Handy How-To's

Take advantage of your smartphone’s capabilities Your smartphone can greatly enhance your travel experience and make life on the road more convenient. Complete as many of the following preparations as you can before your next trip. Activate international roaming Your first task is to ensure that you can call and be called through your mobile phone when you are overseas. The surest way to do this is to activate international roaming on your mobile number. Before traveling abroad, contact your service provider and ask them how to get international roaming. International roaming allows you to make long distance phone calls from abroad through your smartphone and instant access to the Internet via your smartphone’s mobile data. Compared to the alternatives mentioned below, international roaming is very convenient and more reliable. However, such convenience comes at a steep price, so resort to it only when the suggested alternatives have failed. For more on international roami...

You will become a victim of credit card fraud if you do not handle or use your credit or debit cards with care. Here are some safety precautions. When using your physical credit or debit card A growing number of stores don’t allow their employees to handle their customers’ cards. That is, you must be the one to tap or insert your card into their online card terminal. This is good practice because you are always in possession of your card during the transaction. In stores that still do things the old-fashioned way, make sure that the store employee will perform the card transaction on a nearby terminal where you can plainly see what she will do with your card. Bear in mind that it only takes a moment for a thief to copy your credit card details. Be prepared to pay in cash rather than lose sight of your card. Wireless-enabled cards Technologies like RFID and NFC have enabled speedy and convenient wireless transactions. To pay, just tap your card at the card terminal. For small-va...