Misty Watercolor Memories

I didn’t see the movie “X-Men: Days of Future Past”, but I always hated the title, since a “day of future past” is every day. What’s next? “X-Men: Taco Tuesday”? “Future Past” sounds profound (fine, I understand there’s a time travel angle to the movie so maybe it’s not that far off) but it’s not saying anything. Just putting contradictory terms together and hoping to further confuse an already easily bamboozled audience.

There is a better formulation of the sentiment, and comes from King Arthur in the 1981 classic “Excalibur” (those who know me were no doubt wondering how long it would take for me to get an “Excalibur” reference into a post). This trip, for your family, is to “be the stuff of future memory.” It should be a reference point, a touchstone for decades to come, passing into legend.

Unfortunately, memory is unreliable, you’ll need to give it a boost – you’ll want to preserve as much of the trip as possible, in the best, most heroic possible way. I noted a new app called LiveTrekker in a previous post, it tracks where you’ve been and you can add photos and comments to make a digital road map of the journey. Maybe that’s how everyone will do this in the future, you may recall that I’m against constantly pulling out the phone. Live in the moment of the trip.

Of course, pictures are still the best way to go. And with that, you have a very basic choice: camera-phone, or dedicated camera? I’ve wrestled with this for some time. Almost all of my previous trips were run off of a dedicated camera, but that was an easy decision. My “smart phone” was a Blackberry until 2012, really, there was no choice. Most of us have either an iPhone or Galaxy these days, or perhaps you’re a rebel and rock an HTC. It’s a fine device. The smartphone has definitely take the place of the stand-alone camera *unless* you’re going high-end on the latter – if you know what an f-stop is, and how to use it, your phone camera just won’t do.

For the rest of us, the camera phone probably will be fine for the trip. I mean, who wouldn’t want to carry one device, instead of two? Regardless of how small they are, it still can be a bit of a hassle to fit the camera somewhere. That convenience is the main reason to skip the camera and go with just the phone. Also, with your phone, you can update your social media posts right then and there; some cams now come with wifi and Facebook posting features, since the camera companies know this is an important feature.

Indeed, on my last trip, I went without a camera, just used my phone. This was not by design, our camera fell out of my pocket in a NYC cab and so I had to rely on my iPhone. It worked out just fine. I took bunches of great pictures, made some good FB posts, and all was well. Except, not quite, and for that reason I’m going back to a camera for this trip.

My reasons: for one, the regular daylight pics on the iPhone were great. Low light and movement? I was less enthused. The difference was more pronounced when I printed the photos (I’ll get to that in a bit). And picture quality is critical.

Other reasons? I’ve mentioned how I don’t want to constantly be reaching for my phone. A camera is different, at least in my mind. I won’t be able to say, “well, I have my phone out, let me check FB and update a post.” A common strategy is to save the photo posts until the end of the day, at the hotel, when you have wifi – I get that. But still, I repeat, I want to refer to my phone as little as possible. That phone is a constant reminder of non-vacation.

I’ve also had phone issues regarding both storage and battery life. That’s really just a me issue, probably, but my phone has gotten clogged with apps and photos – videos, especially – to the point where I’ve had to start mass deleting items. Sure, they’re backed up “in the cloud” – ugh, I’m not a Luddite, I know how the cloud works, and I know there are photo apps that help you manage this, but it’s somehow less than fully reassuring. Battery issues are more pressing – it’s rare that your camera battery will run out on you – a full charge will easily last a week, unless you’re doing heavy-duty flash photography -- but a phone can drain in a hurry. I know, set it to “airplane” mode, but still. My battery life is shockingly short.

Then comes organizing. You get home, and you’ll want to do some curating. The camera makes this really easy: plug it in, download to your photo file, and you can start. For my iPhone, this is not an option – I pretty much *have* to go through the cloud, and I’ve been annoyed at this on more than one occasion. I finally figured out how to make this work relatively easily, probably just in time for the process to change. Or I’ll forget. Some of you think I must be a Grade A Technomoron, maybe I am: but the plug and load of my camera is *really* easy, and I like that.

Anyway, there it is. I replaced my lost camera (a very handy little Sony) with a Nikon Coolpix, based on reviews. $70 or whatnot on eBay, seems well worth it. It has all kinds of features I’m sure I’ll never use: for the most part, it has good megapixels, and is small enough to carry in my pocket without a prob. Also, you can’t easily take a selfie with it: this is a feature, not a bug. We need fewer selfies.

