Luxury Travel Tips with Krista from Antidote Travel
At Primary Financial Advisors, we want our clients to travel! When they’re thinking about planning a trip, we connect them with a Luxury Travel Agent who’s visited over 75 countries: Krista of Antidote Travel.
In this video, Krista shares a variety of tips including:
How to secure five-star amenities and perks
Tips for traveling solo
Underrated travel destinations
Traveling with mobility challenges
And more!
Watch the entire video here or read the transcript from our conversation below.
You can reach Krista at hello@antidotetravel.com or visit her website at https://www.antidotetravel.com/
Full Transcript of Our Interview with Krista of Antidote Travel
Why Use a Travel Agent?
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan , Head of Operations and Marketing, Primary Financial Advisors
Krista, hi, it's good to see you.
Krista from Antidote Travel
Hi, Heidi, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk to you about travel today.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Oh my goodness, you have so much expertise. I'm really excited for you to share all that you know. And you and I have known each other for, gosh, over 20 years, when we first met in Munich, so I know firsthand your love of travel and and how much you love what you do. So to start, can you tell us, for those who might not be familiar these days, what does a travel agent do? And then, when should people think of using one
Krista from Antidote Travel
Sure? Well, I'm going to flip this question for a moment, and I want you to think about the travel industry in general. This is a business and all these hotels and all these cruise lines and all these tour operators, they need to make money, and they need sales marketing.
So I am very much the sales marketing arm of the trail travel industry, and I think that's something people forget when they're like, because I do get this question, why do travel agents exist? You can book everything you need online, but the industry can't wait for people to come to them.
The industry can't wait for people to find them on Expedia or booking.com and actually, when you book through Expedia and booking.com you're taking approximately 30% of the industry's revenue. So the industry needs more spokespeople. They need more salespeople. And that is really important role that a travel agent plays. Every day I'm meeting with hotels, tour operators, cruise lines, learning about their products, learning about any changes that they may have, new room categories, new cabin categories, new ship launches, new hotel openings.
So a good travel agent is really an expert on lots of different things happening in the travel industry. And then I'd also say they're the COO of your vacation, and they can make sure that everything goes very smoothly. Different travel agents have different expertises.
I do pretty much the entire world, but because, as you noted, you know we know each other from Germany more than 20 years ago. I'm and I've lived in London for 11 years. So I'm very much a European travel agent. I do a lot of Europe. It's probably the majority of my business, and I can make it seamless for you, and especially like multi country itineraries or traveling with lots of family members.
Just make it all seamless. You show up, there's someone at the airport waiting for you with your name on a sign, takes you to your first hotel, takes you on a private tour of an amazing museum you've always wanted to visit, gets you into all those sites that you see on Instagram and elsewhere on internet.
So I'd say those are two things to think about. We are the sales and marketing arm of the travel industry, helping to fill rooms, helping to fill cabins, helping to fill tours, and then also the COO of your vacation.
Find a Travel Agent Who’s Been to 70+ Countries
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Now, how many countries have you been to over I think I saw this stat online someplace where you and I talked about it. But how many countries over the course of your traveling lifetime?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Yes, so I have been to 78 countries as of today, and I was actually just doing this math, by the end of the year, given my current travel plans, that will that number will get to 80 at least, which is very exciting. And I think this is another thing that makes me a great travel agent, is that I've been most of the places that people want to go.
One place I haven't been to is Africa. Now, to be fair, I've been to Northern Africa, I've been to Egypt, I've been to Tunisia, I've been to Morocco, but I haven't done the rest of Africa. So that's a goal of mine. That being said, I still have a lot of great partners for Safaris. So even though I haven't been to Africa myself. I sell enough Africa to know how to create an amazing Safari vacation for you.
So to answer your question, 78…80, by the end of this year, and you know that I think is something you want in a travel agent, you want someone who's well traveled and kind of understands what it takes. To put a great trip together, because they've done it for themselves.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
So does your passport need a separate suitcase, or does it have an accordion page for all the stamps? How does that work?
