The Savvy Villa Traveller

I’ve traveled to many different countries. But, I don’t remember being asked for the specific address of where I’m staying other than in Jamaica. Consider yourself warned. You must know the address of where you are staying otherwise the immigration officials will not clear you. They will detain you until you can come up with the address – whether that means calling someone at the property at which you are staying or calling someone back home who has that info. Don’t get stressed over this. They won’t tell you this but a street address is really not necessary. If that were the case, many Jamaicans or visitors staying in private homes would be detained. Know the name of the property and the city in which you are staying and that will be fine. If you are traveling as part of a group, please make sure that all the adults - every one of them - has this information. Think of the fiasco that could result if the group gets separated due to flight delays and so forth. We like to be proactive. Stressful situations for guests also stress us out too … and we avoid stress!

DON’T GET NABBED BY AIRPORT SECURITY. CHECK YOUR CARRY-ON!

Check what you have in your carry on before you check in to save you the aggravation of having some of your belongings taken away by airport security. Familiarize yourself with what the rules are so you obey them. They are truly serious about the liquid and gel rule: Remember 3-1-1. You’ll hear airport security agents saying that over and over. Take them seriously – otherwise you will hold up the line! Plus, you could get in trouble.

3 … only 3 oz bottles or containers or less are allowed
1 … only one 1-quart-sized or smaller clear plastic Ziploc bag is allowed
1 … only one of these bags is allowed per passenger

To make things easy, have your 1-quart bag with your containers closed and ready to put in a separate bin as you have your belongings scanned. This will make it easier for them to scan your carry-on. The easier it is to scan your carry on, the less likely it will be that they will have to hand-search your bag.

If you have a 5-oz container but have used 3 ounces so only have 2 ounces remaining … nope, it doesn’t fly – even though I got away with it once or twice. They have the right to take it. Do not carry liquids and or gels in containers larger than 3-ozs, period. Some agents are, shall we say, inflexible.

If you have any doubt about what to carry, put it in your checked luggage. You will not be allowed to pass through the security screening with items that do not meet those requirements. They will be taken away from you.

Certain liquids and gels are allowed without strict adherence to the restriction – but they must be declared. Again, have them ready for examination. These include prescription medicines or supplies (for example for diabetics) and baby food and beverages if you are traveling with a baby or toddler. Still, know your rights. They almost confiscated the yogurt for my son when he was 18 months old … even though he was with me. They “confirmed” that the baby ate yogurt!

So, remember, to enter the secure area at the airport, each passenger is allowed ONE 1-quart/liter clear plastic Ziploc-type bag for containers 3oz size or less. These “containers” refer to things like toothpaste, shampoo, liquid deodorant and so forth. Ladies, please remember that unless your lipstick, lip gloss or lip balm is a solid, it must go in your quart-sized bag. Aerosols, like hairspray must also be 3oz or less.

Once you have gone through security, you are free to buy whatever you want in the secure area to bring on the plane – as long as you don’t exceed the limits set by your airline. Sure it is for safety reasons but do you realize how much more money the shops on the inside make? Do you know how much food costs on the inside? Obscene! I hope I can wait long enough to get my drink on the plane which I think is still for free. Tee hee!

Here is the link from the TSA itself for more info.

Ideally you would have chosen a villa with equal or fairly equal bedrooms that way no one feels short- changed. The reality is that that might not be the case. What to do? Here is how we handle it. Our rooms are more or less equal with the exception of the master bedroom, which is sensational. The group leader who is usually the person who plans the trip, pays for the trip and or signs the rental agreement usually gets the master bedroom as their treat for planning the experience. For us, that usually that takes care of the issue because all the bedrooms are nicely decorated and spacious.

If you are staying at a villa where the rooms are clearly not equal and group members are all contributing to the trip, you’ll need some way to keep everyone happy. You might want to consider “setting a price” for the different rooms where people staying in the better rooms pay more than those staying in the smaller and less luxurious rooms. Hopefully, your villa will have a floor plan as well as pictures of the rooms so that you can have a rough idea of the size and quality of the rooms ahead of time. Any price breakdown of that nature should really happen before you start vacation so that money talk doesn’t make anyone uncomfortable. Remember no one wants the short end of the stick. At the end of the day, everyone should be happy. The last thing you want is for someone in your group to feel that he or she was treated unfairly and may not want to vacation with you again. The bottom line is that people simply want to feel that they got a fair deal – especially if they are contributing to the cost.

In one of the old issues of our ezine, we talked about entry requirements. At that time, you didn’t need a passport to travel. It isn’t the Jamaican government that insists on passports. In fact, US citizens can enter Jamaica with either a passport or a driver’s license and original birth certificate. The problem is in returning to the US. Since January of this year, everyone needs a passport to re-enter the US – even babies.

With the new requirement, there was an apparently unexpected huge demand for passports which ultimately caused lengthy delays in processing passports which in turn caused many Americans to postpone or cancel their trips. A friend of mine had to cancel her family’s vacation to Mexico because everyone except her husband got their passports back on time – even though they used the express service. A well-deserved vacation was cancelled at the very last minute. I’m so glad I wasn’t the one to break it to the kids. I hope she doesn’t read this blog post because she is going to be even more irritated when she learns what I just learned.

Well it turns out that on June 8th, 2007, the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security announced that up until September 30th, 2007, U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean by air, who have applied for, but not yet received passports, can re-enter the United States by presenting a government issued photo ID and Department of State official proof of passport application. You should still check with the embassy of the country you plan to visit just the same to make sure that they don’t require a passport and also to find out what their entry requirements are. Here is the link for the Jamaican Embassy.

Why will my friend be miffed now? Well, she cancelled her trip after June 8th! Had she known about the provisions, they could have gone and enjoyed themselves.

A few years ago I was traveling across the United States on business. I flew from New York to Los Angeles to New Orleans in the space of about seven days. By the time I went to check in at the hotel in New Orleans, my credit card was frozen – declined! Talk about an embarrassing moment. And, the hotel desk clerk was less than sensitive to put it mildly. It turns out that because there was no activity on the card for a while and then all of a sudden there were all these charges in different cities, the card was frozen for my protection. I could understand that. What I couldn’t understand was why the credit card company couldn’t contact me at one of the many numbers they have for me to find out if the card was stolen. So, the lesson is, if you anticipate that your purchases will be out of character for your spending pattern, especially if you will be traveling outside of your home state or country, alert your credit card company. You’ll save yourself both inconvenience and humiliation.