The bedbug scare must be sinking in: Two colleagues were telling me stories of their recent hotel visits — upon checking into their rooms, they tore apart the bed, looking for bedbugs. And sure enough, jackpot. The little buggers were crawling around in there. Two completely different hotels, two bedbug infestations. It made me realize that I’ve really been careless and slack: I haven’t changed my behavior. I have been checking into rooms as always. But maybe it’s time to take some different steps.

What are the steps the careful traveler should take?

• Unmake the bed
  Check the bed for the nasty critters by pulling the sheets back. Look for tiny bugs, especially near the seams. Lift the mattress and look for bugs between in the space between the boxspring and the mattress.
• Inspect the furniture
  Once you’ve checked the bed, lift the cushions in the furniture and look for bugs. Again, special attention on the seams.
• Drawers, too
  Open the drawers. Look for scurrying.
• Quarantine the bags
  When you walk into the room, leave your bags near the door for starters. Once you’ve given the all-clear to the bed and furniture, bring the bags in, but use the foldable luggage rack. Pull it away from the wall. Keep the luggage zipped, if you can.

If you do find a bug, alert the front desk and — it goes without saying — demand a different room. If you feel the urge for revenge, there are websites that allow travelers to name hotels where guests allegedly were bitten — BedBugRegistry and BedBugReports — but I am frankly skeptical of their utility. Much like TripAdvisor reviews can be gamed by competitors, these submissions on these sites aren’t entirely free from ulterior motives.

Anyway, have you changed your behavior? Do you tear the sheets off the bed and conduct room inspections? Or do you let it ride? Vote in the poll below, and hit the comments with your stories.

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Once you’ve voted, please enjoy this short film by the venerable Isabella Rosselini on the subject of bedbugs, and their lifecycle. Note: Once seen, it cannot be unseen.

I’m pretty late to summer vacation planning this year, but I’m not letting it stop me from getting a solid deal. Here are three often-overlooked things I made sure to check before finalizing any plans:

1. Park-Stay-Fly hotel packages
   Airport parking can add up, even if you’re using an off-site long-term lot. So, especially if your flight leaves in the morning, consider booking an airport-area hotel room with a parking package. For a slight premium — as little as $10 to $20 sometimes — over the regular room rate, hotels will throw in 7 to 14 days of parking. It’s almost like buying your parking and getting a hotel room thrown in for free. (Almost.) Most parking packages are found only on hotels’ own websites. There’s a site that focuses on this — parksleepfly.com — but it’s not completely authoritative. Still, a good starting point.
2. Vacation Rentals
   In some well-touristed areas, hotels book up quickly. But vacation rentals — houses, apartments, condos — are often still available. You won’t get maid service, and the decor will not be the standardized fare you’ll find in a hotel, but you might find a gem. I’ve been looking at lodging in a small city at the gateway to a national park. The hotels are full. The motels are dumps. The vacation rentals, on the other hand, are promising. Check out sites like HomeAway, VRBO, ABetterStay, Belvilla, or Vacation Home Rentals. Check them all, frankly, as inventory varies tremendously.
3. Z-Fares
   Traveling internationally? Don’t settle for buying a coach seat. I’ve beaten this drum before, but summertime is when international business class airfares drop significantly, as business travel scales back. It’s not the same price as coach, but it’s a big discount to the usual charge. Look for so-called “Z-fares” by searching for business class airfares on the airline or travel agency website of your choice. It used to be that you could also look for deals with the all-business class airlines, but only OpenSkies remains. Shop around before you settle for coach.

Reader Thomas writes:

I rented a car with Alamo last week. My scheduled pickup time was 2:00pm. My flight didn’t get in until 3:30, and I picked up the car around 4:00. When I returned the car three days later (at 3:00pm) they charged me for an extra hour’s rental. And that one hour cost more than the daily rate.

I complained that I hadn’t actually picked up the car until 4pm, so it was less than 3x 24-hours, so why were they charging me for 3 days plus one hour? They insisted that the reservation started at 2:00 pm. What gives?

