Holiday travel stress relievers

Here are a few tips to help make your holiday travel easier.

It’s that time of year where many of us need to travel to spend the holidays with family and friends. Along with the excitement of seeing them also comes the stresses of holiday travel.  Take it easy and follow these tips:

• Check all travel documents

Make sure to check your passport to ensure you don’t end up presenting an expired passport at airport check-in. If it is valid then be aware that some destinations require you to have at least six months on it. Visa requirements can be trick too, so organize necessary paperwork before you leave the house and make any mandatory arrangements prior to flying.

• Label your luggage

You may think you don’t need to label your luggage with airline electronic tagging, but it may save you the heartache of losing it. Before you fly, write the address of your destination hotel on the front of the tag and your home address on the inside. If your bag disappears, it’s best to have an email or phone number on the label. Avoid running off with someone else’s bag and potentially ruining Christmas by attaching something identifiable to you, like some colored ribbon.

• Print off the name and address of your hotel

Avoid standing around at the terminal, trying to second guess where your hotel may be. Print out the name and address of your hotel and screenshot directions on your phone or tablet to show the taxi driver. Also consider taking your hotel reservation voucher to ensure a smooth and speedy check-in process once you arrive.

• Remember chargers and adapters

It would be a disaster if you couldn’t take a selfie in a Santa hat so make sure to pack all chargers for any electrical equipment you plan to take with you, including phones, laptops and the right adaptor for your destination. You can’t go wrong with a universal adaptor.

• Pack light

Leave any unnecessary items at home. It’ll save you the stress of having to maneuver through airport crowds, pay any excess baggage fees or haul it off of the carousel at the other end.

• Have liquids in a Ziploc and laptops ready to go

Security queues at the airport can be longer than Santa’s naughty list during the festive period, with so many more people trying to get home. Save time by having all liquids in 100ml containers organized in one see-through re-sealable plastic bag. Take a spare bag and avoid having to pay for one at the airport. Similarly, pack your laptop or other electrical equipment somewhere accessible so you can whip it out as soon as you get to the checkpoint.

• Travel at a reasonable time

Let’s not forget, Christmas is meant to be a holiday, that doesn’t mean taking red-eye flights and landing during the middle of the night. You may want to take these less sociable flight times to get a better price, but arriving refreshed ready to eat, drink and be merry is priceless. So if you have the option, take a flight scheduled for a more reasonable time. If you don’t, set your alarm, or get your hotel to give you a second wake-up call, to make sure you don’t over-sleep and miss your flight!

• Stock up on snacks

Do tensions start to fray when your blood sugar levels dip? Rather than buy an over-priced turkey sandwich, pack your own snack pack full of festive nibbles to keep hunger at bay. Squeeze in a few healthy treats to make up for all that seasonal over-indulgence; just check with the airline for any food and drink regulations that may prohibit you from bringing some produce on board.

• Ease up on the eggnog

Indulgence in Christmas spirit should always be encouraged, but getting sozzled at the airport or in the air is ill-advised. You’ll only end up missing your flight, annoying fellow passengers or arriving at your destination wishing you were already back home under the blankets. Save yourself the headache and hassle and wait until you’ve landed and can toast to good tidings without worrying about travel plans.

From our family at Worlds Away Travel we wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Angela Longgood, Travel Consultant/Owner
Worlds Away Travel
727-743-2591
worldsawaytravel.com