hotel reps and staff. All luxury hotels offer restaurant and bar entertainment and depending upon where you go they can very often provide local live music. Many people however, feel that experiencing such joys during a holiday break is difficult to obtain.
The problem is not necessarily the price but the availability. Hotels abroad that do offer five star treatment very often offer package deals or discounts every now and again to promote their services. However, with these offers come more people being attracted and taking up the space very quickly. Some of these offers are served on a first-come first-served basis, which can cause a lot of conflict for those looking to retreat at the same time.
Certainly, the main things that attract people to luxury hotels are the ability to experience the luxury lifestyle, which is usually in the form of being pampered and experiencing exquisite cuisines. Many of these luxuries can be experienced in your own hometown without the need to spend out a fortune on facials and pedicures. The main point in searching for good spa breaks or luxury hotels is making sure that you have a qualified professional tending to you.
The trouble with finding a cheap luxury hotel is that often you will find that you will get for what you pay for, which may mean experiencing only a limited amount of their services. Some packages may include booking a room for a certain number of days, in between a specific periods and receiving the final day free. These packages may include mini-facials, mini pedicure and back massage; I have soon learnt that over the years, the word ‘mini’ can often mean a taster experience rather than a full pampering.
One thing to bear in mind is that you must enquire and be clear about what is services are being offered. This will reduce any problems or issues that may occur when residing at the hotel.
Luxury hotels are ideal for newlyweds and hen nights, as they cater for people looking to relax and enjoy a romantic break away. This is certainly something that does not need to be a one off experience. With the right amount of research and knowing when to book, anyone willing is able to enjoy these kinds of breaks without the worry of falling short on money.