50 Overseas Travel Tips - official forum discussion

melanzana

I pack all chargers, battery packs, converter plugs and anything like that in a ziplock bag. They do not have to be put in the trays like mobiles, tablets and laptops, so they can be packed in hand luggage but it does keep them together if they need inspection for any reason, and it's easy to find them at destination all in one place too!

jonni

The French Government website wants your application form to state emissions in g/km, not g/kWh. My Reg Certificate doesn't state which units the figure is in, but when I put in 0.255 it bounced back, so I concluded it was g/kWh. To convert from g/kWh to g/km my supplier told me to multiply by 521.6 and round to the nearest whole number, and it worked.

agrinnall

laurenyoung wrote: »

I would like to add some important travel tips when your going to visit the Russia
If you’re one of the lucky people who planned well ahead and are currently in Russia enjoying the FIFA World Cup in person, you are definitely living right.

Obviously they didn't plan very well as it's all over now. Perhaps they don't have enough :spam: in their diet.

knightstyle

If driving in Europe ask your car insurance to send you an accident form which has languages of the countries you are driving through. Plus you may need originals of all your car documents for the police if you have an accident.

cvCA

Small change seems to be in short supply all over Croatia and Montenegro: guard it well as sellers of small things sometimes won't take a note - even paying for a 15 EUR lunch with a 20 can cause waiters to ask their colleagues for change!

Beware the cash machine conversions again. When it was GBP 1 = EUR 1.12, Soc Gen Montenegro offered me just 1.04...

StephanieM

I have tip also, please install travel apps, like Questo, it's a more fun way to discover cities

pwat

Turn Phone into Free Satnav / GPS
After much research and experimentation, the conclusion is use OsmAnd.
Download the app before you go, preferably the paid-for version, it will cost you less than a couple of cups of coffee.
Download the maps before you go.

You then have free, OFFLINE navigation with many advantages over Gargle, etc.

Advice - Get used to using it at home before you go.  As with driving a car, you need to invest a little time learning how to do it, and practising, before you become skilful.  If you don't want the bother of learning, and only want a dead simple, "use-it-straight-out-of-the-box" GPS,  then look elsewhere.  But learn how to use it, and you'll never get lost.
Here's one of the many advantages - You can search for almost anything, say ...   um ... Bike repair / Church / Hardware / etc - Just use the searcher, click "show on Map", and they'll all be highlighted and their details available.

There are so many reasons why Osmand is THE BEST for land-based navigation, on foot, bike, car, truck, towing a caravan.

junji

To set up an alert to find British Airways reward seats I subscribe to www.rewardflightfinder.com. Has found me 2 business class seats to use my companion vouchers in each of the last 3 years. Saves a lot of hassle. 

MATTR5

Had a price from Jet2holidays, TUI, or Easyjet Holidays, or a River Cruise Tour etc - check if you can book it cheaper using this MSE Forum - Beat My Quote - I'm one of the Travel Discounters that will reply 

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/509598/beat-my-quote-travel-agents-thread/p1266 

I am a Travel Agent

My company’s ABTA/ATOL numbers are G9172/6053. MSE doesn't check my status as a Travel Agent, so you need to take my word for it. You can check my ATOL with the CAA. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Travel Agent Code of Conduct.

highlander58

Save up to £80 on purchases abroad - claim back the local purchase tax on re-entry to UK. Very handy for booze cruises & city shopping trips!
Cant understand why there isn’t a tip about this in the main MSE travel guide - far bigger moneysaving to be made here than some others!

We all have a £390 UK duty-free allowance on goods bought abroad (for personal use) - hence ‘nothing to declare’ on re-entry to UK. In addition, we have a separate duty-free allowance on alcohol purchased abroad.
But that also means we can claim back the foreign duty already paid on those goods, which can add up to a hefty saving.

In the EU, this means getting a VAT receipt from the shop & claiming VAT back via a PABLO machine on re-entry to UK. The rules vary by country: in Spain, there is no minimum spend (per receipt) - in France it’s €100. The refund will arrive a few days later, via your nominated payment method. Bear in mind the refund will be in Euros, so to avoid exchange fees - use the same specialist card you use (I hope!) when abroad.

Full details, useful official links & testimonials from people who’ve successfully done this are in my original post here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6565094/tax-free-shopping-in-eu-a-money-saving-secret