off the top..IM AWARE THEY CANNOT GUARANTEE MAKE/MODELS…

With that out of the way, I’m picking up from a neighborhood Budget location because it was significantly cheaper compared to the airport location (roughly same day rate, but higher taxes and fees), but the airport location does have more inventory

if I reserved a full size suv and they tell me they were not able to locate me a full size and try give me a midsize SUV, would be the best way to get the price adjusted for the lower price point vehicle? Is adjusting price something,,

There was significant savings if we did the “pay now” option, so that’s what we did - but I’m not optimistic that this location will be able to provide me a full-sized SUV. Reason being, I’ve been driving by the Budget neighborhood location every now and then, for the last few weeks, to get a feel for their inventory and I have yet to a see a vehicle that would be classified as a Full-Sized SUV (Expedition, Tahoe) in their system - largest class is mid-sized SUV (4Runner, Grand Cherokee, Explorer). Historically, i would just pay when I pickup the vehicle to play it safe.

We are taking a trip out to Colorado in a few weeks. There are some neat ghost towns that are only accessible using an SUV’s or trucks, I’m looking forward to it.

I've had stomach cancer twice and it's done a number on me. I now require medication that have to be chilled (with a mini ice bag). Security doesn't allow me to keep the ice bag in my carry-on. I can't put it in my luggage because I need to take it while traveling. Any advice on what to do?

EDIT: Oh my gosh, you guys are the best. So many great suggestions that I never thought of. I'm going to look into all of them. This was my first post, this sub is the best ❤️❤️

I’m going on a long trip with only a backpack. Can you recommend a backpack that can hold a lot of stuff?

hi! Pardon the silly question but just wanted to consult with all you frequent travelers out there :

i normally travel long haul on Cathay or Qatar on business . I’m happy with these two.

Now i need to make a last minute trip to Asia this summer which i didn’t plan for . These are the best fares i could find:

Cathay Pacific- premium economy

Etihad- business class

price is almost exactly the same . is this a no brainer that i book Etihad ? booking the CX would mean i get my account would get upgraded to the next tier, and possibly also get upgraded for the flight as well- though no guarantee at all.

for Etihad - not the biggest fan but business class is business class.

what would you pick ?

note that madrid hkg is 12hrs 🥹

I personally only rent cars from Enterprise, but about ten weeks ago I had a job interview in another state, and the company rented a car for me through Sixt using its corporate credit card.

During my trip, the car suddenly broke down and displayed a "Transmission Error" message. The breakdown was clearly not caused by me. Sixt towed the vehicle and provided me with a replacement.

Last month, I received a notice stating that I owed approximately $900 for a "recovery/storage fee" and an "administrative fee." I'm not even sure which vehicle they are referring to. They never provided a description of the alleged damage or any photos. I emailed their claims department last month, but I never received a response, so I assumed the matter had been dropped.

This morning, they sent another email stating that I have until the end of the month to pay the amount. I responded that I refuse to pay anything. If they believe their claim is valid, they should submit it to my auto insurance company, and I will dispute it through the appropriate process.

What happens if I continue to refuse to pay? Could they charge the company's credit card for these alleged damages?

Maybe too weird of a question, but small dry shampoo bottles are normally very expensive and the large ones aren’t allowed through tsa. J have thought about powder alternatives like cornstarch but tge Containers are too big for tsa aswell. And for obvious reasons I can’t have white powder in a bag or small container unlabeled.

The Budget/Avis counter at my local airport isn't set up for "Go choose your own vehicle and drive away." They assign you a vehicle when you check-in at the counter in the terminal.

However, being a fairly small airport, the rental lot is just a few steps away from the terminal where the counters are and freely accessible to "pedestrians“.

I have an SUV reserved with Budget. I know I can walk around the lot and see what vehicles in my reservation class are available that day. Will they honor my request if I walk in and say (nicely) "I'd like the Grand Cherokee in spot 43."?

