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Old 06-21-2017, 04:52 PM   #41
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Some interesting stories here, but the founder of the site thinks Airbnb type room/apt rentals is still the way to go.
Why AirbnbHell Exists - From the Founder - Airbnb Hell

This site has an axe to grind, and the founder admits as a host he lost nearly 3K which he blames on Airbnb policies:
"After about 3 weeks of this frustration I finally had enough. My last message to the manager at Airbnb was “Go ahead and keep my money. I’m going to cost your company more money than you have cost me!” That was when I launched AirbnbHell.com – I felt that others needed to be warned."

So besides trying to be careful booking a place, I think I'll check out and note down the phone numbers of some hotels.

I don't need swanky to sleep, I plan to tour.
My daughter said to book hotels vs Airbnb, she said you have to wait for the owner for the key and such, not so convenient.
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Old 06-21-2017, 06:16 PM   #42
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My daughter said to book hotels vs Airbnb, she said you have to wait for the owner for the key and such, not so convenient.
Never been a problem for us.
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Old 06-21-2017, 10:01 PM   #43
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I have booked a hotel, through booking.com. While the hotel is about 1.5 miles from the center of the city, it is rated well by over 1,000 people, and I read a lot of the reviews they wrote.
It is close to buses and subway to get downtown in 10 minutes and has some stuff near itself.

My booking is fully refundable up to 2 days prior, and the cost is 70 Euros per night, which is not much more than Airbnb. Various trade-offs of course, but I chickened out and went for a hotel as they are more likely to be there when I arrive and have a room for me.
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Old 06-22-2017, 06:00 AM   #44
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Hold on to your wallet. Barcelona has a well earned reputation for pick pockets. I knew this going there and thought I was being careful. Evidently not as good at being careful as the skill full person who lifted my wallet.

Cheers!
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Old 06-22-2017, 08:19 AM   #45
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Hold on to your wallet. Barcelona has a well earned reputation for pick pockets. I knew this going there and thought I was being careful. Evidently not as good at being careful as the skill full person who lifted my wallet.

Cheers!
Ouch!

We had heard the horror stories and took extreme precautions.

Fortunately we didn't experience pickpockets.
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Old 06-22-2017, 08:26 AM   #46
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Hold on to your wallet. Barcelona has a well earned reputation for pick pockets. I knew this going there and thought I was being careful. Evidently not as good at being careful as the skill full person who lifted my wallet.

Cheers!
My plan is to put my $$ and CC in my shirt front pockets that button down, I am thinking that it will be hard for someone to pickpocket my front shirt pocket. ?
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Old 06-24-2017, 08:11 AM   #47
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When I was on an elevator in Barcelona, the guy in front of me dropped something, and I kept bumping into him . Of course, someone behind me bumped into me. They picked my pocket, but only got my sunglasses. I had put money into my money belt, which I had inserted Into my underwear. I called it my financial jockstrap. Anyway, that was the trick they used. I've heard of others, like spilling something on you and while one helps wipe it off, another picks your pocket. Throwing a doll up which appears to be a baby. You naturally want to catch the "baby" and they take your wallet. Anybody know of any other pickpocket tricks?
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Old 06-24-2017, 08:20 AM   #48
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While in Germany, 3 people asked DW to take their photo with their camera.
After reading about the trick of dropping the camera during the handoff, I was pretty reluctant, but told DW I'd do the photo since I figured I could yell louder if needed.
I was careful with the handoff, and took the photos.
Turned out they were tourists, we saw later that day.
I thought how the reports of crime besides making us aware also isolate us from each other and destroy trust and interaction.
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Old 06-24-2017, 08:37 AM   #49
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When I was on an elevator in Barcelona, the guy in front of me dropped something, and I kept bumping into him . Of course, someone behind me bumped into me. They picked my pocket, but only got my sunglasses. I had put money into my money belt, which I had inserted Into my underwear. I called it my financial jockstrap. Anyway, that was the trick they used. I've heard of others, like spilling something on you and while one helps wipe it off, another picks your pocket. Throwing a doll up which appears to be a baby. You naturally want to catch the "baby" and they take your wallet. Anybody know of any other pickpocket tricks?
This is a well known Barcelona ploy.

We avoided clusters of people by waiting to the side until crowds had cleared, and having our backs to the wall when stopping.
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Old 06-24-2017, 09:42 AM   #50
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Old 06-24-2017, 10:07 AM   #51
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Oh yeah - that's a fave! And I can easily understand her South American accent (easier for me than Spaniards).

Too bad we never saw her in action.
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Old 06-24-2017, 10:18 AM   #52
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Too bad we never saw her in action.
My own, tried and tested over numerous decades, tactic of looking like someone expelled from a homeless shelter, has always worked well......pickpockets avoid me for fear I'll hit them up for a Euro or two.
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Old 06-24-2017, 10:39 AM   #53
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My own, tried and tested over numerous decades, tactic of looking like someone expelled from a homeless shelter, has always worked well......pickpockets avoid me for fear I'll hit them up for a Euro or two.
Good one!

I think the most important thing is to be aware of your surroundings (behind and in front) and move away from clusters of people. You don't want people mashed against you on the escalators or the metro turnstiles.

We also had our belongings tethered to us. And kept minimal amounts in external (front) pockets - also tethered.

