What’s your best travel/vacation tip?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If traveling to Europe, try to get the latest possible flight you can. Air France has a 10.30 pm flight to Paris, Virgin had an almost-midnight flight to London.

Agreed on the late flights, but the details here are incorrect. Air France later flight is at 9:30 PM, it's United which has a 10:45 PM to Paris now. To London, United and BA have flights around 10:30 PM, unfortunately Virgin moved their departure much earlier to 6 PM- we were on the 9:30 PM departure a few years ago and it was great, we were asleep within 30 minutes after takeoff, woke up 45 minutes before landing, arrived into the city just before noon, not fully rested, but in pretty good shape overall.

AF schedule varies seasonally. I was on a 10.25 pm flight to Paris when we flew over spring break two months ago.

No that's not seasonal. It's because the US goes to daylight savings time 3 weeks before France and the UK (and I assume the rest of Europe). For the last 3 weeks of March pretty much all the flights shift an hour, and then fall back to their regular schedule once they go to daylight savings. I assume the same thing happens in October but have never looked for flights then- but it's only a week difference then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh and be nice and charming if something doesn’t go your way. The old adage of attracting flies with honey. I’ve been upgraded numerous times simply by being kind to the desk agent at hotels or airlines

Yeah that's not a thing anymore with airlines.

Yeah, that hasn't been a thing since 1973.

It worked for me about 10 years ago without trying. I was flying Etihad within South America. DH and I had a really long layover in Brazil and we were sitting nicely in the waiting area for like 10 hours. At some point I recall chatting with the gate agents who were also just kind of hanging around. Around hour 8 they called us up and offered us an upgrade for our flight from Brazil to Buenos Aires. Short flight, but that first class experience was awesome!

If you weren't "trying" it didn't "work for you."

? The op above just suggested being nice as a travel tip, that it sometimes results in upgrades. Nothing about "trying" for an upgrade. Pps said airlines no longer randomly give upgrades just bc someone was nice. I cited a somewhat recent experience where they had.

No upgrades for you with that attitude!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Don't waste foreign or long travel on a young child. I say confidently, nothing much they will see before age 8 will be remembered, and if they do, it will be inconsequential stuff.

Awww. My kids have been to every continent except for Antartica before they were 9, and they remember so much. Maybe a sea turtle "shaking" her hand underwater is inconsequential in the long run, but DD still felt like it was a magical experience snorkeling. International travel for kids isn't a necessity, but it's never a waste of money if you can spare it.

[Anonymous]

Never post about your travel on DCUM because everyone will tear every part of it to pieces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Don't waste foreign or long travel on a young child. I say confidently, nothing much they will see before age 8 will be remembered, and if they do, it will be inconsequential stuff.

Awww. My kids have been to every continent except for Antartica before they were 9, and they remember so much. Maybe a sea turtle "shaking" her hand underwater is inconsequential in the long run, but DD still felt like it was a magical experience snorkeling. International travel for kids isn't a necessity, but it's never a waste of money if you can spare it.

+1. I don't know what the "right" age is, but I felt like our long travels with the kids - even at a young age - did them more good than, say, the trip to Disney. If nothing else, the kids are now exceptional travelers. For a trip of 7-14 days, they don't need much more than what fits comfortably in the overhead airplane bin, they put up with long travel times without complaint, they can navigate airports and public transportation in foreign countries probably better than I can. And, they're fun to be with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Don't waste foreign or long travel on a young child. I say confidently, nothing much they will see before age 8 will be remembered, and if they do, it will be inconsequential stuff.

Awww. My kids have been to every continent except for Antartica before they were 9, and they remember so much. Maybe a sea turtle "shaking" her hand underwater is inconsequential in the long run, but DD still felt like it was a magical experience snorkeling. International travel for kids isn't a necessity, but it's never a waste of money if you can spare it.

+1. I don't know what the "right" age is, but I felt like our long travels with the kids - even at a young age - did them more good than, say, the trip to Disney. If nothing else, the kids are now exceptional travelers. For a trip of 7-14 days, they don't need much more than what fits comfortably in the overhead airplane bin, they put up with long travel times without complaint, they can navigate airports and public transportation in foreign countries probably better than I can. And, they're fun to be with.

