Go prepared
Readers share tips on packing, booking, and more.
Smart strategy for packing bags
Develop and use a personalized travel-packing list. Keep your list up to date, handy and detailed. Store your list in your luggage or with your travel documents.
Standolyn Robertson
Los Feliz
Pack old underwear, socks, clothes, etc., and toss each pair as you go. Saves on laundry and leaves room for souvenirs as you travel. Larry Blanton and
Starr Sachs
Valencia
Be aware that some luxury hotels will send your discards back to you and bill you for the shipping, if you do not advise the front desk. Or arrange to donate serviceable items.
Mark Imber
Thousand Oaks
Take a small carry-on bag with needed prescriptions, eyeglasses, contact solution, change of underwear, limited cosmetics and toiletries and an empty plastic water bottle that you can fill once through security. There are more delays and canceled flights than you might think.
Jo-Anne Collins
Fountain Valley
Cross-pack with your travel partner. I put a few clothing articles in my wife’s carry-on and checked bag. She does the same in mine. It reduces the odds that a lost or delayed bag will disrupt your trip. Dick Barnes and
Diane Bever
Long Beach
Carry a folded-up plastic bag with zippers, handles and a luggage tag. Check it, or carry it on. Great for souvenirs. Dick Barnes and
Diane Bever
Long Beach
Put some bubble wrap or padded envelopes in the bottom of your suitcase for anything fragile. Likewise, a tube if you might get some art/posters.
Sheil a Maynes
Beverly Hills
Also pack an empty day bag. My over-the-shoulder day bag is a great catchall for guidebooks, water bottle, travel umbrella, hand sani--
tizer, tissue, souvenirs, etc. Dick Barnes and
Diane Bever
Long Beach
Enclose your checked bag in a sweat shirt. I put the handle through the neck opening and close the drawstring around the bottom.
Shirley J. Lane
Santa Monica Don’t fill your 3-ounce carry-on liquids to the top because they’ll leak. Squeeze slightly to simulate the compression during flight and cap securely. Voilà! No leaking.
Kay Brown
Laguna Hills
When traveling for business, pack each jacket, pair of pants or dress in a plastic dry cleaners bag in the top of your suitcase. Clothes wrinkle less, are protected from moisture (suitcases can sit in the rain) and are fast to unpack. And always take an extra white T-shirt.
Kay Brown
Laguna Hills
Pack necklaces by threading them through a straw. Straws are easy to come by at fast-food restaurants and coffeehouses.
Laura Lee Smith
Newport Beach
If undecided about checking luggage, organize liquids in a clear bag so you can retrieve the bag quickly for Transportation Security Administration inspection in case you opt to carry on the suitcase.
Bruce Bishop
Long Beach
Leave the travel books at home. They may be essential, but those heavy books can be like carrying anvils in your luggage.
Use an e-reader or tablet instead.
Greg and Charlotte Nelson
Mission Viejo
Fill in a blank calendar page — in pencil — with the dates and projected activities of your trip. Doing this ahead of time helps you budget your time and provides a record of what you ended up doing.
I have done this for 20 years, and these easy-to-keep pages now are a great history of my travels.
Lynne Buckie Baker
Huntington Beach
You should always take …
An extra passport-size photo and the contacts for the nearest U.S. consulate or embassy. Dick Barnes and
Diane Bever
Long Beach
Custom ear plugs. They’re useful for blocking out those all-night celebrations or weekend-long weddings or the honking chaos of some places. Before my trip to India last year I looked online for an audiology center and called to find out if they made them. They did. The plugs cost about $125 and took a week or so to make. I take them everywhere I travel.
Don Mankin
Venice
Bitters. I carry 3 ounces, which is excellent if you have flatulence on a plane.
Shirley J. Lane
Santa Monica
A wallet-size money conversion chart and a wallet-card flashlight.
Shirley J. Lane
Santa Monica
Magnets, especially on a cruise. They are very useful, especially on cruise ships, as most doors on staterooms are metal, and I can use the inside or outside of the door as a place to leave notes and schedules. They are also good for finding metal things I drop, such as earring backs.
