Writer, editor, dog lover
When organizing a vacation abroad, you need to plan more than just your itinerary, flights, and hotel. It’s also important to have the right travel documents and, for convenience, to arrange for passes that help you speed through airport security.
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Costco doesn’t just sell cheap hot dogs, rotisserie chicken, and 30-roll boxes of toilet paper to its legions of customers. The big-box retailer also offers vacation packages to destinations around the globe, from 5-star hotels in New York City and Las Vegas to all-inclusive resorts in the Dominican Republic, to cruises in Asia and Australia.
Costco isn’t the only wholesale club offering vacation deals. BJ’s and Sam’s Club also sell travel packages to their members. But should you buy a bundled vacation deal from a warehouse club?
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Nearly 1 in 4 Americans have experienced a health problem when traveling internationally, according to a 2022 survey conducted by Harris Poll and GeoBlue, an international health insurance company. But most insurance providers, including Medicare, offer limited to no medical coverage outside the U.S., which means you could get stuck with a big bill if you need medical care while you travel.
And even if your provider does cover you, insurance can still prove to be problematic. “If you’re at a hospital in a foreign country, the time difference means you may not get help from your domestic health insurer when you need it, which could create a delay in receiving care or obtaining verification of your coverage,” says Don Van Scyoc, GeoBlue’s vice president of individual sales.
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Even the most seasoned tourists can make travel mistakes when planning a vacation. Some blunders can be minor infractions, but others can cost travelers a lot of money and heartache.
But there are steps you can take to avoid travel mistakes. Here are six slip ups that travelers may make this year, plus tips on how to avoid them.
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Camping is a popular pastime for many Americans, especially for folks who grew up spending family vacations exploring the great outdoors. But what outdoor outing is complete without some good camping gear, including a camping chair for sitting around a campfire while roasting s’mores in comfort?
The experts in the Good Housekeeping Institute have tested everything from camping tents to beach chairs. When it comes to tracking down the best camping chairs, our pros assessed the top contenders on the market and tested five popular folding camping chairs, evaluating each chair’s comfort, ease of use, portability and durability.
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A smart bird feeder takes birdwatching to a whole new level. It’s essentially a bird feeder with a camera attached, so it doesn’t just attract feathered friends to your yard but also captures photos and videos of them up close and in action. Some smart bird feeders are also equipped with artificial intelligence technology that can identify the bird species — a nifty feature for anyone looking to learn what types of birdies are visiting their yard.
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During the pandemic, many home buyers — as well as homeowners who refinanced their loans — attained exceptionally low mortgage rates. As of the third quarter of 2023, an estimated 60% of homeowners reported that they had a mortgage rate below 4%, and more than 20% had a rate under 3%, according to a Redfin analysis of data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
If you’re a homeowner with a rock-bottom mortgage rate and you’re looking to move, now could be a good time to purchase a new home and turn your current home into a rental property. Or, if you’d rather stay put, you could take some of the equity you’ve built up in your home and buy an investment property. Although rents decreased slightly in 2023, the national median rent is still almost $250 per month higher than it was three years ago, hitting $1,379 last December, according to Apartment List.
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The one-two punch of swelling mortgage rates and record-low home supply dealt a tough blow to many aspiring home buyers in 2023. Just ask Drew and Lauren Coppel of Herndon, Va. The couple, who purchased their current townhome in October 2019, were looking to buy a larger house toward the beginning of last year but were reluctant to let go of their 30-year mortgage rate of 2.899%, which they scored by refinancing in 2021. When mortgage rates rose above 6.5% midyear, the Coppels decided to put their house search on ice.
“We’re going to wait for rates to come back down,” says Lauren. “We’ll probably wait for them to drop below 6% so that we can get more home for our money.” In the meantime, they’re going to beef up their down payment savings, zero in on what home features matter most to them, and research neighborhoods they want to live in.
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Tired of paying for online subscriptions you no longer use but can’t quite figure out how to cancel? You’re not alone.
Streaming platforms like Netflix, cloud storage services like iCloud, and newspaper and music subscriptions often make it difficult to find the cancel function on their app or website. It’s also easy to simply forget about digital subscriptions you signed up for, especially ones started as free trials. Months can go by before you realize the provider is charging your credit card.
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If you’re shopping for a refrigerator, dishwasher or other big appliance, finding a used product could be the best way to snag a deal.
Used appliances, says Jim Nanni, associate director of product testing at Consumer Reports, “are often sold at a significant discount, and some are in pretty good or great condition.”
Another reason to consider going used: Prices for new major household appliances rose 3.4 percent from December 2022 to December 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index. A new refrigerator alone can run anywhere from $500 to upward of $5,000, according to Consumer Reports.
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Daniel Bortz 