Now – what are you going to do with all these photos? No doubt share them on the internet, in FB posts or Instagram or Flickr or Lord knows what. I will, too. But I also insist on creating hard copies of my photos and putting together a proper book. We’ve done that for every trip, and without that, I’m not at all sure we’d ever look at our old photos. Seriously, do people go to their laptop and just start browsing all 8,000 photos they’ve taken? No, but books still do get picked up.

Needless to say you won’t be doing the print-out and paste in the blank book process like in days of yore. I look back on some of those and note, sadly, that the color in my photos is running. Very irritating. You’ll be using a print service to make your photo books, of course. There are too many of these to iterate. I have used four: Shutterfly, Snapfish, SimplePrints, and Walgreens. I’ve gotten pretty good results with all of them, but there are some caveats.

Of those three, SimplePrints works directly off of the pictures in your phone. That makes it easier on you if you choose not to use a dedicated camera, and I used this after having lost mine on the cab. However, I find that arranging and editing out of your phone is much more difficult than from a desktop/laptop. And I found the quality of the photos once printed didn’t match up to my old camera photos on print. I don’t know if this was a function of the phone camera or the print service, but it’s enough to drive me back to buying a new camera for my upcoming trip. Quality is everything here.

I end up going back to Shutterfly as my main service because I’m used to their interface and can pretty easily customize my book. The first time I used the service I was pretty amazed at how well it arranged the photos by itself: I assume it has algorithms that work off of photo date and general composition to group the shots together in a pleasing manner. I only did minor edits on my initial books.

There’s a cost to that simplicity, though, in this case a real out-of-pocket cost. Shutterfly’s algorithm tends to put one, maybe two photos on a page fairly often, and include a lot of blank space. Either you work with fewer photos, or you have to buy extra pages, and those don’t come cheap. By now, I’ve practiced with the site enough to customize my own layout, and I try my best to minimize empty space without making the photos too small. Don’t settle for their algorithm, is all I’m saying. Take your time and put together the best possible book, and annotate it properly. There’s a really good chance your great-grandchildren will own this volume.

Travel Alert! Norway Ruling.

Update! Good news for us fliers. See:

http://airwaysnews.com/blog/2016/04/18/commentary-dot-clears-norwegian-irish-subsidiary/

Or don’t, here’s the skinny. You may remember me discussing Norwegian Air as part of my flights strategy: they’re ultra-low cost, on the surface of it, but make much of that up by charging extra for basics like seat assignments. I’m not sold on them, but one of their real values is in driving prices down on legacy carriers (whose margins right now are fat enough to qualify as "Taftian").

Norwegian’s trick here is to register and operate as an Irish company – Irish labor laws are more relaxed than the rest of Europe, much less Scandinavia, where I believe a worker is entitled to six weeks paid leave for a bad haircut. Irish workers, in contrast, may be paid in fruit. This move will drive costs down even further, especially should Norwegian expand beyond the few US departure points (Boston, Newark, Orlando, LA). I have a hard time seeing ATL thrown into the mix – Atlanta really needs a secondary airport, ATL is too crowded, but don’t hold your breath, Delta's still paying enough to keep their near monopoly. Charlotte makes sense, or Chicago, or…well, BHM is *technically* an international airport, it certainly has the prerequisite runway. I can at least hope that Mayor Bell is making some calls, unlikely as the prospect is.

Anyway, what this means for you: don’t expect this to have an immediate effect. Norwegian will have to implement their labor strategy (e.g., lower cost cabin crews from, say Thailand, have been mentioned -- gosh, it seems wrong to put it that way, as if they're flying in indentured labor, but I'm just reporting what I hear). Best you can hope for is that this drives down their cost a little on the routes they already serve, maybe $50. For a family of four, that’s a $200 difference: still not *quite* enough for me to get on board with them, but closer. So keep checking those departure points. And if you're thinking about next year, watch this space for updates. I'll let you know if Norwegian expands.

Round, Round, I Get Around

You’ll have noticed I love to drive when I’m in Europe. Some of the reasons: Many sights are simply easier to reach by car. You can make your own timetable. Roads are generally well maintained, and sometimes they’re exceptional in this regard. Signage and markings are pretty clear – language concerns are non-existent – and in the major countries, the unwritten rules of the road are pretty similar to ours (e.g., don’t be a jerk).

