Additional Travel Time and Cost to Low-Cost Carrier Airports, Part I

I recently discovered a post by the folks over at SkyScanner entitled Satellite Airports – do you know where you’re going?  While I know that Schoenefeld Airport lies 17 rather than 71 km from Berlin, I did think the *idea* was a good one; nevertheless, the chart needed more information:  HOW do you get to and from the airport, HOW MUCH additional money will you shell out to get there, HOW MUCH LONGER will it take you to get to/from a more remote airport?  This is the information you really need in order to make an informed choice about whether or not that bargain airfare is as cheap as you think it is.

So without further ado, the first in a two-part series of charts outlining the nitty-gritty of how, how much and how much longer, today in Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Italy, UK and Poland:

AIRPORT	CITY	DISTANCE (km)	TRANSPORT OPTIONS	COST O/W	EST. TRANSIT TIME (min)
Charleroi	Brussels	47	Charter bus, local bus/train	€13; €10.50	60, 20+50
Skavsta	Stockholm	106	Charter bus, local bus/bus-train	SEK 150; SEK 21+89-135	80, 20+60-85
Torp	Oslo	86	Charter bus, train	NOK 180; from NOK 199	110
Bergamo	Milan	47	Charter bus, local bus/train	€8; €1.65+4.10	60, 30+60
Ciampino	Rome	38	Charter bus (1, 2), local bus/train, local bus/subway	from €5-8; €1+1.30; €1.20+1	40-45, 5+15, 15+25
Pisa	Florence	70	Charter bus, (local bus/)train	€8; €(0.95+)5.60	70; (5+)65
Treviso	Venice	31	Charter bus, local bus/train	€6; €1+2.35	70, 15+35
Forli	Bologna	67	Charter bus (1, 2), local bus/train	€10-12; €3.50+3.90	85, 15+60
Stansted	London	56	Charter bus (1, 2), express train	from £2-8; from £14	75, 45
Luton	London	52	Charter bus (1, 2), express train (1, 2)	from £7-10; £10-11	70, 25-35
Katowice	Krakow	100	Charter bus (1, 2) local bus/bus (1, 2)-train	44 zl; 20 zl + 12-16 zl	120, 50+70-100

If you have a request for information about a mystery airport, send it along post-haste, via comment or email, and I’ll include it in the next chart.

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Travel on a Shoestring Carnival: Europe #5

Welcome to the fifth Travel on a Shoestring Carnival for Europe. Here you’ll find European travel tips for those without a lot of money to spend.

Photographic inspiration this week comes from yours truly, one of the many intricate details I captured (in this case, a carved door) in June at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

If you’re headed to Spain in August, you’ll want to pop over to Karen Bryan at Europe a la Carte Blog who has a lead on 10 Euro Spanish Saver Rooms from Travelodge.  (I’m surprised no one commented the rooms are so cheap because — as I was told by locals on my trip in June — August is simply too hot to enjoy traveling there!  Make sure that room has air conditioning, I guess.)

Just a hop, skip and a jump away is lovely Lisbon.  Pennypinchers will welcome Kristie‘s advice on Where To Stay In Lisbon, Portugal posted at Norway – An American In Oslo.

If you find yourself on your last krona before flying home, Anna Etmanska gives the lowdown on overnight options at Stockholm’s Arlanda airport in Shopping and Sleeping Part 2 at Budget Trouble.

The Amateur Traveler updates us on what’s new from the road in England and Greece Revisited – Episode 138. 

Carter Dougherty outlines how to get away from the city for a perfect Riesling in Frankfurt, Wine and the Rheingau at IHT Globespotters Blog.

If you’d rather drink with your eyes, take a tip from Sheila Scarborough and head to Belgium to enjoy Artful color: Carpet of Flowers in Brussels at Perceptive Travel Blog.

EuroCheapo Blog has had some great guest posts on getting around Europe cheaply on trains.  You’ll want to check out both European rail passes: Read this before you buy and France Night Train Alert: €15 couchettes through July 14.

Wrapping up, it seems that everyone’s got Paris on the brain.   NYT travel writer Elaine Sciolino presents Hidden Gardens of Paris and Budget Travel’s This Just In had an article by Laurie Pike on Affordable Europe:  In Paris, Secret Spots for Visitors.  When you’re knackered and longing for a taste of home, Joe Schmid of the IHT Globespotters Blog can help you out with his article Parisburgers: Finding the Great American Meal in France.

