How to make the most of your holiday
by RAKBANK
Without a doubt, travelling is one of the best ways to discover the world. As you go about meeting new people from different lands and finding your way across unfamiliar streets, travelling sometimes can also help you discover yourself. It helps you forget the daily humdrums and stress, and allows you to just live in the moment.
While there is no right way to travel, a few simple tips can help you enjoy the best experience from your holiday. To help you get prepared for your next travel, we've collected a list of 8 travel tips that we feel are the most beneficial. These travel tips are just a suggestion and can be used as per your convenience and comfort.
8 Travel Tips to make the make the most of your holiday -
1. Take time out for advance booking & planning:
Planning your travel in advance helps you get in touch with your trusted network of friends for suggestions, allows you to save enough money and gives you enough time to apply for the required visa and conduct other documentation procedures. Also, by making your travel (flight/train/bus tickets & car booking) and stay (hotel/apartment) arrangements well in advance, you can get early bird pricing. Once your bookings are done, prepare a spreadsheet that contains all the information about your flights, details about the cities you will be visiting and share it with everyone travelling with you. Also, you can use your RAKBANK World MasterCard Credit Card to book your flights tickets to avail a 10% Cashback on the total spend* (T&C Apply).
2. Choose your lodging wisely:
Before beginning your search, ask yourself what type of accommodation you want and what your budget will permit. Is location more important than the price, or are you limited to budget hotels? Do you need a hotel with a spa and fitness center, or would you rather stay at a small property with lots of local charm? Use the information gathered through travel search engines for finding a lodging that meets your requirements and zero down on your hotel. Your RAKBANK World MasterCard Credit Card provides up to 10% Cashback on all your Domestic and International Travel spends that includes hotel stays and dining. Plus, the Card offers a complimentary one-year membership to The Leading Hotels of the World, Leaders Club with a one-night stay where you can enjoy:
- One free night with every five qualifying night's stay
- Room upgrades, early check-in / late check-out (subject to availability)
- Continental breakfast for two and internet access
3. Read traveler reviews:
User-review sites have changed the way most people plan their holiday and provide an enormously useful tool for evaluating hotels, restaurants, tourist attractions. You can even start your own discussion, asking for tips from other people who have visited the same location and get crowd-sourced information from helpful travellers. Note: In case of negative reviews, try to determine if it's a genuine complaint or if it just a nitpicking traveller.
4. Invest in Travel Insurance:
If you're planning a holiday, investing in a travel insurance would be a wise move. A typical plan will cover your medical expenses, baggage loss and delay and might also recover some cost of a cancelled or a delayed flight. RAKBANK World MasterCard Credit Card offers comprehensive travel insurance for you and your family wherever you travel for business or leisure. The insurance is also valid for visa application requirements from certain countries (including Schengen). Call 04 213 0000 to request for a travel certificate before applying for the visa. Other offerings from the card include:
- Personal Accident Insurance up to USD 1 Million
- Emergency Medical Evacuation & Repatriation up to USD 2 Million
- Medical Emergency Expenses up to USD 1 Million
- Hospital daily indemnity up to USD 100 per day
5. Pack light:
Aim for travelling with just one bag or two small ones. This can be achieved by pre-planning your itinerary, stacking wrinkle-free clothes and by figuring out specific items that you will need for your trip. Try to be strategic about what you're packing, mix and match everything, avoid bulky shoes and depending on the weather keep a foldable umbrella or a jacket. Packing light translates to easier mobility. Plus, hauling heavy bags is never easy, especially when you're trying to get to the airport or your hotel.
6. Enjoy Local experiences:
If you truly wish to experience the culture of the place that you're visiting, it would be worthwhile to avoid tour bus or rented taxis and instead, take the public transport. You can take a bus and just get down to simply 'walk and wander'. Or you can take a taxi and ask the taxi driver about places to see and local haunts. Even when you're stopping for food, try to visit street stalls, hole-in-the-walls and push-carts to experience local cuisine. Talk to the local people, or just observe them going about their daily life. While you're at it, don't forget to tuck a map of the city. It would come in handy in case you find yourself lost and will help you return to your hotel.
7. Take lots of pictures:
When you travel, you come across beautiful sights and interesting people. Remember that most probably, you will see those places and meet those people only once in your lifetime. It would be a good idea to capture the memories of your trip by taking loads of photographs, so that you can relive those moments later in the comfort of your home. After all, great photos are the ultimate souvenirs.
8. Invest in a Credit Card:
A Credit Card can help you save on your travel losses by providing fraud protection and secure transactions. Additionally, major credit cards offer added services such as Complimentary airport lounge access, car rentals, Cashback, Airport pick-up and drop-off and Airport meet and greet. The RAKBANK World MasterCard Credit Card offers all these services:
- 5% Cashback on all your International Retail Purchase Transactions, Cash Advances and Internet Transactions.
- 10% Cashback on all your Domestic and International Travel spends i.e. flights and hotels (stays and dining).
- Complimentary lounge access worldwide to more than 500 airport lounges around the world
- Hertz Car Rental - Up to 15% discount at participating Hertz locations worldwide along with other benefits
- Leading Hotels of the World Membership
Airport pick-up and drop off service
- Airport Meet and Greet
You can read more about these offers and services here.
While these tips are extremely useful in planning a wonderful trip, it's also important to understand that everything might not go as per your itinerary. You might want to wake up late one day, stay one hour longer at a tourist attraction or go out of your way to visit an amazing location suggested by a local. In such cases, it's best to go with the flow and relax. Remember to take care of yourself and go slow. It's a beautiful, exciting world out there.
Go and make the most of it!