But cars are not the only way to get around, and sometimes not the best. You can easily get caught in horrific traffic jams; you easily can get lost, regardless of GPS data; narrow twisty mountain roads or city lanes are a nervy challenge; and driving in Europe in bad weather is stressful, to say the least.

The train is usually considered as the likely alternate to road travel. Once upon a time, the thing to do was to purchase a 10 day Eurail Pass, and go wherever you pleased. Indeed, I have done this, and it worked out beautifully. Even moderately sized towns are served by rail in Europe. Combined with a little local knowledge on busses and trams, plus a bit of shoe leather thrown in, I managed to see a remarkable variety of sights, big and small, without a car. Some sights included the train itself: I have a great fondness for the gentle glide of Euro trains, they’re really quiet, with just enough sway to let you know you’re moving. They also tend to specifically routed through scenic areas. One summer, I got to work on the Swiss rail system, and every now and then I could head to the baggage cart, throw open the bay doors, and watch the mountains roll by. I should note, though, that some of those trains were horror shows: packed to the gills with surly passengers who have been on the rails for 12 hours already, with another 10 to go.

The cons: it’s definitely a singles sort of thing, or something for the more adventurous. You got to be on schedule, daily, making sure everyone is ready on time – especially kids – adds to the stress factor. And, it can be surprisingly expensive. The rail pass strategy works best if you’re heading to a new sight every day: every day you don’t use the rail is lost expense. Passes have some flexibility here – some can be made to “5 rides in 7 days” or the like. Still, to make it pay off, you got to use it a lot, so you’re packing and unpacking a bunch, most likely. You can say the same about a car – the rental is being paid even if it’s in a garage – but a lost day on a car rental is a good deal cheaper than a lost day on, say, four tickets. Regardless – check it out. If you’re really into the logistics of it, scheduling a vacation by rail is loads of fun.

Cars and trains are not your only option. Perhaps you think the wheel is an overrated invention. Perhaps you live in a tree. In that case, you may want to take a boat, instead. If you watched any Downton Abbey, you’ll know what I’m talking about – those Viking River Cruises that kept that show afloat, financially, along with Debbie Turner and Conrad Prebys. (Fine, if you live in a tree, Downton may not be up your abbey). I’ve heard at least one good report on barge travel, but I see more than a few downsides. I.e., you’re on a boat. Space is tight and your options to exit are very limited. And despite what they may advertise, seeing Europe from a river is not the way to go. If you want a view, you want high ground. Hilltops, not valleys. Trains drop you off right in the center of towns; boats let you off on a wharf.

Someday I expect I’ll be forced to take a European cruise, if I’m going to see the Aegean properly. Likely it will be on one of those dopey Windjammer deals, you know, with the fake sails and middlebrow east coast clientele. I know my station, and unfortunately it’s not on a chartered vessel. I’ll be forced to visit Santorini with the teeming masses, and not some private island that still has a Minoan burial chamber jealously guarded from prying archaeologists. No, I’ll be with the pretentious hoi polloi, but hoi none-the-less. My kids may join us iff they have read Homer.

On the other end of the travel spectrum, you have planes, and I covered this before. Planes are very useful for some connections – Rome to Barcelona, for example, $100 R/T and 45 minutes by plane, $150 and 16 hours by train. You tell me.

As for a fifth mode of transportation, there are rumors of a Hyperloop being built in Romania or somewhere. The rest of Europe will be saddled with their legacy high-speed rail system for years to come, given the politics of sunk costs. Eventually, Euro travelers will come to America and wonder why they can’t have a modern mass transit system like we have. That is, if they get past the east coast, where no doubt Amtrak will still have their own protected and subsidized monopoly.

In related news, I’ll be driving my Tesla Model 3 by the time all this happens. You can’t rent these yet, obviously, and in fact, you’ll have a hard time renting any electric car. The infrastructure just isn’t there  – hotels don’t have garages with charging stations. Luckily, European cars have economical turbo diesels and such, and euro cars are generally smaller and lighter to maximize power and efficiency. The Cooper Mini is a niche gimmick here in the US, but a family sedan across the pond. You’ll need all this, because gas prices there are 2-3 times as high as here.