(I plan on trying, just wondering if it's a common practice. 😃)

My carry on luggage has one of those single bar handles. So it’s just one bar with a handle on top vs two and bar on top which is most common.
I need a hack to be able to keep a backpack on top as most straps or luggage pass throughs are meant for the wider luggage handle.

Thanks!

My mom and 2 sisters are all flying to Spain for my mom’s birthday and we splurged on delta one to celebrate our mom. I want to put together little flight packages for everyone and feel like I can get away with some extra stuff because of the privacy of delta one! I want to do face masks, under eye masks, snacks and small stuff like that. What else should I include??

​I need some advice on the most efficient way to logistically book flights for a family trip with a stopover/drop-off.

​The Plan:

​Origin: Dublin (DUB)

​The Travelers: 2 Adults, 2 Kids (both under 18)

​Leg 1: All 4 of us fly from Dublin to Istanbul (IST).

​The Twist: We are dropping the kids off with their grandparents in Istanbul.

​Leg 2: My spouse and I continue on from Istanbul to India alone.

​Return: Adults return from India to Istanbul (to pick up the kids) then all 4 of us fly back to Dublin together.

What is the easiest way of booking this trip?

First of all, fu*k anyone who does not shower for days, or wears smelly clothes while flying or using public transport.

I’m currently on a plane, and within 5ft there are two men (on different sides) who are making life miserable for all of us around them. It’s beyond rude to others, but I don’t think they are even aware they smell this bad.

Can’t move or do much about it (air vents are on full blast), but going forward, what are my options? I’ve seen in the movies they smear some cream right below the nostrils at crime scenes etc - what would that be? Anything else that would help (face mask?).

Arrived to the airport late due to a series of mishap events and I missed the airline’s checked baggage cutoff (usually 1 hour before takeoff) and thought I was going to have to either rebook. Instead, I decided to role my dice with an insane plan that eventually worked!
I took my suitcase through TSA. TSA let me through after I tossed out a few toiletries that exceeded the liquid limits. Once I got to the gate, I explained the situation to the gate agent, and they gate checked my bag for free.

A few caveats: My suitcase was small enough (medium size) to fit through the TSA screening machine.

It worked for me and saved my trip, so I figured I’d share in case someone else finds themselves in the same situation, since this subreddit helped a lot in the past!

A few months ago I purchased a vacuum kit from Aerless. I bought 2 bags, and 1 Aerless Air Pump

I was looking at similar kits on Amazon and AliExpress and noticed that, other than the size of the bags, the zippers and valve assembly look very similar in size. So I purchased a smaller 17L bag from AliExpress. I was correct, the valve assembly is the exact same as the one on the Aerless bags. 4 of these smaller 17L bags from AliExpress should fill a carry-on luggage.

Altogether, I've purchased 4 of the 17L bags, ranging in price from $16 CAD to as low as $8 CAD (the price of just the bag with no pump changes often)

But then I decided that I should get a backup air pump, as the pump sold by Aerless is $53 CAD on sale...

I got a generic one from AliExpress for under $8 CAD (the price on these changes a lot).

Now here is the difference... the generic pump from AliExpress has multiple attachments, but none of them are the same diameter as the port on the bags, so you don't get as good a seal as the Aerless pump.

But the connector they come with is wide and gets narrower towards the bottom. So I used a hacksaw and some sandpaper and shortened the adapter by about 6mm. Now it's wider to allow for more air flow, and it provides a better seal so it can extract the air from the bags better.

Here are some photos of my hack. As you can see, the diameter now matches the Aerless..

https://imgur.com/a/Kb0ytt4

Hi all! Me and my friend are both 20 from the UK and will be flying into DFW this September. We paid £453/$590 for our car hire through europcar’s website however, I’ve seen we may be subject to a “young drivers surcharge” on another forum. I was just wondering how much this would cost a day?