Krista from Antidote Travel
I do have to renew my passport by the end of this year, because it does expire next year. In the old days, I would always order the extra pages, but I think they've changed something now. And I think maybe everything comes with extra pages. I'm not sure, but yes, I used to always have to get extra pages, and at one point I actually had two passports because I was traveling a lot in the Middle East. And there's certain countries where they don't want to see stamps from other countries. But yeah, next year, new passport all like fresh and clean.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
I’m excited. I hope you keep the old pages as a collection.
Krista from Antidote Travel
Yes, always, always, I've kept all my old passports. It's kind of fun.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
So cool. That's an aspirational goal. I've got Krista goals now.
Unexpected Ways an Agent Can Help
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
So what do you do as a travel agent that people might not expect?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Good question, what do I do that people don't expect? Um, I think there's a lot of things that people don't realize are possible.
So for example, I can have you met at the plane door and escorted to immigration, baggage claim, into a onward transfer, or to your next flight. So sometimes, like, if people have tight connections, or maybe they're traveling with, you know, just a group of people where they're just like, make sure this goes smoothly. That's a service. We call that VIP on arrival. I can do that for people. I always try to make sure that at the first hotel that my clients arrive to, that they're met by some sort of little perk or amenity.
So for example, I have clients who are Florida snowbirds, and they're on their way up north right now, and I made sure when they got to their hotel in South Carolina, there was a nice bottle of champagne waiting for them. So there's little perks and amenities that I will always try to sprinkle in.
I always send welcome VIP letters to the hotels that I booked for my clients, introducing my clients, letting them know what they like, what they don't like, if they're celebrating a special occasion. So for example, I had a client traveling recently. It was her 75th birthday. I told the hotel that, and yes, I had a role in that. I communicated this to the hotel. But you know, I don't always know what the hotel is going to do with this information, they gave her a huge suite upgrade, which, and she was so, like, grateful to me. She's like, Oh my goodness, we got this huge suite upgrade.
Or actually, I just had clients celebrating their first anniversary and their first wedding anniversary. And I told the hotel this, and I had given the hotel one picture of the clients on their wedding day, they framed that in the room. They brought them flowers. They did all these little extra nice things.
And I think when you book online for yourself, that's just this type of stuff that doesn't happen. And so a good Travel Advisor is always advocating for you.
You know, I always want to get to know my clients really well so that I can make the magic happen. I call it Travel Advisor magic. So those are some of the things that I could do, and I think it's just knowledge and experience.
When a Travel Agent’s Superpower is Geography
I joke that one of my superpowers is just geography. You know, I stop people from doing things not in their best interest sometimes. So I've learned a lot, like with flights, that sometimes people come up with interesting ideas for how they're going to get to their destination. I had a really good client who was going to fly into Paris and take the train to Milan for his Italian vacation.
And I was like, you know that it's like a really long train journey? And he's like, Oh, it's probably just a couple of hours. And I'm like, no, no, no. I it's like, and you've got two little kids like, I think it's like, a seven hour trip. Don't quote me. Now, I need to Google that to make sure. But, you know, people forget. They think that Europe is a really small place or a really inexpensive place, too.
Sometimes I'll have people like, tell me that they only want to spend like, $200 a night or hotels. I'm like, How did you come up with that number? And when we dive into it, it's just not understanding that, you know, summer in Europe in particular is a very popular vacation destination. So those are some of the things that I do for my clients.
How Travel Agents Have Your Back
There's, there's other things as well as, you know, I'm just this morning, actually, I am working on, I had a client who showed up in London at the end of July when there was a fire at London, Heathrow and her transfer waited for her, which was great, but as part of that conversation of the transfer waiting like no one ever told her it was going to be three times the price that it had initially been agreed.
So now I'm advocating for my client with the transfer company to be like, hey, like, it's not her fault. There was a fire and they wouldn't let her out of the airport.
So also, I'd say a good travel agent advocates for you when things go wrong, which you know, I always hope nothing goes wrong, but occasionally things do.
When to Buy Travel Insurance
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
And speaking of things going wrong on a trip, how do you feel about travel insurance? I think that's something that a lot of people scratch their heads. If they're booking on a site or something and they see it come up and they're like, ah, is it worth the investment? Is that something people should always do? Are there certain scenarios when it's better to do it?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Yes. Oh, I love this question, because yes, I always buy travel insurance for myself. Now, because I've learned I joke you cannot control the crazy. There are so many things outside of your control.
