(1)Check the latest travel advice for your destination and subscribe to receive instant e-mail notification each time the travel advice for your destination is updated. (2)Take out appropriate travel insurance to cover hospital treatment, medical evacuation and any activities, including adventure sports, in which you plan to participate. (3)Before travelling overseas register your details online or, when overseas, register in-person at any office embassy, high commission or consulate. (4)Check to see if you require visas for the country or countries you are visiting or transiting. Be aware that a visa does not guarantee entry. (5)Make copies of your passport details, insurance policy, travellers cheques, visas and credit card numbers. Carry one copy in a separate place to the originals and leave a copy with someone at home. (6)Check with health professionals for information on recommended vaccinations or other precautions and find out about overseas laws on travelling with medicines. (7)Make sure your passport has at least six months validity and carry additional copies of your passport photo with you in case you need a replacement passport while overseas. (8)Leave a copy of your travel itinerary with someone at home and keep in regular contact with friends and relatives while overseas. (9)Before departing your country check whether you are regarded as a national of the country you intend to visit. Research whether holding dual nationality has any implications for your travel. (10)Obey the law. Consular assistance cannot override local laws, even where local laws appear harsh.

(1)Hotels in most major European cities are in great demand. The more flexible you are about where to stay, the more money you can save. Don’t shy away from the hotel out of the city center. Many of them are a lot cheaper, of better quality, quieter and as long as reasonable transportation is available they will work fine and make your trip very enjoyable. (2)To find the best deal, use an established local booking service. Hotels are best at serving their guests, not selling their rooms, which is why they sell wholesale at significant discounts to hotel consolidators who in turn pass some of those deals on to you. Try to find a booking service that has a local office and a personal relationship with the hotel. When comparing rates, look for what is included in the price. Some services will list low rates but once you add taxes, service charges and breakfast, those no longer appear to be good deals. Look for all-inclusive rates. (3)Be patient. Real-time booking is always more expensive than “by request” since they rely on personal contracts rather than widely available computerized systems. You may have to wait for a day or two to get your confirmation but the deals are always worth it. (4)Book as much in advance as possible. This is the best way to assure hotel availability. Ask the booking service to offer an alternative if your first-choice hotel is full. They will usually offer a comparable hotel during times of low availability, they may provide the next best thing possible. (5)Beware of different travel periods. Hotels are always more expensive during high season, which is usually April through October and during fairs and congresses. (6)If you have any specific requirements, make sure you let your booking service know it so that they can pass this information on to hotels. (7)If you arrive at the hotel and absolutely hate it or feel like you have been given an inferior room, call your booking service right away and have them resolve this for you. It is much harder to issue complaints after you have already stayed at the hotel and returned from the trip. (8)Consider alternatives to hotels especially when traveling with kids or a group of friends. Many booking services offer apartments in popular cities and those are usually cheaper and much more spacious than hotel rooms. After all, a one bedroom apartment can sleep as at least four people and cost as much as a double hotel room. (9)Expect to get what you pay for. If you book a cheaper 2 star hotel, the rooms are likely to be smaller and bath towels a bit thin. Breakfast may also be somewhat inferior. (10)Don’t let little things bother you and no matter what, enjoy your trip!

Here's a list of tips you should consult when shopping online. Print this page and keep it in a handy place so it will be easy to review before you order. (1)Trust your instincts. If you don't feel comfortable buying or bidding on an item over the web, or if you feel pressured to place your order immediately, maybe you shouldn't. (2)Be knowledgeable about web-based auctions. Take special care to familiarize yourself not only with the rules and policies of the auction site itself but with the legal terms (warranties, refund policy, etc.) of the seller's items that you wish to bid on. (3)Double check pricing. Be suspicious of prices that are too good to be true. Also consider carefully whether you may be paying too much for an item, particularly if you're bidding through an auction site. You may want to comparison shop, online or offline, before you buy. Make sure there are not extra shipping or handling costs. (4)Find and read the privacy policy. Read the privacy policy carefully to find out what information the seller is gathering from you, how the information will be used, and how you can stop the process. If a site does not have a privacy policy posted, you may not want to do business with it. If it does have a privacy policy, there will probably be a link to it from the seller's home page, or it could be included with the Legal Terms. (5)Review the return, refund, and shipping and handling policies as well as the other legal terms. If you can't find them, ask the seller through an e-mail or telephone call to indicate where they are on the site or to provide them to you in writing. See Legal Terms. (6)Make sure the Internet connection is secure. Before you give your payment information, check for indicators that security software is in place. See Security. (7)Use the safest way to pay on the Internet. Pay for your order using a credit card. See Payment. (8)Print the terms. You should print out and date a copy of terms, conditions, warranties, item description, company information, even confirming e-mails, and save them with your records of your purchase. See Recordkeeping. (9)Insure the safe delivery of your item. If you're concerned you may not be home when your package is delivered and that someone may take it if it is left on the doorstep, ask whether you can specify that the shipper must receive a signature before leaving the package. Or, it may be safer to have the package delivered to your office. See Delivery. (10)Inspect your purchase. Look at your purchase carefully as soon as you receive it. Contact the seller as soon as possible if you discover a problem with it. Tell the seller in writing about any problems you have, ask for a repair or refund, and keep a copy of your correspondence. See Legal Terms.