Thanks to everyone for contributing! If you’d like to see your post on budget European travel in August’s carnival, submit using our online form. Next week, we’ll be back to North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Submit your posts for that carnival before next Wednesday!

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Baring My Budget: Rostock and Warnemünde

A weekend daytrip to the Baltic coast from Berlin for under 13 euros?  Here’s how it broke down.

Transportation Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+ Schönes Wochenende Ticket, split 5 ways:  7 euros

Subtotal: 7 euros

Food and Drink Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
+ Ice cream: 1.50 euros
+ Coffee and pastry in a cafe: 2.25 euros
+ Bottle of cold beer at the train station:  1.67 euros

Subtotal: 5.42 euros

Other Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + toilet, Warnemünde train station: .50 euros

Subtotal: 0.50 euros

---

 TOTAL: 12.92 euros

That doesn’t include the freebies we took advantage of:
+ maps of Rostock and Warnemünde from the Rostock tourist information
+ leisturely walk through historic city center and along the port area of Rostock
+ hours of sunshine, at the Rostock port and on the Warnemünde beach (bring your sunscreen and avoid the wicked sunburn!)
+ shell collecting and beach walking at sunset

This trip followed my typical no-budget rules: ride public transport (€7 for ~5 hours in the train to/from Rostock plus the S-Bahn ride to Warnemünde), eat groceries (we packed enough food along — yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, sandwiches, veggies and dip, tea in a thermos – to tide us over between ice cream pit stops), do lots of cheap or free activities.  That said, the trip could be done even *more* cheaply if one remained strict about not purchasing any food or drink.  We found prices to be incredibly reasonable; however, if you’re going to “splurge,” they are lowest in Rostock, which has far fewer (docked cruise-ship) tourist hordes.

If you’re just looking for a day at the beach, it is possible to skip Rostock completely and head straight to Warnemünde — but we found the quiet and restfulness of the city of Rostock (on a Sunday) a welcome foil to the busy den between train station and beach in the resort of Warnemünde.

Wondering where else in Europe you can travel so cheaply? Check out my other budgets:
Baring My Budget:  Madrid and Barcelona
Baring My Budget: Malta
Baring My Budget: Stockholm
Baring My Budget: Hamburg
Baring My Budget: Venice
Baring My Budget: London
Baring My Budget: London, Take 2

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Two Hours in . . . Berlin Hauptbahnhof, Part II

Yesterday’s post on Berlin main train station layovers described a lovely picnic location in a nearby park. If you can’t forgo sightseeing for two hours, however, there are two options within short distance of the station:

• Chancellory / Reichstag / Brandenburg Gate / Holocaust Monument

Check your luggage at the train station and head out from the Washingtonplatz entrance. You should already see the Chancellory waiting across the Spree. Cross the bridge over the river and head towards it. You’ll pass between the Chancellory and the Paul Löbe Haus (Bundestag offices) — from here, looking both left and right, you can see the architect’s intentional symbolism of transparency in government.

Around the corner, the Reichstag comes into view. In winter, or between 6 and 10 p.m. year-round, you may have a good chance of ascending to the top in 30 minutes or less — expect to spend at least 30 minutes inside the dome as well. At other times and on weekends, waits alone may exceed 2 hours. If you must get to the top on a limited schedule, the only other way in is to make (and keep!) reservations at Käfer, the restaurant atop the building. You can find an online reservation request form here. It offers spectacular views and reasonable value for the price — try to hit lunch (soups ~ 9 euros, salads ~ 14 euros) or Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake ~ 7 euros) time instead of the pricier dinner hour.

With half a day, you could request a guided tour of the building, which all end at the viewing dome. It is best to send your requests in advance, but it is possible to pop over even at the last minute at the scheduled tour times to see if space is available (enjoy the sights, but don’t expect English explanations in such a case, however). Amazingly, all visits to and tours of the Reichstag are FREE!

