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TRAVEL TIPS
- Keep your passport, tickets and money separately.
- Put a photocopy of your passport in each your luggage.
- Travel with mosquito repellents and other essential medicines.
- Label your entire luggage with name and address.
- In place of cash Travellers' cheques or Visa Travel Card are best.
- Carry some empty plastic ziplock bags.
- For your plane ticket Confirm, reconfirm, confirm once again.
- Make a list of all your personal medicinesthat you are carrying with you and carry the ist with you.
- Make a list of all the things you forgot while travelling and use the list before your next trip.
LUGGAGE LOST
- For starters, don't panic. Most luggage is only delayed, not lost permanently.
- File a missing-luggage form--even if the airline agent insists that your bags will turn up on the next flight. And take a copy of that with you.
- Ask about the airline's immediate reimbursement policy.
- Cash for major purchase immediately.
- Daily stipend
- The best way to lessen the chances your valuables will be lost is to carry them with you.
- Be sure to check in as early as possible to make sure both you and your luggage make the flight. Try to schedule a reasonable amount of time--at least 45 minutes--between connecting flights.
- Consider buying additional insurance
TRAVELLING WITH VALUABLE BUSINESS RELATED ITEMS
- Keep your laptop in a case that doesn't immediately identify it as a computer. The same advice holds true for cameras, VCRs, etc.
- Do not put your laptop on the conveyor belt to be x-rayed. Rather, ask the security guard to conduct a manual search of the computer and any other electronic equipment you may have
with you.
- Once on the airplane, keep your laptop nearby.
- Keep your computer underneath the seat in front of you.
- Always travel with extra batteries and call the hotel ahead of time to make sure it has modems
and data ports.
- Pack an extension cord so you can use the laptop from your preferred spot
DRIVING ABROAD
- Obtain an International Drivers Permit (IDP).
- Have your Passport photographs ready.
- Carry both your IDP and your State Driver's License with you at all times.
PACKING TIPS FOR AIRLINE TRAVEL
- Some items that should never be put in the bag you plan to check into the cargo compartment of the aircraft:
- Small valuables: cash, credit cards, jewelry, cameras.
- Critical items: medicines, keys, Passport, tour vouchers, business papers.
- Irreplaceable items:manuscripts, heirlooms.
- IFragile items:eyeglasses, glass containers, liquids.
- Remember that the only way to be sure your valuables are not damaged or lost is to keep them with you.
- If you are traveling on more than one airline, check with the airline for its limits on the size, weight, or number of carry-on pieces. (There is no single standard applicable.)
- If you plan to go shopping at your destination and bring your purchases aboard as carry-on, keep the limits in mind. Carry the receipts separately.
- Don't put anything into a carry-on bag that could be considered a weapon (e.g. scissors, penknife).
- Ask the airlines about the limit for every segment of your international trip before you leave home, especially if you have a stopover of a day or two or if you are changing carriers.
- The bags you check should be labeled - inside and out - with your name, address and phone number.
HEALTH
- Before going on a trip and especially when traveling to third-world nations and to locales off-the-beaten-track, we advise you to check over your personal health insurance policy to see what you are covered for while on your trip.
- If you plan to drive, you should check to see whether your driver's insurance policy covers you when traveling outside your country. It is almost a certainty that if you intend to drive, you should obtain car insurance in the country you are visiting as your local insurance may not be recognized.
- The possibility of tour company, cruise company, hotel and/or airline bankruptcy. You should be aware that bankruptcy insurance has many technicalities and loopholes. So ask detailed questions and read the coverage and exclusions carefully.
- The possibility that you will get ill or injured and need emergency medical evacuation: Remember that if you need to be evacuated and don't have insurance, you will have to pay for the evacuation. This can run into U.S. $10,000 and up.
- The availability of call-in services such as emergency medical referral, emergency cash advance, emergency message relay, and medication replacement: Having one number that you can call to arrange emergency services can give tremendous peace of mind. If you are going off-the-beaten-track make sure that these services will be available in the particular country you are visiting.
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