At the bare minimum, I tell clients, get yourself medical coverage and get yourself evacuation coverage. Now, chances are you're not going to need the evacuation coverage, but certainly I don't want to, you know, I read these stories online, I've seen it happen where people do need, like, the plane with the nurse on board, and that's a lot of money, so the very least medical and evacuation coverage.
And actually those policies aren't very expensive. So I always find it funny where people like, I don't want to pay for insurance. I'm like, Well, you know that actually it's only going to be like, $50 for the medical evacuation coverage. And then they're like, oh, okay, yeah, sure, I'll do that.
Um, where travel insurance gets expensive and where people, I think, have objections to the price is when you're covering your trip costs in case of cancelation or in case of trip interruption, people generally think about cancelation, but they don't think about trip interruption.
And so let's just explain that. Let's say, and I've seen all these scenarios happen, like the week before you're going on vacation, you break a leg, or a family member breaks a leg, and now you don't want to go to your theater, yeah, and and all, and also, like, you don't want to be flying like so soon after breaking your leg.
And that is when, if you've booked anything that's prepaid, non refundable, those hotels are not going to just give you your money back, if those are the rates that you've booked. So you want to think about the financial decisions you've made for your trip and make sure that you're covered in the case of cancelation or again, interruptions, something that things people don't think about.
So let's say you're midway through your trip and, God forbid, a family member is hospitalized or passes away. You want the flexibility to go home and not have to worry about how much is that rebooked flight going to cost? Or, you know, you've got some hotels that you prepaid and are non refundable for the rest of your trip, like, can you get that money back?
So I'm a big fan of insurance. I think people don't understand insurance, and that's big reason why, like, some people are just like, oh, I don't want insurance, but I think it's a good travel agent. Can explain it to you. We always say, like, we're not licensed, you know, I'm not a licensed insurance agent. So there's always a limit to how many questions I can answer for someone, but I can provide high level directional advice and then always connect you with my travel insurance partners for more detailed questions.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Yeah, that makes total sense. As you just explained, there's a myriad of insurance types. And yes, that's really, really good to know.
Planning Luxury Travel
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
If someone is used to luxury travel, five star travel. What do you think are some of the more wonderful experiences these days? And I know just from knowing you, that you have the opportunity to go on a lot of these trips to experience things firsthand. So what special experiences are you recommending these days for people who really want elevated travel?
Krista from Antidote Travel
I think that a private guide to a museum or city is amazing like the first thing I like to do for clients when they get to a new place is that they do a private walking tour with a guide who introduces them to the city because it gives them so many other little pieces of information that will become useful throughout the rest of their trip.
It could be restaurants, coffee shops, cash machines, grocery stores, like just getting the lay of the land with a local and an expert, I think is really priceless.
So, you know, I do a lot of sports travels, so that's also something for luxury travelers to think about. Where I can, you know, Tour de France or the Super Bowl, like VIP access, VIP events prior to the Super Bowl, for example, you know, the best hotels that are closest to the events, so that you're not like schlepping in from miles away. Those are things I think luxury travelers should think about. You know, I think it's about access and great guides and great unique experiences that you may not have even known existed.
Travel Tips for European Travel
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
And like you said before, when you have a COO of your travel, you don't have to think about these things. And you're thinking of what is the travel time or the walk from the hotel to this destination, to this destination. At the end of the day, you just want an experience. You want it to go seamlessly.
Krista from Antidote Travel
Like, I think Paris and Florence are two great examples of this. Like, in planning a trip to Paris, you have to know when the museums are closed, because you don't want to show up to go to the Louve on the day the Louve is closed. And I always forget if it's Sunday or Monday, one of them's closed one day, and the others close the other day, and then a Florence, like, all the museums are closed on Monday. So if you're going to be in Florence on a Monday, you need to have a good plan for yourself.
And actually, like, just a general rule of thumb in Europe, most museums in most countries are closed on Mondays, something to be aware of. So I'm not sure where I was going with that answer, but those are things that, like, I know, because this is what I do all day, every day.
