Travel Tips

Whether this is your 1st holiday or your 25th, there’s always something you haven’t thought of or a new way of doing things.  I learn something new every holiday I go on. So I thought I’d pass along some tips and advice that might come in handy when travelling.

Money/Currency

Australian Currency – $50 & $20 notes

• When travelling with a group, it can become difficult working out who owes what when it comes to splitting bills eg. Meals and Transportation. I highly recommend a ‘kitty fund’ as a great alternative to paying for such things.
For example; Each person puts in $200, when you take a taxi somewhere, the kitty fund can be used to pay for it. Or if you go out for dinner, instead of asking the waitstaff to split the bill, just pay with the kitty fund. Make sure you choose a reliable person to be in charge of the kitty fund.  

American $1 Bills

• Taking with you on a holiday $5000 in cash is not the smartest idea, you could lose your wallet or have it stolen, plus it takes up room. Instead I opt for the Travelex Cash Passport VISA Card. You can purchase this card online, add money to it (free of commission) and top up the card with additional money while overseas. The card works much like an EFTPOS card in Australia, you can make transactions over the counter and pay using the card and pin number or you can withdraw money from an ATM Machine (withdrawal fees apply).

Baggage

Don’t get caught with too many bags or being overweight in your luggage.

• When travelling to and from the United States, you are permitted 2 x checked in suitcases of 23 kg. The only time you will have to pay for the 2nd piece of luggage is if your flight isn’t a connecting flight, for example; You fly Perth to Sydney with Tiger Airways and then board your Qantas/Virgin/Emirates etc flight to the United States. If however, you were flying Qantas/Virgin/Emirates etc to Sydney then boarding your connecting flight on the same airline to the United States, than your 2x pieces of luggage are free.
• If you have a world ticket and travel through the United States first, then you are permitted to have 2x checked in suitcases of 25kg for the remainder of your holiday regardless of the countries you travel to.

• Most airlines will allow one piece of checked in luggage for free and any additional baggage is charged accordingly. There have been an increasing number of internal flights (generally the budget airlines) that are now charging for even one piece of checked in baggage. Eg. Jetstar, US Airways, United, Tiger Airways, Air Asia etc.

Airline Recommendations
*Opinion based solely on my own experiences with each airline and only those that I have actually travelled with.
The Good
• Qantas – Good Service, particularly on International Flights. Fantastic flying record, food quality is high and facilities are good eg. Seats in good condition and screens behind chairs in good condition. Really good selection of films and television available on the in-flight entertainment.
• Singapore Airlines – Fantastic service, the staff are always friendly and smiling. Excellent selection for in-flight entertainment and good quality food offered.
• Emirates – For stopovers longer than 9 hours (and where no alternative connecting flight is available), Emirates provide a hotel room and free transportation and food.
• Virgin – Excellent flying Internationally. Good selection of in-flight entertainment and great service. Not at all like their domestic services which I find particularly bad in the United States. Pay an extra $150AUD for the exit row to gain extra leg room.
• Porter Airlines – A Canadian airline that appears to mainly cater for the East Coast of Canada and into some US Cities. Porter was a great little airline, providing a fully stocked kitchen in our stopover airport of Toronto. Free soft drink (soda) and snacks (chips, biscuits, fruit).

The Bad
• Tiger Airways – Little to no leg room and I am only 5ft 5in. Regularly change and cancel flights. Horrible customer service in terms of trying to contact them via their website (the phone number is almost never answered and they respond very rarely to emails).
• United Airways – Little to no leg room. Face to face customer service could do with an upgrade, as the staff rarely cracked a smile. Very strict with baggage weight.

Apps for your Phone/iPad

Tripcase – A fantastic free app that allows you to store your whole itinerary, flights and hotel bookings on one application.  As your flight times change, you receive notifications and Tripcase updates your itinerary accordingly.