We have included extra information here to help you plan your trip.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you are unsure about any aspect of
planning your time away. That extra bit of information here could save
you time and money later on down the road.
A surface sector is a travel agent's way of saying that you fly in to
one place and out of another e.g. ' London, fly to Bangkok, make
your way overland to Singapore, fly to Sydney ' is an example of
an itinerary that includes a surface sector between Bangkok and Singapore.
Costs of ground transportation between these arrival and departure points
are never included in flight prices that incorporate surface sectors.
To get from A to B some people will use public transport, others will
hook up with pre booked arrangements such as the Trans Siberian Railway,
a tour and others will arrive armed with an open dated bus or rail pass.
If you want information on your options for travelling across any surface
sectors on your trip, please ask us or see our Trans
Sib, Adventure
Tour and Bus
Pass sections for more details. More about
surface sectors.
Up until the 1990's, taxes and airport security charges were only payable
in a handful of countries. These were collected by very bored looking
people who sat in little Perspex windowed kiosks in airports around
the world.
One by one, during the course of the nineties, other countries first
started making these charges, and then decided to make them payable
on the airline tickets.
Whilst there are still a few countries in which your taxes are collected
in the old fashioned way ( New Zealand , Rarotonga and China for example),
these days, you pay most of your taxes up front with your air fare.
See here
for a list of countries where you currently have to make some sort of
payment on departure. We update this list from time to time, but
please bear in, mind that there aren't any governments in the world
who think to send travel agents a quick email to let them know that
they have changed a locally collectable tax, so if you do come across
any taxes that differ to the above, please do let us know and we will
update the list.
As a rule of thumb, on a journey with say 6 or 7 stops, you should
expect to pay around £100 in taxes - possibly more if you have
a few stops in the USA / Canada . Australia adds a lot - and certain
airports in Australia even more (especially Sydney and Ayers Rock).
On a more complex route with a dozen or 20 stops, taxes could add up
to over £200 per person.
After the September 11 attacks, airlines had to introduce additional
in flight security measures. These costs (about £2.50 per flight)
were added to tickets as a supplement. To this day these charges still
haven't been included by airlines in airfares and are collected in the
same way as taxes are.
Things were complicated further in May 2004 when, following unprecedented
increases in oil prices, rather than simply putting up their fares,
airlines decided to add 'fuel surcharges' to each flight.
These charges started off at a couple of £'s per flight. Since
May 2004, many airlines have steadily increased these charges in line
with the rising price of jet-fuel. The last increase, on 14 November
2007 was the ninth. Helpfully, different airlines have different fuel
charges, and often charge different rates for different routes and give
virtually no notice or literally no notice prior to increasing them.
The biggest charges are imposed by B.A. and Qantas. These carriers
now add up to £60.50 per person per flight. Other carriers tend
to impose slightly lower charges. Notably, Emirates took the step in
April 2007 to abolish these charges, and have now reverted to the pre
May 2004 practice of including the cost of fuel in their ticket price.
As taxes and the other charges constantly change and new ones are introduced,
the only way to advise you of the exact cost of the pre-payable taxes
on round the world tickets with several flights, is to work them out
when the booking is made.
The good news is that currently, there is no VAT payable on air tickets.
This obviously varies depending on the duration and style of your trip,
which countries you are going to and what your priorities are. If you
are planning on a back-packing trip on a budget, there are plenty of
'pot-noodle travellers' out there getting by on £20 a day or less.
Much also depends on how much you book and pay for before you go.
In addition to being able to organise your flights, your Travel Nation
consultant will also be able to offer you great deals on hotel accommodation,
bus / rail passes and adventure tours and car / campervan hire. Apart
from saving yourself leg-work when you arrive, organising these things
in advance will help you to budget more easily when you are away.
As always, this is easier for men than for women. Don't worry about
meeting other travellers. If you want to, you will.
If you do want to visit a part of the world but do not want to do it
by yourself, speak to one of our consultants about an adventure
or overland tour. This way you will see everything you want
to, but with added security of travelling with a group of like minded
people with an experienced tour leader.
As well as providing you with the security of travelling with others,
travelling in this way will also take the headache out of finding accommodation
and sorting out transport.
Staff at Travel Nation are well travelled and of course are in touch
with regular travellers every day. We can often give you a good idea
of what to expect in most parts of the world.
The link to the Foreign Office website is constantly updated and widely
accepted as giving excellent information. You should certainly follow
any advice given here. http://www.fco.gov.uk/travel/countryadvice.asp
In most places, yes. Even if you are on a tight budget, booking the
first 2 or 3 nights accommodation can make all the difference and will
go along way to giving you a safer trip as when you arrive in a strange
country, jet-lagged and tired after a long flight, you are at your most
vulnerable. Click
here for details of accommodation prices.
Roughly. Don't worry if your route involves a bit of zig-zagging. We'll
sort it out for you!
Sometimes. Often however, airline rules mean that we have to 'book'
every flight - even if you have no idea of when you will actually fly
it.
As you would expect, when you are travelling, these dates can subsequently
be changed - usually for free. Some exceptions are : Qantas / BA offices
in Australia and New Zealand will charge around £5 for date changes.
Air New Zealand charge around £15. We will advise you of date
change costs that apply to your booking.