And certainly, you know this information is available online, but I don't think the average traveler is thinking about these things, or, you know, knows what's available.
So whenever I have an active family, I'm always like, we're going to put you on a bike tour of Versailles, and it's like they didn't even know that existed, which, to me, as a travel agent, I'm like, of course, it exists. Like, why wouldn't you know that exists?
But the average person who may only go to Paris once in their life doesn't realize that if they're a little sporty, then maybe a nice way to see Versailles would be on a bike tour.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Incredible. Wow. And now I want to go. Let's put that on for us. Shoot.
Budgeting for Travel
And then, if someone is looking to know what they should conceptualize for a budget for working for a travel agent with a travel agent, not just what they spend on the trip, but what they might spend working with you. How does that work?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Yeah, that's a harder thing, because it really depends on the destination.
So, but let me focus on, like, London, Paris, Rome, types of trips, because I do a lot of those three cities for five star hotels, private touring. I typically say like $2,000 per day.
And you also have to remember that the dollar is not doing too great right now. So, you know, in euros or pounds, it may not actually sound too bad, but when you convert it to dollars, it's something you should think about.
You know, five star hotels can be $1,500 a night. A private tour can be anywhere from 500 to $2,500, a day.
So I try to, to come back to your question earlier about how I work with people. What are they looking for? What do they want?
A lot of people will say to me, I just want to walk around, and I can help you do that. I mean, it's not it. I think there's a lot more in a city than just like walking around.
And I hope that I can convince someone to partake in some amazing experiences, a cooking class or, you know, food tour, street art tour, or a boat ride or something. So, you know, I just try to, I always do a 30 minute zoom consultation with people before taking them on, making sure that we're a good fit, making sure I understand their needs, and I could put together a trip that works for them.
You know, where I struggle sometimes is people will say, like, I only want to spend $200 a night in London, and that's just not a trip I can help you with. You know, you're, you're not going to be happy, and I don't want it to be my fault, right? Because the hotel will be, you're not in a great location, in a small room, and, you know, somewhat questionable.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
It won't be the trip that you're expecting, right?
Krista from Antidote Travel
So, you know, I try to be honest with people about, like, what budgets I can work with and what budgets that I I struggle to work with, but I don't have to do everything, right?
Like, what I'm really good at is soup to nuts doing everything, but maybe the accommodation budget is not one I can work with, but I could still kind of help with tour experiences.
Or, you know, recently, I had a family that wanted accommodation, and they wanted an airport transfer because they were nervous they were getting into London at, like, nine o'clock at night, and they handled those things, but they were perfectly happy to just walk around for a week and, like, just, like, wander into museums.
And I helped, you know, they did that part. I did the accommodation transport.
So I'm flexible. I can work with different people in different ways.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
That's good to know. Because if you already have an existing trip planned, let's say, and you're just looking to supplement or make it more interesting or round it out with some things, it's great to know that you can help with that sort of thing too, as well as planning soup to nuts
Krista from Antidote Travel
I've got a huge storehouse of you know, tours experience.
I try not to say tours because tours, to me sounds boring. Nobody wants to go out exactly, exactly. But you know experiences, you know, so one of the family that I recently sent to London, the kids were really into sports, so we organized private tours of Emirates Stadium for them to see Arsenal play.
So those are the types of things that like. She the mom was like, “Oh, I didn't even know that existed.” I'm like, yeah, totally. I could put that together for you, no problem. So that's very cool.
Underrated Travel Destinations
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Now, what is the most fun or unique place that you've traveled lately that you've enjoyed?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Well, to be fair, I haven't traveled a lot since the because of the pandemic, and then also, I was a caretaker for my mom with advanced Parkinson's for a number of years, until she passed away earlier this year.
But prior to the pandemic, I went to Guatemala, and I absolutely loved it. It was such a surprise for me. I live in South Florida, so it was an easy flight. It's like three hours.
Guatemala is this beautiful Spanish colonial city, and it's just this really unique and beautiful place.
And then I also went to Tikal, which is north of the country to see the ruins up there. That was super interesting, super fun.
