Beat The Travel Agent

Beat The Travel Agent

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Los Angeles

Published in Destinations

 
Overview
known as the city of angels and the hub for California, Los Angeles is the perfect place to explore. Filled with many mini cities, L.A needs to be travelled neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Make sure you have a beachside lunch in Santa Monica, go shopping in Beverly Hills, visit the Getty Center and stroll the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but allow one day to explore each area. 
Best Time to Visit
Year-round. L.A. is the land of endless summers, and it’s always a wonderful place to escape for a dose of Southern Cali sunshine.
Los Angeles Transportation
It’s true that L.A. is most widely known for its car culture, but there are a variety of other ways to explore the city without having to get behind the wheel. Metro’s subway trains, light rail and buses ($1.75 per ride) transport hundreds of thousands daily, while numerous citywide bike paths welcome a growing number of cyclists.
Los Angeles Weather
December and January are the coolest months with an average temperature of 68°F (20°C). August is the hottest month with an average temperature of 84°F (28.3°C).
Know Before Visiting
January through April tend to see the lowest room rates and occupancy, meaning it’s a fine time to take advantage of deals and escape the cold weather for a slice of sunshine.

Language
English

Electric
Type A (two-prong plug) or Type B (three-prong plug)

Currency
United States Dollar ($)
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Top Travel Hacks That'll Save You Time, Space, And Money

Published in Travel Tips & Tricks

Our Top Travel Hacks that'll Save You Time, Space, and Money
We have travelled in over 200 planes, 30 countries and 6 continents and we cold not count how many travel disasters we have had, but learning from our mistakes, we can give our top Travel hacks that’ll save you not only time and space but also money.

1. Carry a handy bag to increase hand luggage.

One of the simplest yet most effective hacks that we use almost every week on our travels is carrying a string bag or airport duty free bag with you when travelling as airplane fares are going down but airlines such as Easyjet are now limiting only one bag for hand luggage causing excessive charges for a passenger travelling with say a handbag and a hand luggage suitcase, but if you carry an airport duty free bag and put your handbag or other stuff in that they can’t refuse it on the plane.


2. Carry a multi-travel adapter.

When travelling to a country that uses a different plug type, bring one adapter and an extension lead or carry a handy 4 USB one international plug adapter to keep your devices charged. *check out our review of this handy affordable option*

3. Use any old card you have in your hotel room.
Many hotels now use a card system to keep the lights and plugs on to make sure you are in the room, but you don’t have to use the room key. You can use any card in it to keep your devices charging when your dipping down to the pool or have more than one guest staying. Our business cards work a treat ;)

4. Use your Hotels amenities to keep your clothes clean.
If you have been exploring a bit off the beaten track or have been at a music festival and your shoes have got dirty, use the hotel's shower cap to keep your shoes from dirtying up your clothes.

5. Use Netflix’s Download & Go feature.
 We spend a lot of time on planes and in airports and it can sometimes get a bit boring. If you have a tablet or phone and use Netflix, you can now use their download & go feature to download your favourite movies and shows to keep you or your kid occupied on that 4-hour flight.


6. Use those shades to hold your phone up.
Okay, it's no Imax cinema experience, but you can use your sunglasses you’ve already packed to hold your device up when you're watching a film in the airport or on a plane.

7. Use currency cards or non-international fee cards.
Cards like The free Revolut Card or credit cards like the Halifax Clarity card offers you no fees when using your card abroad for transactions or with cash withdrawals and you also get the MasterCard exchange rate which is normally a lot cheaper than a travel currency exchange service.

Explore our section on Best Travel Money options

8. Book the window and the aisle seat.
One of the ways to maximise your space on that cramped Boeing 747 is by booking the Window and the aisle seat if your travelling in a pair. Normally then you will get the middle seat to yourselves, But worst comes to worst and somebody sits there you just ask politely if they could swap seats with your or your travel buddy to sit beside each other.

9. Go Ninja style when booking flights and Hotels
Unfortunately, in this day and age flight and hotel companies save all of our details so the more you look at that flight the price will go up. Use A browser such as Google Chrome or Safari to go in Incognito mode to look like your a new customer.

10. Don’t be that person holding up the Security line.
When we travel we buy sealable transparent food bags that not only are a lot cheaper than some airports bag fee, but it means we can pack our liquids before we even get to the airport saving time and stress when going through security.

11. Bring your own healthy food and empty bottle on the plane.
When travelling you're limited to how much liquids you can bring but not snacks. Save money by bringing your own snacks on the plane. Not only will they be cheaper but also healthy than the plane food reducing tiredness and jet-lag.
*Also when travelling most airports have water dispensers in the airport so bring and empty plastic bottle and fill your bottle up on the other side of security.

12. Make your hotel or apartment your own.
There's nothing worse than travelling to a foreign country and not having one channel in your own language. Most hotels now will have a HDMI cable slot that you can plug your laptop or device into to watch your favourite shows. Also, most TVs now have a USB slot that you can charge your device off as well.

