Back to Homepage Travel - The Ten Golden Rules Travel - Pay With a Credit Card Travel - Determine Insurance Needs, Alway Confirm Everything Copenhagen Points of Interest Paris Points of Interest Brussels Points of Interest Wasa Museum Stockholm Kutna Hora Ossuary Leonardo in Krakow Rome Points of Interest Chersonesos, Ukranie Nice - Museums of the Riviera Sucevita, Romania Kizhi Pogost, Russia Sanssouci, Germany	Travel - Determine Insurance Needs, Alway Confirm Everything DETERMINE INSURANCE NEEDS Figuring out whether or not to purchase travel insurance is a picnic compared with rental-car coverage. There are three or four different types of rental-car insurance to accept or decline, and checking the wrong options or failing to research all the restrictions could cost you thousands. When William J. Holland of Nassau, Bahamas, rented a four-door sedan from National Car Rental, he used his American Express Gold Card, which provides collision-damage coverage. After driving a few miles, he realized there wouldn't be enough space for his family's luggage. He went back to National, asked for a bigger car, and was given a Jeep Cherokee. Unfortunately, $1,000 worth of damage was later done to it. But American Express wouldn't pay, because Jeep models were excluded at the time from its collision damage coverage. Had Holland known this, he would have used his Visa Gold Card, which does cover Jeeps. Holland thought it was National's responsibility to warn him that AmEx does not cover Jeeps. National did not agree and, actually, neither did we. It's the customer's responsibility to know what coverage his charge card or auto-insurance policy provides. If you're planning to rely on credit card coverage, call in advance and ask about restrictions. DON'T DESERT YOUR VALUABLES This means don't pack cameras or medication in luggage you check with an airline, don't leave laptops on the plane while you disembark during a layover, and don't leave jewelry or passports in your hotel room-use the lobby safe. Poor Steven N. Gabehnan of Atlanta learned this the hard way. His briefcase containing irreplaceable documents and more than $ 10,000 worth of valuables was stolen from his room at the Crown Sterling Suites Hotel in Phoenix. He reported the theft immediately and filed a police report. The police eventually found the briefcase and about $7,500 worth of Gabelman's property in a dumpster, but the hotel refused to reimburse him for his losses. We contacted Crown Sterling Suites, and even though it was not liable-the hotel assumes responsibility for valuables only when theyare placed in the hotel's safe-deposit boxes-it sent Gabelman a $1,500 goodwill check. Its generosity was extraordinary. We've investigated complaints about wedding rings stolen from cruise ships, family heirlooms lost by airlines, and even a Rolex watch taken from a guest's room while he was in the shower, and almost always the victim can forget about compensation of any kind. DON'T BUY ANYTHING YOU CAN'T CARRY HOME WITH YOU This may sound paranoid, but if you knew hundreds of travelers who never received stuff they shipped home from overseas-or it arrived broken, or what arrived wasn't what was purchased, ar the shipping fees were astronomical-believe me, you'd be paranoid too. I hate to brag, but I myself have safely hauled home from Istanbul eight ceramic dinner plates, six jewelry boxes, five vases, and four mugs (all wrapped in newspaper and cushioned with T-shirts and sweaters), and my traveling compaNÝon lugged home three huge carpets-all in our carry-ons. One of the mare intriguing shopping and-shipping stories I've ever heard involved Rose Mueller of Missoula, Montana. She wrote to us that she, her husband, and two friends went to a Federal Express office in Hong Kong and mailed gems valued at $2,094.50. Her husband placed the goods in the Federal Express box and sealed it. Then the agent said that he'd forgotten to weigh it. He went into another room for a few minutes, came back with the box, and afFixed the label. The following Monday, back home, Mueller broke the seal on the package in front of the Federal Express driver and opened an empty box. She claimed that the Hong Kong agent removed the jewels when he took them into the back, then returned with another, empty, sealed box. When we contacted Federal Express, it said it had investigated the matter but would not comment on Mueller's suspicion that the jewels were removed. The company had offered $500, its maximum liability for lost or damaged goods such as art and jewelry, but Mueller had refused to accept it. The settlement was increased to $1,100, at which point Mueller decided to take the case to court. Federal Express then made a new offer, on the condition that she not disclose the amount. Actually, judging from what we've seen, if you must ship valuables home, Federal Express is one of the best ways to do it. If each shipment is insured only up to $500, though, split the merchandise into separate packages, each with contents worth no mare than $500. ALWAYS CONFIRM EVERYTHING And I mean everything, from car-rental reservations to hotel-room requests to special airline meals to wake-up calls to-and this is especially important-international airline flights. The smaller and less organized the airline-and the less technologically advanced the country you're flying from-the more important it is to call 72 hours in advance, and again the afternoon or evening before, to check for last-minute schedule changes. Otherwise you could end up like Bruce McNaughton of Tucson. He and his wife paid Abercrombie & Kent for an expensive trip custom-designed to satisfy their lifelong wishes-hers to see Africa, his to scuba dive off the Seychelles. When they arrived in Nairobi, A&K confirmed their Kenya Airways flight to the Seychelles two weeks later. Upon checking in for the flight, they le amed that it had left two hours early. Since the next flight was almost a week away, they had to abandon their Seychelles plans and return home. A&K  toId McNaughton that it had indeed reconfirmed their flight 72 hours before departure. Unsatisfied with A&K's peace offering-a refund for the aborted portion of their trip--"-he wrote to Ombudsman. Even though A&K had to absorb the cost of the Seychelles anangements, it ultimately sent the McNaughtons an additional $1,000 goodwill refund. A&K told us that the airline either gave incorrect information or changed its schedule after the flight was reconfirmed. Kenya Airways used to be unreliable, A&K points out, but it has since come under new management and its service has improved considerably. THERE IS NO WAY TO GUARANTEE a perfect vacation, but adherence to these golden rules will increase the likelihood of one-as long as adherence does not give way to anxiety. Apprehension about everything that can go wrong, and obsession with every last precaution to lake, do not make for a very fun trip. Which brings us to our last golden rule: Never travel with an Ombudsman.