TravelTips

I’ve been using Marriott Bonvoy Nightly Upgrade Awards (NUAs) quite a bit this year, but I have yet to get a single one approved. I’ve tried both short and long stays, weekdays and weekends, across different brands, and every request has been declined so far. My most recent...

I am planning a trip to Japan and I am trying to figure out how to manage my budget more effectively. Right now my total budget is around $4500, including flights. However, flights are currently costing about $2000, which leaves me with roughly $2500 for spending in Japan. I am...

I’ve done a handful of solo trips so far and I genuinely love traveling alone, but I struggle with the social side of it. I keep reading about solo travelers who naturally end up meeting people in hostel common rooms or joining groups and continuing to travel together, but that...

When booking through the Hilton app, I have sometimes selected one guest initially and then added an additional guest’s details later during the booking process. As a result, my reservation still shows only one guest. Despite this, I have not had any issues at check-in or during...

Background: I took the Amtrak Southwest Chief from Chicago to Albuquerque in April 2026 as a 30 year old solo female traveler. I have solo travel experience but this was my first time on a train. I tried researching beforehand, but some details like seat layout and comfort were...

This is a minor question, but I was wondering about something ahead of our upcoming trip to Greece. My husband watched some travel videos that mentioned hotels in Greece may not provide washcloths, so he suggested we bring our own. Is this actually true in most places? This post...

I’m currently in Rome near the Pantheon and was shocked to see a gelato shop charging around €18 for a cone, with no clear indication of portion size or number of scoops. In other places I’ve visited, gelato pricing is usually straightforward and reasonable, but here it feels...

My daughter and I recently got back from a trip to Paris, and since I found this forum helpful before going, I wanted to share a few takeaways. We found Parisians to be very pleasant, and it was enjoyable just hearing them speak French. Their style is effortlessly elegant, and...

I had a new experience today while flying SAN → BOS with a layover in PHX. I decided to take an earlier flight to PHX and ended up with a long 6-hour layover there. While waiting, I randomly checked my checked bag status. Instead of showing “offloaded in PHX,” the app showed “in...

I am trying to decide the safest way to handle valuables like my passport and extra cash while traveling. In the past, I had money taken from a hotel safe, so since then I have preferred to carry everything with me. However, I am now planning a trip where I will be spending time...

After years of traveling, I realized many trips felt more like visiting a staged, tourist-heavy version of a city rather than experiencing its real character. On a recent trip to Miami, I followed the usual itinerary places like South Beach and Ocean Drive, plus trendy rooftop...

I’m coming from the US and I’m trying to understand how common it is to use a credit card for everyday spending in Thailand. I already use an international credit card in Europe without extra fees, but I’ve heard that in Thailand there may be additional charges or surcharges...

I’m planning my first trip to Paris from May 8 to May 12 (4 days total) and I’m trying to budget around €300 in total, which comes to about €75 per day. This budget is meant to cover daily expenses only, including food, coffee, drinks, and public transport (metro, RER, buses)....

When traveling, I usually prefer to pay for most things using my credit card. On a recent trip to Spain, I noticed that payment terminals often gave me the option to pay either in euros or in my home currency (CAD), which initially seemed convenient. However, I later realized...

I’m flying on a Hawaiian Airlines A330 from Honolulu (HNL) to Los Angeles (LAX) in a few weeks and trying to choose the best premium economy window seat. The only available options that don’t seem to be directly over the wing are rows 17 and 19. I understand that row 17 is...

I was pretty anxious before my trip after reading a lot of negative experiences, especially since I booked basic fares while traveling with a toddler and didn’t realize families aren’t always seated together automatically. However, things worked out because my husband has a...

I’ve noticed that many hotels in Japan provide very thin, low-quality (1-ply) toilet paper that feels quite rough, almost like sandpaper. This seems surprising, especially since most toilets are equipped with bidets, which are excellent. Even so, drying is still necessary, so...

Hello everyone, a gate agent based in Denver here. I recently finished working a flight and wanted to share a reminder regarding baggage allowance rules, as I frequently encounter pushback from passengers. Hopefully this helps clarify things for at least some travelers....

I live in Japan and have traveled extensively across many prefectures and towns. Based on my personal experiences, I wanted to share a list of popular tourist destinations that I believe are either “worth visiting” or “not worth prioritizing.” This is intended as general advice...

Hi everyone, I’ve finally managed to book my first business class flights using an Amex voucher after working toward it for about 12 months. I’m close to 50, so it’s taken quite some time to collect the points. I’m not very experienced with flying, so I’ve been reading through...

We recently completed a trip to Italy with this itinerary: 4 days in Rome 4 days in Siena 4 days in Venice 1 final day near Rome airport before flying home Choosing between Siena and Florence was a challenge, but after visiting Florence for a day, we found it extremely crowded,...

I’ve started taking screenshots of all important travel information before each trip, and it has already helped me multiple times. I save screenshots of boarding passes, hotel reservations, visa or ID documents, airport directions, gate details, and key emails into a folder on...

Here is a tip I have used a few times when arriving at busy airports and going through Customs. Have a small item with you (for example, a pack of cookies from your previous stop). When you arrive, go through the “something to declare” lane instead of the “nothing to declare”...