From the rear of the building, follow the masses across the street and down the block to the Brandenburg Gate. If you have extra time, the Holocaust Memorial is just a bit further up the street. If instead you find yourself short on time, hop on the M85 bus (ask for the cheaper “Kurzstrecke” ticket) from either the Memorial or the Reichstag which will take you right back to the main train station.

• Hamburger Bahnhof — Museum for Modern Art

Exiting the main station on Europaplatz, head towards the right, walking along Lehrter Str.; the museum is located about a 7-minute walk from the station, on the opposite side of the street. Closed Mondays; open Tuesday-Friday 10-18; Saturday 11-20; Sunday 11-18. Admission price: 8 euros for adults, 4 euros for students with valid ID. Admission free Thursdays after 2 p.m.

If this all still seems confusing, why don’t you try following my Google map?

Wondering about the stuffed rabbit featured in the photo? Check out the post ITB Impressions: Send Your Teddy Bear on Vacation.
Find other posts from the Two Hours in . . . series here.

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Travel on a Shoestring Carnival: Asia, Oz #5

Welcome to the fifth Travel on a Shoestring Carnival for Asia, Oz. Here you’ll find Asian, Australian, New Zealand and Oceania travel tips for those without a lot of money to spend.

Photographic inspiration comes to us this week from Alan D. Newton. You can read all of the details about his visit to Hachioji City, Japan, at Global Eye: Takaosan Buddhas posted at Intelligent Travel.

Laura Morelli describes when and where to get your batik on authentically in The Genuine Article: Malaysian Batik at National Geographic Traveler.

Donald Morrison changes his mind about public transportation in the Chinese capital in The New Beijing Subway: Suddenly, a Pretty Good Ride posted at IHT Globespotters.

Steve Madsen presents free, historical highlights of Canberra in his series Australia’s Capital Treasures posted at Exit Row Seat.

Angelinaaahh has three currency exchange tips for those on their way to Phnom Penh in Riel-ing and Dealing in Cambodia posted at Wanderus. If you’re headed on to Thailand, you might also want to read her recommendations in Trekking Through Chiang Mai.

But first, don’t forget to check out Andrej‘s collection of things you might find useful to know Before you go to Thailand posted at ThailandTime: Bangkok & Thailand!

Never go hungry in Singapore or Malaysia after Austin Hill‘s rundown of local food courts in How To: Eat At A Hawker Center posted at Travellious, saying, “One of the best ways to eat cheaply in relatively expensive Singapore is to hit up stands at hawker centers. I give you the low down on how to do it right.”

Jeet has all the info you’ll need for a trip to Mysore, India, posted at Traveling Beats.

Tired of getting socked by currency conversion fees (or don’t know whether or not your credit card is profiting wildly on your overseas purchases)? Raymond to the rescue with his List Of Credit Card Foreign Currency Transaction Fees posted at Money Blue Book.

Finally, a great resource to start planning your trip the internet way is Niharika‘s post on the 50 Best Web 2.0 Travel Tools at Travelhacker.

Thanks to everyone for participating. Submit your blog article (or encourage your favorite travel bloggers to submit) to the next edition of Travel on a Shoestring: Asia, Oz using the carnival submission form. Next week this time we travel to South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Antartica. You can still submit your posts to that carnival till Wednesday.

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Travel on a Shoestring Carnival: Americas #5

Welcome to the fifth Travel on a Shoestring Carnival for the Americas. Here you’ll find North American, Central American and Caribbean travel tips for those without a lot of money to spend. 

This week’s photographic inspiration comes from the Canada article at DirectoryM.  The entry is loaded with tons of information about the country, including a really interesting section on distinctly Canadian cuisine. Now let’s get down to business!

If you’re in the mood for a city vacation, you’ll want to check out the following posts:

+ Montreal.  In Montreal is for [Vietnamese Food] Lovers posted at The Ironic Mullet TM :: Culture and food from a traveler’s perspective :: The Tiny Guide, Lee Ann Westover deliberates the cheapest way to get there from NYC and runs down your best options for authentic pho.

+ Boston.  Marilyn Terrell’s post Beantown is Greentown at Intelligent Travel describes bike rental options and other green travel ideas.

+ Abingdon.  On I-81 between Knoxville and Roanoake, not far from the TN-NC-VA border, lies a unique historical theater.  Read about this cultural excursion in Joanne Scarborough‘s post GB Shaw wanted spinach: the Barter Theatre at Perceptive Travel Blog.