This issue has come up before, in a discussion of the decline of grace periods from a few years back. There was one comment in particular, from a reader named Jason, which is particularly prescient, and bears repeating:

A little tip for renters from someone who’s been on both sides of the rental counter. Make sure the rental agent updates your pickup time if you arrive after your scheduled pick up time (i.e. scheduled to pick up at 2pm and you don’t arrive until 3pm). If you arrive early, the computers will likely set your pickup time to the actual time you pickup the car, but if you arrive late it’s up to you and/or the agent to update your pickup time. This little trick has caught a lot of renters who return at the same time they picked up the car, but still get the late fees.

There you have it. Once you drive it off the lot, the timestamp on the contract is the time that counts. So be sure to verify that the time is the time you actually rent.

(Of course, with some companies, you can be handed a contract but still wait… and wait… and wait for the car… If that happens, let the exit gate agent to mark and initial the contract with the accurate time, as a last resort, if you can’t get it updated in the computer.)

As an added heads-up from Jason’s comment, advice for tail end of the rental:

One other nasty suprise of Alamo, if you return the car more than 24 hours early you may be subject to a $15 early return fee. It’s stupid, but it’s on the contract the renter has to initial. Don’t try to argue with the agent, we couldn’t take it off and we never could figure out why it only appeared on some rentals and not others.

Forewarned is forearmed: Watch the clock, and watch your contract.

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Reader Richard T. writes:

The incident where the guy snuck through security to see his girlfriend off on a flight got me thinking: Is there a legal way for a person to go through airport security without having a boarding pass? I’m happy to submit to all manner of screenings, wandings, pat-downs, etc.

Yes, actually, there are a couple.

1. Request a gate pass from the airline
Under certain circumstances, you can obtain a gate pass, essentially a permission slip issued by an airline, which allows you to pass through security and to the gates. (Of course, you’re subject to inspection, like everyone else.) Gate passes are typically issued to parents/guardians of a minor traveling alone, to a medical assistant, to an interpreter, or to someone designated as accompanying an elderly person, usually for health reasons. And under TSA Security Directive 1544-01-10w, family of military personnel may get passes to “sterile concourse areas to escort the military passenger to the gate or to meet a military passenger’s inbound arrival at the gate.” Gate passes are free, but are issued at the airline’s discretion. Just saying you’d like to meet your friends and family? Not good enough, typically, but take your best shot!

2. Buy a refundable ticket.
Buy a fully-refundable ticket — to anywhere. Somewhere cheap, somewhere expensive, it doesn’t matter. Buy it, then check in. Print your boarding pass. Walk through security, with a perfectly legal boarding pass. Wave goodbye (or hello) to your friends from the gate. Exit the secure area of the airport. Refund the ticket, by phone or at the counter. (Remember, it was fully refundable. FULLY. But do it before the flight leaves.) It’s an annoying step, but there’s nothing illegal about it.

Richard, you asked about the legal options. So I know you’re not interested in illegal methods, like printing your own forged boarding passes. Phony passes won’t work to get you onto a plane, but they might get you through the security checkpoint. They could also get you a visit from the FBI, since they violate the U.S. code, title 18, part 1, chapter 47, § 1036. Needless to say, NOT RECOMMENDED unless you want to go to jail. But it’s been done…

Any other techniques out there? Hit the comments!

Upgraded: Knowing what to do when you’re traveling for the holidays
Before you head to the airport, consider this post on five ways to get an edge on other travelers during the holiday season. The TSA has also published an updated list of do’s and don’t's for bringing items through security, which includes references to the infamous issue of pies. Don’t let anyone say you weren’t warned.

Downgraded: Your health in the sky
Contracted H1N1 or another nasty contagion? Got travel plans? Unless you’ve got good travel insurance, be prepared to pay a fee if you want to change you flights if you’re sick. From several reports (see here and here), it’s clear that being contagious doesn’t make you any less desirable aboard America’s airlines. Medical waivers be damned! Give them your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to cough up a lung onto their seatmates. It guess that’s freedom.

