The Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card is a great deal. A lot of websites will tell you why, but they are probably receiving a commission for telling you so. The Traveling Professor receives NO compensation for telling you why this is such a great travel card and why everyone should have it. The Professor owns less than 5 credit cards and the Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of them and he will tell you why this card, over any other, should be in every traveler's wallet.
We do anywhere from 10-15 small group tours each year. Sometimes I am away for 6-7 weeks at a time and I NEVER check a bag. So, what are the essential things I bring on every trip other than the obvious like a change of clothes? Take a look at The Traveling Professor's blog post to learn what he cannot travel without.
One of the money matters we encounter when traveling is how to change money. Most European countries NEVER accept US dollars. Fortunately, most European countries accept the common Euro currency but a good amount don't. In any case, there are situations where you will need to obtain currency. Look at The Traveling Professor's travel tips on the best way to change your currency into local currency. I'll also tell you about some of the worst ways to do it too!
High-speed train travel in Europe is wonderful. Travelers can expect new and modern trains. Speeds of 150-180 MPH are not uncommon, whisking travelers from city center to city center without the hassle of security procedures like those found at airports. Seating is comfortable. The views can be terrific. Costs can be significantly less than flying by air. Check out The Traveling Professor's tips on buying train tickets in Europe.
Lodging is probably the most expensive component of any trip and one of the most important factors in making a trip successful. Over the years, through his small group tours or booking hotels personally, The Traveling Professor has lots of experience in booking hotels. Look at The Professor's blog post today and save yourself a few bucks on your next hotel booking and maybe even get a better hotel (and perks) than you ever thought you could.
The Traveling Professor is surprised about how costs can vary on airport parking. For example, at New York's JFK airport parking can be about $25 if parking on-site, about $18 a day if parking off-site. Westchester airport charges an amazing $30 a day. At Dallas DFW airport it is $31 per day. So, if traveling on a 2-week trip, it would not be impossible to spend a whopping $350 just to park a car. Considering airfares to Europe are only a few hundred dollars more, that's a lot of money. Nice friends or relatives may offer to drive you to the airport, but if you are like me, I hate to impose upon them An obvious alternative is to use a close by off-site facility which usually saves 30%-50% and sometimes that is a good choice. In today's blog post, The Professor will give a few more good tips on how to save on airport parking.
In Europe, the only place I have ever seen U.S. dollars is the LHR airport. I have never seen U.S. dollars accepted anywhere else in Europe. Since the introduction of the euro about 20 years ago, things have gotten simpler since a single currency is accepted in most European Union countries, there are still many countries (Iceland, Norway, Croatia, Denmark come to mind) who do not accept euros. In this blog post The Traveling Professor gives some simple and never published before ways to exchange currency to use in Europe.
For his small group tours and personal trips, The Traveling Professor probably flies about 75,000 to 100,000 miles per year on multiple trips. That's a lot of experience with packing. There are lots of ways to make the packing experience more streamlined and easier. Read about The Traveling Professor's top 5 packing tips and enjoy your next trip to Europe or South American with less hassle.
The Traveling Professor just got back from doing 3 small group tours to Iceland and the Northern Lights. On one of our trips, flights going out of Reykjavik were cancelled. On another one of our tours, flights were delayed out of Boston for a day and flights were cancelled out of JFK New York. All of our travelers were well-prepared to handle the delays. In this blog post, I will give valuable tips on what to do in case of flight cancellations or extensive delays.
The Traveling Professor is on the road a lot. I book a lot of hotels and a lot of flights. In doing this for over 10 years I have made many of mistakes. However, I have learned from my mistakes. In this blog post I am going to reveal to you some great tips on booking flights and hotels, tips you will probably not find in any other blog post. Avoid these hotel and airline booking mistakes and travel more comfortably, with less stress, and probably at a lower cost.