Donna Mollan
Anderson Island, Wash.
Suction cups, the kind you can buy at a hardware store that can hold strings of Christmas lights. I stick one on the hotel mirror to hold my toothbrush, because the plastic cups often supplied just tip over. Sanitary and convenient.
Lynne Buckie Baker
Huntington Beach
A small candle in a can and a box of matches if traveling to India. Some hotel rooms have unpleasant odors. Light the candle while preparing for bed, and those odors will disappear. (Make sure to blow it out before you fall asleep.)
Jane Barack
Los Angeles
Cleansing wipes. In budget hotels throughout Europe, there were no washcloths and only very small bars of soap. Individual cleansing wipes that you wet as needed are easy to pack and come in handy.
Vicki Deaton
Ventura
A pair of old athletic socks in a plastic bag. These will be your socks to use when you visit temples where you have to remove your shoes. At least you won’t be walking around barefoot. Dispose of these socks at the end of the trip.
Jane Barack
Los Angeles
You should never take …
Nonessential cards, credit or otherwise. Leave them at home. I don’t carry my driver’s license overseas if I don’t plan on renting a car. Dick Barnes and
Diane Bever
Long Beach
Liquids greater than 3 ounces in carry-on bags. I bought a bottle of truffle-flavored olive oil in Paris. Upon return to the U.S., I wanted to carry on my bag on the last leg of my flight. To save the oil, I had to check the bag, which cost me time and money. Big mistake.
Lydia Deems
Santa Barbara
Recreational drugs before the flight. Altitude intensifies the effects of drugs and alcohol.
Jo-Anne Collins
Fountain Valley
For granted that breakfast is free. Some hotels imply that it’s free, then hit you with a big bill. Larry Blanton and
Starr Sachs
Valencia
Your passport in a backpack while sightseeing.
Vicki Deaton
Ventura
Smooth moves through security
Place your shoes in the last bin you put through security. This was a tip from
a Transportation Security Administration staff person. If you have to take off belts, remove change from your pockets or put through anything, you will always scoop them up if they go before your shoes because one never walks away without their footwear.
Liz Parker
Costa Mesa
Join Global Entry to become a “trusted traveler” and breeze through security (usually). The same program can speed you through customs and immigration entry and gives you access to the PreCheck security program. If you don’t qualify for PreCheck as a frequent flier, Global Entry gets you into PreCheck as a bonus prize. For $100, you get five years. Info: www.globalentry.gov.
Arun Baheti
Los Angeles
The secrets to seat selection
If you have a connecting flight, reserve a seat for the first flight as close to the front as possible in case your first flight is late and you need a quick exit from the plane.
Shoshana Brower
Westlake Village
Go to SeatGuru.com for valuable information about exceptionally good and bad seats on each aircraft. We learned that the A380 we flew to Australia has one seat in economy that has no seat in front of it because of an emergency hatch for the crew’s quarters below. We got it.
Greg and Charlotte Nelson
Mission Viejo
When selecting a seat on a plane, pick one on the side that will be out of the sun. This way, I avoid the heat and bright, direct sunlight that can make flying uncomfortable.
Randy Kahn
Calabasas
If you’re flying as a couple, book an aisle and a window seat instead of two seats together. The airlines fill middle seats last so it increases the chance you may have the row to yourselves. If the middle seat is filled, that passenger will almost always trade for an aisle or window seat so the couple can sit together.
Julie A. Walker
Irvine
Dealing with flight changes
Sign up for flight alerts with the airline you are using so that info on flight delays, gate changes, etc., can be sent as a text to your phone or as an email to your smartphone.
Sheil a Maynes
Beverly Hills
If your flight is delayed or canceled, instead of standing in line, use your cellphone to
call your airline’s 800 number and make new arrangements. It works.
B. Gaines
Santa Barbara
Get the local phone numbers for the airline you are using in the countries you’ll be visiting so you can contact them easily when you’re away. Likewise, get the numbers of hotels, car companies, guides, travel agent, etc.
