8 Things you must do before you book your flights.
THE IDEA OF GOING ON HOLIDAY OR TRAVELING IS SO EXCITING. MOST OF THE TIME, WE GET CAUGHT UP IN THIS EXCITEMENT AND BOOK THE FLIGHTS.
Then you find out that you need to get a visa or your passport is due to expire in few months.
Here is my checklist to help you avoid the last minute expense and anxiety.
(1) VISA – each country has different regulations when it comes to Visas so please check your government site. Or check the World Visa site or for Australian travelers.
(2) IMMUNISATION – not all countries require travelers to be immunized, please check before you have this done.
(3) PASSPORT – remember all countries require you to have a valid passport, you must have at least 6 months before your passport expires. If you have less than that you will not be allowed to board the aircraft without customs authorization from your destination country.
(4) RESEARCH – the country or destination you are visiting, don’t only look at social media and travel companies websites, look up the government sites of the country, read up on the weather, politics, current affairs etc.
(5) SUBSCRIBE TO SMART TRAVELER – you will receive free email notifications when the information for your destination changes and you will have all the contact details of the local officials. It is important to know where your Embassy is in the country you are visiting and how to contact them if required.
(6) GET TRAVEL INSURANCE – is a must have, especially if you are traveling overseas. Accidents, Getting sick, Bad weather, Theft, Delay or Missing Flights etc – all these are unexpected and unforeseen but it does happen. Better safe than sorry I say.
(7) LOOK FOR DIRECT FLIGHTS – with less the 3 hours layover time. DON’T make the mistake of booking cheap flights that have 9 or more hours of layover time. This means you are going to spend more money at the airport or on things like hotel, food, drinks etc and you will be tired when you get to your destination.
(8) CHECK THE NAME ON YOUR PASSPORT MATCHES YOUR TICKET– book your flights with exactly the same spelling of your name on the passport. Just got married? Passport is in maiden name and ticket is in your married name ….. guess what you are not going to get on that flight. Spelling the name wrong will cost around $300.00 to change!
#Travelquote: “To awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” – Freya Stark
Join ME, MYSELF AND I … by Subscribing. You will receive instant access to all there is to know about ….. HOW TO #TRAVELSAFE #TRAVELSMART #TRAVELSOLO By YOGITA RIDGLEY ?
These are some great tips, especially for first time travelers! I know some people try to make the most of long layovers and some airports offer special day exploration tours – not a bad way to see a new country!
Good checklist! It’s good to keep the basics in mind when booking a trip
I haven’t thought of subscribing to smart traveler. It sounds very important! Is it available to all countries? I mean can you subscribe from anywhere?.. Love also the tip on the name of the passport and the ticket. We almost had the mistake of using my married name when we purchased the ticket (my passport was still under my maiden name). Good thing I noticed it first before my husband clicked the ‘purchase’ button. LOL. Great tips! 😉
Great tips. It’s often the small trip detail that could make or break a trip- like travel insurance.
I super agree with all your tips in here. And I think that there are more things that should be additional considerations before doing a trip abroad like informing your credit card company that you are going abroad and you might use the credit card. Another thing is also informing your family on where are you going so if anything goes wrong, the family knows what to do.
Great checklist ! We never do travel insurance but it is great to know why we gotta do it.. thanks for sharing.
You are right about immunisation and travel insurance! I think so many people don’t do it or don’t think about it!
Great checklist for new and old travellers, it is amazing how things can just slip your mind when you are excited about a trip. An app based checklist like this would be great
It is actually a misconception that layover flights work out cheaper than direct flights. You’re right, one tends to spend on accommodation, food etc. And most importantly, there’s the cost of wasted time.
Such great tips! I’m such an anxious flyer, I do all of these things, I always check in as early as possible too. I panic a lot about my passport name and ticket name matching, even at the gate I worry I am going to be denied boarding!
These are all good things to remember before booking. I like the SUBSCRIBE TO SMART TRAVELER tip as I’ve never heard of this service and it sounds useful. You never know when you will need embassy contact info, best to be prepared.
These are great tips for first timers! It’s so important to get the proper documents ahead of time to prevent any problems