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While preparing for a few upcoming trips, I decided to compile a list of the critical travel essentials that make my life easier on the road. Although I may not take all of these items on short weekend getaways or work trips, I can guarantee they make it into my suitcase for every international flight.

Handheld Digital Luggage Scale

This super intuitive luggage scale makes avoiding overweight luggage fees easy. Simply turn on the scale, select desired unit of measure (lbs or kgs), clip the strap around the suitcase handle, then lift the bag off the ground. The bag’s weight will immediately display on the digital screen. The scale features a rechargeable battery and comes with a USB cord included.

TSA Lugggage Locks

These locks protect your luggage from airport employees deciding to help themselves to your personal belongings, but still allow TSA access for security checks. The allow you to create a personalized three-digit combination. However, TSA possesses a special key that can unlock it in order to complete any necessary inspections. The best part is that key cannot be removed from the lock without first re-engaging the lock. I highly recommend these locks because they’re durable and have lasted almost five years with very minimal wear and tear. Additionally, they’ve provided me with great peace of mind in the past when my luggage was lost for multiple days.

Compression Socks

Call me an old lady all you want! Compression socks are an absolute live saver on long-haul flights. I first realized I needed them after a 14-hour economy flight from Los Angeles to Auckland. Although that wasn’t my first flight to New Zealand, it was the first time I decided to drink multiple cocktails prior to boarding…and continue to drink the complimentary wine on board. Unfortunately, during the flight my feet swelled so badly that I needed to remove my shoes (something I never do on flights). Upon landing, I could not fit my feet back into them! Fortunately, I packed a pair of flip-flops in my backpack. Even those straps fit tightly over my feet. It was simply horrible and took about two solid days for the swelling to subside in my ankles and feet. Since that experience, I ALWAYS travel with compression socks and drink plenty of water—especially in long-haul economy.

Contoured Eye Mask

Eye masks and ear plugs are definitely critical travel essentials for sleeping on airplanes. You never know when someone is going to insist on using a reading light the entire flight or refuse to use the window shade. Contoured sleep masks like this one are perfect because they don’t apply pressure to your eyeballs. These are especially great for people with long eye lashes who don’t particularly enjoy having them smashed for hours on end. I also find that this type of sleep mask creates total darkness compared to traditional ones.

Bose SoundSport Wireless Headphones

These are by far my favorite Bluetooth headphones I’ve ever owned. They fit my ears perfectly, feature a LONG battery life, produce great sound quality, and don’t have complicated parts that inconveniently fall off (like the Jay Bird X2s). The Bose SoundSport wireless headphones ALWAYS work as intended and are truly perfect for traveling and exercising. They’re a permanent fixture on my packing list.

Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones

Yes, there are two sets of headphones on this list for a reason. As wonderful as the Bose SoundSport wireless headphones perform, they cannot connect to inflight entertainment systems. So when I travel on long-haul flights and want to watch movies on the seatback television, I use the Bose QuietComfort 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling Headphones. They even come with a small airline adapter that allows the Bose QuietComfort headphones to plug into inflight entertainment systems with either dual or single 3.5 mm output jacks. Plus, the noise cancelling feature is great for tuning out crying children.

Featured image courtesy of StockSnap.io. 

The post Critical Travel Essentials You Need for Your Next Trip appeared first on Seize the Globe.

The Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of my favorite credit cards in my wallet. Whenever friends or family ask for my suggestion on which travel rewards credit card they should apply for, I always tell them the Chase Sapphire Reserve. In order to save some time, I decided to write about the benefits of the card so I can quickly share the information in the future. This post is also the first in a series covering premium travel rewards credit cards.

Premium Product

This card falls into the premium category because of its exhaustive benefits and hefty annual fee of $450. It’s targeted towards travelers so if you don’t travel too often then you probably will not maximize all the benefits. The first benefit is that Chase provides an annual $300 travel credit. This immediately reduces your annual fee to a net $150. The $300 credit is automatically triggered whenever you make a qualifying travel purchase. This means you could buy a $300 flight and immediately receive the full statement credit. You could also pay for 10 different Uber rides at $30 each and get reimbursed $30 per transaction over time.