+ Using public transport.  Penny Nickel presents 15 tips for a frugal, relaxing, earth-friendly vacation that’s car-free! posted at Money and Values.

• Penny Nickel doesn’t have you convinced?  Read the measured deliberations of the Global Traveler in Should You Rent A Car On Vacation? posted at Traveling Around The World.
• Maybe you’re considering an RV vacation as a way to cut travel and accommodation costs?  You’ll want to check out Aaron‘s advice in Top 10 Tips for buying an older used RV posted at Trailer Trash Traveler.

+ Booking hotels for less.  Ybother lays out the basics of using Hotwire, from figuring out which hotel you’re booking to making sure the room you book meets your expectations, in Using Hotwire? 10 Hot Tips on Booking Hotels via Hotwire posted at A Top Ten List Everyday to Jumpstart Your Knowledge.

If want to get back to nature, try on the following posts for size:

+ Matthew Paulson presents Camping Frugally: Spending Less in the Wilderness posted at The Travel Advocate.

+ Julie Bloss Kelsey presents Website of the Week: National Park Service posted at Mama Joules, saying, “Tips for navigating the National Park Service website before you head out on your next trip.”

Perhaps you’re headed for an island vacation instead?

+ Global Traveler presents Budget Traveling In The Caribbean posted at Traveling Around The World, saying, “The Caribbean is a great place to travel at any time of the year for a tropical island vacation.”

+ The Traveling Mamas were on location in Hawaii and have a bunch of great posts on cheap experiences.  Try Molokai Sunset on Papohaku Beach, Mama on the Move – Hawaii Hiking to Petroglyphs, or, if you’re hungry, Where to Eat a Great Fast Food Lunch in Hawaii.

+ Ron presents Museums on the Big Island of Hawaii posted at Your Aloha Connection.

If you’re looking to save money on plane tickets, have a gander at:

+ Raymond presents The Best Frequent Flyer Airline Miles Credit Cards For Cheap Flights posted at Money Blue Book.

+ Linda W. presents Getting To The Caribbean posted at The Eclectic Female, saying, “If you’re planning a trip to the Caribbean, you probably automatically started looking up flights to the area.”

• You’ve got your flight and want to hit the ground running?  Lars presents Help Preventing Jet Lag – New Study, New Advice posted at InsightsandAdvice.com.

Can’t afford to fly?  Then take the bus instead!  Jack Norell presents Bus travel around the world posted at Eyeflare – Travel Articles and Tips, saying, “Bus travel is often as budget as you can get. Cheaper than trains, but faster than walking, here are some of the best cheap bus operators in the world.”

General tips for budget travel come to us this week from:

+ Heather Hills with 10 Best Ways to Travel on a Budget posted at Chick Vacations, Women Travel.

+ Heather Johnson with 10 Frugal Travel Tips for Your Summer Vacation posted at FIRE Finance.

+ Amanda S reminds us they’re not expensive if you share in Timeshare On A Budget posted at RCI member informer.

+ Matthew Paulson tells us how to do it all on the company dime while saving a nickel in How to Go on Business Trips & Come Home With Extra Money posted at The Travel Advocate.

Andy Fletcher shows us how to have a good time with just 51 cents in The Souvenir Smashed Penny Collector posted at Andy Fletcher’s Custom Trains Blog.

When staying in someone else’s home, it is expected you act considerately towards your host. Tip Diva presents Tip Diva | Top Ten Tips – Being A Considerate House Guest, saying, “When you’re traveling, a friend or family member may offer you a room for a night, a week or even longer. Even though you may be close to the person, you’re still a guest, and there are some things that every gracious person should know.”

• For even more advice on this topic, check out my post “The Art of Being a Gracious Houseguest.”

Wrapping up this week, minnemom reflects on the reason behind the vacation weekend in Memorial Day Observance posted at Travels with Children, saying, “While not describing a particular destination per se — an observance like this can be found around the country — I think it is important to stop and pay tribute, and not to think of “holidays” as just “vacations.” Maybe we can all take some time out of our travels for observances such as this.”

