International Travel Tips: The Real Flight Check-In
International travel for Americans is usually pretty stressful, especially for first-time travelers or those going to an overseas country for the first time. Add on recent regulations for travel sprouting from nearly every country, and you have yourself an extremely tense situation. Of course, whether you’re traveling for pleasure or for business, you’ve already got plenty on your plate—the last thing you need to be is concerned about getting into your destination’s country.
One area vital to traveling internationally is documentation; passports, visas, and other forms of proof of citizenship. Regulations in different host countries tend to differ from country to country, and any slip-ups on your end could result in you not making it to your flight. Therefore, we recommend clearing up any doubts you may have concerning your documentation’s validity in your host country well before your take-off date.
You should not limit your research to whether the country requires a certain visa. Always make sure to review any standard they may have concerning passports. For example, some countries require you to have a specific amount of blank passport pages, while others may refuse to accept passports that are set to expire in either three or six months. Of course, not every country is this strict, so it’s very likely you won’t have any such issues.
Likewise, it also does not hurt to check for any potential travel bans for items on airplanes. Some airlines have recently started talks concerning discontinuing the practice of allowing passengers to carry on laptops and other portable electronics for security practices. And, of course, nearly everyone is aware of the TSA’s ban on the combustible Samsung Galaxy Note7! Always check for these types of policies not only for your trip out, but for the return as well. The entire matter is even more complicated by customs regulations on either side of borders as well. Different borders results in different rules. Please, don’t try to get around these laws and regulations!
No matter what, traveling should be about the experience abroad—whether that’s a family vacation or business trip—and not about worrying over actually getting there. Following the above advice should not only clear your mind, it should also help make your flight and travel experience as seamless as possible.