Actually, the family sedan you’ll probably end up renting is a BMW 5-series, or the like. That’s their version of a Chevy Malibu fleet car, and you’ll wonder why the heck we settle for what we do back in the states. Germans think that, too, especially when they drive our Interstate; forget about the cars, our highways are the real problem. German highways have gentle curves and great sight lines. The blacktop is superbly maintained, as you’d expect. And you won’t find a billboard anywhere, just unspoiled countryside. You’ll be tempted to open it up on the Autobahn, push it to 100mph with the kids sleeping peacefully in the back, since that Beemer’s ride will still be smooth enough to keep an egg balanced on its end. Go ahead, 160 km/h barely qualifies you for the fast lane. You’ll be passed by Benzes adding 40 klicks onto that.

Other countries’ roads meet these Teutonic standards, to varying degrees. And before you think I’m slamming Eisenhower, our Interstate has some marvelous sections, made with evident care and an eye for the terrain. And as much as a German scoffs at the tedious arrow-straight stretches of the New Jersey Turnpike, we have to deal with distances that Euros don’t. I hate I-20, but I don’t want to add 30 minutes to my drive from Birmingham to Atlanta just for the sake of aesthetics. And who here hasn’t gotten a chuckle out of the South of the Border billboards, or kept a close eye out for a Zaxby’s sign to complete the alphabet game? No, our roads are distinctly American, and that’s OK.

Anyway, renting a car in Europe work pretty much the same as here – the usual internet tools apply. Take care to review the car you’re getting – you won’t be familiar with the make & model, so look it up on-line and see if the reviews are good, and the specs meet your needs. Plenty of cars say “5 adults, 2 large suitcases” but see what users say on that. Last trip I rented a Ford Galaxy minivan. Now, Euros take the “mini” part seriously – I doubt this was longer or wider than my Hyundai Sonata. I certainly wasn’t higher off the ground. But inside it was large enough. I had room for 4 adults, 2 kids (and since a kid seat basically takes up the space of an adult, you’re looking at 6 full spaces). Plus everyone’s luggage. Pretty darn good, and it was able to navigate some very narrow Italian streets and alleys. This time, I’m going a little bigger, with an Opel Vivaro. I like the panorama windows, and it’s just a bit bigger, without being a truck. I’ll let you know how it goes.

A few other things to note: Almost everyone in Europe still drives a stick. Unless your rental specifies otherwise, assume it’ll be a stick, too (you must specify if you want an automatic, and you’ll pay a premium). Now, I love stick shifts, and Euros use gears to slow down, saving break wear, so it makes sense for them. In a rental on a wagon...nah, it’s kinda pointless. But it’s what you’ll get.
If you go bargain hunting, know that, unless it’s clearly stated otherwise, you may even get a car without A/C (this applies for hotels, too). I once rented a Fiat Punto in Italy that didn’t even have a radio. It didn’t matter.

And lastly: there are a handful of countries that require an “international driver’s license”, you get this through AAA for, like $25. Your major Western European countries don’t need this, your US license is fine. The car rental company can tell you what you need, if you are concerned about it. I got one once, it’s a minor hassle, so I don’t do it anymore. It may come in handy if you get pulled over by the cops, but I find that unlikely. There’s no Euro highway where I’m likely to be speeding – given the situation, I’ll be more cautious than usual.  

Hotels, Part III: Not Hotels

Recapping: use the competitive tools for major city hotel bookings. Chains will generally have level standards. Beware low-ball prices in major markets, there’s often a catch. Be sure arrangements for kids are made in advance.

Small markets and specialty hotels may not use the internet aggregators. Determine ZOPA & BATNA, and ingratiate yourself with the hotel booking agent.

OK, so let’s now say you’re booking a lovely little country inn in a region you’ve selected from my planning method. Naturally you’ve scoped Trip Advisor and maybe Frommers to get a rating. I find the TA comments to be very useful – sometimes a property gets an unjustified one-star that drags the total down. Though sometimes the one stars are justified – show some solidarity with mistreated travelers, will you? We saw one rating on an otherwise nice property that turned away a family at night because they only needed one night, not two. That’s lousy, and I don’t care if everyone else loved the place.

