Category Archives: Financial tips

Maximize Holiday Travel

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By Rob Toledo

There’s nothing better than getting together with friends and family over the holidays; unfortunately, everyone else usually has the same idea. During this time when planning ahead is crucial, the following tips and tricks will help you minimize travel time and make the most of your holidays.

Finding the Deals: Go Online!

A large part of the holiday headache can be blamed on how expensive it is to travel. Procrastinating on travel plans is a sure way to cause extra stress and money, because everything will be booked. Plan ahead. If you don’t have far to go, buses and trains can be relatively cheap and many companies advertise deals online. Compare travel services to see who is offering the best sales during the holiday rush. Some websites combine services to save you money on multiple travel essentials, such as flights, hotels, and rental cars.
If you’re planning to fly, the simplest method for purchasing cheap tickets is to buy them as far in advance as possible. There are many websites online that make it easy for you to compare different airlines as well as different flights within a particular airline, such as Kayak. If you’re forced to buy a ticket last minute, a website like Priceline is a good place to look.

When to Travel

ALWAYS AVOID RUSH HOUR! Whether you’re on your way to the airport or to grandmother’s house, the influx of drivers over the holidays will ensure that rush hour will be insufferable. Avoid it at all costs! Try driving at night to avoid peak rush hours and allow plenty of extra time when driving to the airport to catch a flight.

When booking flights it’s important to know the busiest travel days and avoid them, such as the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The Sunday after a major holiday is also usually busy and more expensive. It’s often cheaper and less crowded to fly on a weekday, though you will encounter business travelers so try a late morning or early afternoon flight to avoid the weekday rush.

How to Beat the Airport

Some of the biggest holiday mishaps have to do with the airport. With so many people traveling at the same time, delays are inevitable. Anticipate these delays and come prepared. Bring a book or some music. Enjoy a meal or a drink at the bar. Bring your laptop and watch a movie. Bring travel board games to keep the kids entertained. Delays are a nuisance, but they don’t have to ruin your holiday travel plans. Some tips to keep in mind:

■ Forget Parking: Take a taxi or car service for the quickest door-to-door service
■ Pack Light: Avoid the fees and added wait-time by packing a carry-on only
■ Check-in early: Most airlines will allow you to check-in online 24 hours ahead of time and print your boarding pass at home. Skip ahead straight to security!
■ Know what you can bring: Check the TSA website for the latest regulations before you pack
■ Be early: Check the airport’s website for an updated status on flights and wait times, then plan your airport arrival accordingly
■ Fly non-stop: You can’t miss your connecting flight if you only have one!

Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst

Traveling is expensive and requires a lot of planning. Unfortunately, the holiday months often have inclement weather, making it very easy for mother nature to ruin even the most well thought-out plan. Safeguard against unexpected cancellations by having some form of trip insurance that will cover lost luggage and flight/hotel reservations, just in case the unexpected happens.

Traveling this time of year can be frustrating, but there is no need to let stress overshadow the joy of the season. Early planning and anticipating roadblocks ahead of time will help ensure that you make it home in plenty of time to enjoy the holidays.

Santa drawing courtesy of Shutterstock

How to use the news to boost your foreign exchange rate

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Imagine you could switch on the news one evening and learn both:

1.The reason the price of milk had increased the past month.

2. How it was likely to change in coming months.

Wouldn’t that be worth doing?  Of course, for most things we buy this isn’t really possible.  There are influences like grain prices and import costs, but for the most part these are beyond our control.  However, just because you can’t use the news to stock up on canned goods, doesn’t mean it can’t help with other things.  Regarding your foreign exchange transactions for instance, watching the news is an invaluable way to find out what’s influencing the rates.

Foreign exchange and the evening headlines

Imagine for example that a couple is planning to buy a second home on the coast of Spain.  They have the place picked out, and it has a swimming pool and bright sunshine nine months out of twelve.  Perfect.  It’s just a matter of closing the deal and changing currencies.  But instead of researching the rates, the couple contact the local bank.  So they don’t learn, for instance, that unemployment in the United States has just fallen 2.0%.  This has sparked huge risk appetite on the foreign exchange market and boosted the euro.  And they don’t learn that a European Central Bank loan scheme has relieved market pressure regarding European debt.  This has aided the euro again.  So the rate they get isn’t a good one.

Getting ahead of the foreign exchange game

To keep ahead of the game then, it’s a great idea to keep up with what’s happening in the news.  Countless millions of investors trade currencies around the clock after all, and are influenced by political and economic events.  So if something is important enough to make the headlines, chances are it’s important enough to impact the foreign exchange market.  That could affect the value of sterling, and hence the rate you get when you change currencies.  In addition of course, there is an easier way.  Instead of keeping your eyes glued to the news, you can contact a foreign currency exchange broker to watch the headlines for you.  So if you’re emigrating to Spain for instance, they can get in touch when your ideal rate becomes available.  Saving you all the hard work.