About that well-meant travel advice from friends: Forget it

THOUGH they mean well, your friends can ruin your next vacation by giving you bad advice. To wit:

You get what you pay for. Wrong. All over the world there are expensive hotels that rip you off and bargain properties that offer great value. For instance, there are all-inclusive deluxe hotels in the Caribbean that claim they have several a la carte restaurants, but none seems to be open when you want to use them. Don’t automatically assume that a high price is a guarantee of value. Do your homework and check things out.

The comfort of the stay increases if you spend more. It doesn’t. When you close your eyes at night and go to sleep, it doesn’t matter whether you are in a luxury hotel or in a low-cost one. What matters is the quality of the mattress. I’ve been to countless hotels whose lavish lobbies and public areas aren’t equaled in the guest rooms.

Travel prices are fixed in stone. They are, in fact, broadly negotiable, if you’re speaking to a person with authority. The manager or assistant manager of a hotel or the supervisor of a cruise line’s reservation staff often will grant a request for a discount if they have vacant cabins or rooms that need to be filled.

Stock up on foreign currency in advance of your departure. Don’t do it. You don’t get a better exchange rate at home and you make yourself prey for pickpockets and other thieves. Take only a small amount of foreign currency for immediate needs and thereafter change -- at a foreign bank or ATM -- only those amounts you will need for a day or two at a time.

Just as you would not walk around at home with hundreds of dollars in cash or leave that amount lying around your residence, you should not do so while traveling.

Someone will tell you what you’re looking at. They don’t always, and if they do, it can be too little and too late. The traveler who arrives at a destination without any knowledge of its history or culture cannot absorb the brief, rushed comments of his or her tour guide. Preparation -- a few nights of reading up -- is the key to a rewarding trip.

A guided tour is the best way to visit a foreign destination. Touring in a group of fellow citizens instantly creates a barrier between you and the destination, a situation made worse when touring by bus. An authentic experience can be had only on your own, walking about on two feet and interacting with the people and places you encounter.

You save by booking at the last minute. Though this might once have been the case, it no longer is. Generally speaking, the best travel prices are found long in advance, and these days fewer travel suppliers discount their rates at the last moment.

Shore excursions should be purchased in advance of boarding the ship. Why? These excursions, many of which are overpriced, are usually still available once you’re on the cruise. At that point you can decide whether you want to go touring with 40 fellow passengers or whether you’d prefer to relax and wander about on your own or tour only with someone you’ve met on the cruise, sharing the cost of a taxi.

You should carry all sorts of devices and gadgets. The average travel product clutters up your suitcase and is rarely used.

The Bahamas and Florida are reliably warm in winter. For guaranteed weather, you need to go much farther south. There is nothing more boring than a so-called tropical destination when it’s raining or chilly.