Category: Money

Where To Find Bangkok’s Best Luxury Hotel Deal

by Anil Polat | Oct 10, 2024 | Lodging, Money | 1

Tucked in a quiet corner of a busy Bangkok neighborhood, there is a hotel that’s exceptionally comfortable, elegant, and a true oasis in Thailand’s capital city. With the right approach though and a few tricks, you can book a stay here for under $80 a night.

Here’s where to find that hotel and how to get a great deal on accommodation in Bangkok. You can watch the video above and then read on.

Heart Of The Action

Sukhumvit is a bustling district on Bangkok with high rise buildings dotting the skyline. A major artery of the city Sukhumvit Road goes through the heart of Bangkok and where popular celebrations like Songkran are most active. Between a quiet laundry shop and nearby a hospital is Ad Lib a hotel that’s decorated with hanging green vines, large glass walls, and remarkably quiet considering its location.

The breakfast buffet is impressive and the rooms new with spotless mattresses and comfortable pillows. There’s a pool, gym, several bars and restaurant but the Ad Lib never feels like overbearing. The open design and friendly staff all add to the experience of being relaxing while at the same time making it easy to drop into the bustle of Bangkok’s beating heart.

Getting The Best Rate

One key piece of advice to getting the best deal at the Ad Lib is to never book from a third party site. Always book through the Ad Lib’s main site, where you’ll save at least 20% than booking elsewhere. I often find rooms listed for $120 in some places to regularly be $90 directly from Ad Lib. The site also has another perk which are the very frequent sales and promotions they run. Those included, you can find rooms for $75 a night or less. An amazing deal considering the level of luxury you get at Ab Lib and when compared to the cost of nearby luxury accommodation.

All Kinds Of Travel

To me, the Ad Lib is the perfect type of hotel if you want to recharge at the hotel during a trip to Bangkok or if you want a comfortable base to explore the city from. It’s comfortable enough to be the hotel you never have to leave but also situated in a place that gives you access to all Bangkok has to offer. An upgrade hotel experience and a competitive alternative to Airbnb in Bangkok.

The Best And Cheapest Street Food Spots In Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

by Anil Polat | Jul 25, 2024 | Food, Money | 0

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam is an incredible place to eat with so much variety and food on every corner. The abundance of food can be a blessing and a curse because finding the best, cleanest, and cheapest local street foods can be daunting. Having spent a lot of time exploring Ho Chi Minh City I can recommend these spots for the cheapest, tastiest, and most iconic of Saigon’s street foods.

All of the dishes below can be modified for vegetarians, some for vegans, and are flexible for a variety of palates. You can watch the food being prepared in the video above and read on.

All Day Breakfast

One of Vietnam’s most beloved street foods, bánh xèo is a massive fried pancake omelette that can be eaten at any time of day or night. Cost is roughly $3.20 and this place makes some of the best.

Stews And Soups

Vegans will love Bún bò Huế Chay for its selection of traditional Vietnamese foods with meat substitutions that are made from whole foods. Two dollars gets you a massive bowl of vegan beef noodles and before you leave, check the kitchen to see what’s on display for the daily menu.
Boiling hot clams, cheese topped scallops, and plenty of crab stew, get a very authentic night out with seafood in Ho Chi Minh City and eat a meal typically made for a group at only $5.90. This nighttime spot is right here.

Get Sweet

This grilled sticky rice and banana (Chuối Nếp Nướng) might be the best thing ever. It’s popular for a reason and they sell over a thousand per night. Enjoy a few for only 80 cents.
Avacado longan (a local fruit) ice cream with shaved coconut and ground peanuts is the perfect cure for a hot day. You can find Kem bơ near the flower market. Cost, 80 cents.
Baked potato puffs sprinkled with sugar and drizzled chocolate Khoai lang bong bóng is the snack you can’t stop eating. Find it here and get a handful for 80 U.S. cents.

Perfect Spot For Pizza

Ho Chi Minh City has a different take on pizza and Bánh tráng nướng chay is worth all 80 cents. Incredible taste and unbelievable price.
Next door there’s a place selling kumquat tea that’s feuding with pizza place. The video above has the story and a cup of Trà tắc is only 80 cents.

Of course this isn’t it for Ho Chi Minh City. There’s also a massive selection of vegan foods in Ho Chi Minh City and plenty of places to explore in Saigon for inexpensive and incredibly tasty food.

The Trick To Getting A Bhutan Visa (500 Error Solved)

by Anil Polat | May 16, 2024 | Advice, Money | 2

Bhutan requires a visa from tourists of most countries and on the surface it looks straightforward. However, like most things about visiting Bhutan things aren’t quite a simple as they might seem. Some of the steps to getting the visa can be cumbersome but there is a trick to speeding up the process.

500 Error Fix

Many users who visit the Bhutan visa website and upload their passport information and photo have encountered this dreaded 500 error. Your first instinct is to refresh a million times and eventually try to start the process over again only to get another 500.

Instead, you should email the site’s official IT department to let them know about the 500 error. Once you do, they will manually add your account in the system and you’ll be able to login without issues. These are the email addresses (found in the conformation email you get when you created a site account): [email protected] or [email protected]

Response times are about one to two business days. You’re almost to the finish line but there is another thing to be aware of so you don’t slow your application down.

