I’ve been to 32 countries and traveling can be stressful, but with a little knowledge and planning, you can relax and enjoy your trip rather than worry.
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Use sites you know and trust
Scammers are good at creating fake travel apps and sites to trick you, and artificial intelligence tools are making them even easier to create. Luckily, there are some signs that can help you avoid them.
◾ Check out the official resources: The Better Business Bureau can be very helpful in determining if a business is legitimate. This agency lists real companies. If you can’t find the company they’re doing business with, it’s best to run.
◾ Online reviews and ratings: Read online reviews and ratings on sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, Google, etc. Reviews that seem incredibly positive or negative may be fake. Look for balance and consistent themes in reviews.
◾ Certifications and Licenses: Many legitimate travel agents are members of recognized industry associations such as the American Association of Travel Advisors or are accredited by the International Air Transport Association. Check their websites to see their credentials.
◾ Transparent pricing: Legitimate sites will clearly display all costs. Be wary of sites that have hidden fees or don’t clearly explain costs.
◾ Secure payment options: Reputable travel sites offer safe and well-known payment options – be wary of sites that only accept bank transfers or money orders.
Speaking of which, I recently took an amazing trip to Japan – check out my travel tips on YouTube – it’s definitely something you’ll want to put on your bucket list!
Track your bag
Lost luggage can ruin your trip, so many major airlines (including United, American, Delta and Air New Zealand) offer real-time baggage tracking through the airline’s official app, which you should download before you travel.
Pro Tip: You may come across copycat apps when searching an app store, so visit the airline’s official website and look for a link to the app in the header or footer.
For peace of mind, I pack an Apple AirTag in my checked luggage.
◾ Apple’s AirTags are perfect for iPhones, Macs, and iPads.
◾ The Tile Essentials 4-pack comes with a variety of tags for your keys, wallets, luggage, or whatever you like. It’s a great option for Android.
Set Gmail and Drive to offline mode.
Sometimes your connection is so bad that your inbox can’t even load. Luckily, with some planning, you can queue up all your replies.
For Gmail on your desktop:
◾ Hit Settings cog > Show all settings.
◾ Please select off-line Click the tab, Enable offline mail.
◾ From here, select the number of days worth of messages you want to sync.
◾ Click Save changes.
Now, do the same for your frequently used documents in Google Drive – you’ll need to do this for each document, so make sure you have it prepared in advance.
First, enable the setting:
◾ Open Google Drive.
◾Top right Settings cog > setting.
◾ Turn upon off-line.
Depending on your storage, your recent files will be automatically saved offline. To manually select files:
◾ In the file you want to use, File > Make available offline.
In-flight Wi-Fi is now available! Before you start browsing…
Most of us see a network name that looks legitimate and clicks on it without thinking too much. That’s what hackers do. They can create fake Wi-Fi networks with names that are almost identical to those of airlines. If you’re not careful, you could end up connecting to a copycat network instead of the real one.
If the options look similar, ask airline staff which network is correct, and they may even play a PSA on board if they find out it’s fake.
Oh, and turn on your VPN.
Typically, everything you do on the internet can be seen by anyone with the right know-how. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) encrypts your data and acts as a shield to protect it from prying eyes. VPNs aren’t as reliable over the air, but it’s still worth keeping them turned on.
These are required if you are accessing sites that contain financial or other sensitive personal information.
Double-check your AirDrop settings
Once, I was at an airport and a strange photo was sent to my phone. I looked around and saw some teenagers giggling. It was funny, sure, but none of these pranks are innocent.
Keyloggers record everything you type, and criminals like to pass it on using Apple’s AirDrop feature. Don’t accept drops from strangers while flying.
For iPhone:
Go to ◾ setting > general > Airdrop.
You can set your phone to deny all AirDrop requests, allow requests only from your contacts, or allow requests from everyone (the last setting isn’t the best for traveling).
On a Mac:
◾ Click Control Center It’s in your menu bar (it’s the icon with two toggles).
◾ Click AirdropFrom here you can turn it on or off and choose who can send items to it.
Your phone is worth it
That’s worth a lot more than what someone would sell it for. (Although if you have a new phone, that’s a pretty attractive amount.) Think about all the accounts connected to it — your bank and other financial apps, your email inbox, your private text messages, who knows what they might contain.
◾ When you’re in public, hide your PIN. If you absolutely must open your phone in public, use Face ID or your fingerprint.
◾ Don’t use a simple PIN either – no more than 4 digits – make it as long as you can remember.
◾ If you don’t want to use Face ID, use a passcode that contains numbers and letters if your phone allows it.
Learn about the latest in technology with The Kim Komando Show, the country’s biggest weekend radio talk show. Kim takes calls and offers advice on today’s digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks. Visit her website for daily tips, a free newsletter and more.
