Frommer's Australia from $50 a Day 13th Edition - To Parent Directory

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CHAPTER 2 . PLANNING AN AFFORDABLE TRIP TO AUSTRALIA
Beware: Bucket shop tickets are
usually nonrefundable or rigged
with stiff cancellation penalties,
often as high as 50% to 75% of the
ticket price, and some put you on
charter airlines with questionable
safety records. Several reliable
consolidators are worldwide and
available on the Net. STA Travel
(& 800/781-4040; www.statravel.
com) is now the world’s leader in
student travel.
• Join frequent-flier clubs. Accrue
enough miles, and you’ll be
rewarded with free flights and elite
status. It’s free, and you’ll get the
best choice of seats, faster response
to phone inquiries, and prompter
service if your luggage is stolen,
your flight is canceled or delayed,
or if you want to change your
seat. You don’t need to fly to build
frequent-flier miles—frequentflier
credit cards can provide
thousands of miles for doing your
everyday shopping.
• For many more tips about air
travel, including a rundown of the
major frequent-flier credit cards,
pick up a copy of Frommer’s Fly
Safe, Fly Smart (Wiley Publishing,
Inc.).
LONG-HAUL FLIGHTS: HOW
TO STAY COMFORTABLE
Long flights can be trying; stuffy air
and cramped seats can make you feel as
if you’re being sent parcel post in a
small box. But with a little advance
planning, you can make an otherwise
unpleasant experience almost bearable.
Tips
Coping with Jet Lag
Jet lag is a pitfall of traveling across time zones. If you’re flying northsouth,
say from Canada to Australia, and you feel sluggish when you
touch down, your symptoms will be caused by dehydration and the
general stress of air travel. When you travel east to west or vice versa,
however, your body becomes thoroughly confused about what time it
is, and everything from your digestion to your brain gets knocked for
a loop. Traveling east is more difficult on your internal clock than traveling
west, as most peoples’ bodies find it more acceptable to stay up
late than to fall asleep early.
Here are some tips for combating jet lag:
• Reset your watch to your destination time before you board the
plane.
• Drink lots of water before, during, and after your flight. Avoid alcohol.
• Exercise and sleep well for a few days before your trip.
• If you have trouble sleeping on planes, fly eastward on morning
flights.
• Daylight is the key to resetting your body clock. At the website for
Outside In (www.bodyclock.com), you can get a customized plan of
when to seek and avoid light.
• If you need help getting to sleep earlier than you usually would,
doctors recommend taking either the hormone melatonin or the
sleeping pill Ambien—but not together. Take 2 to 5 milligrams of
melatonin about 2 hours before your planned bedtime.