Travelling is a wonderful and enriching experience, but as any seasoned jetsetter knows, it’s not always a piece of cake. Somehow life can get both simpler and more complicated when you’re on the road! From unexpected bank card charges to hours spent trying to find an internet cafe, there are always little hiccups. With that in mind, we’ve put our heads together and compiled some of the all-time best travel hacks – take heed and minimise confusion while maximising good times!
Hack 1 – If traveling with one or more fellow passengers, check the price for just one passenger first
Depending on where you are heading, your flights could be the biggest spend you make on this holiday. Finding even a small discount could mean a hundred euros saved, so it’s worth doing your research. By shopping for one passenger before buying the rest of the tickets, it’s possible that you could get a better deal. This is because of the airline’s tiered pricing system. The way that it works is that if there is only one seat left at the lowest price and you want to book two or more tickets, all tickets will be bumped up to the next price level.
In order to get around this, you can do the following:
Step 1.
In order to check, you need to do 2 searches in separate web browsers. In the first one search for a single passenger, and in the second browser include all passengers.
Step 2.
If the price displayed per passenger is cheaper for the single, then purchase this ticket separately to the rest. By booking the first ticket separately at the lower price, you can split the overall cost with the other passengers so that everybody gets a better deal.
Step 3.
Book the remaining tickets in the second browser at the same time as purchasing the single. This way you’re able to make sure that you all get tickets on the same flight.
Hack 2 – Money Matters – hack the airport currency exchange!
It’s happened to the best of us. You get to the airport and realise that you’ve forgotten to change your money. Although all major airports have currency exchange desks, their uncomfortably expensive rates will always leave you with a lighter wallet. But, never fear – there’s a simple solution to this problem!
Most of the airport currency exchange companies offer different rates online to those displayed at the airport desks. Therefore, in order to get a better deal, all that you have to do is purchase your currency online while at the airport and then collect it from the desk when the transaction is complete.
Hack 3 – Wind back the clock, for extra time (Wi-Fi)
Many airports offer travellers free Wi-Fi for one hour, while waiting for their flights. This might sounds great, but if your flight is delayed then you may want to have access for longer. Luckily, it’s possible to extend this time with a simple trick. The Wi-Fi timer is measured by using the clock on your smartphone or laptop. By winding back the clock before the hour is up, you can snag yourself free Wi-Fi for as long as you need.
Hack 4 – A smarter way to use in-flight Wi-Fi
As many frequent flyers will already know, the price of in-flight Wi-Fi often varies depending on whether you access it through your smartphone or through your laptop. Wi-Fi access for laptops is generally more expensive because people tend to use more data on their laptops than they do on their smartphones. Nevertheless, this simple hack will help you to save money.
Step 1.
Before flying, click on one of the following links to find the “User-Agent Switcher” extension for your Chrome, Firefox or Opera browser.
Step 2.
Add this to your browser. User agents enable your browser to identify what type of device it is being used on.
Step 3.
Using the drop down list that can be found by clicking on the icon at the top right of the screen, select a smartphone User-Agent.
Step 4.
After take-off, you can connect to the internet while the User-Agent Switcher is running. By doing this you can make it look as though you are connecting via a smartphone, and enjoy Wi-Fi at a cheaper rate.
Hack 5 – Download offline Google city map. GPS still works
Finding an offline map app that’s detailed, usable and free for your destination of choice can sometimes be difficult. Thankfully, Google Maps offers an easy solution to this problem. Google’s little-known ‘Ok Maps’ feature allows you to download areas of interest so that they can be used offline.
The way that this works is pretty simple:
Step 1.
Download the Google Maps app for your phone, if it isn’t already on there.
Step 2.
When you’ve done this, you need to use the app to search for a particular city or area, and zoom in or out to cover the location you need. It’s usually better to zoom out, because the ‘Ok Maps’ feature is able to save areas up to 50km x 50km.
Step 3.
After doing this, type ‘Ok Maps’ into the search bar, and the option will come up to save the map.Once the map has been saved, it can be accessed while offline through the ‘your places’ tab on the Google Maps sidebar.
Although you can’t use the route planner offline, the GPS feature is still active. The maps are also very detailed and will be available on your Google Maps app for 30 days.
Find this selection of hacks useful? If you’re after more travel tips, why not read our blog featuring 6 Tips To Visit Paris On The Cheap.
