Column: Travel with Katie Butler of Total Travel: Goodbye sunshine and hello school holidays!
With my feet firmly on the ground following my recent holiday it seems that our mini ‘heatwave’ has come to an end inevitably just in time for the school holidays. Yes, the summer holiday season is certainly upon us and our branches continue to be busy looking after our customers with boarding passes and on-line check in and of course finding last minute getaways to the sunshine.
We caught up with ABTA who have recently issued The ABTA Travel Checklist with simple steps to ensure that preparing for your holiday this summer is as stress-free as possible and advise you to ‘check it, don’t regret it’.
ABTA’s Travel Checklist:
- Read the FCDO travel advice for the destination you will be travelling to.
- Check your passport is valid for your travel dates, especially if you have the older style red passports.
- Take out travel insurance. A good insurance policy will cover you for cancellation charges, delays, lost baggage and medical expenses if you fall ill abroad.
- Make sure you have a valid GHIC, The Global Health Insurance Card provides low-cost or free access to state healthcare.
- Check the rules for travelling to Europe, now that the UK is no longer a member of the EU, there may be differences to be aware of including passport validity, driving abroad or taking your pet abroad.
- Stick to the current rules surrounding liquids and laptops. Check with the airport you are flying from to avoid confusion around the differing rules. While Birmingham and Edinburgh have updated scanners and allow over 100ml in liquids for hand baggage, most UK airports still enforce the 100ml liquid rule.
- Get your travel money sorted, the use of cash and card can vary from country to country so plan ahead especially if you have resort taxes payable locally at check-in.
- Have a fun and safe trip, we want everyone to have a holiday to remember, for all the right reasons, so make sure you take steps to keep yourself safe, such as , when swimming, follow the rules at the pool, look out for warning flags and signs at the beach.
Of course, much of the above we will have already gone through with you either at time of booking or when you collect your tickets, however, all the information plus much more can be found on the ABTA website www.ABTA.com
Attention all travellers heading to the United States! The U.S. government has announced that the fee for the ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) will be increasing in the coming weeks. If you're a citizen of a visa-waiver country and planning to visit the U.S., this is the travel authorization you'll need—and soon, it’ll cost you more.
We strongly recommend applying for your ESTA now, even if your trip isn’t for a few months. An ESTA is valid for two years, so applying early means you can lock in the current lower rate and avoid the extra cost.
As your travel agent, our job is to help you travel smart and save where you can. Don’t wait until the last minute—beat the price hike, sort your paperwork in advance, and enjoy stress-free travel planning. The ESTA now can be obtained through an app on your mobile device and so is much easier to apply for that in the past.