             The Chase Sapphire Reserve is a staple item we ALWAYS take abroad with us

Points flexibility

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to nine different airlines and four different hotel brands. They even transfer at a 1:1 ratio. This provides incredible flexibility rather than simply opening a credit card with one specific airline and only earning their miles. Combine these airline partners with their respective alliances, then there are even greater opportunities to redeem. For example: United is a Star Alliance member which includes nearly 30 airlines. You can transfer 30,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to United. Then redeem the United miles for an economy flight from the US to Europe on Lufthansa. You can read more about how I previously did that here.

Chase Ultimate Rewards airline transfer partners:

• Aer Lingus
• British Airways Executive Club
• Flying Blue Air France and KLM
• Iberia Plus
• Korean Air SKYPASS
• Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
• United Airlines MileagePlus
• Virgin Atlantic Flying Club

Hotel transfer partners:

• World of Hyatt
• IHG Rewards Club
• Marriott Rewards
• The Ritz-Carlton Rewards

We transferred 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for two Virgin Atlantic Upper Class tickets on their 787 Dreamliner to fly from London to Johannesburg. It was super special because my husband is South African and also designed the bar for Virgin Atlantic. Two friends even joined us on the journey. It’s special moments like these that are made possible because of points.

If you’re new to all of this and the thought of transferring points to different loyalty programs makes your head spin, there are easier options for redeeming. When you book through the Ultimate Rewards Travel website you can use points to book any available flight or hotel. No restrictions or blackout dates. Using this method is a redemption rate of 1.5 cent per point. This isn’t the absolute best value, but it’s still a good option in certain situations. For instance, if there is no award availability you can still make the booking using your points this way.

Accelerated Points Earning

You will earn 3 Chase Ultimate Reward points per dollar spent on all travel and dining purchases. This includes everything from fast food to fine dining, public transportation to first class airfare, and Airbnbs to five star hotels. No matter if you’re a budget-conscious backpacker or a bougie high roller, you can take advantage of these bonus categories. Every other purchase will earn 1 point per dollar.  

        Here you can see both travel and dining purchases that received the 3x category bonus

Global Entry / TSA Pre-Check Fee Credit ($100 or $85 value)

If you’re not already a member of either Global Entry or TSA Pre-Check, then you can use your Chase Sapphire Reserve to pay the application fee and get reimbursed. These programs are valid for five years after approval and Chase allows you to re-use this credit every four years so you can re-apply.

Global Entry is an expedited way to clear immigration when returning to the United States. It requires a background check, interview, and fingerprinting. In saves valuable time when returning home from an international trip and possibly catching a connecting domestic flight. Global Entry membership also entitles you to TSA Pre-Check. So you might as well apply for it since it provides the most value.

If you already have one of these memberships, don’t rule it out as a benefit just yet. You can easily gift these to someone else (spouse, parent, child, friend, etc.). As long as the application fee is charged to your Chase Sapphire Reserve card then you will receive the credit.

Worldwide Lounge Access

Additionally, Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders automatically receive a Priority Pass Select membership. Priority Pass gives you access to a global network of 1,000+ airport lounges. You can bring two guests into these lounges with you complimentary. Then it is $27 per additional guest. Priority Pass even partners with restaurants in certain US domestic airports to allow their members $30 food and beverage credit. Be sure to download their free app to discover where all their lounges are located.

Lounges are so convenient that I honestly cannot remember the last time I purchased food or alcohol in an airport within the last six years. Not to mention there’s nothing quite like taking a refreshing shower in a lounge before or after a 10 hour flight.

  Section of free food buffet available in the Priority Pass Lounge in Koh Samui, Thailand airport

No Foreign Transactions Fees

Sure, most travel related credit cards offer this. However I find the most value in the fact that Chase Sapphire Reserve is a Visa which is probably the most widely accepted card on the planet. So you won’t run into issues where you have a fancy American Express that is usually only accepted in major international cities. The mom and pop restaurant in Thailand is going to accept your Chase Sapphire Reserve, if they accept credit cards for payment.

This benefit applies to both transactions made outside of the United States as well as purchases made with foreign companies or in foreign currencies online.

Travel Insurance Coverage

Whenever you use the Chase Sapphire Reserve to book your trip, you are entitled to the following:

• Trip cancellation/interruption insurance (up to $20,000 per occurrence)
• Lost luggage reimbursement (up to $3,000 per passenger)
• Delayed baggage insurance ($100 per passenger per day)
• Trip delay reimbursement (up to $500 per trip), and travel accident insurance
• Travel accident insurance
• Primary rental car insurance (plus other rental car perks and discounts)
• Emergency medical, dental, evacuation, and transportation coverage

This includes delayed baggage coverage which we happened to need when our luggage was lost immediately prior to our Mediterranean cruise.  