The one thing you must do before booking a small town property, or boutique city hotel, is a Google street view (or at least a close up satellite view). A few years ago, we booked a lovely chateau in Normandy, set in the woods with a fairy tale tower. The photos were astounding. And so was the place, except it wasn’t deep in the forest. A major highway was maybe 200 yards away from the place. You couldn’t really see it through the woods, but you knew it was there. It spoiled the effect (though please note it was a lovely and convenient spot none the less).

You’ll want to catch that, or other problems. You may not be near a highway, but perhaps there’s a factory within sight that magically doesn’t show on the photos. Even user photos can miss these, and they can absolutely spoil a view. You’ll also want to see what your situation is in regard to a local village. Can you walk to a local restaurant? If you’re in a location for more than a few days, having a good local diner is a huge plus, even if the hotel serves food. Likewise a walkable pharmacy or some kind of convenience store: you don’t want to have to drive everywhere.

Note that specialty and boutique hotels can book out well in advance, in contrast to my advice that you can wait on hotel bookings. Country settings – castles turned to inns, especially – are popular for weekend weddings, especially in summer. If your heart is set on one, you may need to book very far ahead.

That’s usually not too much of an issue, but not always. Where my timing strategy really fails is if you try to book a rental home or apartment. Let’s start with the tools: AirBnB, and VRBO (aka HomeAway). Both are very useful, I’ve favored the latter for country locations, the former for apartments in cities. For apartments and country rentals, you definitely want to check Google street view: you have to see where you are, and what’s around, and you’ll clearly want a restaurant and grocery store in walking distance. Don’t trap yourself way out in the country with no access to anything else.

These vacation rentals, like the wedding favorite hotels, book out very early, especially for peak seasons. That’s because they’re popular with locals, who don’t have to fly down. If I’m German, and I know I want to vacation in Tuscany next summer, flights aren’t a concern, and so I’ll book a villa 8-10 months in advance. And forget booking anything in August in southern Europe, that’s when France and Spain go on holiday. Anything that’s still open will have been booked long ago. Big cities like Paris or Madrid come to a standstill in August, as service personnel are taking their break. You’re lucky to get a sandwich (though, you can use this to your advantage – apartments may be available).

City apartments and villas are your best deal for cost savings, especially with an extended family. And availability in a big city is usually not a problem, though you’ll have to settle for residential neighborhoods that are removed from tourist sites (not a problem, right?) Outside of the direct cost (usually cheaper than a hotel) you have access to a kitchen, and can save a lot of meals. I love the idea of picking out produce from a Paris market. Then again, I’m probably not cooking it. Only you can decide how much you want to purely relax on your trip, which includes not having to cook. Or wash sheets & towels (though having easy access to a washing machine is a huge plus).

Other things to consider on the apartment rental: who do you turn to if something goes wrong on your trip? It can be hugely advantageous to have a concierge, or just a B&B owner, to help you on the ground if needed, even if it’s just for a little local advice. Your guidebooks will only go so far.

Lastly: I don’t know about you, but I’m mildly uncomfortable staying in another person’s home without them there. It feels like an invasion of privacy: I’m keenly aware that the stuff around me is not mine. Obviously that’s the case in a hotel, but that’s different: none of that is anyone’s personal stuff, so I’m much more comfortable with it. I know there’s nothing there that can’t be replaced; not the case in a house rental, and I know this from being on the other end of the relationship. In a hotel, I’m a customer, and customer is king; in a house rental, I’m a paying guest: it’s just a different feel.

This is not always a severe problem – when I do beach rentals, I’m know the furniture is not really personal – it’s been designated by a rental agency, frequently. That may be the same case in a Paris apartment – it could be a pure rental – but I wouldn’t know.

So – I encourage booking a rental over a hotel, but know what you’ll be missing (fresh sheets daily!) and plan for it. And shop very early, or off-season, the best ones are snapped up well in advance.

Hotels, Part II: Now we're getting somewhere

I visited London with my mother and sisters when I was, oh, 8 or so, as I described previously. I remembered a couple basic sights, sure, but my most vivid memories are from the hotels. We had two:

First, an in-town B&B with a cheap price and a convenient location. More of a boarding house, I guess. It was horrid: dingy bare walls, lumpy mattress, and even a leaky ceiling.  We stuck it out for two days before we hied it to the Heathrow Sheraton. Compared to the B&B, this was like the Taj Mahal. Keep that in mind: you may want boutique and charm, but your kids will be thrilled with a high quality chain. So do consider using the usual internet tools to get a reasonable room in a Marriott. Big chains are likely to be forgiving when it comes to adding kid beds, too.

