Fodor’s 1,001 Smart Travel Tips 2nd Edition – A Book Review

The second edition of Fodor’s 1001 Smart Travel Tips, which went on sale in April, 2008, is a book I wished I had many years ago because it has almost every tip in it that I learned through trial and error. Still, since things changed over the years, I needed more information, and this edition fit my needs perfectly.The best thing about the book is its compact size. It can even fit into a woman’s small to average size handbag. The second best thing is the impeccable organization of the chapters and the immense information in them. Tips that are arranged in double columns and placed in frames enhance the general information in each chapter, and The word of mouth advice that pops up every now and then is enjoyable, entertaining, and informative. The language of the book is direct and easily understandable. The headings and the main points are printed in bold letters and orange color, forcing the reader’s attention to what they are saying.The first chapter on planning the trip is the most important one, because without planning, a trip can turn into a disaster especially if you are going to a place alien to you. The following two chapters deal with booking and gearing up by offering information about checking on things ahead of time, legal paperwork, buying tickets, making reservations, and getting rental cars.Chapter four gives excellent tips on packing that no one should skip. The next few chapters take care of traveling with family, children, teens, and pets. The following chapters sort out the possibilities, the delights, and the difficulties of air travel, car, train or bus travel, and cruises.Chapter eleven and the next couple of chapters after that offer recommendations on what to do once you get where you have planned to go, such as sightseeing at night or daytime, dining, and the places to stay. The last part of chapter thirteen gives ideas on what to do and how to complain effectively if things do not work out in a hotel or lodging.The last chapter is about destinations, informing the traveler of the fundamental and realistic details of each area of travel from Egypt to Safari trips, to Asian treks, to the islands, to the continental Europe, and to the Americas.The last section of the book is not a chapter but a list, directing the reader to websites, important addresses, and tourism and government organizations.Those who put the book together are the Fodor editors Laura M. Kidder and Kelly Kealy. Laura M. Kidder is the editor of Fodor’s Seattle, Fodor’s Indonesia and contributing editor of Fodor’s Pacific Northwest, Fodor’s Ireland, Fodor’s Southeast Asia, Fodor’s Cuba, and Fodor’s Affordable France.
Kelly Kealy is the contributing editor of Buenos Aires, Fodor’s Central America, Fodor’s South America, and Fodor’s 1,001 Smart Travel Tips, 2nd Edition.The book is in 320 pages with ISBN-10: 1400019389 and ISBN-13: 978-1400019380It was amazing to see so much information in such a small package. I think 1001 Smart Travel Tips is a book for every traveler whether he or she is a first-timer or an experienced one.

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Cheap Travelling Tips for Students Staying In Foreign Countries

Most students desire to pursue their higher education in European countries, where they also get to explore some of the most picturesque landscapes and mesmerizing views of the places. If you are studying in any of the beautiful countries in the UK, and if you love travelling around, then this post will help you in saving money of travelling costs.

Book tickets early

As you might already know, tickets that are booked early, which is about two or three months before the actual travelling dates, will cost comparatively lesser than buying them during the departure. You could save even more than 50% on ticket fares by booking early.

Enrol with the student travelling groups

You can also enrol yourself with communities like the International Student Travel Groups or International Friends Travel Club, so as to enjoy numerous travelling benefits, and that too for cheaper prices.

Along with the best travelling experiences and highly subsidized trips, you will enjoy meeting many new people and making new friends. You will even get to participate in the guided trips that are organized by the institutional touring agencies.

Try not to be too picky about the available accommodations

Well, it can be difficult to find travel and accommodation options during the peak seasons. Many a times, you might even have to share your rooms with others travelling in your group. Therefore, you will need to be a bit flexible when it comes to travelling with groups, but you will surely end up saving a lot of money by doing so.

There might be a few occasions, where you might even have to share your accommodation facilities with total strangers. Such situations generally arise if you stay at the home stays or even bed-and-breakfast facilities. However, make sure that you do the necessary research before opting to stay in such places.