Additional Benefits while at Home

• Roadside assistance
• Purchase protection
• Price protection
• Return protection
• Extended warranty program
• Access to VIP events

If all of these benefits sound appealing to you, then you can apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve here. Like I always tell everyone when I make a credit card suggestion, do NOT open a credit card if you plan to carry a balance. The value of the points and miles goes completely out the window the moment you start paying interest fess. Pay your balance in full every month! I also recommend you check out our Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about leveraging your credit responsibly, credit scores, and more.

Ability to Combine Points

Lastly, if you are already a Chase customer you can combine Chase Ultimate Rewards points. For instance, the Chase Freedom is traditionally a cashback credit card. If you open the Chase Sapphire Reserve, then you can opt to earn points instead of cashback on your Freedom so you can combine the points. If you already have a Chase Ink business card you can do the exact same thing. It took me YEARS to convince my dad to stop redeeming his Chase Ultimate Rewards by simply applying them to his statement balance for cash. IT’S THE WORST REDEMPTION RATE EVER. Now that he stopped doing that it’s time for him to open a Chase Sapphire Reserve and actually make a travel redemption for the first time. Baby steps.

Full disclosure: If you use the link provided in this post to apply for the Chase Sapphire Reserve (and Chase approves the application), then I will receive 10,000 bonus points, too.

The post Why the Chase Sapphire Reserve is Unbelievably Valuable appeared first on Seize the Globe.

This post may contain affiliate links that provide us a commission when you click them–at no additional cost to you. 

After landing at our final destination in Italy we quickly discovered that our checked bags did not make the journey. Before leaving the airport we made sure to open a file with Lufthansa documenting our delayed baggage. Normally this would not be a big problem, but we are scheduled to spend only two nights in Bari before departing on our Mediterranean cruise.

Delayed Baggage Insurance Coverage

As stressed as we initially were, we quickly remembered that I paid for our airline tickets with the Chase Sapphire Reserve which provides a considerable amount of travel insurance coverage. One of these benefits includes delayed baggage coverage. This means that if your baggage is delayed at least six hours or longer then you are entitled to $100 per day (up to five days) in reimbursement. Essential items like clothes, toiletries, and one cell phone charger are covered. The cardholder, spouse/domestic partner, and cardholder’s immediate family members are eligible to take advantage of this benefit. It even covers you up to $3,000 for completely lost luggage. So this coverage together with our separate travel insurance policy and worldwide home/property policy would take care of us.

Naturally, we took the opportunity to walk to H&M to begin preparing for the worst (i.e. we now had an excuse for a shopping spree). We made sure to save the receipts and scan them into our devices for safe keeping and eventual claim filing.

Unexpected events like delayed baggage happen during travel. We knew there was some risk when we booked our itinerary which contained two very short connections in Germany. This is why we included a “buffer day” into our schedule in case of any delays or interruptions before the cruise ship left the port. It’s also a smart idea to use luggage locks like these in case you’re separated from your bags.

6 documents you need to file a claim

1. Your completed and signed claim form
2. Your Account receipt showing that the travel fare was charged to
your eligible card. If more than one method of payment was used,
include documentation that shows a portion of the purchase was
made with your Account.
3. A copy of the Common Carrier ticket
4. A statement from the Common Carrier indicating the reasons that
the Covered Trip was delayed
5. Copies of receipts for the claimed expenses
6. Any other documentation deemed necessary, in the Benefit
Administrator’s sole discretion, to substantiate the claim

Lufthansa frustration

Despite all the insurance reprieve, Lufthansa induced unnecessary stress because literally no Lufthansa employee could tell me the continent the bags were located, let alone which airport. I learned they do not electronically track checked bags. Unlike the big three legacy US airlines that offer an electronic bag tracking feature on their mobile apps and websites. In sheer disbelief I asked while filing the claim, calling, tweeting, and Facebook messaging with Lufthsana. Every time Lufthansa insisted they could not identify which airport the delayed baggage were misplaced.

This part was extremely unnerving and the process appeared to be a very manual search by process of airport elimination. Although we thought it was safe to assume our bags made the trip from Newark to Düsseldorf because we checked-in at the First Class counter courtesy of our Star Alliance Gold status 3.5 hours before departure. The gate agent labeled the bags with giant neon priority tags and processed them with several hours of time to load them.