Thanks to everyone for participating. Submit your blog article (or encourage your favorite travel bloggers to submit) to the next edition of Travel on a Shoestring: Americas using the carnival submission form. Next week this time we travel to Asia, Australia, New Zealand and Oceania. You can still submit your posts to that carnival till Wednesday.

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Tuesday Mailbag

Help *me* feel the love!  There’s just two more days for you to give me your advice on Frankfurt-Hahn and surrounds, Cologne/Bonn, Seville and Granada.  Everyone leaving a comment has a chance to win a modest prize, hand-selected from each destination by yours truly.  So get entering!

Carla from Phoenix is planning some extensive travel around the Midwest, “Chicago to Madison, from Madison to Minneapolis, from Ann Arbor to Chicago from Chicago to Iowa City and Urbana,” and wanted to know the cheapest options for getting around.

It makes most sense to look at the major ground carriers: Greyhound, Megabus and Amtrak.  If you’re willing to share rides, Craigslist for each of those cities should come up with a list of people offering space in their cars (for example, Minneapolis); don’t overlook university websites, either – try contacting the student government at each university for more information on online ride boards.  If you have more money, you can fly between the bigger destinations.  Naturally there is also car rental as an option.  What’s right for you will depend on both the budget and the time frame involved.

Dana from Durham wanted to know what detergent to carry for travel laundry needs.

If you are cheap or have allergies, it is possible to use the laundry detergent you have on hand while on the road. If you use a liquid, pour some over into a 100ml or less travel bottle and carry in your liquids bag. If you use a powder, half a snack-size baggie should be more than enough for your trip.

Popular in Europe are “travel tubes” of handwashing detergent.  You can get these tubes for under a euro at any drugstore.  Unfortunately, most are 125 or 200 ml, making them too large to fly in carry-on luggage.  I did find a travel-sized tube of Burti, but 30 ml struck me as quite small!  I will purchase the mini Burti for my upcoming trip and report back.

In a pinch, shampoo is always quite good — it smells nice, breaks down oils, is readily available and cheap!

Next cheapest option is simply buying detergent wherever you arrive. A bottle of store-brand detergent can be found for $2-3 in most any grocery or drug store.

Then for convenience and peace of mind, there are travel-sized packets of Tide or Woolite for washing, Shout Wipes for instant pre-treating. 

Finally, a worthwhile addition to the travel laundry kit is Febreeze — it handily takes the stink out of smoky, sweaty clothes when you don’t have time to wash. There are now ”Febreeze-to-Go” bottles that are TSA-friendly, but you can pour over any bottle you already have into a mini spray container or atomizer.

Patricia from Norman wanted to know how to best exchange money when arriving in [insert developed country here].

Most straightforward and cheapest is an ATM withdrawl.  There will certainly be cash machines at any international airport; often if you google for the airport in question, you can even find which banks have ATMs and where they are located, which can save you withdrawl fees if your bank has international partners.  Don’t forget to call your bank and credit-card companies in advance and warn them of your impending international transactions; otherwise, you may find yourself blocked off from your own money, for your own security!

You should ALWAYS have at least one backup method; if your primary method is electronic (i.e. credit or ATM), be sure your secondary method is physical currency, such as cash or traveler’s cheques.  $100 in backup is enough to get you through a pinch, if necessary. 

Megan from Ithaca wrote with a plea on behalf of international exchange students:

American families can help make international travel and education affordable for high school exchange students by hosting these young travelers. If you have seen the world and relied upon the generosity and kindness of the international travel community, I encourage you to give back by hosting a young adventurer. Volunteer host families in the U.S. are hard to come by these days, but they are the reason that many of these students are able to visit the U.S., learn English and share their culture with us. To those of you who have hosted, I thank you on behalf of the international education community. For those of you who have considered hosting and have not, please take that next step – reach out and help a student study in the U.S.!

Even if you cannot take someone into your home for a school year, remember there are lots of ways for you to help foreign students while they are in your country:  invite them over to celebrate holidays with your family; take them along on an outing, excursion or vacation; drive them around (since they don’t have driver’s licenses and cars, even trips to the mall are welcomed!); teach them how to cook a local specialty and let them cook theirs in your kitchen; etc.  Start the good karma rolling by reaching out just once this year to an international student (university as well as high school students).  College students, it is so easy for you to extend hospitality by simply inviting the kid from down the hall to go to the dining hall with you or to accompany you on your next Target run!  They will be grateful for your efforts, I promise.

