What’s your best travel/vacation tip?

[Anonymous]

If you get the post office to hold your mail, say that you'll pick it up around 3 days after you'll get home. We've arrived home a day late due to flight cancellations three times in the past year, but didn't arrive to all our mail sitting on the front porch because it was still being held. You can go pick it up early.

[Anonymous]

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. 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.

I took my oldest to Paris when he was 6. He enjoyed it at the time, and it was fun, but he's now 14 and remembers nothing of it except the climbing structure in Parc Monceau.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:May not work for everyone, but we intentionally booked a long stop over of 12 hrs at Tokyo from India to US on Japan Airlines. The tickets were cheaper, we travelled light with only two backpacks with change of clothes. Changed at the airport, exited the airport and enjoyed Tokyo for 7 hrs and were back in time for our connection.

It was hectic, but Japan has been on our wishlist for many years. We would 100% go back again someday. We were traveling premium economy, so that helped.

Along the same lines, Icelandair and TAP Portugal both have "free" stopover programs where you can stop in either country for a couple days before you head to your next destination.

[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. 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.

I took my oldest to Paris when he was 6. He enjoyed it at the time, and it was fun, but he's now 14 and remembers nothing of it except the climbing structure in Parc Monceau.

I'm taking my 4 year old to Paris next year because I myself miss it and want to go. However, I am now only booking hotels that are near fun playgrounds and things for him to do. So, I'll take a hotel next to Luxembourg gardens over one near Eiffel Tower.

[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?

I found for Mexico and Caribbean the price can go down a lot a week or two around the shoulder season, so like early May versus March/April. Also, for this year I found the lowest prices on 5-star hotels around Thanksgiving week for Mexico/Caribbean. As an example, I paid $5k for 4 nights at a just-OK resort during spring break this year. I now found out I can get a Four Seasons-level spot in the same area for the same $5k in late November. I'm not 100% sure about the weather then, though, but in my research I haven't seen any glaring red flags.

[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?

Really anything that is not winter break, spring break, or summer or other popular long weekends is good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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. 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.

I took my oldest to Paris when he was 6. He enjoyed it at the time, and it was fun, but he's now 14 and remembers nothing of it except the climbing structure in Parc Monceau.

I'm taking my 4 year old to Paris next year because I myself miss it and want to go. However, I am now only booking hotels that are near fun playgrounds and things for him to do. So, I'll take a hotel next to Luxembourg gardens over one near Eiffel Tower.

Our kids loved the carousel at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

[Anonymous]

The reason to travel with small children is because you want to do it. We took our kid to London, Rome, Mexico, Spain, Canada before she was 6. We have great memories from those trips and by slowing down and doing a kid-appropriate trip we had great experiences we would never have had otherwise (including some very fun playgrounds).

Seems very contradictory to me for PP to say don’t put off taking trips and also to say don’t do long/int’l trips before 8 — we would have missed out on a lot with 8 years of jo trips (or only visiting family). We left our kid home for one trip to Asia but otherwise we neither wanted to nor could leave her home regularly while we traveled.

Even if they don’t remember specifics of the trip I definitely think kids who travel young are more comfortable traveling when older, and we share our memories of the things we did together.

So I guess my tip is take your young kid if you will enjoy traveling with them, and to make it more enjoyable do things and a pace that works for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

We did cruises (Carribean, Panama canal, Alaska, etc..) with kids club from 1-7. It was great. The ship took us to destinations and we didn’t need to pack and lug stuff. DS LOVED kids club and we got adult time.

Once DS turned 7/8 we then started doing the international trips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Slim pouch with anything you can't afford to lose goes under clothing in every single large-ish Euro city.

I'm assuming you mean your wallet and phone - so how are you getting your wallet out from under your clothing every time you need to use it?

I wear separates and go to a quiet spot in a store and remove if needed. I carry some cash in pocket so I don’t do this for small transactions. But I also mean passport if you need to have on you (for a train journey for instance) my phone I have in a special theft proof crossbody with a tough lock.

lol. You think thieves are just waiting for you in every store?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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!

This all seems dubious. Etihad in South America?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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!

Yawn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It could be literally anything, just the one bit of advice you give to others. It could be location-specific, relaxation-specific, transportation-specific, packing-specific, etc.

What’s that one tip or piece of advice you just have to share?

travel is for the young or for the rich.

save the money, stay home.

get outside and ride a bike, take a hike, go kayaking.

get in touch with your surroundings.

be happy.

you dont have to torment yourself by travel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could be literally anything, just the one bit of advice you give to others. It could be location-specific, relaxation-specific, transportation-specific, packing-specific, etc.

What’s that one tip or piece of advice you just have to share?

travel is for the young or for the rich.

save the money, stay home.

get outside and ride a bike, take a hike, go kayaking.

get in touch with your surroundings.

be happy.

you dont have to torment yourself by travel.

Jesus, this is sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It could be literally anything, just the one bit of advice you give to others. It could be location-specific, relaxation-specific, transportation-specific, packing-specific, etc.

What’s that one tip or piece of advice you just have to share?

travel is for the young or for the rich.

save the money, stay home.

get outside and ride a bike, take a hike, go kayaking.

get in touch with your surroundings.

be happy.

you dont have to torment yourself by travel.

Why are you even on the Travel Discussion Forum?