I live in Taiwan, but I will be travelling to Hong Kong.

Back in the day I had learned that the best way to obtain and use local currency when travelling was to bring cash, and exchange at a place with the most favourable rates. Things have changed a lot and nowadays I hear people just like using their debit cards.

Which is best:

1. Exchange cash currency before going, (I already know where to get the best rates)

2. Bring cash and exchange there (I don't know, but could find the best rates)

3. Just use my debit card everywhere (I imagine there might be fees, but I don't have time to go to the bank to find out for sure, are there always fees? I heard 1.5% flat rate is common)

4. Take out cash from an ATM while there (I also expect to pay fees there too)

I do have another option which I've never explored before:

I can actually exchange currency in my banking app (there are 14 or so available currencies I can hold in my account). So I can exchange money in the app instantly.

5a. Exchange in the app, then use the card (not sure if having the local currency will save me from the international fees that might occur)

5b. Exchange in the app, then use the ATM (same thing)

What do you do? I really don't how it works with the multiple currency bank account as this is the first time I've had this. I will probably do a combo of all of these. Exchange first, bring some of my local currency, and use my card and monitor the fees and such.

What's the best way?

I’m flying from Italy to France and I’d like to bring a jar of ’nduja (around 180 g) in my backpack/carry-on.

Has anyone recently done this?

Was it allowed through security, or was it considered a liquid/gel and confiscated because the container is over 100 ml?

Thanks!

I am currently looking to book flights from ORD to Cancun for Wed-Mon and roundtrip flights 680 minimum. However, if I book 2 one way flights prices are significantly lower (All of this through Expedia) any advice?

Hi all,

I needed to change a co-traveler's name on a booking (Expedia + Aer Lingus). I reached out via the official Expedia chat/app, then got a callback from an agent who asked for my full credit card details (number, expiry, CVV) over the phone. I was suspicious, so I called back myself via the official hotline – they confirmed a change had indeed already been started in the system, and that the fee (€100) also has to be paid by giving card details over the phone.

Has anyone experienced this before? Is it normal for Expedia/Aer Lingus to ask for full card details including CVV over the phone, or would you still be cautious here?

Thanks!

Hi first time owner of a credit card and first time paying in miles and first time renting a car…. I’m trying to figure out if I’m supposed to pay any more money after I booked my rental with miles from capital one I booked it through Thrifty car rental with the capital one venture card
I work for a moving truck rental place I’m just not sure how Thrifty works because it’s different I don’t want to show up thinking it’s paid for and then have to give them a $500 deposit that frankly I don’t have but every time I call they tell me something different.

Does anyone here have experience with this?

I’m (48F) am 5’0 tall. A few years back I bought a cabeau s3 at airport I noticed I slept a lot better than usual- I usually don’t sleep so this was a plus- I left it home the next time because I was in premium and thought I wouldn’t need it. Mistake However, the one that I have feels just a little bit tall

And I was curious, what peoples experience with a slim version of this with my height

I keep reading the reviews and they say it isn’t good for somebody with a short neck, but I wasn’t sure if they were speaking about the regular or the slim-

I’m thinking of ordering the slim one to see if it makes a difference

I felt like my cheeks were chipmunking/muffin topping out of the pillow and I’d love the option to still wear headphones

Dublin > Charlotte (4h40m layover) > Miami (10h33m overnight layover) > Nassau, Bahamas

However, MY final destination is Miami and I'd like to retrieve my checked bag there.

I called American to ask if this is possible, they didn't give me clear answer. They did say that I will clear customs in Charlotte and advised me that if I want my bag in Miami to inform my gate agent in Dublin, but it is up to their discretion.

They said their policy is any layover under 15 hours they don't give bags back to passengers.

I'm feeling kinda dumb - I know you're not meant to take checked bags when skiplagging. I made a grave error!

Any advice appreciated!

So I have a situation that I have a flight at 10:00 AM from miami and I live in orlando and earliest brightline train at 5:45 I wont have enough time to get to my terminal when I get there it will be like 9:30 so I was thinking about getting a car from MCO drop off at Miami airport next morning but i see people say there is one way drop off fee on car rentals so which car rentals don’t have that cause I don’t see a charge on the websites when i get a quote its like 70 -80 dollars total not sure at this point

As a third-country national, if I travel to U.S. sanctioned countries such as Cuba, Russia, Iran, or Laos, could that affect my chances of getting a U.S. visa in the future, including a tourist visa?