Reunited

Luckily, after 24 hours passed, we learned the delayed baggage did not make our flight from Düsseldorf to Munich. After filing the claim Lufthansa diverted the bags to Frankfurt in order to catch the earliest non-stop flight to Bari.

Our Bari Airbnb

Thankfully our gracious Airbnb hostess offered to coordinate the delivery since we do not speak Italian. She is an absolute gem and her Airbnb listing is just as spectacular. If you plan to visit Bari, her home has plenty of space and is in the perfect location. In the end, our delayed baggage quickly returned to us and we scored a fresh wardrobe update thanks to the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Featured image courtesy of StockSnap.io. 

The post How to Take Advantage of your Delayed Baggage Benefit appeared first on Seize the Globe.

Open jaw flights are excellent for experienced travelers to maximize their trip by allowing more flexibility. There are several advantages to booking itineraries with open jaws instead of a traditional round trip option.

The reason why they’re affectionately named, “open jaw” is because if you draw the flight paths on a map it will usually resemble an alligator’s open jaw. At this point you may be wondering why someone would want to book tickets this way. Wouldn’t it just make sense to buy one way tickets if you need something this fancy? Typically the main driving force behind this type of itinerary is price, but there are other advantages that simply allow more freedom to maximize your travels at each destination. It also prevents paying unnecessary change fees should one leg of the trip get interrupted or cancelled.

“Open jaw” can describe one of three different types of itineraries:

Origin Open Jaw

This is flying from one city to another but return to a different airport. Here’s an example of an open jaw flight I just booked for my in-laws’ upcoming trip around the US: New York City (EWR) to Fort Myers, Florida (RSW) to Boston (BOS).This is described as an origin open jaw.

This itinerary saved them money versus purchasing two one way tickets. Plus, it allowed them to visit three different cities and more flexibility to fly on the same flights with my husband and me.

Destination Open Jaw

Another example is flying from one city to another and returning to the original departure city from a different destination. I booked this destination open jaw for my trip to Europe this summer. I planned to visit four different countries with my girlfriend. Based on a few music festivals, we knew we wanted to meet in Ibiza and end in Brussels. 

It’s very cheap to fly within Europe, but the biggest expense involves actually crossing the pond first. So buying two one way flights across the Atlantic simply isn’t economical. That’s when I used the multi-city search option on ITA Matrix to find the following American Airlines itinerary. It was almost too perfect. I got an open jaw flight to Europe that perfectly fit our schedule AND fly using my elite status with American? That, my friends, is a gift.

So I booked Detroit (DTW) to Ibiza (IBZ) and returning from Brussels (BRU) back to Detroit (DTW). This example isn’t as clean of an open jaw flight path due to the connections, but you get the idea.

Double Open Jaw

Finally, the double open jaw is a bit more advanced to book and usually requires some type of phone call to the airline instead of searching on something like Kayak. However, your results may vary. These involve two totally separate departure and arrival cities. Example: flying from Chicago to Dallas and then continuing from Houston to Miami.

Although I didn’t plan it this way, my Europe itinerary I just detailed actually turned into a double open jaw due to my flight from PHL to DTW getting cancelled. So I asked American Airlines to re-route me to Buffalo, New York (BUF) where my husband was traveling on business (with a car) and we drove the four hours across Canada together to return to Detroit.

Essentially the easiest way to describe an open jaw itinerary is saying that an airline will take you from city A to city B but it’s your responsibility to get yourself to city C. At the end of the day open jaws are usually recommended for more experienced travelers. The point is to save money and maximize the number of destinations you can visit without sacrificing trip time. The best strategy is to first search a combination of round trip and one way itineraries to establish your baseline. Then see if you can improve with multi-city searches or open jaws. Finally, determine if the transportation to get between the different destinations is worth the savings of the open jaw. Hopefully this will help you the next time you need to book a more complicated trip.

I created all of the example maps in this post with the Great Circle Mapper.

The post What is an Open Jaw Flight? appeared first on Seize the Globe.