Bank Troubles

There is a cost to obtain a Bhutan tourist visa as well as a sustainable development fee you must pay. Another problem you might run into is the payment gets stuck at “pending” and never changes status. In these cases, email the accounts personnel ([email protected] or [email protected]) to make them aware. They’re likely going to tell you to simple re-try the payment (with the original still stuck on pending).

Of course, double check with your credit card to make sure you haven’t been double-charged but once you have completed a successful payment, you should be ready to submit your online visa application. After 3-5 business days you will get a response but keep in mind they won’t email you like the system says it will. Because, of course.

Despite the mild hassles though, traveling to Bhutan and seeing sites like the iconic Tiger’s Nest makes it all worthwhile.

How Trove Slim Wallets Are Made

by Anil Polat | Mar 14, 2024 | Money, Pictures and Video | 0

Most slim wallets manufacturers are large scale operations pumping out metal backed wallets for a premium price. On the other hand, Trove is an outlier, making fabric based slim wallets by hand and at competitive prices. I recently had the opportunity to visit the Trove factory in Leistershire, England and watch their wallet making process. Each wallet can be custom-designed before ordering and takes around 15 minutes to make before it is shipped out worldwide.

You can watch the entire process in the video tour here.

Why You Should Never Convert Currencies At Foreign ATMs

by Anil Polat | Feb 29, 2024 | Money | 0

When you insert your card into a foreign ATM and enter your PIN you’re presented with two choices: withdraw cash in the local currency or have the ATM do a conversion for you. It’s confusing wording but there is a choice that’s always right.

Here’s why you should always choose to withdraw your money in the local currency.

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)

DCC is a process where the ATM machine provider comes up with a conversion rate between your home currency and the local currency. ATM providers do this to profit by giving you a bad exchange rate. By doing so ATM providers can charge you 2% or more than they would be able to otherwise. It’s a completely unnecessary charge they trick you into paying with confusing wording.

For them it’s 2% or more on the transaction and those small charges can really add up – unfortunately for you and profit for them.

The Choice To Make

When you are using a foreign ATM always choose the option to be charged in the local currency. Do not accept the ATM’s conversion or rate and if you see those words go with the other choice. Whether you choose to accept the conversion rate or be charged in the local currency – you will get the local currency as cash in both cases.

The machine isn’t asking what currency you want – there are ATMs that may do that – but when it comes to the just taking money out of a foreign ATM, it’s asking if you want the transaction to be charged in the local currency.

To better explain this, let’s say you want to take out 20 Euro, which is about 22 US dollars. If you choose to have the ATM do the conversion for you they might charge your bank $25 dollars to get that 20 Euro. So you’ll have 20 Euro in your hands at the end – this is what the machine will spit out – but when you check your bank statement you’ll notice the money withdrawn will be 24, 25 or more dollars. The ATM provider made a currency conversion it didn’t need to and overcharged you for it.

When you use the alternative option to be charged in the local currency then your bank does the conversion which is going to be the best rate possible – without any additional charge or mark up.

Quick Tip

You always want to be charged in the local currency. In Germany that’s Euros and in America it’s dollars and in Bulgaria that’s leva, you get the idea – whatever it happens to be, choose to be charged in the local currency. You don’t want the ATM to do any currency conversion for you. Words like rate and conversion or percentage signs on the screen should be your red flags so be charged in the local currency and save on fees.

How To Avoid Airbnb’s Latest Fee

by Anil Polat | Feb 8, 2024 | Lodging, Money | 2

A few days ago Airbnb changed their Terms of Service to introduce a new fee that will come into effect on April 1st 2024. That fee will add 2% to you next booking but there’s an easy way to avoid it and actually save even more money.

Conversion Fee

The new guest service fee of 2%, before taxes, will be added on the total rate if a booking is made where the local currency differs from the currency set in your Airbnb account. That means if your Airbnb account has a currency set in US dollars but the villa in Spain you’re booking is listed in Euros, there will be an additional 2% fee added at check out.

Airbnb hasn’t made it clear if this fee will be shown separately or just added under the generic “fees” you see at checkout, but know that it will be in there where there’s a currency conversion.

Avoiding The Fee

To get around the new 2% fee, all you have to do is change the default currency your Airbnb account is set to so that it matches the local currency of your next destination. Log into Airbnb, click the globe icon, then currency, and then change the currency. For example, if you’re looking for an Airbnb in Bulgaria you would change the currency into Bulgarian lev and if the place is in Spain, that would be Euros. Airbnb doesn’t make it clear what currency the host listing is in so you just have to look up the local currency in a given country if you’re not familiar and adjust it accordingly.

Why This Saves More Than 2%

After April 1, 2024 this trick will save you 2% in fees but changing the currency to match the local money will save you double or more because of another clause in the Airbnb terms – one that’s been there for a long time. When you book an Airbnb in a currency that differs from the currency a host as set, Airbnb converts the listing price from local to your currency, using rates they determine. In many cases this rate is not in your favor and hardly the best conversion and can add 3% or more to a booking where the currencies differ.

You should always change your Airbnb account currency to the local one when booking internationally to save at the 2% conversion fee and then another 2-4% in conversion rates. While you’re at it, make sure you keep an eye on Airbnb cleaning fees as well.

About Anil Polat

Hi, I'm Anil. foXnoMad is where I combine travel and tech to help you travel smarter. I'm on a journey to every country in the world and you're invited to join the adventure! Read More