Jason Stevens is used to dealing with travel headaches.
As the CEO of Wayfairer Travel, which plans six-figure luxury vacations and trips for Fortune 500 CEOs and ultra-wealthy clients, he’s helped customers solve problems — from finding last-minute access to deluxe ski locales to getting travelers to their African safari after they accidentally boarded the wrong flight.
Stevens himself is a seasoned traveler, having been to all seven continents and “most major cities.” His experience helps him and his team make sure their clients have the best trip money can buy.
And while the average cost of a Wayfairer Travel vacation is more than $30,000 — with some vacation packages clocking in at more than $200,000 — Stevens says you don’t need to be a high-powered CEO to have a great vacation.
Instead, he says there are three “common sense” things anyone can do to make sure their next vacation is as good as it can be.
1. Look after your luggage
Packing an extra day or two’s worth of clothing in your carry-on can save you a lot of hassle when dealing with lost luggage.
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Few things can derail a vacation like your baggage not being on the carousel when you arrive at your destination. For peace of mind, Stevens tosses a tracker, like an Apple AirTag, into his checked bag before embarking on a trip.
“I often transfer on long-haul flights,” he tells CNBC Make It. “I like to know that [my bag] made the first leg and then I can see it being loaded onto the aircraft for the second leg.”
In the event that your bag gets lost in the shuffle, having a locator in it can help airline employees track it down. Stevens gave the example of a friend of his whose bag never made it from his connection in Istanbul to his flight to Bangkok. By telling airline workers where to look, he was able to get his belongings faster.
“If you don’t have that level of visibility, they’ll just go into the standard process,” he says. “But if you’ve got the visibility, they use a different process. You actually get a higher level of service for the recovery of your luggage.”
And no matter what, Stevens recommends packing a day or two’s worth of clothing into your carry-on bag.
“[Your missing bag] can come a day later or sometimes two days later, if it’s not lost,” he says. “Travel with some basic amenities and a change of clothes.”
2. Be smart about how you spend
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Before going on an international trip, do your homework about whether or not your destination takes U.S. dollars.
“You’d be amazed at how many countries still accept U.S. dollars with a big smile on their face,” he says.
But keep in mind that just because a country accepts your dollars doesn’t mean they can provide change. Don’t expect a cabbie in Bangkok to be able to give you change for a $50 or $100 bill on an $8 ride from the airport. If you plan on not using local currency, bring small denominations to make your life easier.
Even better, he says, set up a multi-currency card, such as Wise, before you leave so that you can pay for everything without worrying about exchange rates or transaction fees.
“The minute you’ve left your home and gone to an international country [with a multi-currency card], you’ve saved money immediately,” he says.
3. Get off the beaten path
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To get the most bang for your buck, don’t stay in the city center when visiting somewhere like New York or Santiago or Lima. Zoom out on the map and take a look at hotels a little further out.
“If you get outside any major city — and you don’t have to go too far — the hotel quality doesn’t drop but the hotel prices drop disproportionately,” Stevens says.
When he travels to a major metropolitan area with good public transportation, he’ll look at hotels further away from the hustle and bustle as a means to save money and experience “a different pace of life.”
He recommends using Google Street View to check out the surrounding area of the hotels you’re looking at. And if you’re still not sure what an area is like, simply pick up the phone and give the hotel you’re considering a call.
“There’s been multiple times where I’ve just called a hotel and said, ‘Hey, look, I’ve never stayed there. What’s the area like?” he says. “The staff at the hotel desk will tell you a lot more than people realize.”
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