Upgraded: Regulation of frequent flier miles?
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is pushing for an inquiry into frequent flier programs, with particular attention to the phenomenon of expiring miles. Airlines, of course, argue that an inquiry is unnecessary by the government in the affairs of private business. Much like Congress is looking to regulate credit card fees and other business practices of the banks, this could get interesting.

Downgraded: Lufthansa intra-European economy seating
Lufthansa is shrinking the legroom in its economy cabin on shorter flights within Europe, to jam in more people. Thankfully, they’re leaving the big birds that fly across the oceans as they are, for now.

Upgraded: Communing with animals while you travel
A man with 15 lizards strapped to his chest was caught at LAX. For those keeping score, it was two geckos, two monitor lizards (!) and 11 skinks.

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It’s well-known that picking up a rental car at the airport will lead to numerous taxes, surcharges, and fees. The surtaxes can be mindblowing, with local governments soaking out-of-towners to fund expensive capital projects like stadiums with fees extracted from transients who can’t vote in local elections. So how do you avoid the exorbitant fees?

1) Skip the airport
This is the somewhat obvious answer: Take mass transit or a taxi and pick the car up at a downtown location. You’ll avoid the airport concession tax, and you’ll spend a little less time maneuvering in unfamiliar local traffic. Of course, this isn’t always possible, if the airport is poorly connected, or if you have a ton of luggage. Note that dropping off at the airport in the same city you picked up the car is generally not charged a one-way rental fee.

2) The two-rental solution
Let’s say you need to pick up the car at the airport. That doesn’t mean you have to be on that contract the entire time you’re renting. Reserve a car for pickup at the airport and plan for a dropoff the next day downtown. Then start a new rental at the downtown location. You’ll pay airport surcharges for only one day, and pay lower fees for the rest of the rental. The longer your trip, the more you save.

I quickly priced out a sample one-week rental in Dallas at Budget Rent a Car (the results could be replicated, give or take a few bucks, with other brands):

Option 1:
1 week rental, pickup at DFW airport, returning to DFW.
Lowest rate is for an intermediate SUV, total cost with taxes: $347.79.
(FYI: A more fuel-efficient compact car rents for $464.07!)

Option 2:
1 day rental, pickup at DFW, dropoff downtown Dallas.
6 day rental, pickup at downtown Dallas, dropoff at DFW.
Lowest combo: 1-day SUV: $53.69 all-in; 6-day compact: $189.19.
Total: $242.88. (Substituting a compact for the SUV in the 1-day rental raises the cost by $8.93.)
Total savings over Option 1: $104.91.

One major car rental company’s employee reminds me that this can be particularly useful in Europe, where one-way dropoff fees are not as prevalent as in the United States, as long as the car is picked up and dropped off in the same country. (The employee didn’t want to be named or have his company identified, for obvious reasons.) And the taxes are significant: 19% for Frankfurt Airport pickups, for example.

3) Half-day rentals, where available
This is not very widespread yet, but Hertz and others are rolling out half-day car rentals in some European locations. Otherwise, similar to #2 above.

4) Pre-pay
Pre-paying a car rental is much like buying an airline ticket from a consolidator. You give up on flexibility (and take on more onerous change fee policies) in return for a discount. It’s not for everyone. This is obviously not something which business travelers would benefit much from, but for leisure rentals, it’s a viable alternative if your dates are fixed. I’ve had good experiences with Auto Europe in, well, Europe, and with Hotwire in the U.S. The total price quoted has typically been 10 to 30% less than the retail rates quoted by the majors themselves. The car itself has always been provided by one of the big name brands.

Got any other tips for avoiding these fees? Hit the comments!

Related:
- Reader mail: What happened to car rental late-return grace periods?
- Reader roundup: More tips for car rental deals
- Upgrade declined: Travelers turning down car rental upgrades
- Reader mail: Watch your prepaid rental car fees
- Chicago to align short-term car rentals and mass transit