That’s all for this round.  If you’ve got a question, feel free to shoot me an email via the contact form. 

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Wednesday Transportation Update

RyanAir is making some changes to its fees structure that passengers should be aware of: for all flights booked after May 5, checked baggage fees are increasing to £8/€10 for the first bag booked online (£16/€20 if purchased at the airport), £16/€20 for each additional bag (max. 3 total) whether online or airport. This does not include the mandatory airport check-in fee for luggage checkers, which has also been raised to £4/€5 whether online or airport. RyanAir claims they will continue to raise this price until meeting their goal of 50% of travelers checking in online with no checked luggage! The quick math on this one: if you plan on checking one bag (max. 15kg), you will add an additional £12/€15 (travelers with multiple bags will pay up to £52/€65 extra, even if they stay within regulations) to each leg of your journey. Put another way, pack less and carry on, you’ll trim at least £24/€30 off your round-trip travel costs. Even if you invest that money at your destination in large bottles of liquids, clothing items or books you might not fit in up-front, you can still come out ahead.

Another fee change is that priority boarding will no longer be included “free” for web check-in customers. It will now cost an increased £4/€5 for everyone, and can be purchased for the same price whether booking online or last-minute at the airport. At the same time, they are making it possible to change passenger names online., but have yet to update their fee schedule to include the change. I’ll update here with the information as soon as it’s available. You’ll now pay the same £80/€100 to do it yourself (naturally they’ve increased the call centre fees for this service to £120/€150)!

Also important to note is that RyanAir is no longer accepting “Advance Passenger Information” (APIS) at the airport, instead requiring passengers to submit this information online at least four hours prior to their flight. APIS is collected for use by the Spanish authorities on all passengers traveling from Poland, Slovakia, Morocco, Malta, the UK and Ireland. If you have not submitted this information, you will be denied check-in! It is easiest to fill out the APIS at the same time you purchase your ticket. You should be prompted following checkout, otherwise instructions are included on your booking receipt.

Finally, the airline has announced new routes for the fall. The last week of October, RyanAir will begin flying from Bremen to Fuerteventura, Gothenburg, Marrakesh, and Tenerife; Bournemouth to Milan and Paris; Glasgow to Faro, Malaga, and Tenerife; and Marseille to Agadir, Brest, Lille, Nador, and Tangier.

Better find another way to San Jose: This Just In is reporting that Megabus is ending service in California and adding East Coast service between NYC and Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Buffalo, Atlantic City, and Toronto. Fares starting at just $1 (plus 50-cent fee per reservation) are available at the website; random searching of these new routes brought up plenty of $1-$5 fares for the coming three months, but it certainly pays to book early.

Megabus has also expanded their popular Midwestern service to include routes to Normal and Champaign, IL, Columbia, MO and Memphis, TN since I first posted about them in January.

Finally, while higher gasoline and diesel prices have sent airfares through the roof and launched a trend of “staycationing” across the U.S., drivers and travelers across the world are also feeling the pinch — to the tune of three times what American drivers are paying per gallon. In Europe, one finds it’s often cheaper to fly — even domestically — than to fill the tank and drive; most of the rest of the world has developed rail systems, which provide a cheaper and stress-free alternative to driving or renting a car. If you’re in a city, the New York Times reminds us that mass transit is the best way to go. And when the going gets tough, you’ll find some Europeans are bucking their high gas prices by leaving the continent completely . . . for a bargain-basement driving vacation in the U.S.! It’s all about perspective, isn’t it?

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Sunday Transportation Update

Planes, trains and automobiles! We’ve got it all in this week’s news roundup.

Traveling around the UK over a bank holiday weekend can lead to major delays on public transportation, warns Pam Kent of the IHT Globespotters Blog. In a recent post (inspired by tomorrow’s holiday), she notes,

Network Rail, the government body that looks after the rail network, tries to schedule engineering work on weekends, particularly those with a public holiday tagged on. That may be a plus for business travellers and commuters. But if you want to get away on a public holiday weekend, beware!: . . . [this weekend] major road and rail disruptions are expected, including the complete closure of the main railway line north out of London, between Euston and Birmingham. There are alternative routes to destinations on this stretch but they are not as direct. 20 per cent of the network will be undergoing improvement – in many cases replacement bus services are laid on for the stretches that are closed – but these lengthen the journey time considerably.

