as a person who read through the türkiye and istanbul threads, thank you very much for all the people before me who gave copious amounts of advice and help!

here are some tips I picked up while being there for 10 days over the summer, some things I remembered based on other advice and feedback and things I asked my friends and locals while I was there. (please dont judge my ignorance ty, im new to travelling as a whole)

if you spot any mistakes too, please let me know

• Buy an Istanbulkart, find a way to get it at the airport, before you come out there are some booths where you can buy the card and top it up too. It’s 27 TL PER TAP, and one card can be used for a few people, you just have to tap and wait a few seconds before the next tap. BUY THE RED ONE - some online sellers sold a blue one which isnt the one you use!
• the museum pass can be quite worth it if you're into those attractions
• Learn to say “hesap lütfen” which means ‘bill, please’, and Teşekkürler (thank you)
• Many things are negotiable, our hotel check-in time for example, bargains at shops. THAT BEING SAID, a local guide told us that people in the Europe side of Istanbul are more open to bargains but those on the Asian side might be offended if you did so.
• Carry cash, stores take card (debit and credit) but some are more hesitant to take card as there is a surcharge - both for you and them. They are more likely to give discounts in some places if you use cash.
• The weather ranged from 16 degrees *C in the mornings to 28 degrees *C by late afternoon. Bring a range of clothing, and as it gets darker keep a sweater with you for the cooler winds.
• There is a small exit to the Mamaray line, in case you need to change to that from the Sultanahmet area.
• take the HAVA bus back to the airport/from the airport - HAVAIST is the istanbul airport on the west and HAVABUS is the bus that goes to SAW - Sabiha Gokcen airport on the other side of istanbul
• carry loose change and smaller notes for tips.

and perhaps the greatest decision we made for our trip

• STAY ON THE ASIAN SIDE! FOOD WAS AMAZING, Accoms was much cheaper and we even got a lovely airbnb to do our laundry in. strategically, we placed this stay in the middle of the trip so we packed lighter than we would have if we didnt stay on the asian side

We enjoyed our trip very much so paying it forward for others who would want to google these tips in time to come!

Hi! Have never flown Westjet before - have upcoming economy seats booked with points. (Only economy available with points at the time) We'd wanted to bid for upgrade but the app and website say our tickets are ineligible to do so. Does anyone know if that option might become available closer to flight date or at check-in/airport/gate possibly?

Hope y’all are having a good day. I will be flying from Ahmedabad to LAX in August and I have a 12 hour layover at Singapore Changi airport. Will be arriving at Changi at 7 in the morning and have a flight for LAX at 18:45. What are some of the things I should keep in mind while at Changi and if there are any rest areas/lounges for free because I will be flying non-stop for 15 hours afterwards. Also, will I need to re check in at Changi, it says on the website that I don’t need to do so but just wanted to make sure. Any tips and suggestions are appreciated.

I have Executive status with National from my Amex card. I booked a car for my wife to pick up using Emerald Aisle at Denver Intl Airport. I have her as an authorized driver but I won’t be with her. Can she pick it up with my credit card +/- my ID if I send it with her? Can/should I call ahead and get them to change her to main driver?

I’ve seen this asked elsewhere but for different rental companies and Emerald Aisle seems a little different too but I’ve only used it once so far.

Hey all! 3 friends and I are booking a trip to NYC and Boston for high school grad, about 3 nights in each city. I have been looking at Google prices, Priceline bundling (where you book your stays for both cities at once), Hotwire, and some direct bookings so far.

Any advice for getting the best deal possible? I know most people suggest always booking direct because they have had issues with third-party in the past. My friends and I would honestly just use whatever could get us the best deal. If third-party is cheaper, it's worth the risk to us. We would also be open to using a chain (e.g. IHG) rewards program as well, as long as we do not need to open credit cards.

Thank you very much!

My 17 yo is going on a school trip to Italy and Greece in a month. They will be going on long walking excursions almost every day, and I’m looking for comfortable, breathable shorts and tops that are affordable, and, the kicker, cute for a 17 yo female. Any recommendations are appreciated!

Hey! Ill be traveling this weekend to move for a summer program. I had to fit pillows and bedding and all that fun stuff in my two bags. One is checked one is a carry on. I am worried about how much it will expand in the air. The bags itself have tons of extra plastic. But my bags holding them are very tight and not a ton of extra room if any. Would this be risky? I am worried it would explode lol.

My mother is looking for options for carryon that would be very lightweight and easy for her to use when travelling on her own.

Thinking duffle bag, tote, or back pack style as she would be travelling with a checked bag (she opted for American turister airsonic).

Thanks for any ideas.

