Everyone makes mistakes when they travel: visa problems, booking on the wrong day, encountering issues at the rental car desk, or facing ticketing nightmares. Aviation journalist John Walton explains how to avoid (or at least minimize) them.
Not getting (or renewing) an electronic visa or travel authorisation
For many travellers, the rise of visa-free travel has been a liberating experience, and the growth of electronic visas has reduced the need to go in-person to an embassy for an interview. People from various parts of the world are now counted as “visa waiver country” travellers as a result.
However, in recent years, many countries have started using electronic travel authorisations (also known as electronic travel authorities) that must be arranged in advance of travel, replicating the US ESTA, Australia’s eVisitor and ETA, and others.
While these aren’t visas, they are still mandatory, even if you belong to a visa waiver country. They tend to be valid for a year, which is convenient if you’re travelling to visit family who’ve moved somewhere, but it’s easy to forget if you’re returning to a destination.
The issue is, it’s not a particularly memorable process: you complete it in front of a computer or smartphone, and most systems won’t send you a reminder that your electronic travel authorisation is about to expire.
Airlines aren’t especially good at explaining what you need either — until you get to the check-in desk and discover you can’t travel without one. There may be an airline or ground handler desk that, for a fee, can submit an urgent request for one, but sometimes this won’t come through in time, leaving you out of luck.
Consequently, whenever I receive one of these authorisations, I tend to add a reminder to my calendar to renew them one month before their expiration.
Booking the wrong dates — especially checkout dates
With the wildly different ways booking calendars operate, it’s all too easy to get mixed up with your dates, particularly when organizing accommodation.
Some places ask you to click on your last night with them, while others ask for your checkout date. Always double-check.
Moreover, like many travellers, I’ve certainly booked hotels for the wrong month by mistake. Generally, if you catch a problem like this within 24 hours of booking, the travel or accommodation provider will often be able to help, although you might incur a small fee.
That’s one of the reasons I always input my flights and accommodation into my calendar manually as soon as I get the booking confirmation email; it serves as a handy check.
Also, don’t forget that the US uses the month-day-year format for dates, which is the opposite of most of the rest of the world. Booking for the 1st of December instead of the 12th of January can be a bit of a surprise…
Forgetting about manual transmissions in rental cars
If you’ve never driven a manual (stick shift, or standard transmission) car before, the airport rental car parking lot is definitely not the place to learn.
Furthermore, even in some countries where automatic transmissions are standard, the lowest price cars can sometimes be manual; thus, always double-check the details of any car you book — especially if it’s from a discounter, third-party site, or not from a well-known car rental agency.
Not considering an international driving permit
Many of us are accustomed to showing up at a rental car location and driving off with our licenses. However, there are still several countries, even among the most frequently visited, where an international driving permit is needed.
An IDP is a small booklet you usually purchase for a small fee from a motoring association in your home country, which essentially translates your license into one of three international formats.
Some countries officially require an IDP but where you’ll almost never be asked to show it, and others vary the requirement based on the length of stay. Ensure you get one if your license isn’t in English, and make certain you obtain the one with the correct format — known as the 1926, 1949 or 1968 convention formats.
Booking flights via a third-party website or online travel agency
Lastly, never, if you can avoid it, buy your airline tickets through anyone other than the airline itself. This is especially true for the various “cheap deals” type of online travel agents.
While saving a few bucks might seem appealing, if anything goes wrong with your journey — such as a missed connection or a cancelled flight — you may need to call them direct, non-collect, and wait for their customer service team to answer. Even then, they’ll probably have to communicate with the airline directly, which can take days.
The one exception to this rule might be your friendly local travel agent, especially if you know them personally. Such an agent can be available in the middle of the night when you’re stuck in Shanghai or wherever and need to be rebooked, enabling you to call them for free via Skype, WhatsApp, or similar services. Otherwise, find your best price, then visit that airline’s website.
