Some of Most Expensive Travel Mistakes

Save money on your next vacationxtravel by avoiding these costly (and customary) travel mistakes.

We all get some things wrong, but flubbing your travel plans might cost you big time. Don’t blow your trip budget on a goof you might have avoided. We spoke to visit agent Mary Jane , gm of Holiday Travel Inc., in Steinbach, Man., that will help you steer clear of these 10 costly travel mistakes.

• Forgetting to purchase a Service Plan for Your Phone.Making use of your cell phone in a foreign land with no international service plan - what we should like to call roaming without a net - might be shockingly expensive.
  
• Best Health Web-Editor Melissa Greer recently travelled to Greece and Italy for any relaxing two-week vacay. She brought her phone and turned it on infrequently, simply to check emails and send several texts back home. The results? A $1300 roaming fee from her phone company. I was shocked, Greer says. I didn’t understand that turning my phone on for Thirty seconds would ever cost a lot!
• The solution? Contact your service provider to ask about overseas fees and packages for voice, text and knowledge. If you’re travelling for a longer time period, do what  did while travelling in Germany: I bought myself a German cell phone because it was a lot less cash than taking my Blackberry, .

• Losing Your Passport What is the bigger waste of money than expending vacation tracking down consulates and misplaced documents? Still, this major goof could affect the best of us, and  advises all her clients to be prepared. Make two copies of the passport, leave one aware of a friend or family member and the other one tucked away inside your suitcase. If your passport sheds or stolen, take the copy for your consulate so they can trace the number, cancel the initial passport and issue a new one, she says. Find contact details for the nearest consulate on this listing of Canadian offices abroad.

• Taking An excessive amount of Stuff Arriving at the airport with overweight suitcases might have you busting your travel budget before take-off. Most airlines permit you to check one bag free of charge on international flights, however, you could be charged up to $100 per additional bit of luggage or overweight bags. It’s a good idea to review what you’re bringing and consider what you really need and what you are able to layer and reuse,  advises. Regularly check weather reports for the destination to help determine what things you really need. Avoid an expensive situation at check-in, take a look at airline’s baggage regulations before you pack.

• Travelling Without Health care insurance No one likes to think about worst-case scenarios when preparing a fun time away, however it pays to be prepared for accidents. Let's say you wipe out on a back-country cycling excursion, or the less adventurous, wear wet tiles at the spa? Finding yourself in a foreign hospital without being insured can be a huge financial blow. Your provincial insurance isn’t necessarily going to chop it, even when travelling in Canada,  warns. Be sure you have enough medical coverage and top up if you’re not certain. Here’s hoping you won't ever have to use it.