Best ways to carry money and credit cards

[texancruzer]

Don't let your wife handle it.

 

 

ROFLMAO and I am a WIFE !!!!!!!!

[Sea Island Lady]

We caught the train to termini from the airport.

 

The steps are rather steep so paula got of the train and I was passing the baggage down to her. When I got down to the platform with the last and heaviest suitcase the cases had already been loaded onto a cart by a very "helpful" person who then wanted our train tickets. I had read enough already to know that something was not quite right as the tickets still had another 2 hours of use on them and would likely be sold to some unsuspecting tourist going in the other direction plus we would get stuck with having to pay for the baggage cart and "porter". I just firmly said no and removed the luggage from the cart. So number one was ven before we had started walking along the platform.

 

Before we got to the end of the platform near the kiosks we had been approached by a person asking for change and a beggar carrying what looked like a baby all wrapped up in a blanket (considering it was over 40 degrees that was unusual). So now the count was up to 3 and we had not even got of the first platform.

 

At the kiosk we had approaches offering to buy our tickets for us and more beggars.

 

I was really glad to get down the escalator and onto the metro and the further we got from termini the better things got. Didn't go near Termini again in either of our stays.

 

We were annoyed by a bloke trying to sell us something as we crossed the road a few days later but it was easy to brush him off, maybe the bus approaching dampened his ardour somewhat.

 

We did see a lot of the street peddlars as we walked around the city but were never hassled by them and never tempted to buy anything as we had been warned about buying fakes and having them confiscated at the airport on departure. One of the handbags looked nice so we went to the genuine store to buy an original but they did not have them. We did however get a much nicer leather handbag for Paula from another store which just happens to perfectly match her car. Still waiting on the credit to come back for the tax we paid on it.

 

David

 

texancruzerRome airport is notorious for "missing" luggage. This is actually before it even gets to the kiosk for pickup. I read before our November trip that 10,000 pieces of luggage go missing a month here. A MONTH. Seems that sometimes the handlers have accomplices that they hand the luggage to over the fence..... they then sell the contents. So I would imagine it doesnt matter if your luggage is luxurious or ratty...... if they think there is something inside they want.....well its gonna disappear.

 

This is why for the first time ever - I cross packed. Some of my clothes in dh's suitcase and visa versa. Do not put anything of value in your checked bags.

 

We had no problem though.....

UGH! These stories make me sick! We will be sure to stay away from the train station, then. :eek:

 

David - I had forgotten about customs and declaring items. Do they go through your suitcase, too? Should I put any purchased items in a separate carry-on suitcase?

 

texan - You just made me re-think my packing. :rolleyes: All my cruise wear normally goes into the same hanging clothes bag , while other incidentals, like shoes and casual clothes, go into a large suitcase. Because I was not going to be with my DH, I was not planning on taking a carry-on case. Now, I am wondering if my hanging bag will be small enough to take on the plane with me. If I lose my clothes, I might as well fly back home. :(

 

Do you think a bright blue suitcase will stand out for thieves to be interested in? It's Delsey and I bought it because it is lightweight and has a longer handle. http://www.luggage.com/Delsey-22274-QW1167.html

 

I read on an earlier thread where Walmart is selling a well known, lightweight luggage now. Perhaps I should just go and get a black suitcase and beat it up a little before the trip. :D I have another dark blue hanging bag that I can use instead of the Delsey.

[DavidandPaula]

David - I had forgotten about customs and declaring items. Do they go through your suitcase, too? Should I put any purchased items in a separate carry-on suitcase?.

 

I guess the policy only deters the honest as if you hide it in a suitcase and do not declare it it is likely they will not see it.

 

We flew via Heathrow and back to Australia through Heathrow. I do not know if we look honest or do not fit any dangerous profile but the only issues we had were taking our shoes of at Heathrow and also a cheap watch I bought in Rhodes to replace my good watch which I went swimming with. The watch would set of every metal detector we went through but I did get used to putting it through on a tray after the first few times.

 

On arrival in Rome we went through the passport control and were not even glanced at, just waved through, but maybe that was because we flew in from another ECU country. The person manning the booth just kept waving everybody through.

 

On leaving we were going to declare Paulas new handbag so we could claim the duties back but as Heathrow was going to be our ECU departure point we had to fill in the forms there. Still have not seen the money yet.

 

We arrived back in Aus at about 10pm and our plane was one of 3 747 that arrived within a short space of time. We declared everything we had purchased but the customs people were not really all that interested so once we got to the officer we were through in no time at all.

 

Certainly my impression of customs and security in Rome was that all the supposed high security since 911 does not seem to have made much difference. You could probably purchase a suitcase full of fakes and nobody will even take a look, but you never know.

