Do's and Dont's While You Are Visiting GOA

Some of the Do’s and Dont’s when you visit or travel to Goa…

• Be prepared to spend atleast one day to just walk on the beach and soak in all the natural and human beauty

• A massage means a massage, it doesn’t mean anything more. Forget all those massage videos that you have seen on the Internet, reality is different.
• If you want something more than a massage then be prepared to shell out money. More than that you will need skills to hunt the girls down. Mostly outside or inside the happening clubs. But beware of the Russians like Cristine in the bollywood movie Dil Chahta hai.

• When shopping follow the guy with best negotitating skills in your group. Tip: Artificial Jewellery can be bought at almost half of the price quoted by the seller.
• When you rent a car or a jeep or a bike be sure to click pictures or even better shoot a video of the vehicle at the time of renting. This is to ensure that when you return the vehicle there is no argument about any damage done to the vehicle. Be prepared to raise your voice if required. Tip: Don’t fill a lot of Diesel or Petrol, you may actually end up not using it.
• Travel light. Do not carry too many clothes but do carry the swim wear and beach sandals. If you are planning to visit casinos or pubs then you may want to carry formals.

• Before you book the hotel ensure to read the ratings, if possible take feedback from someone who has stayed at the place in the past and can share real experience.
• Do not forget to carry your driving license and one additional government id proof. Note that at many places the traffic cops will stop you and check your driving license.
• If you are planning to booze nonstop then ensure that you have friends who will carry you back to the hotel. For those who do not drink beware that your drunk friends do not land you into trouble.
• When traveling to and from railway station or airport ensure that you keep some buffer time in hand. For example, Mudgaon station is 40 KMs far from North Goa and it easily takes 1.5 hours to commute by Taxi. If there is a traffic jam you may risk missing your flight or train.
• Do not smoke on the boat. Follow the guidance given by the lifeguards.
• There are specific areas on the beach marked for watersports and for taking a dip in the water. Do not walk around dip into the area marked for watersports because the Jetski or the boat may hit you inadvertently.
• Do carry some cash with you. The beach shacks do not accept card payment.
• Last but not the least, in the middle of all the madness do not miss to capture the beautiful sunset.

Picture credits: Friends from SJC, Khandwa

25 Amazing Air Travel Tips

Selecting your flight

• Pick the airline that provides service to the cities you visit frequently. Be loyal to this airline. Even when you get some deals here and there, stick to the one you chose wisely. Being loyal will make you a frequent flier and in the long run churn benefits like, excellent customer service, free food or drinks, use of airport lounges, better deals on cancellation etc. Make sure you sign up for the frequent flier or rewards program.

• Note the trends of the flights, avoid flights with consistent delays. Make sure you are well aware of the local times if you are traveling international. Plan for your food options well in advance.

Sign up for the TSA precheck/ Global Entry

• TSA stands for Transportation Security Administration. TSA Pre is a program for expediting the security screening process. You need to sign up for it and it requires a fees. If you are eligible it verifies your status as a low-risk traveler, and the program allows you to expedite security screening every time you fly. Advantages are you do not need to remove your shoes, laptops, belts, 3-1-1 liquids, light jackets while going through the security check. Global Entry has the same benefits and also provides expedited Customs and Border Control screening for international travel.

Tip: Click here for Booking Deals on Flights and Hotels

Packing your bags

• Selecting the right bags is the first important step. Every airline website has the details of the bag sizes and the maximum weight allowed per bag. Make sure you select the right bags.

• Check your backage allowance before the flight. Especially if you have connecting flights with different airlines. 

• Pack your essentials for the airport, for example, empty water bottle, mobile and computer/ laptop chargers, handkerchiefs, socks etc. Create your own list and use it every time you travel.

• For international travel: Try to travel light, don't keep too many things in your hand luggage. If you have too much of stuff for your check-in you may also want to consider shipping it via Fedex because at times it is cost effective.

