Posted in Airports, Free Stuff, Health, Travel, Web Tips on 30 November 2007| Leave a Comment »
Welcome MSN Money smartSpending readers! We’re glad to have you with us! Now on to the goodies . . .
Some swear they’ve never gotten sick while traveling when using it; others call it a placebo. Just in time for the holiday cold and flu travel season, you can try it yourself for free and decide!
Request a free sample of new Airborne On-the-Go here.
Posted in Airports, Information, Packing, Safety, Travel on 28 November 2007| 15 Comments »
If you fly often, you know the drill: what (not) to wear, take off your jacket and shoes, empty your pockets, take out your laptop, take out your baggie of travel-sized liquids. If you don’t know at least these five things when you approach the security checkpoint, you are holding up everyone behind you. Your additional 30 seconds, and that of the man behind you and the woman behind him, add up to hours of extra wait time in airport security lines around the world every single day. Here’s what you can do to help.
Posted in Travel, Web Tips on 27 November 2007| 6 Comments »
1) Apply for a passport. There will soon be few trips Americans can take without one, so don’t be caught unprepared. Now is the best time to apply, before the rush begins again in January for summer travel. They won’t be getting any cheaper either, so there’s no hurt in getting yours now.
2) Snap some passport pictures. These needn’t cost you an arm and leg at your local Walgreens or photo studio. Check out Less Than a Shoestring’s proven tips for taking and printing passport pics yourself. Not only handy when you decide to apply for your passport or you need to have one replaced in an emergency, they are often required when applying for travel visas or for transportation (discount) cards abroad. Don’t forget: don’t smile! (Check out biometric guidelines around the world (US, UK, Finland).)
3) Photocopy your passport. A good copy is essential for speedy replacement if your passport is lost or stolen. Put one in each of the suitcases you regularly use (serves double-duty in case you lose your passport OR your luggage), tucked in an internal pocket, then forget about it. For good measure, scan your passport; depending on your paranoia level, keep a copy in a web-accessible email account, with someone you trust, or on the portable media holder/player you’ll be carrying.
4) Make an essential contacts sheet. Put together a Word or Excel document with the collect calling information for your credit card companies, insurance company and bank. Print out and keep with your passport copies in case of wallet theft, blocked ATM usage or a medical emergency.
Smart tips for what to do when emergencies strike abroad can be found here.
Posted in Carnivals, Information, Online Media, Travel, Web Tips on 26 November 2007| Leave a Comment »
Every Saturday starting December 8, Less Than a Shoestring will be highlighting budget travel posts from around the blogosphere. You want to be in on the action? Submit your travel posts (or encourage your favorite travel blogs to submit) by each Wednesday via Blog Carnival. You can find further details in the “carnivals” tab at the top of the page. I’ve created identical permalinks for submissions in the column on the right. I’m really looking forward to finding and sharing new sources of frugal travel inspiration!
Posted in Budget, Cheap Activities, City Tips, Drink, Food, Lodging, Online Media, Travel, USA on 25 November 2007| 7 Comments »
This week, “Frugal Traveler” Matt Gross of the NY Times details a weekend in Seattle. Again, he has the envy-worth budget of $500 for two days on the town (which I guess makes me a “grunge aficionado” in his book). We’ll look more closely at where his money goes after the jump.
Posted in Canada, Europe, Museums, Russia, Travel, Web Tips on 20 November 2007| 4 Comments »
One of the frustrations of being a tourist is often, well, other tourists. They’re everywhere you go; you can’t get away from them, right? (Now imagine how the locals feel.) In places like Florence, the sheer number of extra bodies between Duomo and Uffizi is simply overwhelming.
It’s not news that by traveling off the beaten path, you’ll run into fewer annoying tourists (like yourself). One of the easiest ways to do this, even in the world’s major cities, is to visit less popular (but no less fun) museums. I was inspired by Sheila over at Family Travel, who has a post on 8 Cool European Museums You’ve Never Heard of. After the jump, you can read my additional 8 picks.
Posted in City Tips, Europe, France, Germany, Information, Public Transport, Rail, Travel, Web Tips on 19 November 2007| 2 Comments »
It seems my whole world is on strike lately, what with not being able to ride the suburban trains here in Berlin or get my almost-daily “Daily Show” fix on the interwebs. It’s no good living 2 minutes from the S-Bahn station or having high-speed when your public servants of transportation and humor refuse to work.
While there is (sadly) nothing I can do about the writers’ strike, I can share a few tips on what you can do to lessen or avoid trouble during the current strikes in Paris and Germany.
Posted in City Tips, Food, Free Stuff, Information, Online Media, Shopping, Travel, USA, Web Tips on 16 November 2007| Leave a Comment »
Grace and Co. over at design*sponge have put together a number of city guides highlighting interesting retailers and restaurants in major cities across North America. While I expect most of the goods on display to tip the high end of the scale, there are a handful of secondhand and antique stores recommended and inspiration is always free.
Destinations covered thus far include Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Brooklyn, Charlotte, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Twin Cities, and Washington D.C. Locals and travelers alike — check ’em out.
Posted in Currency, Travel on 14 November 2007| 3 Comments »
It hurts, oh boy, does it hurt. I’m currently living in the heart of the euro zone on withdrawn U.S. funds, meaning I feel each fall of the dollar acutely. The expert prognosis isn’t looking good either. Maybe you’ve been chocking those U.S. price increases up to higher fuel costs, but the truth of the matter is all trade has gotten more expensive because our economy is weak and our deficit high. Just another reason to consider carefully who you vote for in 2008.
That doesn’t mean that you need to suffer as I do when you head off on your next vacation. I share three simple ways to mitigate the weakening of the dollar after the jump.
Posted in Airlines, Information, Reader Tips, Travel on 13 November 2007| 321 Comments »
Further passing on the costs of service directly to the consumer, RyanAir recently altered their check-in model. Whereas online check-in was formerly linked to priority boarding and was a privilege to be purchased for 6 euros, they have turned the tables and made online check-in the free standard, with anyone needing counter service (namely to check in a bag) charged an additional 3 euros per flight. I was surprised this didn’t happen sooner.
The problem here is that online check-in is only available to certain groups: most significantly, only passengers with EU/EEA passports. American? Australian? Indian? Out of luck. You have to pay to check in. Even more abhorrent is that the BLIND must pay to check in. Are these forms of discrimination even legal? It seems to me one thing to charge people if they choose to check in at a counter or are checking a bag, but if other people willing to check in online don’t have a choice simply because the system isn’t set up to handle them (and for no good reason; other European airlines allow foreign passengers to check in online) . . . that is me paying a tax on YOUR stupidity, RyanAir.
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