And then I went to Lake Atitlan and stayed in this beautiful hotel that you access by boat. And then the thing is, you just like, take little you take boats around the lake, and you visit all these little villages around the lake. So it was just a really unique and there's volcanoes, it is a cool place.
I feel like it was so funny to me. So I would tell people I was going to Guatemala, and people be like, Why would you go to Guatemala on vacation? And now my answer is, why wouldn't you. It is such an amazing different place.
If you don't want to do the eight hour trip to Europe and your city has a direct flight to Guatemala. You can have an amazing time in Guatemala at a great price.
I'm actually a convinced clients to do Guatemala for their honeymoon, and I was pricing it out yesterday. Hotels are 300 bucks a night. Tours are inexpensive, experiences are inexpensive. So yeah, it's a great destination.
Traveling With Mobility Challenges
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Krista what are some of the ways that you can help people, if they or someone in their family has a disability or maybe they have mobility issues, they want to travel with mom or dad or an aunt or an uncle who can't get around so easily, what are some of the things that you can do to help with that?
Krista from Antidote Travel
This is a great reason to use an experienced travel agent, because this is exactly the type of stuff that I do for clients.
So for example, I have a client who's really my age, and she's traveling with her mom, who's about late 70s, early 80s, and mom has some mobility issues they want to do roam.
And so I have soup to nuts organized a hotel that is handicapped accessible, so has a ramp, right, so she doesn't have to deal with stairs. The hotel room has shower bars and toilet bars, which are very important for her.
And then we're getting a wheelchair delivered to the hotel, and then they're doing a private tour the Vatican and private tour of the Coliseum with a tour guide who understands that the mom, you know, has mobility issues, and so you know knows how to get, you know, navigate with the wheelchair through the Vatican and the Coliseum.
So it's a great reason. Great way to use a travel agent is to help make that seamless and easy.
And then I will come back to VIP on arrival right getting met at the airport door. And a lot of airlines will include that for you. Anyhow.
Like always good to ask for that, but those are things that I could do for people.
Right now, I have a older woman who's actually exactly 80 years old, and her niece going to Barcelona, and it's not easy, like in the US, it's very easy to search for accessible hotel rooms. It is not easy to do that in Barcelona, and so because of my connections with all the hotels, I was able to fire off some emails on Friday to a bunch of different properties that I know well, that I kind of it's always a size thing, the larger hotels are more likely to have handicapped accessible rooms. And I dropped notes to all of them, and like Monday, Tuesday, I got a lot of responses, yes, here's what we have, here's the pricing for your dates, here's everything we can do for your clients.
And that's another thing that a good travel agent can do for you, is find the right properties for you. So a great way to use a Travel Advisor.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
And I think we've had it happen our family. We've had older family members where we get the sense that they're declining.
We've said, Where do you want to travel? Where do you want to go? We'll take you anywhere. And I think there's probably some some hesitation and some nervousness around it's overwhelming to think about all the things, and then if they have mobility issues, but you working with people can make it so seamless, they can still be wonderful places. And if everything's lined up, then I would think that would give people, perhaps more of a sense of security and help them exactly time anticipate it with
Krista from Antidote Travel
Yep, and that's honestly, that's my that's everything that I aspire to do for my clients.
Why Use a Travel Agent Now?
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Why someone work with a travel agent now in terms of in 2025 these days?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Okay, I'll circle back to the beginning of the conversation. I am a sales and marketing arm for the travel industry, and they will always make it worth your while to book through me, as opposed to booking through an online booking platform.
So if you like complimentary breakfast for two, if you'd like hotel credits, usually it's a food and beverage credit and or a spa credit to use on property if you'd like to be prioritized for upgrade. And this is generally at the four and a half and five star level.
To be clear, not a lot I could do for you at the three star level.
That is just a really basic and great way to use a Travel Advisor.
Tips for Booking Luxury Travel
Knowing what I know today, doing this job, I'm and I want to talk about how I kind of came into this job and when I started to realize Travel Advisor magic, but I would never book a five star hotel without a Travel Advisor.
And specifically, The Four Seasons.
