Some dream vacations turn out to be nightmares. Members of the Her magazine readers' panel share travel tips they learned the hard way.

"They only advice I have for traveling is be prepared for anything. With the craziness of the airlines today, all you can do is expect the worst and hope for the best! Don't be surprised if something goes wrong or gets lost, and if nothing does, thank you lucky stars."

— Katy Kreider, 30, Greenville

"Well, this is relatively embarrassing, but I will go ahead and share it anyway. While on the cruise, I soon realized that it was a terrible, terrible idea to eat any and everything. There was food available 24 hours a day and room service was even an option. I was bloated beyond comprehension! I can honestly and sadly say that I looked like I was 'with child.' I had to learn the hard and uncomfortable way to be sure to have a stock of Gas-X and Sprite (to help with the burping) on hand!"

— LaTasha Jones, 23, Greenville

"If you don't have a clue where to stay or don't care where you stay, it is very profitable to go through Priceline. Several times when I have done that, I have stayed in four-star hotels for the price of a two-star hotel. Especially if it is a last minute reservation, the luxury hotels would much rather make $35 on a room for the night than zero ~ so they will take most any offer!"

— Jeri Jackson, 63, Greenville

"The worst: My husband, son and I went to Florida, booked to see a time-share there and thought we were staying on site. They put us in an unacceptable hotel (one you would not want to go to sleep in, much less spend four days). After notifying the hotel where we were supposed to be staying, they moved us. The resort was nice. But never book through a time-share offer unless you are sure that you are actually staying on site. You may end up with a nightmare like we did."

— Rhonda Jordan, 50, Greenville

"My family and I love to travel and when my sons were younger we would travel by car when at all possible, taking in all the scenic locations along the way to our destination or visiting family and friends who lived along our travel route. One invaluable lesson I learned that helped with the infamous 'Are we there yet' question was to ensure we had plenty of entertaining games (Go Fish was a family favorite) and plenty of snacks to keep my sons occupied between stops. This was also a great opportunity to teach our future travelers how to read a map, to only exit for gas and food off exits where you could see the marquee signs from the interstate to prevent going too far off the interstate in unfamiliar locations, to gas up on the outskirts before entering the next major city (prices tend to be a bit lower) and everyone go to the rest room at stops (even if they said they didn't need to go)."

— Patricia Simpson, 44, Winterville

"Since my luggage seems to get 'misplaced' quite frequently when I fly, I've learned to carry essential things in my carry-on bag. I pack my makeup, medicine, toothbrush and clean underwear so I'll be ready just in case my luggage doesn't seem to make it to my destination when I do.

"If you have any layovers planned during your flight, make sure you've packed yourself a good book (or two) just in case your layover runs longer then expected (which they always do) and some snacks. Airport food is very overpriced."

— Crystal Hildenbrand, 35, Greenville