Jason Stevens is used to dealing with travel headaches.
As CEO of Wayfairer Travel, which plans six-figure luxury vacations and trips for Fortune 500 CEO and ultra-rich clients, he helped clients solve their problems. From finding last-minute access to the gorgeous ski area, we take travelers to African safaris after potentially boarding on the wrong flight.
Stevens himself is a veteran traveler and has been to all seven continents and “most major cities.” His experience helps him and his team to make sure that clients can buy on the best trips.
Also, while the average cost of a Wayfire travel vacation is above $30,000, some vacation packages close out at over $200,000, Stevens says you don’t have to be a strong CEO to have a great vacation.
Instead, he says there are three things that anyone can do to make sure their next vacation is as good as possible.
1. Take care of your luggage
Packing one or two days’ worth of clothes to bring in will save you a lot of effort when handling lost items.
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It is rarely derailed from a holiday where your luggage is not in the carousel when you arrive at your destination. For peace of mind, Stephens throws trackers like the Apple Airtag into his check bag before embarking on a trip.
“I often travel on long distance flights,” he says CNBC makes it. “I want to know (my bag) made the first leg, and then I see it’s loaded onto the aircraft for the second round.”
If your bag gets lost on shuffling, putting in the locator will help airline employees track it down. From his connections in Istanbul to his flight to Bangkok, Stevens cited examples of his friends whose bag never made it. By telling airline workers where to look, he was able to get his belongings faster.
“If they don’t have that level of visibility, they just go into the standard process,” he says. “But if there is visibility, they use a different process. In fact, they can get a higher level of service to recover the package.”
No matter what, Stevens recommends bringing in a day or two worth of clothes and packing them in a bag.
“The (missing bag) can sometimes come in two days if it’s not lost a day or sometimes two days later,” he says. “I’ll travel with some basic amenities and clothing exchanges.”
2. Be smart about how you use it
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Before you go on an international trip, do your homework on whether you’re going to pay for your destination.
“You’ll be amazed at the number of countries still accepting the US dollar with a big smile on their face,” he says.
But just because the country accepts your dollar doesn’t mean they can offer change. Don’t expect Bangkok cabbies to be able to give you a change on a $50 or $100 bill for a $8 ride from the airport. If you plan to not use local currency, bring in a small sect and make life easier.
Better yet, he sets up a multicurrency card, such as Smart, before leaving, so that he can pay everything without worrying about exchange rates or transaction fees.
“The moment you left home and went to an international country (with a multi-currency card), you saved money right away,” he says.
3. I’ll descend the beaten path
Guido Cozzi/Atlantide Phototravel | Corbis Documentary | Getty Images
When visiting places like New York, Santiago, Lima, etc., don’t stay in the city centre to make the most of your money. Zoom out on the map and take a closer look at the hotel.
“If you go outside of a major city, and you don’t have to go far. The quality of the hotel doesn’t go down, but the prices of the hotels go down disproportionately,” Stevens says.
When he travels to metropolitan areas with good public transport, he sees a hotel far from the hustle as a means to save money and experience “a different pace of life”.
He recommends using Google Street View to check out the surrounding areas of the hotel you are looking for. If you are still unsure what the area is like, please pick up the phone and hand it over to the hotel you are considering calling.
“I called the hotel and they said, ‘Hey, I’ve never stayed there. What area do you have?” “He says. “The staff at the hotel desk will tell you a lot more than people notice.”
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