08
Grassroots with passion
FEA TURE
FREE AND EASY SELF-DRIVE HOLIDAY IN USA
By member Mr Toh Sze Wei, PBM
With the year-end approaching, I would like to share my experience and some tips for planning a free-and-easy self-drive holiday to the USA. Generally, the more flexibility in your travel plan, the higher the cost. Since long haul air tickets and accommodations will be two of the largest cost drivers, travelling during off-peak periods when demands are low should yield attractive savings. Below are some tips for your planning.
Airfares For long-haul trip to USA, take advantage of periodic airline promotions to enjoy cheap discounted air tickets. Or plan your travel itinerary three to six months in advance. Use the airline fare calendar to view the fare over a period to find the lowest fare (the fare difference can be up to 30 percent) within ±2 weeks. Or make use of your frequent traveller miles to redeem limited air tickets for redemption. Car rental While various American car rental companies provide competitive car rentals, most of them do not list their car insurance clearly in their websites. As the car insurances may add up to be more than the car rental rate, you may end up paying more. Be sure to purchase comprehensive insurance such as Theft Protection and Collision Damage Waiver while other insurance are optional. Websites such as www.rentalcars.com include car Theft Protection insurance and Collision Damage Waiver as part of the car rental. A common gimmick among car rental companies is to offer free or cheap upgrade for your rental car vehicle at your car collection. Do check the condition of the upgrade as it may void the promotional rate of car insurance that came with your original car rental booking,
and you may end out paying more for the car rental. Usually pre-paid car rental is around 10-15 percent cheaper than post-paid one. Travel insurance In these days of flight mishaps, travel insurance is hardly a luxury. A travel insurance policy can provide you with peace of mind to know that if a delay, cancellation or disaster does occur, you will be able to recover some of your loss and have access to assistance services that may not have otherwise been available to you. Premium travel insurance plans are recommended over basic ones as most of them insure against flight cancellations, cover for car rental excess and liabilities. For flexibility in your travel plan, book your accommodations through a reliable hotel chain. Many hotels allow free changes or cancellations before 24 hours of the booking. A personal favourite is Marriott Residence Inn (www. residenceinn.marriott.com) whose family suites include choices of 1- or 2-bedroom suites complete with a kitchenette. Do sign up for memberships to enjoy free Hotel deals
Made with FlippingBook HTML5