7 Travel Blunders You Should Avoid Committing ...

1. Forgetting to Check Passport Validity

Hotels are booked. Tour package arranged. Plane tickets purchased. Everything seems to be great, but three days before your trip you checked your passport and bang! You realized that your passport has less than six months remaining until its expiration date. This is the worst among all travel blunders! As a general rule, for international travel passports should have at least six months of validity. So please don't forget about checking your passport and save yourself from heartbreak.

2. Credit Cards Are My Enemies

Don't think your credit card is the enemy. Not so. You may be paying 25% or more on fees for everything you buy, but when travelling, your credit card is essential to have. Make sure your credit card company knows your itinerary so they don't suspect fraud and will cancel your card.

3. Ignoring the Internet

What Internet? Think you are smarter than Agoda or Expedia? Guess again. These websites offer some great discounts and offer terrific advice on where to go and where not to go. There are websites that offer last minute discounts if you book through their sites. Hey, 30% off a hotel room sounds great to me!

4. Forgetting to Tip the Doorman

Tipping may be out of vogue but when you want great service, put your hands in your wallet and pull out your greenbacks, because if you want your luggage to end up in the right hotel room, it's always good to have someone do the work for you. Same goes for the guy at the hotel's front desk who knows his city like you know your bathroom. If you want to know where the locals go, ask the man who knows and sees all.

5. Failing at Planning

Don't rely solely on the Internet or a travel agent to make all of your plans for you. Do your homework. When you are on vacation, then relax. You got that $200 a night hotel room and an upgrade to the Executive Floor for half the original cost because of all of your hard work. Now relish in it! Make it all a game to see how much you can save and share the good news with friends and family.

6. Scrimping on Transport Cost

Taxi! Taxi! Don't schlep your luggage across the world, even when it's a short hop. So when you arrive at the airport, forget about hotel or shuttle vans and take a taxi to your final destination especially after a 12-hour flight. It's fast and safe and best of all, its private for you and yours.

7. Fretting over Little Things

It can make you crazy. If you have decided to pay for Business Class to have a better travel experience (and you can afford it); then, go ahead and do it. Leave the regrets behind. Travel doesn't have to be a grind if you don't want it to be. Just think of all of the frequent flyer mileage you will be racking up.

Any travel blunders you have committed in your recent journey?