The New York Pass

They offer visitors admission to 40 of New York City’s top attractions, unlimited public transportation on the City’s buses and subways, line-skipping privileges at select attractions, a free 132 page full color, pocket size guidebook and special discounts and offers across New York city.

Magellan’s Travel Supplies

They offer all the essentials travelers need for their journeys near and far. They also feature dozens of great gift items. Appliances, electrical, health and hygiene, luggage, men’s and women’s clothing.

Maps.com

Maps.com is your one stop shop for maps. From driving directions to USA and world maps.

Irv’s Luggage Warehouse

A family-owned business for over 50 years. They offer from luggage and business cases to backpacks, duffels and travel accessories. Shop by category or manufacturer.

Conciergerie.com

They offer passes and excursions. Metro and museum passes, book a show or an excursion. With their service, you can avoid the hassle of waiting in lines to get passes and tickets.

Travelog.com

Travelog is the first series of recorded audiotours designed for car trips throughout the United States. Specific details of each tour will be offered, as well as information about special events and local attractions, recommended reading, directions, weather and road conditions.

International Student Exchange (ISE) Cards

ISE Cards is an internationally recognized identification and discount card available to students of any age, faculty members, and youths between the ages of 12 and 26 years. Card holders are entitled to enjoy discounts in a variety of countries throughout the world ranging from 10% to 50% off at museums, castles, hotels, restaurants, shops, language schools, theaters, concerts, operas, cinemas, recreational facilities, rentals (auto, motorcycle, and bicycle), bus routes, boat routes, railroads, and selected airlines.

You can request brochures, maps, tourist attraction places, destinations, etc. from hotels if you did not bring any.

Keep your valuables in your handbag, not in your luggage bag.

Always keep small change in your wallet and large amount of money in one of your handbag compartments. Strangers might be eyeing on you when you pull out a large amount of money from your wallet.

Try to use your credit card instead of cash most of the time. You will find it a lot easier and avoid the hassle to convert the local currency.

Try not to take taxis that seemed to be hanging around. Try to travel with hotel’s taxis, limousines or queue for taxis instead.

Do not carry your passport around everywhere you go. You may leave the passport in the hotel’s electronic safe.

Confirm your return flight few days before the end of your scheduled travelling.

You may want to pre-address labels for those people whom you plan to send a postcard. Then, you do not have to spend time addressing your destination, where there are so many more interesting things to do.

Hold your mails and newspapers or get your neighbor next door to collect it for you.

Set your timer to turn on lamps to show that someone is in the house at night even when you are away or turn on any security system that you have.

Make sure your home appliances such as television and iron are turned off.

Park your car in the garage or a safe place.

Notify your neighbor that you will be away, give them a set of spare key, and ask them for a favor to keep an eye on your house.

Turn your hot water heater off or to the lowest setting.

Unplug your computer cables especially your modem from the telephone line.

Water all your plants. There is some commercial equipment out there that will help water your garden automatically when you are away to keep your plants healthy or at least not dry by the time you come home.

If you will be travelling long, clear up all food in your fridge and turn it off. If it is going to be a short time, remember do not turn your fridge off, and if possible, clear up all meat before it rots in your fridge.

Use a compartmented kit that has a hook for hanging cosmetics, medications, razors, toothbrush, toothpaste, soaps etc. This will save space in your luggage bag and can easily be bought at travel stores.

Pack some medicine and first aid supplies to fight off colds, flu, fever, etc.

Always take a pen with you. During the journey you might need to fill in customs formulations before landing.

You may want to wear a jacket or sweater with you instead of packing it in your suitcase. You may need it in the airplane. In fact, this can reduce weight of your suitcase and maximize your space utilization.

If you are going to a popular tourist attraction, buy your film at home. This is definitely more convenient and saves cost. You might miss some beautiful spots while trying to get hold of films.

Remember to bring some empty plastic bags. These can be very useful when packing used undergarments, dirty socks and etc.

Remember to bring an extra bag to pack your clothes for laundry.

In order to save space and avoid wrinkles, the best way is to roll your clothes.

When packing a flashlight, change the batteries around so that if the on switch is accidentally turned on, the flashlight will not go on. Upon needing the flashlight, just reverse the batteries into their correct position.

Carry some chocolates, breads or snacks with you when travelling so you are not forced to eat in airport restaurants or snack stands.

Many people prefer to buy their airline or cruise tickets and make their hotel reservations online from a reliable site. It might be a hassle to look for the cheapest or best deal but it can be worth the trouble.

When making hotel reservations, you may want to find out if the hotel is located near a hospital, police station and etc. These services are great in an emergency, but you might want to stay away from noise when you are there for a holiday.

Get yourself some travel books to know all the best spots, cheapest restaurants, best food, places to stay, and hundreds of insights about your destination. You may want to photocopy the pages of travel books relevant to the area you are visiting rather than taking the entire book with you to cut down on weight.

Get a language translation dictionary and carry it with you. You will find it useful.

