What Do I Need to Know Before Travelling These Holidays?

Travelling is fun. Probably one of the most fun things you can do over the holidays.

But what’s not fun is being late by five minutes, missing your flight and then being forced to pay double the price for another ticket. Or, losing your phone (or, even worse, your passport) in some unknown land where you don’t even understand the language.

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Let’s go through some of the basics, to ensure your next holiday doesn’t become a living nightmare.

Travel Insurance

Depending on your level of cover, travel insurance can seem quite expensive. But if you do end up facing any mishaps, your insurance can save you big bucks.

How do you find the best quote? Google was my best friend last year when I had to organise my trip overseas. Luckily though, you’ll find that it’s much easier to search through comparison websites such as Compare the Market, Finder.com.au or Compare Travel Insurance. Here, you can slip in your details, decide the level of coverage you want and find the cheapest one in the market.

However, there’s more to consider than just price. Inside the travel insurance Terms and Conditions is tiny print that explains how your contract could become void depending on certain circumstance. Those include:

1. Having too much to drink. Some travel insurances don’t cover you or have limits on the amount they cover for damages, injuries or losses incurred while you were intoxicated, so make sure, if you’re planning to drink, you’ve at least got a sober friend to get home in one piece.
2. Taking unauthorised modes of transport. Most insurers don’t cover hitchhiking; if you’re going to Thailand or Bali and planning to ride motorcycles or scooters, you’ll need to get extra insurance to cover those too.

There are plenty of these kinds of clauses in most forms of travel insurance. It might not be a bad idea to check them out before setting off.

Discount Airlines

Discount airlines can be the cheapest option for students travelling on their own savings, but as the age-old saying goes, you get what you pay for.

There are a lot of hidden catches with discount airlines, not to mention hidden fees you might not get with a full-service carrier.

The big one is checked baggage. Usually discount airlines only include a certain amount of carry-on baggage, which is subject to the usual requirements (such as limits on liquids, et cetera). So, you may have to pay excess baggage charges if you want to check anything.

A second hidden catch you should be wary of is indirect flights. You might be saving a few hundred bucks on tickets, but the flight times could be way longer than the more expensive alternatives and include multiple stops. That’s not necessarily the worst thing in the world: just make sure you know what you’re in for before booking.

There’s also ‘Hidden City Ticketing’, which is when you get off at a layover rather than the final destination. If you’re using a website like Skiplagged, it’s important to realise some airlines prohibit this, because you’re basically getting off a plane halfway through its trip, throwing their numbers out of whack. If you’re caught doing this too many times, the airline may invalidate any frequent flyer points you’ve accrued with them. Be careful if you’ve checked baggage too, as it could continue on without you!

Converting Currency

Another important thing is ensuring you have enough foreign currency before leaving, so that you don’t find yourself out of cash three days into your holiday and forced to pay ridiculously high conversion rates on the spot.

However, given there are safety issues with carrying a huge stack of cash, it might be a good idea to also keep some foreign currency in a travel card.

Choice.com.au compares all the prepaid travel money cards in a simple table, so there's a good place to start!

Now, enjoy your trip!

Vivian Chen is one of Student Edge’s student contributors. See more student contributions here.

Photo: iStock.com/champlifezy@gmail.com