Many people love travelling, I love travelling a lot too. But travelling normally has its ups and downs. Hidden fees are one of them. When planning for example for a perfect vacation overseas, you may think that you have found a great deal online, or a flight or even a hotel until you get to check out page and you are literally slammed by additional charges, not such a great deal after all, huh?
All these fees are annoying, but in many cases they are avoidable. Know before you go and you will have a better time without fussing your budget.
The hidden extra fees are becoming more and more common nowadays but here are some clever ways to outmanoeuvre them the next time you are travelling overseas.
1.Credit Card
If you are flying overseas, then there is an unexpected fee you might not have budgeted for. These fees can be as high as 3% and they add up over the cruise of a vacation. To avoid it, switch to a card that does not charge a foreign transaction fee, for example, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Bank of America travel rewards or any Capital One card.
2. The Hotel
You may see a surprising resort fee or destination fee on your hotel bill when you are checking out. This fee averages about $27 and many hotels say its to cover amenities like the pool, gym, room wifi and newspapers whether or not you used them. Maybe on the fine print, it might or not show up until you get to the checkout screen online and if you feel you were misled, explaining that to the hotel might get this charge removed.
3. Rental Cars At Your Destination
After landing at your destination, you might need to check your rental car agreement carefully. Those contracts are long and dense but it is worth going through all of it to look out for things like surcharges for additional drivers or for younger drivers, which can all be avoided if these don’t apply to you. Many rental companies also tack on convenience fees for GPS devices or the EZ pass. Use a mapping app on your smartphone instead of the rental company provided GPS and use that same map to avoid routes with tolls so you don’t need to avoid the EZ pass at all.
4. The Flight
This was supposed to be top on the list because it all starts with a flight. You may have seen a new fare class pop up as basic economy. This is the way some legacy carriers are trying to compete with newer low-cost airlines. Confusingly, basic economy means different things to different companies, so check whether or not a carry-on bag is included in the price or whether there is an additional fee for choosing your seat.
5. Airport Parking
Many people travelling overseas usually see parking at the airport as the most affordable option. It might be so but you need to very keen on your dates and also carefully read the fine print to understand how many days you are paying for. Alternatively, if you have relatives near Nairobi or any airport you are using, you can leave your car with them, it will save you the parking fee.
6. Travel Insurance
Some airlines might try to sneak travel insurance into the flight cost. This means you need to go back to the screen and de-select the insurance part. Just be on the lookout for the tiny hidden fees.
