12 Travel Myths Debunked!

It’s time to scrape out some of the most common yet misplaced perceptions held about travelling, so that you can finally get rid of your travel-related worries!

1. Travel Is Expensive

Nah. Travelling is only expensive if you make it so! Do your research ahead of time & pick from the many deals MakeMyTrip offers you every day to make your ideal holiday economical too! Some more pro-tips are: be flexible with dates and locations, go on walking tours & shop at local markets.

2. Duty Free Gives You the Best Price

False! A lot of people believe no tax = cheap. Just because it’s duty free, doesn’t mean that’s the retail price. The base price for luxury goods is often much higher in airports. You could probably get good deals on liquor, which are usually heavily taxed, but don’t be fooled by the ‘tax-free’ label for other goods.

3. You Need to Book Your Plane Tickets Much in Advance to Get the Best Rates

Untrue! This might have been true years ago when flights were few, but these days you can easily get cheap seats, closer to the date you travel, especially since airlines sometimes struggle to fill seats closer to departure. You also need to consider where and when you’re traveling of course. If you’re travelling home during Christmas, looking for a flight on the 24^th of December, is probably not a great idea.

4. Exchange Currency Counters at Airports Give You the Best Rates

Please! Use your debit card! If you need cash, we recommend you to visit the bank, where you might have to pay a fee, but the exchange rate is going to be correct. Airports have fees built into their exchange rate systems, even though they call it a ‘consumer rate, with no fee’, that might actually cost you more money than you realize.

5. Getting There Early Can Help You Avoid the Crowd

You’re in for a bit of a shock with this one. You can get up ridiculously early, thinking that you’ll skip the line, but the cold, hard reality is that most people are probably thinking the same thing. There’s a huge possibility you might be waiting in a line at 6am to visit a site, with all the other people who thought reaching early was a sure shot way of skipping the crowd. Visit during shoulder seasons not ‘off-peak’ hours.

6. Local Street Food Will Make You Sick

That’s not always true. In fact buying local food can help disprove myth #1. You get what’s authentic for a good price. Local street foods won’t necessarily make you sick, instead you’ll get to observe and engage with the culture of the place you’re visiting. However, if you see a food cart forgoing obvious hygiene regulations, you might want to rethink your decision.

7, The Trapped Air in Planes Might Make You Sick

No, again. What makes you sick are toilet handles on flights, the headrests on seats, and literally any public surface you touch. However, aircrafts take extraordinary care to ensure that everything is sterilized on-board, so you needn’t worry too much. The misconception that you get sick from the air in the cabin is incorrect. In fact, this air is filtered, and pressurized, and sent through efficient HEPA filters to ensure it’s clean.

8. You Shouldn’t Travel to Countries with Travel Advisories

Be aware of travel advisories, exercise caution but take them at face value. Don’t rule out beautiful places like Egypt and Thailand just because it may be marked ‘yellow’, You really don’t need to be thinking about advisories while you’re sunbathing in Koh Samui, or watching a light and sound show at the Giza!

9. Your Dream Vacation Is Always Going to Be Relaxing

Probably not! But that’s okay! You need to find the perfect balance between letting your feet up in your resort and getting drenched with sweat in the scorching heat as you file through crowds to explore beautiful sites that you’ve always wanted to see. Contrary to what people believe, a comfortable hotel room gets boring pretty quickly and you’ll be itching to brave weather and swarms of people to catch a glimpse of famous monuments.

10. You Don’t Have Time

You’ll have time if you make time! That’s the great thing about planning. Plan ahead, and use the resources your hotel provides to make the best use of your stay! You don’t know if you’ll visit the same place twice, so you ought to squeeze in whatever you want to explore without going overboard.

11. Everyone Speaks English

Nope. You may think they do, but prepare to play charades with a stranger, if you don’t know the language while trying to maneuver your way through the streets. Suggestion: learn a few important sentences in the local language to save yourself some time and inconvenience.

12. You Can’t Travel Solo as a Woman

Untrue! Unfortunately, some places do require extra caution, but that absolutely does not mean women cannot travel solo. Staying safe is trusting your intuition as you would even do in your own home country. Being bold and assertive will allow you to travel whenever and wherever you please.

We hope this helps you enjoy your upcoming vacays even more!