It’s always a good idea to have some local currency when travelling, for street food, miscellaneous expenditures, tips, etc. Some people go to currency exchange shops to take money out before their trip, or to a bank. Others have it delivered via a special service, or take it out locally. So what is the best way to take money out for a trip?
I follow a Toronto Deals Facebook group, and a member posted a pretty amazing fare between Toronto YYZ and Denpasar DPS via Shanghai PVG on China Eastern (Skyteam). The fare is as low as $652 (ex. Sep 9 – Oct 15). This fare is not showing up on Google Flights or ITA Matrix. You have to search for your tickets on the China Eastern website.
Travelisfree wrote an article a week or so ago regarding Trampolinn, a French-based home sharing network, similar to AirBnB. Unlike AirBnB, the active currency is points rather than money. You can easily earn points just by signing up, and could buy a set of 3500 points for as low as $99 euros (for reference, you could get a nice apartment in an ideal city location for around 400 points). It looked like an incredible opportunity for us travel hackers. I tried it out, and my experience shows that it sucks.
One of my favourite hobbies is to read random academic articles (besides being a travel nerd, I’m a nerd in many other aspects!). Tonight, I came across a rather intriguing headline: Phenolic acid intake, delivered via moderate champagne wine consumption, improves spatial working memory via the modulation of hippocampal and cortical protein expression/activation.
Aeroplan award tickets are generally refundable. However, Aeroplan has a pesky term that states
Unused and valid flight rewards may be refunded and miles reinstated up to 22 days before the scheduled date of departure. A C$90.00 fee plus taxes per ticket will apply. This fee is non-refundable.
A flight booking is a complicated thing. There are multiple parts, and all parts have to be in sync with each other for you to be able to board your flight. There is: a booking (your PNR), tickets, and; flight coupons. It’s usually quite easy to check your booking by using your reference number on the carrier’s website. However, checking the tickets and flights coupons is a harder task.