If you book a Four Seasons Hotel through, you should only ever before seasons through a Travel Advisor. That's like, one thing you should definitely do, but generally, four and a half and five stars. I think that there's more information out there than ever before, and it's just very complicated to sort through, and there's no substitute for experience.
So for example, cruising, there's a new cruise line called Explora. I have been on all of the ships. They are stunningly beautiful. They they're newer, so people still don't know about that.
So a lot of what I do is educate people, like I have clients that I work with, and I know I put them on Regent I know I put them on silver sea. I know they would be a great fit for
Explora. And so I just booked an explorer cruise this past week with a client who's like, oh my god, I live in South Florida. I didn't even know this cruise line existed, but you told me to look at it, and you're totally right. This is like, an amazing cruise line for me.
So a good travel agent, knowledge and experience, you know, making things smooth for you, especially like multi family, like your multi generation trips, like if you're traveling grandma, grandpa, their children, the grandchildren.
A good travel agent can just make that easy for everybody. So those would be some of my main reasons for using a travel agent today is the perks and amenities, at the very least, knowledge and experience and making things smooth.
And I don't know if that's any different than it was, yeah, 15 years ago, but I think with so much noise from the internet and AI, a good experience travel agent is worth it and gold.
Krista’s Top Travel Resources
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Now there is a lot of noise in travel. In terms of there are million bloggers out there a million sites. There are lots of TV shows. What's your top list when you really want to geek out on travel and learn about new destinations? Are there TV shows? Are there blogs that you watch? Are there sites that you go to? And I should also mention that you know blogs so well because you were a top rated travel blogger in London for so many years. So what are your go-tos?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Everybody loves Phil Rosenthal. I love that man. He is just a genuinely nice, wonderful human being. So I just, I really love his shows (Somebody Feed Phil).
Other than that, you know, read I New York Times travel.
I keep an eye on I Instagram is a big source of product information for me.
So I follow all the major cruise lines, all the major hotel brands.
Great way to find out about new hotel openings that might not have been on my radar otherwise.
So, like, I had a client interested in Doha recently, and I knew from following the Rosewood that the Rosewood Doha had just opened. And what a great like, I think so cool to get into, like, a new hotel. Like, I don't mind the teething pains, but I want to be like, one of the first people to sleep in a bed. So that's really, I think, where I get a lot of my information.
Tips for Single Travelers
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
If people are single and they want to travel there alone, and maybe they they're a single and they want to be with a group of people in a tour group, or they really just want a single trip. What are some of the ways that you help people who want that kind of travel experience, and then what are some of the things that they should be aware of, too, if they're traveling as a single person for the first
Krista from Antidote Travel
Yes, this is another great reason to use a travel agent. An experienced, knowledgeable travel agent, can match you as a solo traveler with the right trip.
Cruises, sometimes they charge solo supplements. And sometimes these solo supplements are like, only 25% more than what you would pay if you were a double in a room.
But sometimes they're a lot more so, but sometimes there's no single supplement, and a good travel agent would do that work for you to be like, okay, so you want to travel in May of next year, you want to do a cruise. You kind of want to keep costs to, like, you know, a reasonable amount you're looking for cruise ships with out solo supplements.
Like, here's what I would suggest. Like, that is a great, perfect way to use a travel agent. And same thing with tour providers. And when I say tour providers, I mean you want to go with 24 strangers to Italy for a week. There are tour providers that organize everything for you and meet up with all these strangers, and you have an amazing time together. So it's, it always depends. It's always changing. A lot of, if you're can be flexible, a lot of solo supplements get, let's not say dropped. But thing at the closer we are to the dates of travel, if the cruise ship isn't full, that's when they start saying, hey, you know, special promotions. You know, the single supplement is only X percent now, instead of what it was before. So flexibility can help, too. If you're a solo traveler, those would be some of my tips.
What’s In a Travel Agent’s Suitcase?
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Now, what does a travel agent who's been to over 70 countries, so a real, true, seasoned world traveler, what do you absolutely have to pack in your suitcase when you take a trip?
Krista from Antidote Travel
I like to have music with me all the time. So I have a Bluetooth speaker, an anchor speaker that I bring with me. Just the sound out of my iPhone is too tinny for me, and you can't always guarantee, usually at the five star hotel level, like they're starting to put more Bluetooth speakers in rooms, but there's no guarantee. So definitely a speaker.