+1

Also, taking my kids at young ages is for me. I love sharing those experiences with them. I look back and am so thankful we did it. Best moments of my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've got two:

1. Never travel abroad without immodium. Here's looking at you, Costa Rica.

2. Just take the trip. Stop waiting for the perfect time of year, or when you have enough money to do it in luxury or whatever is holding you back. For us, it's just going and taking whichever kids can join us instead of trying to line up the schedules of five young adult kids. Just go.

This is good advice. But carry immodium everywhere you travel, even domestically. You never know.

And also if you want to travel and can figure out a way to do it, just do it. You never know what tomorrow brings. There are enough regrets in life without making this one, too.

I carry Imodium and zofran on every trip. It’s saved me more than once! I like to travel a bit rougher and like to eat local food, so I pay for it occasionally.

Next door neighbor couldn’t make his flight because he couldn’t leave the airport bathroom. I guess it was a small airport and there weren’t any more flights that week and he was stuck.

[Anonymous]

For the PPs mentioning travel with younger/school age kids at non-premium times, when have you found the best non peak travel times, and to where?

[Anonymous]

Avoid the Lisbon airport. It's 2-3 hours of standing once you arrive on a redeye flight just to scan your passport and the Uber pickup point is not well marked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the PPs mentioning travel with younger/school age kids at non-premium times, when have you found the best non peak travel times, and to where?

Paris for Thanksgiving is amaaaazing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the PPs mentioning travel with younger/school age kids at non-premium times, when have you found the best non peak travel times, and to where?

We had great trips alone as a couple and with young kids in May- pretty much nice in May in most of the northern hemisphere. Mid-September is also good for warmer summer locations which don't end "the season" until end of September- beach towns in Italy and Spain, for instance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If traveling to Europe, try to get the latest possible flight you can. Air France has a 10.30 pm flight to Paris, Virgin had an almost-midnight flight to London. Try for these so you're ready to sleep when you board. Take a light sleeping aid to force sleeping.

Research your destination plan as much as possible. Book tickets ahead of time if available. Don't spend your vacation time waiting in lines if it can be avoided.

Don't worry about the food so much. A piece of bread with cheese bought off a market stall is an okay lunch.

Kids can walk much longer than you think.

Try not to check a bag. I tell the kids that every pair of pants is worn at least 3 to 4 times, a top at least twice (if not soiled). Carry 2 pairs of shoes always.

It's ok to forget stuff at home. Nothing is truly irreplaceable.

Take public transit at your destination. Don't be afraid.

When booking your flights, it helps to be flexible to save money. Most airlines will now have a calendar where you can see what your flight will cost across several months.

It's ok to miss a few days of school in elementary, and even middle.

Don't not travel if you cannot have your perfect trip. My DH cannot travel overseas right now so I travel with two older kids as much as I can. When it's time to travel all five of us, we will, but I won't let this hold me up. Don't not travel.

You can immediately tell a traveled person from a non-traveled one by their conversation.

Don't waste foreign or long travel on a young child. I say confidently, nothing much they will see before age 8 will be remembered, and if they do, it will be inconsequential stuff.

I agree with all of this except the last one; my daughter is 6 and has been to Europe several times and she remembers a lot of the trips and when we were there she enjoyed the trips she doesn't remember. She's a remarkably easy traveler now.

[Anonymous]

As much as you can, be opportunistic about flights. It can be hard to have one specific destination in mind for a specific time period (like, Christmas in Japan! or, Spring break in Paris!) but if you broaden your scope you can sometimes get great deals (e.g. Christmas in... Taiwan!, or Spring break in... Athens!).

I try to avoid checking bags but sometimes you can't help it -- I frequently return home with liquids -- or they annoyingly gate check them. But, regardless, be sure to have an extra change of clothes, your meds, and toothbrush/toothpaste stuff in whatever you carry on. I was parted from my bag on an international trip overnight once and had 90% of those things, but no extra socks or contact solution and had to wander a German airport-adjacent grocery store hunting down saline solution, which was not in stock. Learned my lesson on that.

On that topic, if you're traveling in Europe be aware of EU reg 261.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the PPs mentioning travel with younger/school age kids at non-premium times, when have you found the best non peak travel times, and to where?

Not the best weather, but we found cheap fares to Berlin and Paris in March.

[Anonymous]

I agree that traveling with young kids (say under 6 or 7) is a bit of a waste of time and not much fun. Before that age we tended to stick to visiting family. Plenty of time for amazing vacations afterwards.