Important Travel Documents

For any trip to go without a hitch, it requires proper planning. What do you think is the most important and critical part of this planning process? Is it choosing the right flights (with economic considerations) or if it is packing your suitcases smartly ? Or is it, the decision regarding which visitor insurance plan suits your needs the most? Well, apart from all this, one of the important things a traveler has to worry or pay attention to is about the safety of his documents that he may/needs to carry while on trip.

What are these documents? How can a traveler ensure their safety and hence saves himself from compromising his financial and digital identity? Let’s take a look.

1. Passport: Passport is a document that while traveling internationally serves as a traveler’s national identification as well as a proof of his citizenship. It is a document which is internationally recognized. Any traveler who plans on traveling overseas needs a passport (of course the travel visa). Before making travel plans, a traveler must check for the requirements of the destination country regarding passport’s expiration date. Some countries have the requirement of passport being valid at least for 6 months.
2. Driver’s License: Driver’s license is often the best photo-identification while traveling within home country. Sometimes, traveler’s plan to drive outside their home country, so they need to possess a valid international driving license. Their home country’s license may or may not be recognized or permitted overseas.
3. Airline Tickets: Printed airline tickets come very handy. Make sure you keep a few copies in different luggages. These also serve as a proof of payment.
4. Travel Itinerary/Hotel & Car Reservations: Nowadays tickets come online as e-ticket, hotel & car reservations are sent on emails. But nonetheless, it’s important and very useful to do it old style i.e. keep physical copies of all these reservations. These will be easy to read and access. A traveler need not search through maze of his emails to find the reservation emails. Physical copies can be presented to anyone who questions about them.
5. Vaccination Records: First of all, make sure as a traveler you are well aware of the vaccination requirements of the particular destination country. You can contact the State Travel department in your home country for this information as well as possibly, your general practitioner may also have this information. It is very important to receive these vaccinations, especially for kids. A travel doctor must be consulted well in advance so that necessary vaccinations may be taken in due time. Also carry a record of all the vaccinations you have received in the past.
6. Proof of Relationship: If children of your relatives or friends are traveling with you (sans their parents), do not forget to carry a consent letter from their parents. This can be very useful in case you are stuck in situation where you need to present that the children are traveling with you with proper consent from their parents.
7. Visitor Insurance Plan: Take a print out of your insurance policy, especially the virtual ID card page. You can also print the entire policy and take out time from your travel time to go through all the inclusions and exclusions.
8. Passport-size Photos: If while traveling your passport gets lost or is stolen, contact your country’s consulate or embassy and apply for a new one. To save time on getting a passport-size photo, always make sure you are carrying a few extra copies with you every time you travel. This will just speed up the passport retrieval process.

Tips on Handling Important Travel Documents:

1. Make multiple copies of all identification documents as well as different reservations. Possibly, make one for each bag you are carrying.
2. Do not forget to leave a copy of all these documents with a trusted friend/family member. There should be at least someone who knows what is your itinerary and where you would be staying.
3. The best safe place to keep important documents is on you as a person. This would minimize the chances of you leaving them somewhere or getting stolen. Store your passport and other important national identification documents in a money belt. You can also buy a document holder that hides under the clothing.
4. You can also save your documents digitally on Dropbox or use travel apps like Tripit.

Mishaps may happen on any trip but that should not deter someone from traveling. A little precaution with planning will keep your important and critical documents safe and secure. VisitorPlans always wishes its readers and clients to be safe during travel and on their trip. For all your visitor insurance needs, do not hesitate to call us today on +1-855-584-7486. or reach us at contact@visitorplans.com.