And then, you know, I do a lot of long international flights, and I joke that, although I look like I'm 12, I'm actually 51 and so I wear compression socks.
I think compression socks are amazing, and it like cracks me up. Now, I get off the plane, I take off the socks, and I feel like a new human being.
It's really amazing. So those are two things I definitely bring with me, and I'm trying to think, if there's anything…
Oh, packing cubes. I'm a big fan of packing cubes, even if I'm just carrying on. I don't feel like I need packing cubes, but I'm leaving for Greece on Saturday, and so I'm bringing a big check suitcase, because it's like a two week trip, and packing cubes, like all of your socks, all your underwear, you know, like bathing suit and like different cubes for everything. And that's kind of a game changer for my suitcase.
Charging blocks, right? You know, especially if you're in an airport for a long time before a flight, and then you're like, you have a layover somewhere by the time you get to your destination. To me, it's stressful when my phone drops below like 40% so a charging block is always good, but never put it. In your checked bag. Always have the charging block on your person.
And then a Kindle. I do all my best reading on planes. That's where I read. I just, you know, when I'm home, I don't make time for reading. So I like, I've already uploaded, downloaded a bunch of books for my trip, and I'm excited to, like, get reading. So those are some of the must haves.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
And with the Kindle, you don't have to carry around the weight of the book.
Krista from Antidote Travel
Exactly. Yes. Game Changer.
Travel Tip: Track Your Luggage
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
What would you say are the biggest mistakes that you see people make when they're booking travel?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Okay, this is a good question. Mistake sounds like a negative, right? So let's just things that I might do differently. I think people come up with strange flight plans for themselves.
Um, it the flying into Paris to go to Milan or avoiding connecting flights, which sometimes people seem to be really scared of connecting flights and my advice, and actually, this is another thing to always have in your bag, is I put air tags in all my bags, and all for all of my clients, I actually pay for a luggage tracking service so that if you arrive in destination and your suitcase is not there, you go, file the claim with the air airline. You get that claim number. You give it to my guys, and they are they, they find the bag, and so you can go enjoy your vacation.
If they don't find the bag, you get $1,000 so, you know, I get come back to like, mistakes people make us. They're like, Oh, I don't want a connecting flight. Protect yourself if you're going to do that. And I think you open up an entire world of travel. Hope you're open to connecting flights.
Geography is a Superpower
My superpower is geography. So I think sometimes, like simple misunderstandings about geography, not understanding how to get from London to Paris, not understanding that like, there are ferries, or you can fly, like, there's always some places, parts of the world, there's different travel options working again, coming up with funny plans.
I had one couple who were like, “Oh, we figured that from Sicily, we'll take the ferry to Morocco.”
It's like, I don't think you want to do that. Those are places are very far away from each other. And for whatever reason in their head, they thought that those things were very close.
At a similar example with Bali and Vietnam, that they were going to fly to Bali to go to Vietnam and Indonesia is like, nowhere near Southeast Asia, very far away. There's no ferry, you want to fly.
Krista from Antidote Travel
So those are some of the things I you know, I think people sometimes, if they could just spend a little bit more in a hotel room, they could have so much of a better experience. And I get it like the numbers sometimes scary. You know, 500 pounds is a lot dollars, but it gets you a better location, a larger room. That's actually a big mistake I see people make all the time, is they do the hotel room on price, but they never look at the square footage. And the My rule is like, do not go lower than 20 square meters, right? Because all the European hotels report in meters. If you're in a room smaller than 20 square meters, and you're two people, and you are going to be tripping over each other, and you have to, like, either mentally, like, lean into that and be like, Okay, it's a small hotel room. We're okay with that. Or, you know, pay for the 22 24 or 25 square meter rooms.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
You don’t want to be spending your vacation in a closet, essentially,
Krista from Antidote Travel
Yeah, and, you know, people will say, “Well, I'm not going to spend any time in the room.”
Like, that's true, but you're still waking up in that room and have to, like, get around. And then you're going to bed in that room, and you have to get around. And, you know, 18, square meters, 16 square meters is small.