You’re not flying 3,000 miles just to please your kids, though, and the Hilton that’s cool to them may come off as boring to you. If you’re in Paris, perhaps you want a hotel with a Parisian flair. Or you’re in the country and you want a nice B&B, not a Ramada (err, Möwenpick) by the highway exit. In that case, you will have a harder time finding lodging through the usual tools – and certainly not discounted. Many of these hotels don’t need the volume from aggregators/bidding sites, and if they do, you need to wonder why. The day this place shows up on Hotwire (and it would be obvious), well, I’ll be there, but I’m not holding my breath.

So, you’re going to have to negotiate directly with these properties. Again, it’s OK to do so. You’re strategies will be similar to what I outlined previously – give them a reason to say yes, basically – but I’ll help formalize it. First, a little procurement lingo. You’ll want to have a ZOPA and BATNA figured out before you talk to any property.

ZOPA: Zone of Possible Agreement. This is the range in price in which a deal could be struck, which is their minimum price, and your maximum. You probably know the latter, you should try to get the former. You’ll get that if you look at what their special offers generally are. They may not want to discount 20% in the summer, but if they have Spring sales at that much off, they probably could to it high season. You can also look at comparables in different locations. In that case, you’re looking for the hotels per-room operating cost. If a 4 star hotel in one place goes for $200, and similar one runs $300 a few valleys over, then you can judge that the expensive one is marking up $100 for location, but could go to $200. They probably won’t, but they’d rather book a room at $200 than leave it open: at $200 they’re still making a profit.

BATNA: Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. If you really want to negotiate with Hotel A, make sure you have a fall back Hotel B ready to go: that’s your BATNA. The better your BATNA, the more aggressive you’ll be with Hotel A, and the better deal you’ll probably get. So work on your plan B before reaching out to A, and fix a walk-away point, as a per-night $ (this is the other end of the ZOPA).

Not that you have that, let’s talk strategy. I like to use, if possible, the simple time-for-discount trade I outlined previously, it’s often effective. First see if they advertise a weekly rate (for ZOPA purposes), often it will be 7 nights for the cost of 6. Ask for their single night rate, then come back with 5 for 4. It helps to know if they fill up on weekdays or weekends; if you include midweek nights for a location that books weekends, you’ll do better. I find that the free night approach works better than a straight discount: hotels want to defend their room pricing, at least on paper. With the free night, they can say “we never charge less than $XXX,” and they’re not technically fibbing.

You should also, before you get into the nitty-gritty of negotiating, get the desk manager on your side. How? Ask them to do a favor for you, not too strenuous, one that might show you’re appreciative of the property. E.g.: check different availabilities; discuss room amenities and kid options; have them send restaurant menus and make recommendations.

What’s all that for? Well, some of it may be useful, but you’re playing a psychology game. I’m the reservation manager, and I’ve gotten some interested requests from you. And I’ve done them. Well, nobody wants to perform tasks for someone they don’t like, right? So, often, people (the manager, in this case) will convince themselves they like you after-the-fact, so that they feel good about having done those favors for you. At that point, they may be more amenable to just one more request, like, oh, a discount so you can enjoy their wonderful property.

There you go, you’re armed with some tools. Go out and work a deal. But before you do, you’ll still need to do a little more research on where you’re staying. Next Post.  

Hotels, Part I: What you already know

To recap: I find lodging secondary to flight & destination. And so I tend to book lodging until after I've chosen my flights. Usually, the flight will be the largest expense line item on your trip, so you have to be extra careful when shopping. With hotels, you have more to choose from, and more options, so you can often wait until much further down the road and still get a good deal.

Often, but not nearly always, I'm afraid, and I'll get into those situations where you *must* look well in advance. First, a few general thoughts. With lodging, you have many more choices than airlines. Airlines will try to differentiate between each other on service, but for the most part, a seat on Delta is the same as a seat on Lufthansa. And within the airplane itself, there's virtually no difference in coach seating outside of aisle/window preference. Customers know this, so airlines are forced to play their very competitive pricing games.

