Liz Weston: Three lessons I wish I could learn more about travel #Liz #Weston #lessons #learned #sooner #travel Welcome OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
Almost every trip tells me something about myself, the world, and what I shouldn’t do next time. Here are three hard-earned travel lessons that may help you learn from my mistakes.
Cobling flights together is not worth the savings
Book direct flights whenever possible. Nonstop may be a bit more expensive, but it avoids the inconvenience of layout and the stress of potential loss of connectivity.
Of course, direct flights may not be available or affordable. What you don’t want to do is learn from a bitter experience, but especially if you’re dealing with luggage or customs, you’re trying to save money by booking flight legs with a variety of unaffiliated airlines. increase.
In 2017, my husband, daughter, and I flew to London, and Barcelona, Spain. That part went well. The nightmare is back. The flight from Barcelona to London was delayed. When landing at Heathrow Airport in London, pick up your baggage at the baggage claim, go through customs, check your baggage at another airline’s ticket counter in another terminal, go through security and sprint to the gate , Connect — all in about an hour.
For some reason, incredibly we brought the plane home, but my heart continued to throb until we crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Now I try to book through a single airline and its partners. Our luggage is checked through to the final destination and flight delays are an issue for airline corrections.
Make sure you have insurance
For years, I traveled around the world cheerfully, not thinking about what would happen if I got sick or injured far away from home. Then my dad suffered a stroke while visiting his sister in Florida. A medical evacuation flight to return him to his home in Washington cost more than $ 100,000, with the necessary attendants and other necessary medical care.
Sadly, I haven’t recovered enough to make such a flight. But I realized how vulnerable I was, especially traveling to places with poor medical care. Now, whenever I leave home, I make sure I have travel insurance, including medical evacuation. If you’re traveling outside the United States, make sure you also have health insurance.
Nowadays, travelers also need to worry about COVID-19. The U.S. has withdrawn the requirement that incoming travelers test negative for COVID-19, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises banning travel if there are symptoms or if the test is positive. increase. This is because unexpected hotel and meal costs can take a week or two, so travel insurance covers COVID-related costs, such as $ 250 per person per day for the “travel delay” part. Make sure you have a high limit.
While traveling, other issues may occur, such as flight delays and cancellations, lost baggage, and car rental accidents. I charge all of our trips with a credit card that covers such minor disasters. I especially like the coverage of the major types of rental cars. This means that the car insurance company does not need to know that you caused an accident or damaged your rental car. According to the Insurance Information Institute, many cards offer secondary coverage. This usually means that you need to notify the insurance company and the card will only pay the amount that the insurance does not pay.
This is a lesson that I didn’t have to struggle to learn. When the car rental company tried to charge me the sound of the door, I notified the credit card company. I don’t know if the claim was paid or withdrawn. I know I didn’t have to deal with it after that.
Beware of third-party booking sites
Many credit cards offer general travel benefits that can be transferred to the issuer’s airline or hotel partner. However, some credit card companies also offer their own travel portals. These are very similar to online travel agencies such as Expedia and Orbitz, where you can search for different travel agencies and book using your points.
I usually don’t use an online travel agency because I think booking directly will give me better customer service. But earlier this year, I decided to give the travel portal option a whirlwind — and lived to regret it.
When I booked a flight from Los Angeles to Vienna with my credit card points, I had a stopover in Istanbul. A few weeks after booking, I received an email stating that the section from Istanbul to Vienna was cancelled.
I logged on to the airline’s site hoping that I would be offered the option to rebook the canceled segment. Instead, I got a message that I couldn’t change my itinerary. When I called the airline, a customer service agent told me that I needed to call the credit card company. When I called my credit card company, I was told that I needed to talk to the airline.
I tried sending an email to fix the problem and got the same result. Finally, I desperately contacted him on Twitter. I had to point for a few more rounds, but in the end I was able to cancel my reservation and regain my points. And I swear to use the travel portal again.
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This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website Nerd Wallet. Liz Weston is a NerdWallet columnist, certified financial planner and author of the “Your Credit Score”. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @lizweston.
Related Links:
NerdWallet: 10 Easy Tips for Saving Money on Travel https://bit.ly/nerdwallet-saving-money-on-travel-tricks
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