• For Domestic travel: Try and avoid checking in the luggage, it will save you a lot of time if you can accommodate most stuff in your hand luggage and avoid check-in luggage.

Important details

• Download your ebooks while you are at home, don't wait till the last minute to download it at the airport. Use applications like 'Pocket' to save all your internet reading material offline.

• Be sure to check-in online as soon as possible, most of the time it is 24 hours before the journey.

• Check if you can use your airline's mobile app for the boarding pass.

• Luggage tags: You may use "return me" luggage tags, these help your bags find way back home in case you lost them. 
Click here to see the Return Me Luggage Tags

• They can also be used with the LED illuminated motion sensitive Luggage Tag holder. It helps you identify your bag as soon as it is on the baggage carousel.

• Before going to the airport or before the security check- transfer all your money, cards and keys into a pocket of your hand luggage or into your coat/ jacket. This way you don't need to put everything in the plastic tray. Similarly after going through security, be aware of pick pockets and thieves.

Other Hacks

• Always ask for free upgrade, there is nothing wrong in asking.

• Have food outside the airport than inside the airport. Food at the airport is overpriced. Similarly, prefer food at the airport than buying it on the flight itself.

• Don't use the first rest room as soon as you get out of the flight after landing, most likely it will be over crowded.

• Pick the security line that's all the way to the left. Since most folks are right-handed, studies show that lots of people naturally veer to the right when choosing a security checkpoint line, leaving fewer people on the left. Also, pick a line that has business men and women because they generally know the protocols due to frequent travel while family, kids, tourists may take more time to pass through the security check process.

• Take a screenshot of your mobile app boarding pass. In case the app crashes, you can use the screenshot.

• Drink a lot of water before the flight, and one cup of water per hour on the flight. If you drink that much of water prefer to sit on the aisle seat. Skip tea or coffee.

• Carry moisturizer for your hands and face. Also use lip balms, if needed.

• Always recline slowly to avoid crashing into someone's head or laptop. Look behind before reclining your chair.

• Be careful while opening the luggage bins on the top, some bags might have shifted position while the flight was in motion.

• While in the coach, request to move to an emergency seat after takeoff or when the boarding is over.

• Count the number of seats between you and an exit. It may come handy during an emergency scenario when there is a lot of chaos.

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Important budgeting aspects for planning an international trip

Important budgeting aspects for planning an international trip:

1. Draw the timelines. Start Date and End Date

2. Plan the places that you want to see. This includes the countries, cities and the various places within the cities that you want to visit.

3. Ticketing and Visa Expenses: Depending on Flights, Train, Buses, Local transport. Search for online deals.

4. Hotel Expenses: Based on the cities and places that you want to visit, mark budget for your hotel accommodation. Search for online deals.

5. Food expenses: Make sure you take into account all aspects of Food expenses. Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner everything should be accounted for.

6. Medical Expenses: Whether at home or away, you need to make sure that you keep aside certain amount for medical expenses. This includes any pre-existing and any emergency expenses.

7. Travel Insurance: Based on the countries that you want to travel, you need to make sure that you have your travel insurance covered.

8. Foreign exchange: You need to make sure you have foreign currency available for all the countries that you want to visit.

9. Phone Cards : Make sure you are connected to the world while you travel. Get calling cards for the countries that you are going to visit.

10. Last but not the least, make sure you have all the basic things with you for making your travel safe. Here is the list for safe traveler's checklist:

http://thetomorrowbeckons.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-is-safe-traveler-checklist.html

Safe Checklist For Travelers

Here is a very important checklist for safe travel:

• Whenever you book a hotel online: Don't assume that the confirmation number or booking reference number provided by the website is enough. Before you start your travel, always call up the hotel to make sure that your reservation/ booking is confirmed.

• If you are planning a trip to visit multiple cities then try and make sure that you buy a end to end travel package by a single travel agent. Avoid engaging multiple travel agents for specific portions of the trip or buying a partial plan and then planning to manage certain things on your own.

