11 Expert Travel Hacks To Make Your Trip Smooth and Easy

11 Expert Travel Hacks To Make Your Trip Smooth and Easy

Travel should be a wonderful adventure, not an agonizing and endless stream of situations which you must handle. Experienced travelers understand the best ways to make traveling simple and fun. Whether you’re going on vacation or traveling for business, use these expert travel hacks to make your journey easy.

1. Book your flight when it’s cheapest. Generally, the airlines offer the best rates almost two months ahead of time. Planning your journey at least 50 days out from your departure date can get you the best deals. As a rule of thumb, the cheapest flights tend to be between 6 PM and midnight. The exception to that is Friday when lots of people are looking for last-minute getaways

2. Book your flights in pieces. Direct flights are almost always more expensive than flights with multiple legs. Breaking your journey into smaller sections with short layovers brings the best savings.

3. Leave your wheels at home. As airlines look for more ways to charge people, wheelie bags are no longer so welcome in the overhead bins. You will often be forced to check your bag with wheels. The solution is a small duffel or carryall bag. These flat bottom bags will hold your clothing and essentials and will fit more easily into the overheads.

4. Check the lines. When going through security, get into the line with the business travelers. They don’t have time to waste and tend to understand the ins and outs of security lines. Stay out of the lines with families because they take longer to get through security.

5. Roll your clothes, don’t fold them. Rolling will keep everything wrinkle-free. As a bonus, you can tuck anything easily damaged, like chargers or shavers inside a rolled piece of clothing.

6. Pre-download your destination from Google Maps to your phone before you leave. Let your phone’s GPS guide you without the need to use local mobile data rates.

7. If you must check your luggage, mark it as fragile. Doing this keeps your bag at the top of the pile and helps ensure your luggage is handled appropriately.

8. Always pack a towel. A reasonably sized towel won’t add much weight, and you never know when you might need one.

9. Pack an extra bank card and credit card. Travelling is safe, but thieves are everywhere. The worst thing when traveling is to lose access to your money.

10. Choose your cards carefully. Banks make lots of money on foreign transaction fees and ATM fees. Take cards with you that is fee free. They might seem like much one at a time, but fees for using your cards add up fast.

11. Make copies of your passport and other important documents. Passports get lost or stolen every day. It’s much easier to file police reports and get replacement documents if you have copies.

The world is a big place with thousands of fascinating destinations to enjoy. The best way to travel is with as little stress as possible. Use these expert travel hacks to make your journey a dream come true, not a nightmare you’ll never forget.