City-hop

During your stay abroad, you may generally experience financial problems which might not allow you to go on long trips. If that is the case with you, then you must surely not miss out on exploring the city and the countryside.

Some of the top train services like the Virgin Trains UK offer tickets to students for much discounted prices. You could make use of such train ticket offers and make your experience of staying aboard for your studies, even more enjoyable.

Check for the availability of the discount packages and student passes

Also, try to keep a check on the availability of the seasonal promotions. You can do so by simply subscribing for the newsletters at any of the reliable cheap fare finder websites. Many travelling companies offer cheaper travel fares for students. In some packages, they also include accommodation facilities.

There are many online ticket fare comparison websites that list of the ticket fares offered by multiple railways and bus service providers. It saves you all the time and efforts of exploring various travel websites individually, because you can find the cheapest fare listings on a single window, for any given date, and for the destinations of your choice.

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10 Reasons to Use a Discount Real Estate Agent

The most recent housing boom came to an end at some point in 2007. Since that time, home sellers are increasingly shocked at how far prices have come down. Using a Real Estate Agent with discounted commissions, is one way to maximize returns when it’s time to sell your house or condo.

Here are 10 reasons to consider using a discount real estate agent:

1. Over 85% of home buyers now start their home search on the internet. The buyer is now in control, in a way that they never were before. In the past, the buyer needed to rely on their real estate agent to find every appropriate home on the market to show them. Now, by the time most buyers contact a real estate agent, they already know what homes they want to see. They do not know, nor do they care, how much commission is being offered to facilitate the sale of the home.

2. Commission is not the factor that gets your home sold. It is not even in the top 10 factors. A buyer decides what home to make an offer on, based on many factors that are important to them. These factors might include location, home condition, view, and most importantly, PRICE.

3. List price is the most important factor when it comes to selling your home. The buyer has many tools at their disposal to compare between similar homes on the market. They will make their short list of homes to visit based on which homes offer them the most, for the best list price.

4. A discount, flat fee, or flat rate REALTOR ®, can be a great REALTOR ®. Like with any business model, such as higher commission models, you will find a wide range of performance between various real estate professionals. A discount real estate model, offers something of value to the consumer, that is highly marketable. Many of the real estate agents who choose this route, choose it because they recognize how it can both offer something to the consumer, while still being a lucrative career path.

5. When it comes to selling your house or condo, MLS ® is the tool that gets the job done. The majority of home sales take place because the buyer learned of a home for sale via MLS ®, (either through an automated search from a real estate agent, or from searching themselves). A discount real estate agent is aware of this, and will make sure to optimize your MLS ® listing for maximum exposure.

6. For the minority of home selling transactions that are successful via selling tools besides MLS ®, most discount REALTORs ®, offer a variety of other marketing avenues in addition to MLS ®. Examples of marketing methods that may be offered include open houses, signage, additional online exposure, brochures, or text information sign toppers. Each real estate agent determines their own marketing plan, so it is important to ask about this before making a decision.

7. It takes just as much work to sell a $400,000 home, as it does to sell a $200,000 home. That being the case, why choose to pay significantly more commission to get the job done?

8. When it comes to selling your house or condo, there is no magic bullet. Many home sellers are under the impression that paying higher commission results in gaining access to higher level home selling connections or techniques. This is simply not the case. MLS ® and list price sell your home, whether you choose to pay more commission or not.

9. To increase the chances that your home will sell at a higher price, make sure your home shows well. This is far more effective in winning over a potential buyer than offering more commission to the cooperating REALTOR ®. To this end, there are many things you can do to get your home ready. Some examples include taking care of basic maintenance, hiring a cleaning crew to come in, and ensuring the home is clutter free.

10. The times are changing. At one time, real estate agents held all of the cards when it came to bringing buyer and seller together in a real estate transaction. This is not the case today. New technology is changing the face of real estate, and there’s no going back.

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