Hotels have some of these features, and when possible, it's best to take advantage of them. Chains impose standards of style and quality that often make a room at a Sheraton indistinguishable from a room at a Hilton. If you are traveling to a location that has one or several chains in the target area, use the tools of the internet to get you your best price.

There are dozens of tools; the ones I tend to use are Trivago, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Hotwire.com, and Priceline.com. Let's talk about the first three -- the aggregators, which includes Travelocity and Expedia, and others. It's pretty simple, they buy bulk rooms and resell to you at a discount. Chains especially use these to fill huge quantity, and it works out for them. Indeed, there's a perception that if you book through an aggregator, you'll get the worst room in the place, but that's not true. If you don't like your room you booked through Travelocity, tell the hotel staff you're going to call Travelocity right away: Travelocity has more pull than you do in this matter. So, don't fight it, use the aggregators: but, beware, if you're traveling with kids, you'll face special issues.

That is: You have to make sure you book the right room. I need a room for two adults and two kids. Usually I can get by with booking a plain double and being a bit cramped, especially if it's just a couple of days -- I don't really need the junior suite. So my searches will often just be for a double. If you search for two adults and two kids, you'll be limited to the aforementioned suites, and that will cost you.

Now, in the US, it's almost never a problem to show up with a reservation for a double, and ask for an extra kid's bed; many US rooms come with fold out sofas anyway. US hotels don't much care, they're renting out a room, and the price is attached to the room, not the occupants.

This is *not* the same in Europe. There, it's fairly common to charge per person, not per room. A room with a double bed may be rented out for 100 Euros single occupancy, 150 Euros double occupancy: same room, different price. Thus: if you book a plain double room, and show up with two kids...well, you're out of contract. They can cancel the reservation or upcharge you a bunch, and you'll have a lot less pull with the aggregator since you were trying to game the system. Worst case is that they can refuse the room stay, and you're out on your ear. It happens.

That doesn't mean you can't use the aggregators, but just be careful. If you book the double, and have to add kids, call the aggregator before you arrive, hopefully well before. See if they can make the arrangements: better to have it completed than have to worry about it on the spot.

Now, I find dealing with aggregators in this fashion to be annoying -- you're having to shuttle your specific request through them to the hotel, and you don't really know what's going on there. Therefore I prefer to use the aggregators as a pricing check, to see what a reasonable rate is. Then I go directly to the hotel and ask for a rate.

OK, so perhaps you don't like bargaining. I hear you: one of the wonderful things about being a Westerner is that we've largely cut haggling out of our day-to-day lives. We pay the marked price ad move on. Imagine the annoyance if we had to strike a deal every time we went to the grocery store: yet much of the world lives like this. No, price bargaining is conflict, and plus, we worry that we look cheap. It's become unnatural for Westerners in daily life.

But there are real dollars at stake here, and that hotel has plenty of margin: they're going to make a profit, don't worry. This is how I like to go about my hotel negotiation:

Obviously, I get the internet rate first. Then I prefer to email the hotel asking for availability for a short stay -- one or two nights. They'll check, and at that point -- now that I've shown real booking interest, I'll enquire if they can match internet pricing. Simple, right? It almost always works. And emailing takes the stress out of it, though if you want to call them, go right ahead.

When it doesn't work right away: note that I asked for a 1-2 night figure. If they stay firm on rack rate, I'll tell them I'm still interested. I'll wait a couple of days, and then come back with a revised offer: how about 6 nights at the heavily discounted rate? Now I'm offering them an exchange: more nights, that should equate to a lower rate, and it gives them the opportunity to say yes. In these cases, you want the hotel to feel like they got something out of the negotiation, instead of just saying yes to a lower price. It assumes I can stay there for 6 nights, of course, that should be an option for you (if the price is right).

Now, the aggregators get pretty good rates, but you can do better with the two auction-style outfits, Hotwire and Priceline. They work slightly differently, if you've never used them before, but the outcome is the same. You can choose a location (a neighborhood in most cities), a hotel class, and a price range (or fixed amount bid). Then you book, and they tell you which hotel you've chosen. No backing out: you're stuck with the selection.