Many thanks🙂

**UPDATE**

A europcar rep has just contacted me and stated it will be an additional $26USD per day (standard for ages under 24) + an additional 26% of the young drivers fee on top of that for being under 21. So not actually too bad🙂

I made a prepaid reservation with Budget Rental Car. Because the reservation was right around midnight, somehow the wrong date was selected, and I ended up reserving for a whole day longer than I needed. When I went to make the modification from 12:30am on the 22nd to 12:30am on the 23rd it's charging me $15.66 more when I'm trying to rent the car for a whole day less. They should be refunding me money, not charging more (or at least leave the price the same). Should I pay the extra $16, or leave it as is, but not pick it up for 24 hours past my reservation time?

We are renting a car in Corsica, we used Sixt and paid for All inclusive protection. We bumped the car against a little rock when exciting a parking and now there is a bump and some scratches. Do we need to inform the police? The lady at the sixt agency did not sound convinced at all when she said no 😁. Also do you know by experience if we will have to pay something out of pocket? Except maybe the admin fees. Thank you!

Have a plan B for all travel made in advance.

No matter how tech savvy you are or aren't download and learn to use the airline's app.

Sign up for text messages of any and all flight updates. Sitting at the wrong gate after a gate change sucks.

Flight delays and cancellations are the norm. At the ticket counter our computers have no magic powers or features. Get on the app or phone customer service ASAP even if you are in line at customer service.

If there's an international customer service number use it. If there's an option for Spanish choose that, those agents speak English.

There is a very good chance you might need to ask for a refund and switch airlines right now, if your travel isn't flexible.

If the cancellation or delay is weather related you are not getting a hotel or meal voucher (most airlines).

Be prepared to fly into another airport and rent a car to your destination.

Check-in online 24 hours in advance.

Ticket counter computers lockout 42 minutes before departure. Your tears for your dying parent will not change this.

Yes there is a charge for overweight bags, even if it's 1 pound; and it gets very expensive.

The airline credit cards really do save people money and reward users. I fly RT to Paris on my points every year even though I can fly stand-by for free.

No you are not taking that third bag on the aircraft.

Sit down at the gate until your group is called. We are not letting you slip on the aircraft with Group 4 when your pass says Group 7.

I frequently(ish) take long (14+ hour) flights and even with a memory foam cushion with the cut out, my tailbone is on fire for most of the flight. I remember having this pain in high school sitting on those hard plastic chairs and it really only comes about on long flights anymore. I'm a bit afraid of flying (and heights in general), so I take meds and rely on sleeping to get through it.

Any cushion suggestions from others with chronic tailbone pain? Getting up periodically is sort of out of the question as if I can remain seated, I can fall back asleep quickly, if I'm woken for some reason. But even when I do, I don't feel it helps much. I will switch from side to side and this helps some, but it returns.

I've researched this on multiple occasions and never really find a definitive solution. I've seen KT tape, blow up cushions, using a neck pillow.. etc. I cheaped out this coming flight and just got the seat that's 1 level up from economy, but even going the next up (one before the lie flats), doesn't really make much of a difference.

I know this has been asked to death, but I just can't find anything with my specific situation, or something that I think will actually work that I haven't already tried. Thank you in advance.

EDIT: thank you for all the replies (and sympathy.. lol).

I have spoken with an ortho and they basically said there isn’t much that can be done aside from surgery but they didn’t recommend it. This was with a US doctor, maybe I can try my luck a doctor in Japan.

We sometimes borrow a family SUV for long distance trips, and the recurring problem is luggage space. Four people fit comfortably until everyone adds a suitcase, vaca gear and a stroller.

I’m looking for a temporary option that does not require installing crossbars or storing a giant hard box. One possibility ive entertained is a roof bag. The midabao version uses door hooks and an anti-slip mat, so in theory it can work on a vehicle without a roof rack, right?

For anyone who has done this, what are the less obvious travel problems?

I’m thinking about water coming down the straps during rain, door seals getting compressed, parking garage height, wind noise, and having to remove the bag overnight at a hotel.

