Amanda PhillipsA passport is an essential part of any foreign holiday. But every year many travellers (including experienced holidaymakers) face holiday difficulty because they didn’t renew theirs on time, didn’t keep it in a safe place or ran out of pages due to extensive travelling. At best this can result in having to fork out for a new passport, but at worst it can result in being refused entry to the departure lounge.
We want to make sure all of our customers have a relaxing holiday, so we’ve rounded up 8 pieces of advice for making sure your holiday tales don’t involve any passport troubles.
1. Buy the right size of passport
In the UK you can buy either a standard 32-page passport or a jumbo 48-page passport. If you know you’ll be travelling extensively in the next 10 years purchasing the larger size might save you a lot of money.
2. Check your passport’s validity before you travel
When you book your holiday ensure that your passport will still be valid when you jet off. Many destinations stipulate that passports should have six months left on them at the time of travel.
3. Organise your visa early
Different countries have their own visa application system, but some require travellers to send their passports to the local embassy for stamping prior to travel. Make sure you don’t leave this too late. When you book your holiday with Barrhead Travel, we’ll let you know which destinations require a visa and can even help you with your visa waivers (ESTAS) for the USA and Australia.
4. Photocopy your passport
If you lose your passport abroad, a photocopy will help speed up the process of organising an Emergency Travel Document. There’s also some travellers who swear by their photocopied passport as informal ID while travelling.
5. Don’t forget travel insurance
Losing your passport is one of the many emergencies where you’ll thank yourself for organising travel insurance. However, many travel insurance companies do expect their customers to treat their passport as a valuable item – you might have difficulty claiming if you left it on the dashboard of your hire car, for example.
6. Use colour coded stickers
If you’re in charge of your children’s passports use this handy trick to save time. Buy a small packet of coloured stickers, scribble an initial on each one and stick to that person’s passport. Now there’s no need to open up every passport at the security gate.
7. Wear a money belt under your clothes
Your back-pocket is not a place to keep your passport as, while it’s not something we like to talk about, pickpocketing does happen. Wear a money belt under your shirt so your passport (and other key belongings) are out of touch.
8. Constantly check your passport
There’s debate about whether you should leave your passport in your room or keep it on your body. But whatever choice you make – ensure you check it regularly. When you return from a day’s adventure make sure your passport is still there (either in the room or in your money belt) and if you’re carrying it on you, just place your hand over your pocket every so often.