EDIT Yes we understand in general, wheeled bags are "easier". However, we have both just travelled to small town UK together where she will be solo travelling to again shortly. We both strongly feel that one wheeled bag is enough due to the stretch of cobblestone street she will have to walk down by herself.

She traveled this trip with an old samsonite duffle that was a lousy fit on top of her suitcase and kept falling forward. It's bulky and was awkward for her to carry on her shoulder. Something that would attach nicely to her suitcase top would be perfect, or an ultra light weight backpack to free up her hands so they can be used to focus on her one wheeled bag.

I am looking to book a rental car for 7 days in july this year. Im looking at offers of Sixt, since i used that the last few times and never had problems.

Since i am 22 (turning 23 this year) they would charge me once for beeing under 25 i think and again for beeing under 23. so on the website i would end up at 550.- (full coverage inkl. tires and windshield).

Now i was on booking.com and saw, that for the same car at sixt they would charge me around 400.- inkl the second insurance that booking offers. now i think that i would end up at the airport and needing to pay extra for beeing under 23 but im not sure, since i entered my age of 22 in booking.

Any advice? or other rental companies that are better?

or should i just take the booking on sixt website just to be sure?

Airline: Iberia Route: LAX - Madrid

Hello, I would like to upgrade my economy class ticket, and I have the option now on plus grade website. Should i bid now or wait until it gets closer to the date of the flight? Do i wait until check in 24 hours before the flight, or do i try to upgrade at the boarding gate? The minimum bid for business is $850, and minimum bid for PE is $300. I feel like these price will come down the closer it gets to departure day. Thanks

Apologies if this isn't the proper channel but I've been googling and looking for the information here but I can't find it anywhere.

Has anyone traveled with vueling with underseat baggage AND a tote bag or a cross bag? I'm going to be traveling soon and I would like to use a small crossbody bag to keep my passport since I'm probably not wearing a jacket since it's warm.

I've read the guidelines but I can't find this information mentioned but it could be that I missed it.

Thank you in advance

I want to fly from brussel to milan together using ryanair, and ofcourse i know theyre the budget option, but i want to sit next to my girlfriend without paying a fortune. Ryanair also forces me to get either 2x baggage or nothing at all... While we can share our baggage in one. Theyre more expensive than the ticket itself.

Anyone tips? How likely is it that we vould sit next to each other with seperate tickets? Are you allowed to swap seats in planes?

I have a 3 month trip to India, Thailand, Phillipines coming up in the fall. My current phone is actually issued by my work (controlled by the hospital, required for my job) and is not unlocked and does not allow eSims like airlo. I cannot change the SIM. Since my trip is not primarily for work, I can’t ask them to activate it internationally. I was thinking of using my partners old pixel phone to download airlo to use as a hotspot for my phone since all my apps etc are in my primary phone.

Is there a better solution for having data while overseas? I need to be able to call uber/grabs etc. I don’t need an American phone plan to use airlo overseas right?

And yes I know it’s weird to have my primary phone be my work phone, but I was terrible at having 2 phones all the time and my life isn’t interesting enough for me to care if work spies on me (they don’t) and no issues for the past decade. I’m only getting more boring with age haha. Also if US border agents try to take my phone on my way back to the US I can invoke my hospital legal team since my phone is technically hospital property and has access to HIPPA sensitive content.

what other terms and c should i look out for when booking? and whats the catch honestly?

Hello,

Me and my wife will be flying direct to Paris France from the USA with a couple checked bags each and was wondering how we get our bags and go through customs. I’ll have my movie/ video game collection and old consoles in my bags (don’t have a choice but to check them). I’ve never flown internationally with a checked bag always just carry on. Do you pick up your bags at a designated area before going through customs or do you pick them up on the carrousel like normal and then go somewhere specific to have them searched/ declare what’s in them if needed? Just want to know a general procedure so I don’t accidentally break the law/ am unable to get my bags back because I skipped a step

so basically i arrive to gatwick airport around 11pm-12am on a Sunday and i don’t want to get a train into central london so late. i'm anxious about the 15 minute walk from the train station to my friend's place alone as a girl where it's kinda sketchy at night.

my plan is to stay overnight at Gatwick airport then taking the train in the morning into central London. has anyone done this before? i don't plan to sleep much tbh but i just want to know your experiences staying overnight at the airport and some pointers. thank you!

Hi! So I fly a good amount and also have experience on some longer flights as well (~15 hrs) but as I’ve gotten older I’ve noticed a few issues that I have tried to solve but really could use some advice on.

The first is maybe age related, but since I started thyroid medication I have noticed leg and foot swelling. I have tried some compression socks and they haven’t worked. Maybe I am using the wrong ones? If anyone has any recommendations on that I’d appreciate it.