Originally, I was an incredibly happy AT&T customer who was “grandfathered” into keeping my unlimited data (which is rather rare). I loved their service and never dreamed of switching until I moved to Boston and quickly discovered that the only place with absolutely zero service was in my apartment. This was a huge problem considering I work remotely from home. After some research, I switched to T-Mobile over a year ago and never looked back. Here are the top features that make my traveling lifestyle that much easier:

Unlimited Data, Text, and Calls

Every person on my T-Mobile Simple Choice plan gets 10 GB of high speed LTE data per month for themselves. If they go over that threshold then the speed slightly drops and they still continue with unlimited data. If there is any unused data then “rollover data” saves the day and that gets rolled over to the next month. Additionally, there is an option for Data Stash depending on when you start T-Mobile service. In my specific case, I have 20 GB of “stashed data” that I can use anytime within a one-year period if I rifle through my 10 GB LTE data too quickly. After 15 months of T-Mobile service, I’ve yet to experience reduced data speed. Now get ready for this: streaming music from services like Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, etc. does not count toward your data usage nor does video streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Go, YouTube, etc. Essentially all of the major data juggernaut apps are completely free using T-Mobile. #micdrop

This unlimited data includes a personal hotspot, which I utilize frequently. I answer work e-mails in cars, buses, trains, coffee shops—you name it—using my hotspot!

UPDATE: Shortly after publishing this post both my husband and I received this text message. Please note that this is NOT a sponsored post–only my personal recommendation.

International Coverage

This is by far my favorite feature about my T-Mobile service. While I’m home in the US I have unlimited calls, text, and data. This is also honored when I’m traveling in Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico.

Remember the days of needing to call AT&T and purchase an expensive “international data plan” for any upcoming trips abroad? Yeah, that’s completely unnecessary with T-Mobile. They provide international coverage in over 140 countries. The majority of that coverage includes unlimited text and data and calls at $0.20 per minute. Guys, it’s INSANE. It completely removes the need to get another SIM card and thus saves you the hassle of changing your phone number while in another country. Not only that, the service is great! I’ve used this fabulous feature several times in the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Spain, Croatia, Czech Republic, Brussels, Canada, and Puerto Rico. T-Mobile even sends me reminder text messages about my service and rates in the particular country after I turn on my phone when I land. I like saving the texts because it’s like having my own personal T-Mobile passport. Typically speeds range, but this summer T-Mobile made unlimited 4G LTE available across all of Europe.

Wi-Fi Calling

If you’re in an area or a particular building that does not have solid T-Mobile coverage, then there is always the option to make phone calls or send text messages over Wi-Fi. Apparently when I first switched, this was only available with T-Mobile service, but I’m not sure if it’s expanded within the past year or not. Anyway, this feature is compatible with the majority of popular smartphones on the market and only requires a one-time setup in your phone’s Settings in order to connect. It’s genius. I particularly use it if I’m staying in a very rural area or in my hotels abroad. So that $0.20 per minute for international calling? Essentially zero as long as you are connected to Wi-Fi. Brilliant.

Gogo Inflight Wi-Fi

This change is more recent as I used to think I was an absolute baller when T-Mobile offered free inflight texting on any flights that offered Gogo Inflight Wi-Fi. However, they’ve now upped the ante. Not only do you get free inflight texting, but this also includes iMessage, Whatsapp, Viber, etc. T-Mobile also comps one free hour of Wi-Fi per flight for you to surf the web however you like that offers Gogo. That means if I’m flying with American from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale but with a connection in Charlotte, then I get two free hours of Wi-Fi for that trip: one on each flight.

You may also be wondering how inflight texting works. This is possible thanks to the T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling feature we just discussed.

Gogo Inflight Wi-Fi options

Even More Perks

In case all of that wasn’t enough, there are lots of other non-travel related perks that T-Mobile offers. For instance, my husband’s new favorite day of the week is Tuesday. This summer T-Mobile Tuesdays launched and it’s T-Mobile’s day of the week that they give away free stuff to all of their customers. Yes, every single week you can claim up to three different gifts. These free gifts include, but are not limited to:

• Shares of T-Mobile stock (currently valued around $46 per share)
• VUDU movie rentals
• Domino’s pizza
• $15 Lyft rides
• Movie tickets
• Wendy’s Frosty
• Subway 6 inch sandwich
• E-books
• T-Mobile t-shirt
• Unlimited data for Pokémon Go
• And more…

It’s really cool to do business with a company that truly values you and makes it a habit to continually show their appreciation for your loyalty.

The post Why T-Mobile is the Best Carrier for Traveling appeared first on Seize the Globe.