This was another interesting video. The voiceover and production is sleazy tabloid style, but still the video was quite informative. A lot of people go to Barcelona to party hearty, and they are easy pickings. But it was easy to avoid the party scene and we thoroughly enjoyed the city and had no problems even though we traveled some subway routes famous for pickpockets. We thoroughly enjoyed Barcelona in spite of the crowds and would definitely go back.
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Old 06-24-2017, 10:45 AM   #54
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An under the clothes waist belt may be in order. And protect credit cards, ATM card and passport with an RFID blocking wallet or with protector sleeves. Apparently all the big capitals where cruise ships go (Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Athens are loaded with pickpockets. I used a purse with locking zippers and a cable in the strap, wore across my shoulder and rested my forearm across the purse. DS had an under the clothes waist wallet and a regular fanny pack with a few Euros as a decoy. We kept a lot of things in our cabin safe, including a credit card, driver's license, keys we only needed when we returned home, most of our money, passports, and phones (this was before we had iPhones). When you are on a cruise, you get a card to get you on and off the ship. They scan your card when you board and your photo shows up on their screen. We also kept a copy of our passport photo pages with us but kept the actual passports locked up in the safe.

Pay no attention to the street artists on Las Ramblas. They are probably trying to distract you from your wallet.
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Old 06-24-2017, 11:38 AM   #55
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My own, tried and tested over numerous decades, tactic of looking like someone expelled from a homeless shelter, has always worked well......pickpockets avoid me for fear I'll hit them up for a Euro or two.
I bring my 3 kids with me. We look so miserable that half the time the pickpocket slips me a $20 when he reaches in my pocket.

Day 13 in Portugal/Spain and zero pickpocketing so far. I keep nothing other than a phone in my pocket. My money and cards are in my bookbag zipped inside a pocket that's tucked behind some junk and zipped inside another pocket.

I did spot a crew working a square in Granada, Spain in the core of the tourist area right in front of the church. There was an old gypsy lady wiping rosemary on people and screaming crazy stuff (the distraction) and a middle-age guy waiting for an opportunity. The middle age guy came up really close behind me as I was window shopping (was watching him in the reflection). So I circled around and faced right toward him - he walked away quickly for some reason The cool thing is that my daughter noticed this guy too and knew he was a pickpocket.

The gypsy lady was quickly chased off by the police (and they confiscated her rosemary). Though I saw her later on several blocks away with more rosemary. My guess is she has a local source.
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Old 06-24-2017, 06:33 PM   #56
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An under the clothes waist belt may be in order. And protect credit cards, ATM card and passport with an RFID blocking wallet or with protector sleeves. Apparently all the big capitals where cruise ships go (Barcelona, Rome, Naples, Athens are loaded with pickpockets. I used a purse with locking zippers and a cable in the strap, wore across my shoulder and rested my forearm across the purse. DS had an under the clothes waist wallet and a regular fanny pack with a few Euros as a decoy. We kept a lot of things in our cabin safe, including a credit card, driver's license, keys we only needed when we returned home, most of our money, passports, and phones (this was before we had iPhones). When you are on a cruise, you get a card to get you on and off the ship. They scan your card when you board and your photo shows up on their screen. We also kept a copy of our passport photo pages with us but kept the actual passports locked up in the safe.

Pay no attention to the street artists on Las Ramblas. They are probably trying to distract you from your wallet.
I highly recommend the under the clothes belts and/or neck pouches. When we are moving from place to place they hold most of our cash/cards and passports.

Exofficio makes pants and shirts that have loops sewn into a front pocket. My husband sewed loops into all his front pants pockets. And years ago they made these flat little zipper pouches not much larger than a credit card with a tether and a hook. I use these to hold a card and a little cash, often in my front shirt pocket.

We also put lanyards with hooks on very thin folding wallets that go in our front pockets. Just to hold some cash and a card or two.

Even my iPhone has a wrist strap!

And both of us have Pacsafe over the shoulder bags. But we don't put our cash or credit cards in there when out on the street, LOL!
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Old 06-25-2017, 06:14 AM   #57
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If I don't have a special money belt or lanyard etc. I remove anything from my wallet that is not necessary as well as any money I don't plan on using and put 1/2 of the wallet on the front right inside waist of my pants (I'm right handed) and the other half folded over on the outside but under my belt. Makes it real difficult for anyone to remove.

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Old 06-25-2017, 06:27 AM   #58
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From the preceding comments I'm starting to wonder if restroom breaks have to be very well planned, and scheduled waaay before the actual need arises....after all, deactivating the above mentioned security controls has to be time consuming?
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Old 06-25-2017, 08:50 AM   #59
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From the preceding comments I'm starting to wonder if restroom breaks have to be very well planned, and scheduled waaay before the actual need arises....after all, deactivating the above mentioned security controls has to be time consuming?
Well maybe the wallet over the waistband and under the belt bit . None of our security controls interfere with bathroom visits!
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Old 07-04-2017, 02:12 PM   #60
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Bringing back this thread to ask a question regarding Andalusia region. I saw Rick Steve's video last night about this region and was intrigued by the some of the architecture of the churches in this region. But this might be a problem, the weather. I waited too long and all the off peak business class seats from British airways were gone. So the earliest I could be in this area is middle of June, will it be too late, i.e. too hot. Maybe I go next time. I was thinking of just doing Barcelona.
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