luggage
Taking a Holiday with Your Pets
Going on a holiday is fun, but it can be even more fun if you take your pet along with you. Taking your dog or cat along for the trip does make it more like a family outing, but it does bring up a few extra concerns.
First, you’ll have to make certain the hotel you have booked is pet-friendly. Some hotels allow pets with no extra charge, but many will require you to pay a small deposit fee. You’ll also need to take everything your pet will need—water bowl, food and food bowl, litter box, and leash.
Flying with your pet is very difficult. Your animal has to be placed in a carrier that meets regulations and then will be placed with the checked luggage. Many end up sedating their pet during travel, which can be hard on him. Likewise, trains and buses rarely take on trains. If you’re travelling internationally, you most likely will not be able to take your pet with you—there are usually quarantine periods that animals must go through before they can enter the country, and these periods are usually fairly long (months at the least).
Once you do arrive on your luxury holidays and check in to your pet-friendly hotel, you’re going to want to spend some time with your pet each day. There’s not much point in taking your pet with you if all you do it leave him or her in your hotel room, after all. You may want to look into things you can do with your pet, such as walk through the neighbourhood or go to a local park. Think of things you and your pet can do together so as to make your holiday exciting for both of you.
Buying Breakables
When on holiday or even on a business trip, you’re going to want to purchase some souvenirs or gifts. However, travelling brings up one issue: how to get those purchases home. If you’ve bought several breakable items, you’re going to have to be very careful. Here are some tips for dealing with breakables.
First, if you’re going to purchase something fragile, try to go for something small. It’s going to be challenging enough getting it home without breaking it. Getting a large item home without breaking it is truly a headache, especially if it won’t fit in your luggage and you have to have it specially shipped.
Second, try to pack your fragile items in your carry-on bag so you can have more control over how the item is transported. Checked luggage on airplanes, buses, and trains are often thrown about with little regard to their content. This can cause damage to fragile items packed inside, even if those items are well protected.
Third, wrap your fragile items in something to help protect them. Clothing is a good choice if you don’t have any other packing materials. Do your best to cushion the items, and try to place the breakable item between several solid items like books or boxes to give it stability. If the item didn’t come in a box, try finding a box to put it in to add more protection.
Getting from the Airport to Your Hotel
One of the most difficult processes in any trip is transportation in your destination city, especially if you aren’t renting a car. Getting from the airport (or the bus or train stop if you’re travelling by land) can be very stressful. You have to get all of your luggage, make it out of the terminal, and then figure out how exactly to get from there to where you’ll be staying. You have a few options, though.
First, you may want to reconsider not renting a car. If you have some free time and want to really explore the city you’re in, you will probably need a car to see it all. However, this can be expensive, so it may not be something that works for you.
Some airports do provide free shuttles from the terminal to specific hotels. If your hotel is one of these, all you have to do is ask any of the airline representatives where to find the shuttle pick up point. Once there, you just wait for the shuttle to come along, pick you up, and drop you off. You can also use this service to return to the terminal to catch your flight home.
If there is no shuttle service, the light rail or subway service may be an option. While not all cities have these forms of public transportation, some do. Those that do feature light rail systems or subways generally have at least one line that runs to the terminal. The only downside here is that you may have to haul your luggage a long way from the nearest station to your hotel.
The city bus often makes stops at the airport, too. Again, you’ll have to haul your bags onto the bus and then off the bus and to your hotel, but it’s fairly inexpensive. To find out about bus options, talk to an airline representative or look for an information kiosk. Most terminals have an area that features information about forms of transportation to and from the terminal.
Finally, the most expensive option is to hire a taxi. This will get you directly from the terminal to your hotel with little or not wait time, but it will cost you, especially if you have to go a good distance. However, in some locations, a taxi may be your only option.
For most airlines, you can search their website for information about shuttles and such. You can also call the airline and ask them about what transportation options are available so you know what to expect when you arrive.
Marking Your Baggage
As you read last week, sometimes you lose your baggage at the airport. While this isn’t the horrible event that some people make it out to be, it’s still not a lot of fun. However, there are a few tricks you can do to make it easier to identify your luggage. This not only makes it easy to tell airport officials what your luggage looks like if it’s lost but it also makes it easy to identify your luggage when you’re picking it up at baggage claim.
The first way of easily finding your luggage amid all the other bags and suitcases on the conveyor belts is to buy luggage that is very distinctive. Brightly coloured bags or bags with unique patterns are generally very easy to spot. The only downside to this is that these bags may not be unique—others may decide that they like the same bright colours or designs. Suddenly, your unique luggage is beside three other suitcases that look just like it.
You can always pay a little bit extra and get monogrammed luggage. These suitcases and bags have your initials or even your name on them. This makes it easier to find them, true, but it can also give others important information about you. It’s never a good idea to let strangers know your full name, especially in this age of identity theft. While most places will require more than just your name, some don’t check ID as closely as they should.
Instead of putting your name or initials on your luggage, then, go for something a little different. One example of this is to buy brightly colored shoelaces and tie them around the handle of your luggage. You can also wrap colored electrical tape on the handle or even take fabric paint and paint a design or stripes on the suitcase itself. This makes it very easy to identify your luggage and, in the event of lost luggage, makes it easier for airline personnel to find it, too.
Dealing with Lost Baggage
It’s every traveller’s nightmare—the airline, bus line, or train loses your baggage. While it doesn’t happen as often as it seems, if you travel a lot, chances are at some point you will have to deal with lost baggage. There are several things you should do after discovering that you made it to your destination but your luggage did not.
First, of course, is to find an airline associate and report your luggage lost. They will do everything they can to find your luggage, but if they can’t locate it right away, they should have some paperwork for you to fill out. You’ll need to be able to describe your bags, which is one of the reasons why it’s a good idea to have some unique identifying mark on your luggage. You will also need to list the contents of your luggage, the city you departed from, and any transfers you made between there and your destination. Also be sure they know how to contact you so you can pick up your luggage once it’s found.
If it’s not possible to get your luggage returned to you right away, don’t panic. Chances are, your baggage will eventually reach you. In the meantime, there are a few things you can do. Most hotels will provide common toiletries (toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, etc.) if you request them and explain your circumstances. If they don’t, the hotel gift shop or a nearby store should have what you need.
If it turns out you won’t get your luggage for a day or two (which does sometimes happen), you may have to purchase some clothing to wear. If you’re on a holiday and aren’t too concerned with your clothing, you can purchase cheap items from any nearby clothing shop. However, if your business clothing or nice outfits are missing, you may be in a bit of a bind. The best advice in this case is to look on the bright side and consider it a chance to purchase a nice, new outfit.
Losing your luggage can be very stressful, but it’s generally not the end of the world. Just stay calm and deal with the situation as best you can.