Practical informations

Before leaving

· If you leave on a non-organized trip, it is helpful to consult these sites for useful information before leaving :

- Passport, Visa and Health requirements etc. : www.iatatravelcentre.com

- Climate, money, political situation etc. : www.worldatlas.com

· If you leave on an organized trip you will get normally all necessary information from your travel agent. If you consider these informations unsufficient, consult the sites above.
 

Before take off

· A low-cost flight can be interesting for your wallet, but if you travel outside Europe you'll have to consider the inconveniences and think about your comfort during the flight:

- Departure schedules are most of the time very early in the morning or very late at night (for these airlines a way to reduce costs) so you will loose at least one day on the total of your trip.

- There is a big chance you'll arrive in bad shape, because of the minimal services during the flight and the long waiting times at the airport.

· Since 9/11 security measures have become very strict in airports. You're not allowed to take more than 10 cl of liquid in your hand luggage.

· We recommend to buy something to drink once you've past customs, because sometimes the waiting times are very long before you get served in the plane or the plane is delayed and once you've passed customs there is no way back.

During the flight

· The air in airplanes is always very dry, so you should drink a lot.

· Be careful with alcohol, up in the air alcohol will influence you more than usual and you will get drunk faster.

· Expect that in an airplane it is always too cold or too hot.
 
- Air-conditioning starts to function once the plane is in the air and all of a sudden it can get very  cold.

- On the other hand if you wait a long time before take off, it can get very hot in the airplane, especially if you're in the tropics.
 
- Always foresee to put on comfortable clothes which you can take off or on any time.

Passport

· Never leave without your passport. Even if you don't take a plane, you can always meet an identity control in a foreign country (for the European Union an identity card will do).

· Once arrived, put your passport in a safe place and take with you only the copy you've made before leaving.

· Check, enough time in advance, if the validity date of your passport is correct. A lot of countries demand a validity of your passport up to 6 months after return to your home country.

· The name in your passport and the name on your flight ticket should be exactly the same. If there is an error, you'll have to get it modified before leaving.  This way you can avoid that you're not allowed to get on board and that you stay stuck on the airport.
 
· To get into the United States today, you'll need a numeric passport and some American airlines demand that your name and all first names are exactly the same on your ticket as in your passport.

· Always inform at the adequate institutions before getting a one-way ticket. In some countries you'll get stuck at the airport of arrival and you won't get through customs.

· More and more airlines propose today e-tickets. this means you don't receive a ticket anymore, but you only need your reservation number to get a boarding pass.
A big step for the environment.

· Most of the problems related to travel documents are detected during registration at the airport. Every year some 35.000 travellers are refused to go further when arriving at an airport, because they don't have the necessary documents.
Therefore, be careful, the average fine is about 5.000 US dollars.

Baggage

· Take always a small toilet bag with you in your hand luggage. If your suitcase didn't take the same flight as you (what happens) you can at least get through the first night with a toothbrush and your medicines.

- Most of the time, a lost luggage is found the next day with the next flight

· To avoid stealing from your suitcase, you can get it wrapped up in plastic at the bigger airports before check-in.

- Know that customs  are competent to open your suitcase at any time.

· If you have a black suit case, like almost everybody, put a recognizable sign on it, so you will recognize it easily at the baggage pick up.

Money

· Always take cash Euros with you (or US dollars, but the Euro is more appreciated today) to take care of the first expenses at arrival.

· To get local money, go directly to the cash drawn at the airport, you'll pay less commissions than in the hotels.

· Take the emergency numbers of your credit card with you. If you loose it or it gets stolen, you have to freeze your card as soon as possible.
 
· In some countries (mostly third world countries) they still use a system of getting a print of your credit card. Be careful with this, there is a lot of fraud with these kind of machines. Prefer to pay cash.

Telephone + Internet

· If you have a SIM-lock-free mobile phone, you can use it in most of the countries around the world and you can buy a local telephone card.

-Two advantages : 1) Local calls cost practically nothing and  2) if the home front calls you on your holiday, you will not pay the difference between the border of your country and your destination.
(if you receive a call when you're abroad, it's you paying the difference between the border and your destination, the person calling you only pays the (for him) local call)

· Even in the most abandoned places on earth you'll find Internet cafés today. Very useful to get in contact with the home front by e-mail.

· To consult your emails wherever you are, don't leave without your access codes and your password (ask your internet provider if you are not sure about the way to handle)

Health

· If you leave to a 'so called' dangerous zone for your health (see -Vaccinations : www.iatatravelcentre.com), prepare your trip carefully, because some vaccinations or medicines have to be taken 6 to 8 weeks before leaving.

· Always take a first aid case with you, with the necessary minimum for small wounds and diseases (fever, diarrhoea, constipation, plasters, anti-mosquito, ion silver for drinkable water).

· Always keep important information about your allergies or medical specifications with you.

· Verify with your health insurance if you're well covered abroad.

· Bring spare glasses with you if you wear glasses or contact lenses.

Return

Country informations

We recommand you, before you leave, to get as much information as possible about your destination, so you will be good prepared when you arrive.
Think about cutural differences, climat, your itinerary with all spots you wish to visit or regions you better not go.

Nowadays, there are a lot of internetsites, with a lot of usefull information and here below some examples;

- www.worldatlas.com : Information about every land in the world; climat, money, time zones, maps

- http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/Europe.htm : European weather

- http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/ : World weather

- http://www.amnesty.org.uk/ : Amnesty International site, which gives a view per country about the respect of the human rights.

Do you know a usefull site we should link to ? 
Send us the link through the contact form !