Best Travel Tips For Filipinos Going Abroad

Traveling, whether for vacation, work, or business, can be expensive and at other times cumbersome for some Filipinos.

Let’s be honest, there are parts of a trip that can worry you, for example, forgotten stuff, pricey return airline tickets, and lost travel documents.

Fortunately, there are travel hacks that will help you avoid headaches, yet being able to enjoy your experience, while you worry less while you venture abroad.

Here are several tips that you can do to make your journey worthwhile.

Get Free Accommodation

There are various ways that you can do to get free lodging abroad if you’re not that picky.

For example, you can try couchsurfing.com which gives you a chance to discover homes near the area that you will go to. Members of couchsurfing.com will provide free lodging in a guest room, bed, or couch – which you can crash on – paying nothing.

Likewise, if you like the outdoors, you can become a WWOOF volunteer. This organization link visitors (called WWOOFers) with organic farmers.

If you’re looking for other means to what we mentioned, there are also house-sitting options online like trustedhousesitters.com

You can also try mindmyhouse.com that allow you to stay in somebody’s home when the owners are away.

Make Digital Copies of Your Travel Documents

Go through your schedule, round-trip tickets, ID cards, passport, and other significant travel documents. Then scan or take a clear photo of all these documents.

Now, email copies to yourself and to someone you can trust back home before you leave.
That way, you get extra duplicates of important documents in case you lost them or whatever.

For iPhone owners, when you’ve messaged them to yourself, open your email on your phone and save them on iBooks.

Use Credit Card Rewards

Do you use a credit card to book your trips? It would be great if you use your card’s travel rewards, such as free flights, discounts on the tickets, or free hotel bookings.

Likewise, you can swap earned points and miles with travel rewards. Credit card miles or rewards can increase quite fast if you travel a lot, and you may claim them with complimentary flights regularly. Look at the best credit cards for frequent flyers.

Pack Essentials in Your Carry-on

You want to travel light, so be smart by maintaining the basics to make your bags lightweight, in case your stuff gets lost.

Keep essentials like socks, clothing, and toiletries to a minimum depending on the number of days you’ll be traveling.

This is one of the most significant travel hacks to follow.

Pack Smart To Save Space

Try to roll your clothes to save room. You can also use Ziploc sacks to save space. Pack your clothing, taking into consideration the weight if you want to save on what you pay for luggage.

Travel with a PC Tablet

Tablets are a boon for travelers as they make life convenient and simpler while on the go. This is especially true if you have some important work to do where using a laptop would be difficult like you’re standing in line.

PC Tablets is not exclusive for all your booking and travel documents, however, they can furnish you with some quality enjoyment too if you prefer a bigger screen than a smartphone.

Use a “FRAGILE” Sticker

Remind your airline by putting a “fragile” sticker on your bags so they will be extra cautious when handling your luggage.

This sticker may put your bags on top, which diminishes the odds of being crushed, allowing to be one of the first bags to turn out at the opposite end.

Use Routehappy or SeatGuru to locate the best plane seats for your next trip. You may likewise upgrade your seat by using the miles you have collected from your credit card. Avail of the reward to get a flight upgrade without paying extra.

Bring a Reusable Water Bottle

You’re not allowed to take fluids by air terminal security, however, you can bring an empty water bottle.

After the standard security check, you can refill it with water without spending extra during your flight. You can fill it with water from drinking fountains in airports.

Book Flights With Online Travel Agency App

It is advisable to book your flights 3-6 weeks ahead of time.

Instead of going to a travel agency, you can use online travel agency apps.

Here are some popular apps where you can get flight deals, discount rates, and exclusive savings:

• Priceline
• Hopper
• Skyscanner
• Kiwi
• Travelzoo
• Momondo
• Rome2Rio
• Momondo

Google Maps Without Data

A tried and tested tip, yet can be a helpful one is to utilize Google maps offline. You can save maps of your destination without spending by having the information on the places you’ll visit.

To save the map of your destination, type the place in Google Map when you’re online, then at the bottom, select ‘Download’.

Use Credit Cards and ATM (Instead of Money Changers)

Keep away from money changers in airports for your needed cash. Most of the time, they have false rates, along with high exchange fees.

Plan the countries you’ll visit and exchange your money in a local bank before you leave. Exchanging currency in banks here has updated rates and lower fees. It would be better if you already have an account in a bank and use a credit card or debit card.

Use A Currency Converter App

Remember to download and use a money converter app for convenient conversion of currency. A couple of good apps that you can use are XE Currency and Easy Currency Converter. This will save you time when you arrive in your country of destination.

This can likewise spare you from getting ripped off by a money changer whether you like to do your exchanges here or when you’re abroad. Most currency conversion apps work based on the rates from the last time you were online.

Conclusion

Follow these travel hacks for enjoyable and stress-free trips here or abroad. If you’re planning on traveling, it’s essential to be savvy with your personal documents and belongings to make your travels smooth and no worries.