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What to Wear When You Complain at a Hotel
When you need to complain about your hotel situation, how you look can be as important as how you talk. Assuming you are traveling with minimal clothes, here is how to dress for this encounter. (We already printed a blog on How To Complain). Here is how to dress:
Pick out the most conservative shirt and or / jacket you have. Swirl around a scarf to make you look less formal but ‘dressed’. If you only have a tee shirt, then cover it nicely with the scarf.…
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Is your Guide Book Author Honest?
Before you buy a guidebook for your next trip, consider the author / authors!
Who wrote it? Man or woman? US or non US? How old is the author? Where do they live?
—Women will be more conscious of our needs and might include more informal information about lifestyles and markets.
—If a different generation than you, are you happy with their choices of must see’s and must eats? (exception Lets Go Guides from Harvard, written by juniors and seniors but full of deals and interesting sidelights).…
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Travel Don'ts with Special Needs
Today I had a nice call from a woman who is planning on going to Morocco with us for Thanksgiving. She studied the itinerary and asked if she could sit in front of the bus for the one longer drive over the Atlas Mts. The answer was of course, yes.
Here are typical and atypical special needs we have been asked before:
1. Car sickness, yes sit in front.
2. Hearing impaired, yes sit near the guide so you can hear him.…
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How to Complain about Airline Crew
As we are not allowed to carry liquids on planes we suggest you, at least bring an empty bottle. You can then be more vigilant about staying hydrated during the trip. Crew serve water/juice etc in those tiny cups and even two at a time is not enough. Drinking more for the 48 hours before your trip is also a smart idea. We have heard that some travelers have carried on frozen water as a non liquid; truly do not. Each time travelers play around with the rules, we put the airline in jeopardy of fines.…
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Exploding Cosmetics: Warning for Women Travelers
Recently I was on a plane and decided to reapply lip gloss before we landed. The pressure of the plane made the gloss explode and worst the metallic sheen of the gloss penetrated my clothes and leather bag. This can happen with any cosmetic, so how will you know ahead of time?
1- Tubes are culprits: so squeeze out all the air before you get on the plane, close quickly.
2- You may also tap containers of all kinds, it to get the air to the top before you open them.… -
Five dangerous things women leave in wallets
Traveling with a full wallet is pretty dumb.
Over and over we see women at The Women’s Travel Group open their wallet bursting with papers and pictures. Here are 5 dangerous items solo women travelers should remove from their wallets:
1- Medicare or other with a SS number on it and that includes your and your husband’s medical cards. If necessary photocopy it and cut off the last four digits.
2- Credit cards for stores that do not even exist were solo women are traveling.… -
Asiana Airlines: where was the crew?
I was on an American Airlines Boeing 767 years ago, where there was an engine loss over the Atlantic. The crew was everywhere helping, talking, comforting, holding passenger hands when needed. They were amazing, putting their training into action. In the Times article about Asiana this morning, this crew/pilot assistance is missing according to passengers interviewed.
A frequent flyer on the Asiana route, a Mr. Levy, describes how he opened the emergency door, helped 30-40 passengers leave the plane and never saw or heard a crew member.…
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Warning on Egypt! But will insurers refund you?
There is a huge difference in the urgency of State Department announcements. Some are mere advisories but the one on Egypt today is serious. Do not go to Egypt on nonessential travel says State. And the UK Foreign Office concurs.
A further hint of danger is that the US has ordered the evacuation of nonessential government workers from Egypt. This is a giant red flag.
Does your insurance allow you to cancel and get refunded in cases like this? That is debatable and the grey areas are the definition of terrorism and the exact incidents that seem dangerous to the traveler.…
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Solo Travel Tips: Are You in Danger?
Even if you are traveling with others, there might be a time when you go out alone. These tips will help you stay safe.
1. Check street safety in the English language newspaper of your destination. There are many sites with lists of these local papers.
2. Use Google translation to understand news in other languages before you leave.
3. Check not just the US, but also UK, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Foreign Ministry news reports.4. If you go out with anyone you do not know extremely well, make them leave their national identity card with contact.…
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Turkey Travel Safety now Cancellations for Brazil?
Twitter and social media are spurring riots in both countries. Should you cancel your trips? Let’s assume you are NOT getting your money back from your travel vendor.
We have talked about this before. First, make sure the rioting is exactly where you are going. If so, is it in one neighborhood or city-wide?
Are airlines canceling flights there? Does your hotel website have a notice about problems?
In some cases, riots are limited to university areas, so avoid them when you book your hotel in fragile places.…