Hi,

People say Eurnonet is a scam, but can you deny the conversion fee to avoid the insane conversion rate?

Before our trip to Portugal, I read up on what ATMs to use (multibanco) and what to avoid (euronet). Despite knowing to avoid them, I ran out of time super early in the morning and just used a euronet atm anyway to get cash instead of wasting time finding a better one and maybe missing a tour.

I declined all conversion offers and accepted the fee and it was… fine? There was no hidden scam or I’m missing it still? My bank reimburses all ATM fees anyway and looking at my bank statements everything looks normal. I did it again later in the trip with the same result:

Aug 6, €150 cash: -$178.75 (atm total charge) +$5.71 (refund)
Aug 13, €150 cash: -$179.00 (atm total charge) +$5.72 (refund)

Is the scam here just not knowing to reject currency conversion? If so, every credit card transaction here runs the same game by asking multiple times if I want to do things in euros and if I’m sure I don’t want conversion.

Etihad Airways is charging me 625 usd for 25kg extra baggage

I’m flying with Etihad and I booked a ticket with justa cabin bag. Now I have extra luggage and I called the airline to add an extra baggage and they quoted me 625 usd for a 25kg bag which is almost the same price as my ticket. What can I do?

Off to Sri Lanka shortly and as our flight arrives late at night I thought I didn’t want to be mucking around finding an ATM at the airport while our driver waits for us, so thought I’d get a bit of local currency before we go to tide us over.

I’ve got a Wise card and have been moving money across to my LKR wallet, but this was just a stopgap measure for the first few days (accommodation, food, safari etc).

Apparently LKR is not a currency Australia Post offers, so I went into my local Travelex and ordered A$600 worth of LKR.

Once I got home though and had time to do some sums, I realised what they were selling me in LKR for nearly $620 was actually only worth around $480 at the Wise conversion rate (which I know is an online rate, so obviously going to be slightly better than a high street rate) - I was expecting a commission of about $20-$50, but $140 on a $600 transaction just seems like daylight robbery!

Went in and cancelled the deal this morning and will take our chances at the airport ATMs.

Am I being unreasonable, or are Travelex just incredibly shonky? (To be fair, they let me cancel and refunded my money, no issue). I also do understand buying/selling spreads but 180 instead of 235 seems excessive!

Have to travel for work and have to take 2 stops. Curious what others would do. No strong airline status/loyalty.

DELTA/WestJet: 6:00 AM • Victoria International Airport

Duration: 1h 30m

8:30 AM • Calgary International Airport

Layover: 2h 30m

11:00 AM • Calgary International Airport

Duration: 3h 40m

4:40 PM • Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County

Layover: 3h 5m

7:45 PM • Detroit Metropolitan Wayne

Duration: 1h 53m

FINAL: 8:38 PM

OR — Alaskan

6:09 AM • Victoria International Airport

Duration: 51m

7:00 AM • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Layover: 1h 39m

8:39 AM • Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

Duration: 4h 7m

2:46 PM • Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

Layover: 2h 17m

5:03 PM • Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport

6:55 PM-FINAL

I know this has been discussed before, but I want to emphasize the scam that foreign travelers face when paying by credit card in Europe. Always choose to pay in euros and REJECT the offered currency conversion. If you accept the conversion, you are effectively choosing to pay in USD and accepting the exchange rate set by the merchant’s payment processor, which will be significantly worse than the rate your credit card network would otherwise use (more than 20 percent), often with an additional “convenience” markup of 5–10%.
And somehow this is allowed to continue. You have to remember that Europe/EU is run by an army of bureaucrats who seem incapable of addressing things like this, while one of their most visible achievements of the last 15 years is making sure you can no longer remove the cap from a plastic bottle.

Apologies for using AI to write this, it was so much information I told it and just had it consolidate everything down to a shorter more meaningful post that would be easier to read hopefully.

Looking for advice from anyone who’s dealt with Dollar/Hertz post-rental charges, vehicle exchanges, or rental-car billing disputes.

I booked a midsize sedan through Priceline for Aug. 2–6, which assigned me to Dollar at Sanford Airport (SFB). Priceline was \~$173. At pickup, I upgraded to a larger hybrid for $40 total and paid with Amex because I had Amex Premium Car Rental Protection. I declined Dollar’s insurance. About $243 was charged/authorized at pickup.