Sheil a Maynes
Beverly Hills Managing your carry-on bags
Carry a small cloth bag with you when you fly. While I’m in the waiting area before boarding, I put my headphones, book, snacks, etc., in the bag. I find my seat, put the cloth bag on the seat, put my carry-on bag in the overhead and thus get out of the aisle quickly.
Terry Murphy
Pasadena
Be an organized, polite passenger
Be nice to your flight-crew members. They can make or break your flight. I know. I flew for a major air carrier for 40 years both, domestically and internationally.
Jo-Anne Collins
Fountain Valley
Arrive at the airport on time, and have all travel documents organized. Running for a flight is stressful. They don’t call it cardiac corridor for nothing.
Jo-Anne Collins
Fountain Valley
If you are on standby for a flight, wear something noticeable (bright red scarf or jacket), check in and politely make sure the gate agent knows you are on standby. When it is time to board, stand near the boarding door to wait. Often a person will be called who is in the bar, restroom, etc., and not respond to their name. If you are near the door and instantly recognizable to the agent, you might get that last-minute seat.
Jo-Anne Collins
Fountain Valley
If you’re standing up to get out of your seat, turn around and grab your own headrest, not the headrest in front of you, which unnecessarily disturbs the passenger in front of you. It works, and it’s way nicer
to your fellow travelers.
Larry Butler
Valley Village
Keeping kids calm, engaged
If you have children under 10, take a goody bag with new toys and puzzles they have never seen. Give half to them on the outbound flight, and save the other half for coming home. It might also be a good idea to take something familiar to eat (peanut butter and jelly sandwich).
Jo-Anne Collins
Fountain Valley
Buy inexpensive little toys, and wrap them like presents. Bring out the first present when they start to get antsy. Take out the next one about an hour later. Before you know it you’ve flown across the country with well-behaved kids.
Joe Franklin
Manhattan Beach
Pick up trinkets and baubles from booths at trade shows you attend, and have them at the ready in your carry-on bag. If I’m sitting near kids who are misbehaving, I ask the parents if I can give them to their kids. Peace ensues.
Joe Franklin
Manhattan Beach
Don’t tell children not to worry about getting air sick. If you don’t mention it to them, it probably won’t cross their mind.
Jo-Anne Collins
Fountain Valley
Make sure children of all ages know how to fasten and unfasten their seat belts. In the unlikely occurrence of an accident, you might be unconscious.
Jo-Anne Collins
Fountain Valley
Make a game out of finding your way in a foreign country. I call this one “Get Us to the Train.” At the Termini Station in Rome, for example, we would get out of the cab, and I would give the train tickets to my 10- and 11-year-olds and say, “Get us to the train.” Chaos would ensue (we were always close by), but it taught the kids valuable lessons. I am confident they can find their way anywhere in the world.
Joe Franklin
Manhattan Beach
Documents at the ready
Scan your passport (main and endorsement pages and any visas), your birth certificate, airline tickets or vouchers, hotel and car booking confirmations. Email them to yourself and (likewise, your travel companion’s too) in case of theft.
Sheil a Maynes
Beverly Hills
Copy your itinerary and contact numbers for each location you’re visiting, and put it on top of your clothes inside your luggage. If your luggage misconnects, this could help. I have a luggage tag that is made to put an itinerary inside, which is even easier.
Sheil a Maynes
Beverly Hills
Leave copies of your passport with trusted people at home in case yours get stolen or lost.
Vicki Deaton
Ventura
Think about getting another valid picture ID. Before you travel or leave home, apply for a California ID, not a second driver’s license. I carry my driver’s license in one place, my second ID tucked away in another.
Maria Karras
Pasadena
Communication preparations
Don’t forget to contact your phone carrier and figure out the best plan for commu-
nicating when traveling. Sometimes it just means changing your plan temporarily (remember to change it when you get back) for a nominal fee, which can save you big bucks.
Sheil a Maynes
Beverly Hills
Make a list of all your important numbers (contacts where you’re going, your hotel, etc.), and email it to yourself.
Sheil a Maynes
Beverly Hills
Create address labels if you plan to send postcards. That way you don’t have to search for addresses. You’ll know when you’ve sent cards to everyone on your list.
Sheil a Maynes
Beverly Hills