SALTZMAN: Pack these awesome ‘hotel hacks’ when traveling

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Prepping a summer getaway before the kids go back to school?

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You’re not alone.

Commissioned by Deloitte Canada, a recent survey found 77% of Canadians expect to spend even more on summer travel than last year – despite more challenging economic times.

If and when you head out, consider packing a few of the following techy “travel hacks” – mostly tied to hotel tips – to save you time, money and aggravation.

STORE DOCUMENTS ON YOUR PHONE

Before you leave home, digitally scan your passport, driver’s licence, health card info and roadside assistance cards – and keep these images on your smartphone – in the event any or all of them are lost or stolen.

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On a related note, add your credit and debit cards to your Apple Pay wallet (iPhone) or Google Pay (Android), in case you forgot them at home. Just tap to pay.

And if your smartphone becomes lost, stolen or damaged, make sure it’s locked with a password or PIN, or biometrics authentication (using a part of your body to identify you, such as your face or thumbprint). And keep an extra copy of these scanned documents on a password-protected cloud account, so you can access them on another device.

SAVE ON HOTEL ROOMS AFTER BOOKING

Get a better price on your hotel – after you’ve booked it.

This is what the Pruvo app and website can do. Book your hotel room on any platform you’d like, then forward the confirmation email to save@pruvo.com.

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If the hotel room rate drops – which happens about 40% of the time, according to Pruvo – you’ll be notified on your phone about how much you’ll save and instructed how to re-book at the lower rate and then cancel the original reservation.

As a seasoned traveller, this is one of my favourite apps as it has saved me thousands over the years.

INSTANT STANDING DESK

Miss your standing desk at the office or home office? Open the closet in your hotel or motel room and chances are there’s an ironing board in there.

Open it up and place it somewhere with good lighting.

It’ll likely be an ideal height for you to prop up your laptop and start typing away.

USE TV’S USB FOR CHARGING

If you left home without your smartphone plug but you still have the cable, plug it into the hotel room’s television and it will charge up your device. There should be a powered USB port on the side or back.

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If you need a USB cable in a pinch, your local dollar store should have them for considerably less than a big box store or a manufacturer’s chain (like Apple Store).

COST-SAVING ENTERTAINMENT TIPS

Speaking of your hotel room TV, you don’t have to pay through the nose to watch a movie through the hotel service, if you brought your streaming stick with you, such as a Roku, Chromecast, or Amazon Fire TV stick.

Simply plug it into the television’s HDMI port, join the free hotel Wi-Fi and watch your favourite shows.

On a related note, many streaming video services, such as Netflix, allow you to download TV shows and movies to watch offline – so be sure to do this over your Wi-Fi on your phone or tablet before you leave on vacation. That way, you won’t incur any roaming charges while the kids stream movies in the backseat of a road trip.

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Downloading also works for many music streaming services, like Spotify and Apple Music.

DITCH THE LOBBY, HEAD FOR THE SECOND FLOOR

Can’t find a spot to sit in the hotel lobby to browse on your laptop?

Most people don’t think to go to the second floor – sometimes referred to as a mezzanine – to find plenty of seating, quiet and AC plugs, too.

That said, laptop users should remember it’s safer to use your smartphone as a personal “hotspot” instead of using free public Wi-Fi at a hotel, airport or restaurant. But if you absolutely must use a free Wi-Fi network, at least use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) app to remain anonymous to hackers while online.

If you don’t want to bring your laptop with you but need to use a computer, be careful using public PCs in the hotel’s business center or airline lounge as many people forget to log out of their email service before they walk away. Also look for an option to clear the web browser’s history and cache.

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RENT A SIM AND USE WI-FI

Use your phone or tablet to make free audio or video calls over Wi-Fi, whenever you can, to save on mobile phone charges and long-distance fees.

Free apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger or FaceTime are popular among travellers.

Heading overseas? Rent a SIM card (or rent an eSIM number) if your phone supports it, as it’ll be much cheaper than “roaming” with your existing carrier. I recently used the company Airalo, which was super cheap and reliable (use referral code MARC1032 to save $4.50).

OLD-SCHOOL HACKS (NO TECH NEEDED)

If your hotel room doesn’t offer an iron for your wrinkled clothes, the old “shower trick” really works. Hang your clothes on the bar above the tub, turn on a hot shower and point the shower head against the wall. Close the bathroom door for 5 to 10 minutes. When you return, your clothes will seem perfectly pressed.

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Are the drapes opened just a crack and the sunlight is disrupting your sleep? Take a clothes hanger from the closet – the one with the clips underneath – and clamp both sides of the curtains together.

If your hotel gave you a disposable shower cap you don’t need, use it to put your shoes in your suitcase to keep everything clean.

Is the room super dry? An instant hack for increasing the moisture in the room is to hang a wet towel in front of the room’s radiator – perhaps laid out over a suitcase rack – and the heat from the radiator will evaporate the water over time.

If you don’t have a kettle in your room but want to boil water – say, for a cup of ramen – you can fill the coffee maker with water and run it through to heat it up.

– Marc Saltzman is the host of the Tech It Out podcast (marcsaltzman.com/podcasts) and the author of the upcoming book, Apple Vision Pro For Dummies (Wiley).

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