 

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Hand Luggage Travel Ban

Published in Essentials

Laptop and tablet ban: How will this affect your travel plans?
On March 22nd 2017, the UK and the US announced a ban on laptops and tablets in all hand luggage on board direct flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia, and the change in hand luggage restrictions has now come into force.
So how will this affect your travel plans?
The US flight ban affects the following airports:
• Cairo (Egypt)
• Istanbul (Turkey)
• Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
• Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
• Kuwait (Kuwait)
• Doha (Qatar)
• Casablanca (Morocco)
• Amman (Jordan)
• Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
• Jeddah (Saudi Arabia)

The UK flight ban affects all flights coming from:
• Turkey
• Lebanon
• Jordan
• Egypt
• Tunisia
• Saudi Arabia
Which airlines are affected?
The ban will affect six UK airlines:
• British Airways
• easyJet
• Jet2.com
• Monarch
• Thomas Cook
• Thomson
And these eight overseas carriers:
• Turkish Airlines
• Pegasus Airways
• Atlas-Global Airlines
• Middle East Airlines
• Egyptair
• Royal Jordanian
• Tunis Air
• Saudia


Which are electronic items are banned from cabin baggage?
UK flight ban:
Prohibits any electronic device bigger than 16cm x 9.3cm x 1.5cm in hand luggage. This means mobiles and smartphones, like the larger iPhone 7/Samsung Galaxy S8, can still be carried in hand luggage.
US flight ban:
Prohibits the following items, as detailed by The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) - but they have said that this list is not exhaustive:
• Laptops
• Tablets
• E-readers
• Cameras
• Portable DVD players
• Game consoles larger than a smartphone
• Travel printers and scanners

What can I pack in my hand luggage?

If you're like us and travel with a ton of electronics you're probably left a little confused as to what items you can and can't bring on board, but from the UK, it only seems to affect laptops and tablets bigger than an iPhone 7 plus for now. But we will keep you up to date.

What about electronics on connecting flights?
Some of the airports affected by this latest hand luggage ban are big airline hubs, with lots of UK travellers passing through on business or holiday. The ban is to be enforced from your last point of departure, so if the last airport you departed from is on the list, then the ban will apply. Therefore, catching any connecting flight from one of the airports affected to the UK will mean that your laptop or tablet will not be allowed in the cabin. The safest thing to do if you're transferring through one of these airports is to put any electronic devices into your hold luggage at the first airport you're originating from.

Will travel insurance cover electronics in hold luggage?

Policies can vary, but as a general rule, most travel insurance will not cover theft of and unattended items which you can't see or aren't close to you. So if it goes in the hold, there's a chance your policy won't pay, should your laptop or tablet get damaged or go walkabout. Some insurance providers might be flexible in this situation, having been effectively forced to place such items in the hold, but if in doubt and when possible, leave valuable devices at home and save yourself the stress.

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Travalo The World- The Refillable Perfume Spray

Published in travel accessories

 Travalo Refillable Perfume Atomizer Spray
When travelling you want to look and smell the best but there's always one major issue with that; you're limited to what you can bring on a plane. This is where Travalo comes in, they have invented a 5ml easy fill perfume spray that even Ryanair wouldn't have an issue with size wise. 

The Travalo perfume atomizer comes in 4 different models; Classic HD, Milano, Pearl and the Devine. All models come in various colours to match that perfect bag or purse. Made from Aircraft grade aluminum and totally free of glass this little friend is aircraft approved carry-on baggage.

We tested both the Classic HD and the Milano and true to Travalo's claims they really do refill in seconds. On the bottom of each Travalo Perfume atomizer, you will find a fillable hole which fits perfectly on nearly all perfume and aftershave bottles. 

The Innovative Genie-S 'pump to fill' works a charm with just a number of pumps it transfers the fragrance from your unfriendly sized perfume bottle to a handy pocket-sized travel accessory.  


We used the Travalo Milano for a recent trip and it lasted the whole 4 days of the trip and that's even with a generous respraying each morning, noon and night.


The only issue we were worried about was leakage and issues refilling which we've seen with other products like this. But overall we haven't had one leak. We actually found when playing about with the Travalo that not only can you refill again with a different perfume after cleaning but that Travalo has integrated a U-change removable inner vial to change in an instant. 

Verdict
Both the Classic HD and the Milano are not only brilliant for travel but for everyday use in your purse, make-up bag, pocket or in your car. We love the idea of it and think it really is the future, the only issue that comes into question is the price but when you consider how much it costs for a large and smaller travel sized bottle of your favourite spray over time you really can see a massive saving not only in money but in space.

Rating: 
Where to buy
Buy now for £12.99 and free delivery from Debenhams or Travalo
Understanding our rating class.
We rate our Travel Accessories ranging from, First class being the best and Last class being the worst.

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