Tips for Air Travel Entertaining and Informative Seminar at The Centre

Craig Bakay | Dec 12, 2018

“You would not believe some of the things we get asked,” travel consultant Carrie Borer of Independent by Flight Centre told an audience at The Centre last Thursday in the first of what Rural Frontenac Community Services hopes will be a series of seminars. This one was called Tips for Air Travel.

“We had clients going to Las Vegas who wanted a room with an ocean view, another lady who didn’t want a window seat on the airplane because she’d just had her hair done and a guy who wanted two rooms — ‘one for me and my wife and one for my girlfriend.’”

Borer said she and colleague Eric Zierer are part of Flight Centre, “so we always have a wealth of information we can share.”

First and foremost, she said, was to always carry your passport and a photocopy of your passport when you travel.

“Before you leave home, take a photo with your phone of your passport, your insurance papers and itinerary,” she said. “You should always have a tag on your luggage but no name or address — people do hang around luggage carts to see who won’t be at home for awhile.”

A business card inside your luggage is a good idea, she said.

She said at $35 per bag each way for checked baggage, it pays to know how to pack your carry on.

“I like to use packing cubes and roll up clothes in them,” she said. “Usually, if your carry on is too heavy, they’ll let you check it for free.

“However, I can tell you something today that’ll be changed tomorrow.”

One thing that probably won’t change is the advice to contact the Canadian embassy or consulate in whatever country you’re travelling to to let them know how long you’ll be there and when you’ll be arriving and departing, she said.

“If something happens, like a natural disaster or terrorist threat, the Canadians the embassy knows about will be first in line for evacuation,” she said.

Also, taking expensive jewelry is a bad idea, she said.

“When I go away, I don’t take jewelry, just dime store things and my wedding band,” she said. “And guys, if you’re going to propose while on vacation, do it with a cheap ring and give her the good one when you get back home.”

Catherine Tyscick said RFCS is looking for others to hold similar seminars, particularly not-for-profit groups and not closed groups. You can contact her at 613-279-3151, ext. 201 if you might have a seminar.