This week’s post contains practical travel tips for two things commonly encountered on business and holiday trips: escalators and car rental agencies. It’s my husband Francis who has been traveling for work in the past couple of weeks, and he shared this information based on first-hand experience.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates more than 10,000 people are injured on escalators every year in America alone. The most prevalent cause is falls, which is why safety guidelines prohibit strollers on escalators. Go to an airport, however, and people are dragging all sorts of bags onto these moving staircases.
Soon after arriving at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport two weeks ago, Francis passed by an escalator accident scene where someone had fallen. To avoid such an incident, never pull your baggage on behind you when you’re stepping onto an escalator. If it tips, it can tip you. Push your luggage on ahead of you, or to your side. It’s also important to know that soft shoes – sandals, Crocs and flip flops – can get pulled into the space (and stuck) where the stair meets the side of the escalator more easily than regular shoes (especially child-sized soft shoes).
While in Texas, Francis made a last-minute decision to rent a car on his day off. In doing so, he learned that the walk-up rate at the rental agency was TWICE as much as the online reservation rate. It meant that once the agency employee made the reservation for him, he had to wait an hour before he could pick up the car, even though the car was just sitting there in the lot, but it saved him a load o’ dough.
I’ve also heard of the same thing happening at hotels. If you step up to the desk to make your reservation, sometimes the hotel won’t honor the online rate. This is when it’s handy to have a smart phone; settle into one of the hotel’s cushy lounge chairs, visit your favorite online booking site, and then return to the front desk. Of course, some of these sites require that you pay up front at the time of booking, and all of them take a cut of the room rate, so you’d think the hotels would bend over backwards to have you book directly through them. Nobody said it was logical…
If you have a practical travel tip, please share. And if you had to learn about it the hard way, we’re so sorry, but thanks for taking one for the team!
Jodi from Heal Now and Forever says
Great tips! I cannot believe the escalator stat! OMG!
Laura Zera says
They are scary contraptions! You almost can’t step onto one without thinking, “I have to be careful not to trip.”
Jagoda Perich-Anderson, M.A. says
Car and hotel rentals as well as airline tix, all cost more at the last minute. It’s a revenue management business model based on demand. They figure you’re more needy or desperate if you do it close to when you want the reservation (and in-person is as close as you can get), so they charge premium. The on-line rates for all of the above tend to be less expensive the earlier/farther out you purchase them.
Good tip about putting your luggage ahead or to the side and not behind on escalators. I didn’t know the accident rates were so high.
Laura Zera says
Yes, good point, Jagoda. I should pull some stats on optimum booking times for another blog post. It just cracks me up, though, that you can stand in front fo a clerk and make a booking on your smart phone for considerably less than if they do it for you. There could be five feet and zero seconds separating you! So crazy.
Jeri says
My tip would be always make sure you understand the room rate when booking a room. Or maybe I should say don’t let hubby make reservations that are outside of his usual travel point redemption places. We’ve ended up paying for two nights in Amsterdam in advance because he didn’t read all the details, plus we can’t cancel. It’s not a huge deal, but if the Marriott Renaissance there decides to open those two nights to point redemption, that will be a bummer.
Laura Zera says
Yes, thanks, Jeri. Sometimes the pre-pay hotel deals don’t allow cancellation. Not a big deal if it’s a last-minute booking, but if you have a multi-stop, fluid itinerary, then sometimes it’s worth it to book where you just have a reservation, but don’t have to pre-pay. Internationally, those places seem to be getting harder to find! Bummer about Am’dam, have you tried to contact their hotel management and grovel?
Jonathan Look, Jr. says
I can’t tell you how many times I have made a Hotel’s.com or Agoda booking while sitting in the hotel lobby. Sometimes the desk help just doesn’t have the authority to override the standard rate. Actually, it should be less than the online rate because the hotel doesn’t have to pay booking fees.
Laura Zera says
That’s so true, the desk rate should be even lower! I’ve never heard of Agoda before, but a quick look indicates it’s one that’s popular for Asian destinations. Since we’re heading to Cambodia and Vietnam this fall, I’ve bookmarked it. Thanks for stopping by, Jonathan.
Kathy Gottberg says
Hi Laura! These are great tips for sure. I am a big-time travel savings hound. I shop most of the online discounters for hotel rooms and agree that you can almost always get discounts by booking ahead. The best travel bargain I ever get is through Priceline when I am visiting a big city. As long as I’m not attached to a particular hotel (you can designate the area but not the hotel) you can buy highly rated hotels for deep discounts.
And thanks for the reminder of the escalator problems. I do tend to pop on and off them a little bit too cavalierly, so I will make a more cautious approach too. ~Kathy
Laura Zera says
Thanks for your comment, Kathy! Cavalier escalator embarkation — that’s exactly it. We’re hurrying, or talking or checking our phones and forget that those stairs are like jaws.
Love Priceline. I’ve also had good luck in urban centers through them — got a screaming deal for L.A. once. In mid-size markets, I find that by reading the amenities sections of the hotels on the regular page, I can often tell which ones are part of the ‘name your own price’ dealio. What other online discounters are on your favorites list?
Jo Carroll says
It won’t save you money … but always use the toilet when you find a clean one. You never know when you’ll next find another!
Laura Zera says
Ha! That’s a good one, Jo. That is a veeeeery good one.