Halloween is just around the corner! It’s a season full of treats, my favorite is the pumpkin ice cream at our nearby pumpkin patch. But anyone with kids knows it’s also the season of tricks! It seems the level of surprise gets more elaborate each year. Travel, on the other hand, shouldn’t be full of surprises!
Have you ever been tricked into believing any of these common travel misconceptions? While there are certainly any number of myths that we could discuss, I’m going to stick to the top 5 travel myths this week.
#1 – “Waiting until the last minute the vacation price will go down.”
Unfortunately, I’ve seen too many times a family, couple or individual traveler put off purchasing the vacation they want because they think the price will get lower as the trip gets closer, in the end the price sky rockets and they miss out on a great deal and stay home. Even if a cruise line or a resort offers a rare last minute deal, often the inflated air cost to get to the destination negates any savings and only escalates the stress level of the traveler. In most cases the further in advance that you book, the better the value.
#2 – “Travelers checks are the way to go when traveling internationally.”
While this may have been the case years ago, and offered a great deal of consumer protection, this is no longer the case. Once the norm, travelers checks have fallen off the radar of many international merchants.
#3 – “Duty free is always a great deal!”
This is answer is a bit trickier. Sometimes, in the case of liquor or tobacco this could be the case. While with pricier items or those that are not heavily taxed, such as perfume, cosmetics or sunglasses, the prices you will pay in the duty free shop are often higher than you would pay at home. The moral to this story is to know your prices! While the $5 bottle of Rum might be a great deal, if you’re only saving $2 on the bottle of Scotch is it really worth lugging all over Europe?
#4 – “I will get a better exchange rate if I get Euros before leaving home.”
While it’s always nice to have a few Euros in your pocket before heading overseas it is not always your best value. You have to make sure that you are aware of the exchange rates as well as the fees and/or commissions that your bank is charging. It’s always a good rule of thumb to compare these charges to the ATM charges you would incur overseas. ATM’s are common place in international airports and you can often sidestep the commissions charged for currency exchange. We always recommend that you talk to your banker about where you are traveling and make sure that you can access your account through the ATM machines in those countries.
#5 – “Using a travel professional will cost more than if I book my own trip on the internet.”
Quite often the opposite is true. Nothing compares to the value that a travel professional can add to your vacation. Trusting a professional can stretch your vacation budget and get added values and amenities that you didn’t even know existed. On the flip side, it can also prevent your investing your hard earned vacation budget on the wrong vacation. Any travel professional would hate to see a client invest their vacation time and budget into the wrong vacation just because the client thinks it’s a good deal.
I hope this has helped to clear up some very common misconceptions about travel and vacations. Now if you hear any of the above, you won’t be tricked! As always, if there are any questions or concerns that you have about your upcoming vacation, we at Slaydon’s Travel are here to help.
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