Elliott - How to be the worlds smartest traveler : and save time, money, and hassle

Published by the National Geographic Society
1145 17th Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

Copyright 2014 Christopher Elliott. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission from the publisher is prohibited.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Elliott, Christopher, 1968-.
How to be the worlds smartest traveler (and save time, money, and hassle) / Christopher Elliott.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-4262-1273-4 (pbk.)
eBook ISBN: 978-1-4262-1274-1
1. TourismSocial aspects. 2. TourismPsychological aspects. 3. TourismEconomic aspects. I. Title.
G155.A1E426 2014
910.202dc23

2013039842

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1145 17th Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036-4688 U.S.A.

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Interior design: Elisa Gibson

v3.1

L ets get one thing out of the way: Im not the worlds smartest traveler.

As National Geographic Traveler magazines reader advocate, Ive been helping solve your vacation problems for more than a decade. Im an inveterate traveler, having spent the last four years crisscrossing the United States with my family, and many years before that exploring the world on my own.

But simply traipsing from point A to point B didnt turn me into a travel genius. Neither did the thousands of cases that crossed my desk as a magazine ombudsman. Instead, with each refund I secured and every botched reservation I helped repair, I learned what not to do when Im on the road.

I have you, my readers, to thank for that education. Im beyond grateful. Now its time for a little payback. In this book, Ill show you

HOW TO SAVE TIME . Whether youre planning a honeymoon or a business trip to close a deal, time is a finite and precious commodity. The travel industry likes to waste yours by making you stand in line, wait on hold, or read pointless form letters. Ill show you my favorite shortcuts.

HOW TO SAVE MONEY . Lets face it, no one likes to overspend. Ill tell you when you dont need to shell out moreand when you should. Ill also give you a heads-up on where the bargains can be found and Ill disclose which ones are too good to be true.

HOW TO PREVENT HASSLES . From onerous contracts to come-ons by opportunistic timeshare salesmen, the last thing you want when youre traveling is to be harassed. I can show you how to avoid these annoying roadblocks.

Ive spent my career covering an industry thats perfected the art of separating you from your money. How to Be the Worlds Smartest Traveler is the antidote to a business that has lost its way, too often relying on customer-hostile policies and junk fees to eke out an undeserved profit. Ill explain precisely how the travel industry takes your hard-earned vacation dollars and time from you and then coughs up a substandard product.

You deserve better. Ill help you get it.

Use this book to plan and enjoy your next trip. If you do, youll vacation like the worlds smartest traveler.

T hink of How to Be the Worlds Smartest Traveler as a survival manual for your next trip.

Everything that can possibly go wrong, from misspelling the name on your ticket to falling for a scammy timeshare pitchits all here. The wisdom Ill offer in these pages is focused on keeping you out of trouble and surviving your trip with your health, dignity, and bank account intact.

You can read How to Be the Worlds Smartest Traveler in two ways. Either review it from cover to cover, and learn about common mistakes and solutions at each step. Or turn to this book when youre in trouble, find your travel problem, and fix it.

Most chapters start with a decision matrix to help you figure out if the chapter applies to you. If it doesnt, just skip it.

Look for the Smart and Not Smart boxes throughout the chapters. These are quick tips that you can use right now to improve your trip.

Throughout the book, be on the lookout for the Problem Solved headers. Theyre real travel problems Ive helped mediate.

If youre reading this as an ebook, I recommend downloading it on your reader, tablet, or phone before your next trip. When youre in trouble, type the keyword or phrase that describes the problem to find a fast and authoritative answer. Ive also included an appendix with the contact information for most of the large travel companies mentioned in this book. For some truly subversive bonus information, including the names and email addresses of managers at these companies, check out my website at elliott.org/contacts.

If youre a seasoned traveler, Im sure youll find most of the information in How to Be the Worlds Smartest Traveler incredibly useful. But some of the material, particularly in the first few chapters, may also seem to be laughably commonsense advice. Ill be honest; Im laughing with you because I wish it wasnt necessary to share these strategies. I wish everyone knew. But my years of advocating for customersand making so many of these mistakes myselftells me otherwise.

Also, some of the tips, especially when it comes to problem-solving advice, overlap with advice in other chapters. Thats because some of you will read the sections separately when trouble rears its ugly head. I want all the information to be right there when you need it.

By the way, if this book makes you want to stay home, I dont blame you. While most trips are incident-free, some are not. Im a realist. Im not going to apologize to a travel industry that too often tries to put a positive spin on everything for telling you the truth about what could happen. If you dont go on your next trip with your eyes wide open, then what kind of consumer advocate would I be?