Before leaving on a trip, make sure that you give all travel information to your family and close friends. If anything should happen while travelling, multiple people know where you are and have a better chance of getting a hold of you and others who might need to reach you.

If you have friends staying in the city you are about to visit, why not give them a ring? They live there, so they should have some good tips for you.

Renew your visa or apply for one before departing.

Learn a few essential terms in the native language of the country you are travelling to. For instance, if you are going to a Chinese speaking country "ni hao" means "hello" and "xie xie" means "thank you". Your trip will be more enjoyable in learning a new language and culture.

Place photocopies of your identification in your luggage to help your airline or cruise ship to return it if lost while travelling.

Use your own padlocks instead of the padlocks supplied with suitcases. It is usually safer. Remember to keep the key(s) in your carry-on luggage.

Tie a colorful ribbon on each of your bags for quick identification at the baggage claim.

Photocopy all documents and cards and store it in a secret place in your suitcase. If your wallet is ever stolen, you will know exactly what you have lost and will have all the telephone numbers to call to cancel credit cards and the credit card numbers, etc. at your fingertips.

Instead of photocopying all your important documents and carrying them with you, you can scan everything and email the scans to your email account as attachments. You can use a free web based email such as hotmail.com or yahoo.com so you can access your documents from anywhere in the world.

You can rent a GSM (Global System for Mobiles) wireless phone before you leave your country. For a small amount of cash a day, you can have one phone, with one number that will work in over 92 countries worldwide. These are great for the business traveler, families leaving the kids at home, or anyone who just wants to stay in touch.

Convert some of your cash to the currency of the country you are visiting to get a better deal.

Make sure your passport does not expire within 6 months of your date of travel. A large majority of countries insist that your passport be valid for at least that time period or a year. Make a copy, in case you lose it while on vacation, you can send the copy to your Embassy.

Find out before you depart whether there is a departure tax, and how much it is. Some countries do charge a small fee and will not let you board your flight without first paying it. It is best to reserve an amount of cash, as credit cards and other forms of payment are not accepted.

Reserve your car rental (if necessary) and arrange for collection in your arrival airport.

Get an international driving license (if necessary). Many car rental services insist on an international driving license.

Be sure your airline tickets and hotel reservation is confirmed, otherwise you may not have a reservation at all.

If your child is travelling alone, you should write all the numbers that would be helpful for the child on a note book for him/her when he/she arrives at the final destination.

Pack some food or snacks for your child to chew during the flight to keep them busy and comfortable.

When travelling with children by air, if possible book at non-peak times. This gives you a chance at a free seat for your child to stretch out and sleep.

Before starting on the trip, tie one of those plastic bracelets on your children. You can place whatever information you like on a slip of paper and insert it into the bracelet to avoid losing your child.

Always keep a recent photo of your child in your wallet – in case you loose them in a crowed area, and need help in locating them.

When taking long road trips with younger children (6 and younger) have them wear diapers while riding in the car.

Make sure you have your children go to the bathroom before you leave the airport.

If you need a shave desperately and shaving cream is expensive where you happen to be, the cheapest and indeed the best is available over the counter from pharmacies – aqueous cream.

Roll your ties backwards and very tightly round two of your fingers, starting from the narrow end and finishing with the wide. Then secure by rolling a sock over each one, separately. This method will keep the ties from getting creased, and will even remove that annoying twist.

On a crowded city street with a large tour group, carry a large patterned umbrella so that your family members can trace you easily.

Make sure you always keep your wallet in a front trouser pocket since the front of your thighs are more sensitive, it is more difficult for the pickpocket to get it out without you knowing. You can also place a thick rubber band around your wallet to ensure that you will feel it if someone is picking your pocket.

Bras with removable pads are great for carrying money. Just remove the pads and slip the money inside the pockets.

Roll up your money and put it in a tampon tube. Not many are willing to invade such intimate privacy to find it.

Pack your earrings in one of those lipstick carriers with the little mirror in it. This way, your earrings are easier to find.

While travelling alone, do not become too friendly to everyone for your own safety. Bring a great book and headphones with you to keep you company.

If you are travelling alone and do not want any company, in a train or bus, try placing a handbag, coat or jacket on the window seat and sit on the outside seat. If you are in a bar restaurant, place your coat on the back of the seat opposite to make it look as if you have company.

Do not wear clothes that make you stand out. Try to stay away from anything sexy.

If you are travelling to a foreign country, be sure to check on their local customs. For example, do not travel to a Muslim country wearing hot shorts and a tank top.

If you decide to rent a car, lock the doors, hide any road maps visible and remove advertising stickers on the car before driving to keep yourself safe.

At the hotel, try not to get a room on the main floor, do not use the stairs, leave the lights, television or radio on when you are not in the room and never expose your room key anywhere.

Cutting down on the amount of bottles and cosmetics that spill is always important.

Always bring a sarong on trips. It can be used as a sheet, towel, skirt, dress, headdress, beach cover-up, curtain, etc.

Instead of packing lots of underwear, a small box of panty liners will save lots of space.