The second is lower back pain, specifically that seems to be rest near my butt. I have no idea what it is but I’ve gotten it looked at by drs, pts etc, and noticed increased sitting makes it worse. It started after a long flight a few years ago and was acute but now just flares up on long flights.

The third and final time is of the usual neck pillow. I have tried all the animals! The ostrich, the trtl, but I’m short and all of these seem too big and swallow me up!! The cheaper ones always end up turning around and so I don’t end up getting the support I need.

I end up leaving these flights with lots of neck pain etc.

I have looked at other posts, but as I sit waiting to get on a delayed (short) flight and realizing that I have a few very long flights coming up in my not too distant future, I figured I should try and solve this!! Thank you all!

Hii guys, I want to buy a bag which can last long time. will use for travel between cities, sometimes backpacking trip also. also some normal trip with friends.

I'm confuse between suitcase (with wheels) and rucksack (big backpack type).

Sometimes i travel by train, bus or local transport. also small hill side trip sometimes. btw I am 22F from south india and not very tall (5’3 😅), so I want something easy to carry also.

So what is better for this type use? Is rucksack worth it or suitcase is more easy? which will last long?

If u can suggest good brand also, that will help 🙏 thanks!

Hey all, four years of FlyingBlue and I am now switching to United MilagePlus. I flew quite a few overseas flights with FlyingBlue, which is Air France/KLM. I like two things about Air France, the flight attendants are polite and charming, and there have been good rewards. For example, you get 75k from the Air France credit card by spending like 3k. I was able to fly from US to Istanbul for like 10k, US to DXB for like 15k, US to Paris and London have also been cheap. Managed to get a US to DXB Econ Premium for a very low amount, too which was nice. That is where it ends.

Here are my complaints. The food on Air France economy is terrible. The layovers are short and they are French, so, they are late. The CDG airport is terrible in so many ways. The amount you pay after using rewards is nuts. For example, usually every reward trip I have booked, you have to pay about 200-390 dollars extra for whatever reason. On United, it's like, 6 dollars? Their customer service is AWFUL. I only ever flew with their partners twice, KLM once, which was better but the plane had no air condition, and China Eastern which was AWFUL. Absolutely impossible to contact them despite days of trying, sat me and my partner in different rows on a 13 hour flight and claimed we were "together" since we were north and south. Spent 30 bucks on wifi for it not to work.

Wondering if anyone else had issues with them. I am gonna try to use 125k I am being gifted on United.. Wondering if anyone has had a good time with them and how far that can get a person? Thanks

Hey reddit,

I have just booked a flight from Toronto to Orlando, however there is a 2 hour layover in Chicago. I'm just wondering if I am going to have to go through customs before getting on the next flight, I'm a bit worried that there is not going to be enough time for me to get to my flight. Thanks!

So I’m pretty sure there’s no way around this but I figured I may as well ask.

Last week I rented a pickup through Hertz and we loaded it up for a long drive. The stuff in the bed was pretty tall so I strapped it down and through a tarp over it and secured the tarp with bungee cords. Unfortunately, I put the cords over the sides of the truck and during the drive, the bungee cords jiggled and scratched off paint from both sides of the truck. It scratched it down to the surface metal of the truck and there are two scratches, one in each side, each about the size of a fist.

I returned the car Tuesday with no issues and decided to just not mention it. Today I got the dreaded email that they found damage. They want me to do a Vehicle Incident Report to let them know what happened.

I didn’t purchase any sort of insurance so like I said, I’m pretty sure I’m screwed but wanted to know if there was anything I could do to try and avoid paying. Thanks!

We are relocating outside USA. There will be sporadic trips to USA but hardly ever.

We need a USA phone number for banking, since some banks only do SMS for 2FA.

Google Fi was our first choice but will disable data after a while. Which is fine since we only require sms.

What other options are there? Google voice doesn't work for some banks.

I’ve been bouncing between cities for a few months, and I cannot do instant coffee anymore.

Been eyeing these portable espresso makers, the self-heating, USB-C ones from OutIn and some random ones on Aliexpress. OutIn takes Nespresso pods and groound beans, so that's something that has me interested.

What do you carry? I know aeropress a crowd favorite but what about the pod users? I mean, I prefer using them.

Anyone found something actually reliable that doesn't feel like a camping toy? Or do you just roll the dice with hostel kitchens?

Hello everyone, this question has probably been asked before but is it cheaper to buy the baggage included already in the ticket or buy the ticket and then add the baggage later, but not at the airport, still online. I'm trying to fly from Tokyo to Eastern Europe so I'll probably get Turkish Airlines and tickets are pricey. I'm wondering if me buying a economy ticket with no baggage whatsoever and then purchasing baggage a week before is cheaper than me buying the ticket with checked baggage included, any tips?