 

David

[Sea Island Lady]

I think you misunderstood me. :o I am not interested in buying fakes of anything...if I can help it. LOL I am a very honest person and will declare what I am suppose too.

 

I wanted to know what I should do with any items that I might buy. I didn't know if I have to show everything to custom officials, or just give them the forms. If I had to show everything, I wanted to put it all together in the same piece of carry-on luggage. ;)

 

Thanks for the "fakes" warning. I will try to be very careful and not guy off the street. I guess it's like NYC and the "back door vendors". I've never bought from them, but so have a humorous story about our church youth group getting suckered. :D

[browneyes7]

Like Blackberry Girl, we live in the country.

 

My back yard

 

 

Wow!! I'd love to have a backyard like this!! browneyes7:rolleyes: :)

[texancruzer]

If I lose my clothes, I might as well fly back home. :(

 

Do you think a bright blue suitcase will stand out for thieves to be interested in?

 

Hate to hear you say that....... if you lose your clothes - just go buy some new ones ;) It would be a little hassle but to cancel the whole trip would be terrible.

 

I don't think it is the color really - in fact who knows why some luggage is stolen...... ?? I do know that some people walk off with luggage they THINK is theirs because it is not marked well enough.

 

This is what I did. I had 1 large black (not expensive) suitcase but went to Sears and bought 2 nice garment bags in black that almost matched the large one I had. They ZIP UP instead of the clippy things on the side. Hold alot too. And they have wheels. Then I purchased another black suitcase a bit smaller than the original. So I had 2 suitcases and 2 garment bags. Also had nice TSA locks and heavy plastic lime green name tags with name, address, tel # and wrote "ITINERARY INSIDE" on them. I printed out a COMPLETE 8X10 page of our info (name, address, tel #'s, airline flights, hotel info, cruise info with complete itinerary, our cabin # and anything else I could think of) and then laminated them. I put these in the OUTSIDE pocket of the bags.

 

I then took gold paint pens and 3 inch high stencils and put my husbands initials across the front of all four pieces. Looked really nice and NO ONE WAS GOING TO MISTAKE MY BAGS FOR THEIRS. I then took a digital picture of the set of luggage and printed it out. I put this photo with my passport and plane tickets in my carryon. This way if one or all went missing I could not only describe it but have a picture too. ( this is from an experience coming back from Bahamas where all 10 of us had our luggage "missing" - 13 pieces in all and I ended up having to file lost luggage report and describe all 13 pieces. Pain in the neck. We did get all pieces back with 2-3 days.

 

Overkill.....maybe. But we got all our bags at each end just fine.

Don't stress over this too much. It could happen anywhere ( like Bahamas or Mazatlan Mexico - that's another story for another day :D )

 

TEX

[Sea Island Lady]

Tex - If I were in the USA, TRYING to buy new clothes, accessories, shoes, cosmetics, etc.. would be a lot easier than trying to find them in a strange country. I am an odd size too, so the feat would not be that easy anywhere. ;)

 

I like your idea of taking a photo. That's one trick I have not done. :) I don't know about putting my initials on my suitcases. I think I will just stick with the bright blue and get the yellow or lime tags a place a note in them, to look inside for an itinerary. I don't want to place the itinerary inside the tag.

 

4 suitcases? That's a bunch of luggage!

[texancruzer]

Tex - If I were in the USA, TRYING to buy new clothes, accessories, shoes, cosmetics, etc.. would be a lot easier than trying to find them in a strange country. I am an odd size too, so the feat would not be that easy anywhere. ;)

 

I like your idea of taking a photo. That's one trick I have not done. :) I don't know about putting my initials on my suitcases. I think I will just stick with the bright blue and get the yellow or lime tags a place a note in them, to look inside for an itinerary. I don't want to place the itinerary inside the tag.

 

4 suitcases? That's a bunch of luggage!

 

I agree as I am short so most everything has to be hemmed. But am sure I would find something as I found the clothes to be gorgeous in Europe......they dress much better than the majority of Americans !! When walking in Rome for our precruise stay did a lot of window shopping as our hotel was in the nice shopping district.

 

I put our itinerary in the OUTSIDE ZIP POCKET on each piece.....not inside of locked luggage. 4 pieces for both dh and I..... 14 days with 2 formal nights etc. Did not take any clothes in carryon.....but jewelry, cameras, phones, chargers, medications, travel documents, $$$, blow up pillow etc. I refuse to haul clothing in my carryon when travelling.

 

Actually the initials looked really nice. Not block letters but more decorative ones..... and the gold pen while making the letters readily readable did not make them glare-y...... just easy to identify our bags in a sea of black bags. I also have matching khaki suitcase set with palm trees all over them - love them !!! And I get so many compliments on them, but not big enough for this trip.