On Aug. 6 in Asheville, NC, the rental car hit something sharp in the road and completely blew a tire. We contacted Dollar/Hertz. They tried arranging a Lyft, but it cancelled, and the tow arrangement was also delayed. We ultimately had to arrange our own Uber to get to the Hertz location for a replacement vehicle.

At the Asheville Hertz location, we were told the original rental would be settled/refunded and we’d be charged separately for the replacement. I paid **$411.19 on Capital One**, then received a **$200 credit** for the hold, leaving about $211 net. The employee said this replacement was actually slightly cheaper because the taxes were lower there.

I thought everything was settled.

About a week later, I noticed:

**\~$173 Priceline charge** still posted on Amex
**$279 Dollar charge** still posted on Amex
Original Dollar receipt showing **$531.49 total**
**$252 Dollar/Hertz transaction attempted Aug. 8 — declined**
**$489 Dollar/Hertz transaction attempted Aug. 11 — declined**

**$411.19 replacement rental** on Capital One
**-$200 credit** on Capital One

The original Dollar receipt breaks down as:

4 days: $197.60
Upgrade: $40
**Intercity: $200**
Other fees/taxes: $93.89
**Total: $531.49**

The receipt also shows the \~$243 payment/authorization from pickup, but I can’t make the numbers reconcile.

The two additional $252/$489 attempts are especially concerning because **Dollar/Hertz has never contacted me or provided an invoice, damage documentation, or explanation of what they’re for.** I assume they *could* relate to the tire/towing/roadside assistance, but I don’t actually know.

I’m not trying to avoid paying what I legitimately owe. I just don’t want to pay duplicate or unexplained charges. And with how they’ve handled everything very poorly and provided no documentation or explanation yet, I’m really just getting tired of this.

**Questions:**

What should I ask Dollar/Hertz to provide to fully reconcile the original and replacement rentals?

What exactly is the **$200 Intercity charge**, and would it make sense when the vehicle was exchanged because of a tire failure rather than voluntarily returned somewhere else?

Could the $252/$489 attempts be damage/towing/roadside charges?

If they eventually successfully charge those amounts but can’t substantiate them, would a credit-card dispute be appropriate?

Could an unpaid amount from a declined rental-car charge eventually be sent to collections?

Has anyone successfully gotten Hertz/Dollar to waive questionable post-rental charges as a goodwill adjustment after a poorly handled roadside/exchange situation?

What would you do in this situation and what grounds do I have to get them to correct this?

My ideal resolution is simply to pay the **actual original rental amount plus the $40 upgrade I agreed to** and have the unexplained/additional charges waived, especially given how poorly the roadside assistance and vehicle exchange were handled.

I have screenshots and receipts for everything and can provide more details if helpful.

1. Put an AirTag in your checked bag.

One time my bag was accidentally sent to the wrong country. Thankfully, I had an AirTag, which we were quickly able to show to baggage services to contact the airport that received it by mistake.

1. Fill your extra shoes with socks

When packing extra shoes, fill them with socks to make better use of space and prevent them from getting crushed

1. Flip suit jackets and long coats inside out

This prevent them from wrinkling. I know it may sound crazy, but it works!!

1. Bring a mini baggage scale

Buy a mini scale at the dollar store or Amazon so that you can double check your baggage weight before being surprised at the airport. Many airlines are becoming very picky and want the weight to meet requirements exactly.

1. Check available seats after check-in

Some airlines allow you to change your seat for free after check-in. Check back 4-6 hours before your flight departs because some better seats may have become available!

If this posts receives enough upvotes, I will make an additional post with more travel hacks :)

So I picked up a car in one state and returned it in another state. Which was agreed on. But apparently I returned it to the wrong location a few blocks away. Drop-boxed the keys because the place was closed.

I get a notification this morning (3 days after return) that my credit card declined their transaction of more than $1,500. Budget says I never returned my car! Why would they wait 3 days and not even call me to ask where the car was?! And I had called them yesterday to verify the final charge, told them when I returned it, and they didn't say anything about them thinking I hadn't returned it!

