Regardless of what your personal style is, if you’re going to travel to foreign countries you’ll have to figure out a way to get around. Everything from planes to trains to boat trips require planning, and you will have a much more pleasant journey if you get important trips secured in advance of your trip.
So let’s take a look at what transportation options tend to be like these days. We will do our best to cover the gamut of tastes. Regardless of where you stand in terms of your socioeconomic preferences, you should always be sure that you are covered in certain types of circumstances. For example, if you arrive in Spain after an overnight flight and desperately need some sleep, find a taxi in Spain that will give you reliable service from the airport.
Traveling first class
Some people want nothing but the best. And this is perfectly fine, if you’re able to do it. Fights can be infinitely more comfortable, you might get your own room on a train, and you generally won’t have to put up with a lot of noise and chaos wherever you are.
However, beyond the obvious issue of the cost, there are several things you should keep in mind with regard to first class travel:
- First class does NOT necessarily have the same meaning across airlines, forms of transport, or regions. If you are used to expecting certain kinds of service for the pricey ticket you buy, be sure to do your research on the particular airline (train company, etc) that you will be traveling with and see what other people are saying about it.
- While fewer people tend to book first class tickets, remember that for any given trip, there are just a few of them. If this is something you definitely want to do, book well in advance so that you know your tickets are still available.
- Although some people think that first-class passengers are generally of a particular type, this does not necessarily mean that the person sitting across the aisle from you on a plane will be a pleasant one. You could still end up near a screaming child, someone who is loud or disruptive, or other things that you think you will be avoiding by buying a first-class ticket.
Traveling in economy
Choosing to travel in economy can definitely be easier on the wallet. However, before you jump for joy at the amazingly cheap plane ticket you got on an unknown Nepali airline, you should remember that you often get what you pay for.
Keep these points in mind with regard to cheap traveling:
- Small regional airlines often include lesser-known names for a reason. Many developing countries have domestic airlines whose international ratings are so low that they aren’t even allowed to fly into many foreign airports. Safety issues, frequent cancellations, and poor service are common in many places.
- In some places, bus service can be so poor that companies literally take entire seasons off. What you see written on an online timetable may be meaningless in some places. As frustrating as this can be, you can often check these things by doing searches for customer feedback about the places in question. Trip Advisor and similar sites are good for this.
- You might be sold a train or bus ticket in some places only to find out that the companies will give tickets to anyone. Some of us can’t even imagine people piling on top of each other in a train until we actually witness it. And if you are in for a day-long ride, this can turn into a nightmare. Again, just do your homework.
Get ready to go!
We could go on about the pluses and minuses of traveling on different classes. None of the things mentioned here are meant to imply that your experiences will necessarily be bad. There are certainly airlines that offer outstanding service in both higher classes and economy, and there are bus companies in developing countries that function extremely well (in fact, some of the most recently developing countries have the latest technologies). Just be sure you are covered before you leave. And be sure to go to GetTransfer to secure your airport transfer once you arrive.