Is a temporary roof bag a useful travel hack, or does the setup and security hassle cancel out the extra space? Help.

Any tips on not having a car rental, flight, hotel, ect. change price an hour later from when you first looked at it?

I’ve just completed a flight with TK311 from DPS to IST and had a very nice experience with our seat selection that I’d like to share here.

My wife and I are travelling together just the two of us. Our fare does not allow us to change seats but I decided to spend 11.800 Smiles&Miles points to change that so we could pick seats 28D and 28E.

Those 2 seats are in a 3 seat row but the third seat in the row can’t be booked and will stay empty. That means you’ll basically get 3 seats instead of just 2. The seat map in the Turkish Airlines app shows the row as a two seat row (3-2-3) though there are in fact three seats (3-3-3).

So if you’re travelling as a couple make sure to pick those seats if you want extra space.

Just an FYI that Budget Car Rental is still operating their Fuel Service scam.

I rented a car at the Denver airport and drove it more than 600 miles over the course of a week. Returned it with a full tank of gas. When I looked at the receipt, they had recorded only 69 miles, which I thought was odd, but then I noticed the $16.99 charge for "fuel service." The receipt confirmed that the car was returned with a full tank.

A quick bit of research shows that Budget / Avis were hit with a class action suit for this exact conduct back in 2024: https://www.classaction.org/news/avis-hit-with-new-rental-car-class-action-lawsuit-over-fuel-service-charge

And other Redditors have noted this scam, e.g., https://www.reddit.com/r/TravelHacks/comments/1mnjyz7/budget_rental_car_refueling_scam/

Apparently if the location you're returning your vehicle to records less than 75 miles driven, it triggers this bogus "Fuel Service" charge.

I called customer service, and they reversed the charge. But just be wary that this scam is apparently part of their operation, and you'll need to be vigilant when renting from Budget.

Habe ein Angebot von AVIS vorab online eine Super Collision Damage Weaver (SCDW) Vollkaskoversicherung über deren QuickPass abzuschließen. Es liest sich als würde ich mir da Zeit sparen beim Abholen des Mietaitos am Flughafen. Mich irritiert allerdings der hohe Preis von ca. 50 EUR pro Tag. Soll ich den Vertrag jetzt vorab abschließen oder ist es günstiger den SCDW am Schalter vor Ort abzuschließen?

Hi, looking for some advice on how to send a battery overseas.

I have a family member currently in the UK, returning to Spain in a few weeks. She has a battery for a mobility device that she needs to get back to Spain. But it is rated as 187WH, which seems to be no-go for taking on a flight.

There seem to be specialist companies that transport dangerous goods, but I think these are stupid expensive. I guess it could be taken by road / ferry if I can find someone doing that trip. Eurostar seems to have similar restrictions to planes.

Any other options I'm missing?

Thanks

Man, I wish I knew about this sub sooner. I rented a car in Germany in May. Of course the car I reserved was unavailable, so they upgraded me for free. I picked up the car in a darkened garage and did a walkaround usung my phone flashlight and didnt see any damage. In hindsight, I could have taken a video but I doubt it would have picked up the damage Sixt is claiming.

The car was great and the rental went fine. A couple of weeks after I returned it, I got an email about some damage to the rim and requesting payment of 815.40€. I've been fighting it for weeks, but finally started a CDW claim with Visa.

They sent photos of some rim scratches, but I only did highway driving and didn't go offroading or anything. I took a photo a couple of days before returning it, but it unfortunately it's not close enough to show the presence of damage.

Geniunely curious... is it possible that Sixt (and other scammy rental companies) intentionally rent vehicles with minor scratches and then charge customers if they didn't notice and record every little scuff, ding, and scratch?

Lessons learned:

1. Avoid Sixt at all costs. Apparently this is a common theme with them, especially overseas. I wish I new they were a scammy company sooner and chose differently.

2. Take video and flash (if dark) photos. Take close up photos of all rims and tires.