Essential Pre-Travel Tips for First-Time International Travellers

[vvbellur]

Congratulations! So you have researched, shortlisted and finally decided upon your travel destination 😍. Is this your first international trip?  You must already be counting days unable to sit steady, right?  If yes, I can totally feel your excitement.  In this post I would like to share some pre-travel tips that will help you get the most of your travel.  If you have travelled before, then this post will act as a refresher.  Perhaps you can share a few tips too in the comments!

Booking your flight tickets: In all your excitement about travelling, please don't jump into booking your flight tickets immediately.  To get the best deals possible, do a thorough research first. 

• Clear all your browser cache, cookies, and temp files.  Open a new incognito tab and search for the flight tickets in at least three to four different websites.  Do the same thing across different browsers and devices!  See if you have a friend in a different location and ask them to check the prices as well.  If they are getting a better deal, ask them to book and you can pay them later!  I would even suggest that you use a location spoofer and try this exercise.  This might seem like a circus, but trust me, you will be surprised to see the price differences.
• Use Skyscanner: Skyscanner is a free flight search tool will help you find cheap flights and deals with popular airlines. 

• Sometimes you are just in for luck!  Just a simple search on Google for "flight deals", "flight coupons and discounts" might land you a really sweet deal.  Won't happen all the time, but it doesn't hurt to try, right?!
• When you are flying within the city, it is always best to check the international country's local airlines site and compare the fares with your current country's flight booking site.  

Select your flight seats asap: As soon as you book your flight tickets, your next step is to secure the best possible seats!   I am guessing that many of us are from the humble economy class and we can still choose the best available seats.  If you are the photo enthusiast like me, don't just select the first available window seat.  You need to make sure that the aircraft's wings don't obstruct your unique sky and cloud photos 😄. Therefore, head straight over to SeatGuru.com.  This is a website featuring aircraft seat maps and seat reviews of thousands of airlines.  All you have to key in are the airline's name and flight number and hit enter.  They even have a color-coded system to identify superior and substandard seats.  For e.g avoid sitting at the emergency exits. The arm-rests (towards the windows) are extremely uncomfortable and will give your elbow a terrible ache.

Choosing a travel insurance: Don't be one of those people who are least concerned about having a travel insurance.  When you are paying thousands of bucks for your holiday, make sure you invest a little money in securing a travel insurance and travel peacefully.  Moreover, having a travel insurance is a prerequisite to getting a visa in most countries.  As much as you have planned for your travel, certain things like flight delays, baggage delays, baggage loss, theft, an unforeseen medical emergency or a natural disaster can disrupt your travel plans.

• Make sure that the insurance covers the country/countries you are visiting.
• While mentioning your total travel dates, make sure you count your departure date as well as well as your arrival date back in your country.   

Buying your forex: I guess your first instinct would be to check the rates by running a Google search with the keywords "INR to ___", correct?  This would give you an idea as to where the currency exchange rates stand.  I wouldn't encourage you to use your existing credit or debit cards because a huge exchange fee is levied by banks.  So your next step is to buy a pre-paid travel card.  These act like credit cards and nowadays all of these travel cards come with a built-in chip for added security.  Make sure you add more currency on to your card and carry less cash.  I would suggest to carry about 500 bucks worth international currency just in case of emergencies. 

• If you are a frequent traveller, then buy a multi-currency forex card.

Enable international transactions on your credit card: I know it might sound counter-intuitive to what I have written above about not using your credit card.  However, as a back-up plan, it is always good to have the ability to do international transactions on your credit card.  For first time travellers, call up the customer service and let them know that you would want to enable international transactions on your credit card as you are travelling abroad.  Let them know your travel dates too. This is because some banks may block your card when they see international transactions for the first time and you have not pre-wired them about it.  This is done as a precautionary measure to safeguard your card.

Electronics: Make sure you check the input and output voltage of the country you are travelling to. This super handy website called whatplug.info gives you all the details about what kind of adapters, plugs and voltages are across the world.  The best part is that it is so handy for visual learners like me (those who like to see and learn).  It will be a good idea to carry a spikebuster in case you have a lot of electronic items to charge.

 

Buying a local sim: Always research about the cost of a local sim card with a basic data plan versus the cost of enabling your international roaming with data. Chances are that buying a local sim card will work out cheaper for you.  

Miscellaneous Tips
Google Trips: Download the Google Trip application to organize your entire itinerary.  It automatically pulls all your reservations - flights, hotel bookings, activities all into one place and you don't have to open your email and struggle to find them.  In addition to this, you can use Google Trips to plan your travel in just minutes.  Just enter the city you wish to travel, the approximate travel dates, and Google will show you a host of activities neatly categorized into various headings like "Top spots, "For you", "Local favourite", "Indoors", "Outdoors" and so on.

Picture courtesy: Google Trips

Google Maps: To get the ultimate travel experience, download an offline area of the map ahead of time.  This can help you save on huge data or roaming charges.  Just make sure you download the map area of your interest when there is internet connection.

I hope you found some of these travel tips handy!  So where are you travelling? I would love to read about it in the comments below.

Tagging a few folks as you are all interested in travelling! @NadyaPN, @SoniaK, @NunungAfuah, @GeorgesHR @JeslynL @FaridTDF @ValeriaA_ @Julien44 @SoniaK

[NadyaPN]

That's awesome, @vvbellur! Your post is really helpful.

