I usually also carry a copy of “flyer rights” published by the US Government. Do you know that if you’re bumped you don’t have to accept a voucher? You’re entitled to cash. And the number only gets higher as the delay gets longer. If it’s an international flight (originating from the US) the $$ is pretty high. Of course, they’ll try to lie - cough, talk you out of it, cough - if you give them the slightest chance.
I used to think that I could just pull up the info from my cell phone but airport service can be so bad that I wouldn’t want to risk it.
I’m so glad there are others who print out all their travel reservations - hotel, air, etc, etc. I thought I was probably still living in the last century to do this. I don’t like to rely on my phone for reasons including those noted above - my kids would laugh at me. My travel info is always paper clipped together in the outside pocket of my purse or carry-on - security doesn’t always take the form of a Teddy bear.
I take screenshots of my reservations. That way, if I cannot access the Internet or my email is down, I have a “copy.” Sometimes, I print them, especially when I did not make the reservation directly form the company.
I am considering printing the last few pages of this thread, because my family members all think I am a dinosaur for printing these things! The ONE time I used my phone for the boarding pass, I lost internet connectivity at the gate. They were kind enough to print a boarding pass for me.
I used to print out everything, but now I trust my phone and organize everything in the tripit app which keeps all reservations, itineraries, etc organized really well for me. I’m more worried about losing all my copies of things than not having a connection!
I was curious about autoslash because it was new to me and I do all the extended family vacation planning/booking. I gave it a try for @thumper1’s dates and city to experiment with it. Instead of giving you an instant quote they email you your rates/options, which took about 10 minutes to show up. It was slightly more expensive than the rates I was able to find on kayak. Just wanted to share that feedback…
So I booked a car about a month and a half ago for this trip, and the best rate I could find was around $450, for 10 days, 1 way. We are leaving tomorrow, so I checked again today with the same company and booked a car for $350 - cancelled the other reservation. Unreal, huh?
I am in the process of using Autoslash for the first time based on recommendations in this thread. I booked a reservation about a month ago at 229.00 and since booking it I’ve gotten 4 notices of rate drops/automatic rebookings from Autoslash. It’s now down to 145. and I still have about 3 weeks before my trip so there could be more. I’m a believer!
“We are leaving tomorrow, so I checked again today with the same company and booked a car for $350 - cancelled the other reservation. Unreal, huh?”
Very common. Car rental prices always drop right before the day of the rental as they realize they’d rather rent a car for something than leave it unrented.
Trip to Seattle now just a memory. Wasted time because I didn’t read the finer print on my printout where the near to the airport Hertz rental was instead of the one AT the airport. One of the lowlights of the trip. Schlepping our baggage via various shuttles and over the dropoff road several times more than we should have after spending (what was left of) the night at a nearby cheap hotel.
We usually do not book all of our nights on a vacation since we often change cities as our mood strikes. Have found we can often research hotels online (Kayak, Expedia et al) but then calling the specific hotel directly and getting a AAA /AARP discount is cheaper- plus cancellation features.
Back to cars. I also found a cheaper rate for the car we got before we left. Was with Hertz and joined their Gold Club (ie filled out info online) , used AAA to generate a lesser fee for the same rental. It pays to make the car reservation as soon as you have your days/times and then keep checking every so often. No charges until you actually pick up the car (ie none of the paying for the first night as with hotels sometimes).
Make sure you fill out the damage report before you drive off! Our Nissan Versa had been sideswiped along the entire right side- cosmetic for us but it would have been very expensive if we had done the damage. Learned (a week later) from a gas station attendant that sap comes off easily with rubbing alcohol ( had some in my first aid kit- who knew it would be so useful). Should have insisted they remove it- it covered up some windshield dings (weren’t charged for those). That rental actually had an owner’s manual in the glove compartment! Really need to figure out controls first, before it is dark/rains… Nice to know how to open the gas cap as well, but that can wait until the gas station stop.
Usually the price of gas is such you want to return the car with a full tank- probably should have signed up for the price posted because it was more expensive (but too late by then- more expensive in the contract fine print for not filling the tank). Appreciated the gas mileage, not so much the 4 cylinder engine on the steep hills.
" Nice to know how to open the gas cap as well, but that can wait until the gas station stop."
It takes 15 seconds to type “how to open gas tank on 2015 Nissan Murano” in Google and get the answer vs. spending a few minutes flipping a through a paper manual… Just saying.