If I'm going to a city I know well -- Chicago, Manhattan, DC -- I'll be more likely to take this gamble, especially if I'm by myself. But if I'm picking out a neighborhood in a city I don't know...I'll pass on this strategy. It's perfectly reasonable to say, "a room is a room, as long as it's comfortable -- all I'm doing is sleeping there." I get that. But a lot can go wrong past that. The location could be noisy, or even dangerous. Ask yourself: why is this hotel having to discount their rooms so much? Hotwire & Priceline will tell you it's volume, or maybe last-minute deals. Personally, I've found these hotels often have a serious flaw, and are forced to discount. I would proceed with caution -- you get what you pay for, and sometimes not even that.

So much for the basics. But these help you only so much: eventually you'll need a place that doesn't use the aggregators. Next post.

You Can't Take It With You: Packing

I promised a discussion on hotels, but I’m going to stow that away that for the moment. I want to circle back to packing. I played around a little more with the PackIt app; perfectly reasonable app, but it misses some key points. Here’s what you need to know about packing for Europe.

Start with the luggage. Naturally you want a good set, sturdy – some swear by hard-sided luggage, like Rimowa, but I’ve owned cars that cost less. Other bags have cool features like build-in seats and battery rechargers. If you fly every other month, sure. Otherwise, buy your luggage at TJ Maxx. You want a bag that rolls well with minimal effort; the handle should extend and retract easily. I like to have curb protectors at the bottom of the suitcase.

Most important: You really want to make sure you have a good size to weight ratio. Each bag is allowed to weight 50lbs, above that they start to charge (and they have gotten strict on this). You want a bag that has the most room with the least weight. Usually, you would be hard-pressed to fill a large bag and reach 50lbs. Clothes are not dense enough to get you there. Or, they were. We use individual packing cubes which help condense the clothes, and as a result, I’ve reached that 50lbs limit on my bag more than once.

You can get two smaller bags: on international flights you get two for free. But that does not necessarily carry over to a domestic connection, that second bag may cost you $75. Plus, you really don’t want to negotiate Europe – airports, town, hotel stairs – with two pieces of luggage. Take one plus a carry-on that you can shoulder-strap. So I shoot for a large bag under 9lbs, you can get that for under $100 easily.

Now, what to pack? Obviously that depends on where you’re going and what you’re doing. You’ll need to scout out the projected weather in advance; beware that northern Europe is quite variable, especially in summer. Count on rain if you’re spending June in England or Germany. Even Paris is tough to predict: We were there in mid-July, and one day the high was 60. If you’re north of the Alps, make sure you have at least one warm outfit, even in summer.

South of the Alps you’re more likely to get consistently warm weather once spring starts. Yes, March in Italy can be very rainy, so don’t think you’ll be on the beach: have indoor activities planned (luckily museums abound).

Anyway, you probably have all this figured out. So, where do I have anything to add? This: pack your bag to 50lbs total weight. Put in everything you think you need. Then take out 15lbs to get to the core of things you *really* need. OK, 10lbs if needed, but no less, and shoot for 15.

OK, so why are you going with empty space? Because you’ll be taking stuff back, of course! You knew that, but go ahead and plan for it. The usual suspect is wine, I always try to take two bottles back from wherever I’m going. You can’t take the wine/liquor back in the flight cabin with you, it has to be checked. And it weighs more than clothes. Ignore Duty Free; yes, you don’t have to pack Duty Free booze, it’s waiting for you when you get off the plane, but it counts to your import alcohol allotment, and the prices are fair at best, which is a shame: they used to be a great deal. I recall Bombay Sapphire 1.75L for $30 or so; no longer. Maybe they’re still good on cigarettes, but I wouldn’t know.

You also want to have room to purchase other bulky items on the way. Want to have a picnic in Paris? You’ll need a blanket, which will make a great souvenir. Sweaters, too, in case you have an unexpectedly chilly day. You can’t go to Italy without at least looking at shoes. And maybe a can of olive oil (you won’t be able to take many agro products back, like cheese or salami, but oils & vinegars are good to go).

You get a rebate on the Value Added Tax on purchases of manufactured goods, when you leave the country: have the retailer fill out a form and you can claim it at the airport. It’s 20% or so, and, coupled with the stronger dollar, makes several purchases in Europe quite affordable. Doesn’t work for wine, but quality wines are very affordable there anyway, so you won’t really care.

Lastly: you know enough to bring an electric converter, but remember to bring an extension cord. The converter you bring may have two outlets,tops, but you’ll want more. And the cord makes it more convenient. 6’ will do.