• Looking for genuine deals is fine but don't ignore other aspects of the travel. Always read the reviews and experiences of other travelers or users on the website.

• When the website says Day1: Travel to place A and Day2: Travel to place B then there is no guarantee that it will happen in that order. The travel agent may change the plan to Day1: Travel to place B and Day2: Travel to place A. Be careful and ask for details.

• Carry a map of the pickup and drop off points. This is important when you are traveling to a city or a place that you have not visited earlier. You should exactly know where you are going to be dropped or picked up from, it is helpful if you print the walking or driving directions from google maps.

• You should also have the local transport details handy, lets assume you are visiting New York then you should have the phone numbers of some of the taxi services or rent a car service handy. It really helps a lot when you are stuck and don't know where to go.

Important Checklist for Travelers

Documentation

- Passport
- Govt. ID
- Photographs(passport size)
- Important phone numbers noted on a piece of paper. Don't rely on your cell phone
- Try to memorize the important phone numbers. Neither trust your cell phone nor the piece of paper
- Insurance
- Official Papers, like, visa papers, business letters
- Credit Card
- Cash
- Foreign Exchange
- Tickets
- Cell Phone network roaming plan, data plan
- Hotel Booking/ Confirmation number at destination
- Car/ Taxi booking at Source and Destination

Personal Belongings

- Pair of clothes to go out and to wear at home
- Medical Kit
- Personal Kit
- Cell Phone
- Cell Phone Charger
- Laptop
- Tablet
- Camera
- Headphones
- Laptop Bag
- Tiffin
- Keys
- Power adapter for destination country
- GPS
- Network Cable

Lower Berth Quota & Senior Citizen Quota on IRCTC

I am sure most of us have done train ticket booking or rail ticket booking at the railway stations across India many number of times. 

With the advances in technology online train ticket booking or online train reservations on IRCTC have become a faster way of getting train tickets or railway ticket booking done.

It took me a lot of time to figure out how to book train tickets for my parents in the senior citizen quota or lower berth quota on IRCTC website. 

Problem is that when you login to IRCTC you just get these options : 
General Quota
Tatkal Quota 
Ladies quota. 
You don't see an option for Senior Citizen Quota or Lower Berth Quota. If you have two senior citizens then you don't know how to book tickets for both senior citizens and get lower berth allocated for both of them. So here is what you need to do to book tickets for senior citizens in 3AC coach.


1. Let us assume you have two passengers over age of 60, that is, two senior citizens traveling together. The trick here is that we will not book both passengers on the same ticket. In order to see availability in Senior Citizen quota or Lower Berth quota we need to book one ticket per senior citizen(that is two tickets for two passengers). Downside of this approach is that you may end up booking tickets in different coaches but the advantage is that you will be able to book tickets from the Senior Citizen quota or Lower Berth quota even when the General quota is showing waiting list. Lets look at the following steps.

2. You need to select the source, destination and select the quota as General.

3. Now select your train and select class as 3A.

4. Now on the screen where you enter passenger information just enter name of one of the passengers(don't enter both of the passengers together). Make sure you check the flag for senior citizen to Yes.

5. Before you go to payment screen you will see the availability in the Senior Citizen quota or Lower Berth quota on your screen. If you see availability is >=2, then you may go ahead and book the ticket for first passenger and then follow the same process for second passenger.


More often than not you will get reservations done by using these steps and that too on lower berth quota. Reason is that this quota is applicable only for :

Female(above 45 Year)/Senior Citizen/Travelling alone

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Also how many of you know that there is a google chrome extension which can be used to auto-fill the railway reservation form on IRCTC so that every time you login you don't need to enter the passenger details. It saves a lot of time during tatkal bookings and is extensively used by the travel agents on IRCTC. How can you get it? Simple, go to google and search for Magic autofill google chrome extension. Install it and follow the simple steps and you are good to go for your rail reservation.

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