So off the top of my head, I think those are some of the mistakes that people
Oh, and I just think location too. This is a great example. I had clients who had already booked their hotel in Rome, and came to me for the rest of the trip, and I was like, oh, so where are you staying?
And they're like, Oh, we booked a hotel on points, and I knew it was going to be Marriott points, because it always is. I'm like, oh, did you book the edition? Did you book the W?
“No, we booked the AC Marriott Hotel”
I know all the Rome Marriott Hotels really well, like that is not a hotel. I know where is it, and if it was nowhere near anything. And I was like, “Well, what are you imagining your trip to Rome to be like?”
And they really thought they were going to walk out their hotel front door and like, the Pantheon would be there.
And. Like, that's going to be a 25 minute taxi ride for you.
So if you want to be central, if this is going to be especially, a lot of people are only going to a city once in their life, like, don't, don't cheap out on location.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
And if you're really crunching numbers, it's going to cost you for transition from the hotel to wherever you want to go to wherever you want to go
Krista from Antidote Travel
The unknown cost is the experience cost, right? Like, how amazing is it to be staying in central Rome and, like, just walk out your front door every morning, and like, Everything is there for you, what a rich and wonderful experience you'll have, as opposed to, like Paris is, for example, a lot of people will book hotels and lead defense, which is like the finance section of Paris, and then, you know, they're great hotels or big rooms, because nobody is staying there, but you're going to be on the train all the time, and there's not going to be all the cute boulangeries, and on the weekends, it's going to be really dead. So, location, location.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
How much is your experience worth to you? How much your memory is worth to you?
Krista from Antidote Travel
Yes, that's the thing you can't put a price on, which I imagine is similar, you know, working, you know, as a financial advisor, like, there's, there's things that you can never put a price on for people, right, like protecting your family, protecting your investments,
Pack Like You’ll Lose Your Bag
Krista from Antidote Travel
I do, you know, for clients who spend a lot with me, I do send them Air Tags. That's another thing. I do because I just, you know, losing your bag is not fun, not fun.
I pack all of my bags to prepare for the prospect of my bag being lost.
So going to Greece this week, I'm going to have my checked bag, but I'm going to I have a carry on bag and a backpack, and I will have like, three outfits in those bags, just in case. Now, knock on wood, I've only had my bags lost this trip to Amsterdam, and then the other time was, like 10 years prior to that.
So, and I would say, I'm a pretty frequent traveler, so I've been very lucky. It's not something that always happens, but you want to prepare.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
That's an excellent tip, you know, one that I think everybody can use. So enjoy your trip to Greece this week.
Krista from Antidote Travel
I have one more tip on that note. Can I add something? Heidi, did you know if your luggage does get lost the airline will pay you so much money for new clothing, and people do not realize this, and it was very funny.
When I was in Amsterdam, I was sitting next to my rep from Silver Sea Cruises, and, you know, telling the story and showing them here's because it was that the first night.
So I didn't have my bag, but I had, I brought my cocktail dress for this party I had to go to, and I had that, and we're watching, you know, on my phone, my bag, and someone explained it to me. He's like, The airlines have lost his bag so many times. He's like, “I've got like, five or six new suits that I've bought because the airlines lost my bag and I need a suit to wear to my meeting.” So he views every time his bag gets lost as a shopping opportunity. So keep that in the back of your mind.
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
Important to know how fun to go on a shopping trip and the people you'll meet and the places you'll get to explore just by doing that!
Krista from Antidote Travel
Right? Here's the suit I bought for myself in Paris, right? Why not?
Closing Thoughts
Heidi Erdmann-Sullivan
That's a really, that's a good tip for everybody. Awesome.
Well, thank you so much for taking the time today to share all your tips. We I think what you do is so incredible and incredibly valuable, and you have the lifetime of travel experience behind you to really give people special experiences, once in a lifetime, trips and and really make their travel easy and fun for them. So thank you for everything that you do and for sharing it with us.
Krista from Antidote Travel
My absolute pleasure. Always fun to talk travel. It's my favorite thing. Thanks, Heidi, thank you.
