How to avoid travel ripoffs

• By Kate.L
• Travel Tips

How many times have you read the encounters of those who got ripped off during their trip? Do you think you would have done the same things, or would you have been better prepared. Sadly there are many ways in which tourists are cheated of their money, but perhaps if you learn how to avoid travel ripoffs you won't be one of those tourists.

Avoid getting charged too much for your bags
Depending on your destination, you might be offered to check in one of the bags for free. However, many airlines will charge a minimum fee for the first bag. All additional bags and the oversized ones get charged increasingly more. Packing light as to have all your belongings with you in the cabin helps you save hundreds of dollars.

Avoid paying for your Wifi connection
Many well known luxurious hotels will make you pay to use their WiFi. However, with a little research you can find cheaper hotels and motels that offer this service for free. It won't even matter how many devices you have. Another solution would be to turn your phone in a hot-spot for your laptop for instance, though your phone bill might be higher.

Avoid consuming from your room's minibar
Bring your own bottle of water and snacks not only in your hotel room, but in the airport as well. You can ask baristas in the airport's cafes to refill your bottle, or you can use the fountain. Many hotels advertise their minibar, but usually those drinks are way overpriced and the bill at the end of your stay will be colossal.

Avoid paying car insurance .. twice
Some car insurance policies will cover rented cars as well. Furthermore, even some of your credit cards will cover the expenses when you use them to pay for the car's rental. It is time you read that fine print and make some calls to the bank.

Get well informed before booking your trip
You will need to know ahead of time what are the products and services offered in the price you pay, and if there are any special offers you should know about. Doing this, you will be better prepared for unexpected expenses that makes the trip one you wish you never had.

Read online reviews
The reviews should be about the hotel you will be staying at, about the restaurants you want to check out, and any other tourists attraction at the destination. This way you will know if it's worth spending time and money in that location or not, and thus avoid getting ripped off.

By paying attention to where you shop
Buying souvenirs is sometimes synonym with traveling. You should know that the shops located where most tourists pass by will always have higher prices. If you took your time to explore the city you will surely find other stores selling the same type of merchandise for a much lower price.

There are a few more ways in which you risk paying more than you should while traveling, however you can generally avoid it by paying a lot of attention to details.