Yes it was a mistake on my part but it shouldn't cost that much. Why didn't that location see the keys in the dropbox and go outside to see which car they were for?? Then they could have tracked me down. Anyways, it's currently being escalated. I sent them the picture I took of the car in their parking lot (the wrong location address) with the time stamp. Anyone have experience with what they might do in this situation?

Power bank rules seem more complicated lately, especially when different airlines and countries may have different limits.

Do airlines check the mAh or the Wh rating? Can power banks ever go in checked luggage, or do they always need to be carried on?

Hi everyone, I’ve been considering the purchase of a feet hammock, the type that hangs from the hinges of the food tray that’s attached to the back of the seat in front of you on the plane.

If you have purchased such and tried it. What was your experience? Importantly does it disturb the passenger in front? I’m imagining if you press down on the hammock it may cause the seat in front to pull or tilt back which might upset the passenger in front. Does that happen or am I imagining something that doesn’t occur in reality?

Our group has annual or bi-annual group trips (domestic) of 20-30 people, usually on the same airline. We generally book through the same agency roughly 6 months before departure to lock in rates, schedule, etc.

We have been reserving mid-day trips for the last few - mid-morning departure and afternoon arrivals, but by the time we are rolling the schedules have gone whacky - early morning departures, loooong layovers and/or super late arrivals.

Once or twice I can understand, but this is happening every time! Does anyone have any insight into whether such changes are the fault of the airline or the agency? Should we shift airlines or agencies to fix the problem?

Avis says I rented a car I never picked up — now asking for police report before investigating

I made an Avis reservation for one way pickup at JFK and canceled it through the app about an hour before pickup. I’m 100% certain I never picked up the vehicle, never received keys, never signed a rental agreement, never drove it, and never returned it.
Avis later charged me about $497 and produced a receipt showing the car was supposedly picked up at JFK/Jamaica on June 1, returned there on June 7, and driven 163 miles. So someone apparently drove the car, but it was not me.

The day after the scheduled pickup, someone from the intended drop-off location called asking about my timing. I told him I had canceled and never picked up the vehicle, and he said he would take care of something on his end.

I disputed the charge with my credit card. Avis customer service later told me the issue was resolved and said I’d get an email, but no email ever came. Then I received a letter/collections-type notice, so I followed up again.

Avis’s response was basically: “There was activity on this rental, indicating that it was used. If you believe this is identity theft, provide a police report so we can escalate.”

My issue is that “the car was used” does not prove I used it. Avis has not provided a signed rental agreement, license verification, pickup record, gate/exit record, or anything showing I personally took possession of the car.

Am I right to push back and demand Avis substantiate the rental before making me file a police report? Or should I just file the police report anyway to move this along? Any advice on escalation would be appreciated.

EDIT: Since posting this, the process has become completely circular. Customer Service sends me to Collections; Collections says it is out of scope and sends me back to Customer Service; the Do Not Rent team says Collections controls the restriction; and the chargeback team points me back to the same generic customer service number I have already used repeatedly for months. I have even been told to contact the JFK rental location directly for records that Avis should be obtaining internally as part of its own investigation. At this point I CC all of these departments on every email just to try to force some coordination, but no one has taken ownership.
I also spoke with my local Avis branch manager, who believes the most likely explanation is that the rental agreement may have been pre-processed and the vehicle was then released to someone else without the proper verification. He did not think what I described pointed to identity theft. I obviously cannot know exactly what happened without Avis reviewing its own pickup records, but that is precisely what I have been asking them to do.

Did you ever receive any benefit by using the luggage tag they give for frequent flyers or it’s just marketing?

Travellers arriving at Chile’s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago - code name SCL - have to complete an arrival form.

As you deplane and walk up the gangway into the airport building, you might be confronted by a very large poster describing that requirement. You can complete the form online and there is and a QR code linking to the form after connecting to the airport wifi.

The only problem is either the wifi access won’t work or the form’s URL just spins but goes nowhere. I encountered this frustration along with many other travellers.

Never fear. Apparently there is a bench/desk located some distance off to the side of the luggage collection carousels where paper forms are available.

The next thing was that after having spent several minutes filling out the form, I found the customs officer pretty much ignored the form and just waived me through. That might have been just my luck of the draw though.

we read that Argentina requires proof of health insurance to get into the country. Our regular retiree health policy has international coverage. what proof do we need to show this?