Things To Check Before You Go On Holiday

By Author: Micke Jack
Total Articles: 4
Comment this article

Before departing these shores for foreign lands, it is crucial that you get your affairs in order so that you do not need to worry about anything while you are away. Here is a handy, but by no means exhaustive, list of some of the things you might want to take care of before you go:

The FCO website has up to date travel information for British tourists for all potential holiday destinations, including information on terrorist and disease threats. It could be well worth your while signing up to receive free email alerts in the run up to your holiday, so that you stay up to date with the latest travel advice.

Find out the location of the British Embassy that is nearest to where you are staying. Their website will let you know when they are open and what they can do for you.

It is a very good idea to take out travel insurance, as if anything should go wrong while you are abroad, it can be very expensive to set it right. Frequent travellers should investigate whether it might be cheaper to get an annual travel insurance policy, which also takes a lot of the paperwork out of insuring multiple foreign trips. Make ...
... sure that you will be covered for all your planned activities, and take out extra cover if necessary.

If you are travelling within the EU, then you should make sure that you get a European Health Insurance Card(EHIC), which is available for free online or from your local post office. These are no substitute for travel insurance, but they do entitle you to free emergency care whilst abroad and can greatly speed up the process of receiving treatment. All emergency services are available by calling 112 from any phone in any EU country.

Check in with your GP to find out whether you need any vaccinations for the places you intend to visit. Some vaccinations need to be administered six weeks before travel, so the sooner you do this the better.

Make sure all your travel documentation, such as passports and visas, are in date and in order. Some countries require a passport with at least six months to run on it from the time of arrival for entry, so make sure your dates stack up.

First time passport applicants will need to attend an interview to verify their identity, and will have to wait up to six weeks for their application to be processed, so it is important not to leave this until the last minute.

Make copies of your passport, visa, and insurance documents and leave them in a safe place, or with a trusted friend or relative. Alternatively, you can scan and upload them to a secure data storage site, which means that they can be accessed remotely anywhere in the world should you lose the originals.

Finally, if you are planning to drive whilst abroad, make sure you know the road rules for the country you are visiting, and that all your vehicle documentation, such as license, road tax, and MOT certificate, will remain in date while you are abroad.

QuoteBanana.co.uk provides quotations from a selected range of travel insurance providers allowing you to compare travel insurance in moments.