Since I'm a frequent traveller too, I already have in mind some of your tips. However, I didn't know about the whatplug.info website for instance. Which is so cool!

Your post is quite extensive, but there's another thing I'd like to add:

I'd recommend everyone to go ahead and read as much travel blogs and tips for the culture they are about to visit. Especially if it's a different continent. This can save you from awkward situations, misunderstandings and even help you with what to pack in your bag. For example, last month I travelled to Thailand and fortunately I had read that you have to take your shoes off and that your clothes need to cover your shoulders and knees if you want to visit most of the attractions. Thus, I packed a lot of t-shirts and pants instead of tank tops and dresses along with slip-on shoes. This made my life so much easier. 🙂

NB: Don't believe everything you read. Lots of the travel blogs are just trying to sell something. However, there are some common tips in most blog posts which you can trust.

Thanks for creating this, @vvbellur!

[JeslynL]

Woah, thanks for this informative sharing @vvbellur! I really picked up a few tips here (to think that I thought I was quite a seasoned and experienced traveller already, oops).

Skyscanner is great - they offer competitive prices and I do use it too, but I also advise to check out reviews of the providers before purchasing off their site. I ever almost booked my ticket from a provider that had a reputation of being scam-my. Phew.

[FaridTDF]

Excelente post el que nos compartiste @vvbellur, informativo, detallado sin ser abrumador, ordenado y lógico en los distintos tópicos que tocaste, me encanto 😍.

Algunos de ellos ya los tenía en cuenta, como el seguro de viajero, un punto importante que en dos ocasiones permitió que nuestros gastos médicos no se disparacen, ojalá nunca tengan que usarlo, pero cuando ocurren problemas, es mejor contar con el. 

El otro punto es la compra de una SIM local del país que visitas, tus gastos telefónicos serán muy económicos si haces uso de este recurso, después la mayoría de las veces utilizo WiFi de los sitios donde estoy.

Los sitios que comentas, no los tenía en cuenta, quedan agendados, buenos consejos 👍😀 por supuesto que Google Trips, ya es actualmente mi organizador de viajes de cabecera

Una herramienta que te ayudarán a tener opciones 🤔 a la hora de visitar lugares de interés donde estas o en la etapa previa al viaje, en la organización del mismo. 

Estoy seguro que este post ayudará a muchos Local Guides que se están iniciando en este arte que es viajar por el mundo o por nuestros países, en este caso no aplicarían todos los tops, pero otros si .

 Saludos Farid

 ✋👇

For the case that has difficulty, in reading my answer, in the upper right part of the screen, in the drop-down menu of languages, you can select the language, in which you want to read the post.

[Julien44]

Hi @vvbellur,

Thanks for tagging me in your post ;-)!

Also thanks for sharing your pre-travel tips as it is always usefull to learn from experience travellers.

On top of your tips, I would recommande:

- Try to book your tickets between 6 to 10 months before travelling (you will get a better price),

- Check if you have choosen the right time to go to a place (season, weather can be very different). Avoid season with hurricanes, monsoon.....Sometimes, you have very low price because of it. I remember some friends of mine going for their honeymoon to Mexico. They got a cheap prices but unfortunatly it was a nightmare because of  hurricanes. They were confined for few day in a school and got rapatriate,

- Try to plan all your stops and what you want to see. It will help you to define how long you will have to stay in one place,

- Try to book you accomodations as soon as possible (most of the time the sooner you will book them the cheaper they will be and the better choice you will have). Sometimes you can book some accomodations without paying in advance,

- Try to use a gold credit card to buy your tickets and your accomodations ( you will have the benefits of the insurrance),

- Check if some vaccines are need and make sure you take them in time (sometimes you have 2 or 3 recall and you need time to take all of them),

- Check if formalities entry, visas are need to get into the country, 

- Make sure your passeport have suffisant time reminding (sometime 6 months after your exit of the country),

I find this website very usefull (transaltion is possible) https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/conseils-aux-voyageurs/conseils-par-pays/thailande/#securite

to check the risks,  sanitory risks, food hygiene measures, usefull tips for transports, local laws....

Usually, I travel with the family (2 kids 8 and 12 year old) and we use public transports. 

The last but not the least, use google maps to check the places you want to visit or to stay. Don't forget to ask  your local guides friends for local tips!

I hope it will help,

See you around

Jul

[ValeriaA_]

@vvbellur this post is just amazing! I wish I'd read it before I went on holiday with @santiagoirale the past weeks hahaha

Every information you shared is very useful and I'm glad you wrote this post for everyone with tips and advice

Thanks a lot! 🙂

[bubbleanaconda]

That's such a nice post! I wish it was available in january.

I traveled abroad for the first time in the begining of the year, and it was an amazing experience. The only problem is that I went to Portugal and thought that it woudn't be much trouble to go around without much planning since I speak Brazillian Portuguese. Boy, was I wrong hahahahaha

So, I think it's important to emphasize: research is a must. I ended up finding my way around Lisbon just fine, but if I had planned myself a little better it could have been even better.

Kudos for so much information!

[kweenNana1]

Very helpful and informative tips,thank you☺@vvbellur

[vvbellur]

@NadyaPN, Thank Nadya. And I agree, reading up is so very important. A thorough research always helps and I guess that's where our local guides help by writing reviews. Including info about weather, dos and don'ts and so on in reviews really help other travelers!

[vvbellur]

@JeslynLThanks Jjeslyn. We keep learning as we travel! 🙂