It’s always a good idea to find the transportation authority websites of your destinations before you travel and note (or bookmark) the section on delays, construction and strike warnings.

Greyhound has announced a new service in the vein of other low-cost bus services called NeOn, connecting Toronto and New York twice daily. A limited number of seats on each 10-hour ride (ugh!) are available for the low, low price of $1. The good news: like BoltBus, the buses are equipped with WiFi and each seat has its own outlet to power laptops and portable DVD players. Even more good news: in celebration of its launch, all seats from May 29 through June 1 will sell for just $1.

If you’re planning to book, here’s the salient pricing info: maximum round-trip (refundable) fare is $165 (excepting holiday periods, when the maximum fare rises to $192). 1-day advance purchase will net you $150, 2-day $120, 3-day $90, 4-day $50, 5-day $30, 6-day $2 round trip. However, discounted fares are strictly limited, with no more than 5 seats each (searching shows max. 3 at $2 and $30 and max. 4 at $50 and $90) at the lowest four levels. It pays to book these tickets early! $1 tickets are now available for itineraries till September; check the booking website directly for more details.

Thanks to This Just In for the tip!

Finally, unless you live under a rock, you’ve likely heard the news that American Airlines will begin charging passengers for all checked luggage. This follows the announcement in February of $25 fees for the second piece of checked luggage, a move which quickly became standard across U.S. legacy carriers. Price for the first piece of checked baggage on all American flights after 15 June is $15. Interestingly, there’s still no mention of the change on the airline’s luggage FAQs. While this is standard fare among low-cost carriers in Europe (a checked bag on RyanAir currently costs the equivalent of $21, including the necessary airport check-in fee), the public is likely to react negatively to perceived nickel-and-diming by major (read: expensive) airlines. Here’s hoping the rest of the industry doesn’t follow suit this time . . . In the meanwhile, keep honing your carry-on packing skills, just in case.

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Random Travel Tips #3

+ Before you take off on your trip, purge your wallet of all unnecessary cards (library cards, gift cards, Blockbuster, etc.) and leave them at home. Better yet, use a different wallet for your trip and selectively and consciously put items you need (ATM card, credit card, insurance information, driver’s license if you’ll be renting a car) into it. Not only does this lighten the weight, it also minimizes the costs and hassle should your wallet be lost or stolen.

+ Speaking of petty theft, many travelers already know that keeping your valuables in a difficult-to-reach place helps protect them from pickpockets. If they don’t know where you’re keeping your money, they can’t steal it, right? Two more useful tools in the fight against five-finger losses: 1) a plastic bus pass holder for your transportation tickets and 2) a coin purse. Instead of pulling out your entire wallet, simply flash your pass or use the coins (or small bills) in the coin purse to pay for most of your daily transactions. Keeping these items separate keeps your wallet more secure!

+ Universities are a great resource for a no-budget traveler. Head to the library for free internet access, photocopiers, and lockers where you might stash your luggage. When desperate, head there for free bathrooms and taps to fill your water bottle. During the daytime, the university’s cafeterias offer inexpensive hot meals.  If you need assistance, university staff and students are the native population most likely to speak English well.

+ Still thirsty? During working hours, many banks offer water coolers in their lobby, with both hot and cold varieties available.

+ Traveling on the German Autobahn, you will soon discover that the restrooms at rest stops are monopolized by a company called Sanifair. Your 50-cent admission purchases a coupon that not only gets you in and out of the turnstiles to the toilet but also grants you a face-value discount on any purchase at the rest area. These coupons are good for one year and fully transferable, so save them up or pool the tickets from your travel group to purchase meals, drinks and snacks for free!

+ Didn’t find one postcard for sale in the small town you visited, or simply didn’t have a chance to pick some up? Head to the post office; they almost always have local postcards for sale, and while their selection is generally limited, it is better than nothing when your loved ones are expecting mail! Bonus is the post office can also sell you the appropriate postage at the same time.

Thanks to Megan for help with this list!

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