If you want to travel at a busy time - e.g. Rio for carnival (21 –
24 Feb 2009), anywhere in Asia for around the Chinese New year (26 Jan
2009) you will need to book well in advance. Christmas, New Year, Easter
and summer are also of course times when most flights will operate to
capacity.
There is no rule here, except that the earlier you book your revised
dates, the better your chances will be of securing a seat around the
date you want.
IMPORTANT !!
If you decide to travel over-land on a leg for which you have a ticket,
or simply want to take a flight later than it is booked for, if you
don't advise the airline of this, the reservations on all of your subsequent
flights may be cancelled.
Almost all round the world tickets are valid for one year and are
date changeable once you have left the UK . Some have a minimum stay
of 7 days but other than that the only factors determining your length
of trip are your visa restrictions and lust for travel!
"Can I get a ticket that is valid for more than 1 year?"
We are able to provide tickets that are valid for longer periods on
some routes. For more details, call 0845 3444 225 to speak to one of
our experienced travel consultants.
The following advice is given to do this and make other aspects of your
flight more comfortable.
- Don't cross your legs when flying.
- Wear flight socks available from chemists.
- Wriggle your toes and walk the aisle occasionally.
- Clench your calf muscles to stimulate circulation.
- Before flying, eat a lightmeal rich in carbohydrates and greens.
- Drink plenty of water and limit alcohol tea and coffee.
- Suck boiled sweets on take off an landing to protect your ears.
- Sleep on board if your flight lands in the morning, but not if it
lands in the evening.
- For humidified breathing air, cover your nose with a water-saturated
cotton handkerchief.
- Wear loose clothing for added comfort.
You already know the answer to that! (Same answer about speaking Portuguese
in Brazil).
No.
If you want to send baggage on ahead, you will need to do this separately.
See 'Useful links' for
further details.
Check in baggage is baggage that you hand over to the airline at the
airport to go in the hold of the plane.
Apart from not over-burdening yourself by going away with too much
baggage, the name of the game here is not to be charged for excess baggage.
Airlines tell us that 95% of people check in one piece of baggage each
that weighs less than 20 kilos. If you are part of this 95%, then there
isn't really any need to read further as you will sail through check-in
procedures (though watch out for the some regional carriers whose check-in
limit is 15 kilos)
If you are one of the 5% and either your check-in bag will weigh more
than 20 kilos, or you will be checking in more than one bag per person
you might be charged excess baggage fees depending on what route and
what airline you are booked on.
Airlines have never got together to agree a global policy of baggage
allowances. The most generous airlines on certain routes let you check
in 2 pieces of baggage up to 32 kilos per piece (subject to dimensional
limitations). The least generous (e.g. some regional carriers in Asia
) will make a small charge per kilo for anything checked in weighing
over 15 kilos. Other carriers have a weight and number of items limit
- e.g. on many B.A. flights you can check in 23 kilos if it is all in
one bag, but if you check in 15 kilos over two bags, they will charge
you extra!
B.A. will also no longer accept any bag that weighs over 23 kilos.
This is a policy that other carriers may well also adopt in the future.
If you are on a round the world ticket that includes flights across
the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, it is likely that you will be entitled
to check in up to 2 bags per person on all or most of your flights of
either 23 or 32 kilos per bag.
Baggage restrictions also of course vary depending on the cabin class
you are booked in as well as for children and infants. There are also
sometimes often special allowances made for certain items - e.g. sets
of golf clubs, surf boards or diving equipment.
Airlines also differ on the size of your carry on baggage - e.g. B.A.
have recently reduced the maximum size of carry on bags to 45 CM x 35
CM x 16 CM
If you want to see what check in / carry on baggage rules are currently
being applied by an airline on which you are booked to travel, we have
detailed a directory here to the relevant section of each of the main
airlines websites.
20 kilos is quite a lot of baggage - especially in addition to up to
around 5 kilos of carry on baggage, but if you will be checking in more
than this, please feel free to contact your travel consultant who will
be happy to give you more specific advice about how much baggage you
can check in on your trip.
Reading your ticket
Baggage allowance information can also be seen on your tickets.
On paper or e tickets one of two indicators will appear:
'PC' indicates that the 'piece' system applies to the flight on that
coupon. This usually means that you can check in 2 pieces of baggage
weighing of up to either 23 KG or 32 KG each subject to the sum of the
length + height + width of either item not being over 158 CM.
'**K' were ** = a number is the number of kilos e.g. 20K = 20 KG is
allowed.
Please bear in mind that if you are on a multi stop or round the world
itinerary that the same baggage allowance may not apply to each flight
on your itinerary.
Below are examples of paper tickets showing where the check in baggage
allowances appear so that you can assess how much luggage you'll be
able to take for free. If you plan on taking more than your allowance,
we recommend that you contact the airline in advance so that you know
what excess baggage charges to expect. Airline contact details can be
found via Useful Links
.
Sharp objects
Everyone in the world hopefully knows by now that you can't pack sharp
objects such as knives / scissors / tweezers in your check in baggage.
Curiously, airlines are more than happy to sell you duty free spirits
in glass bottles once on board!
Valuable items
Subject of course to local security restrictions; never pack valuables
like cameras or lap-tops in your check-in baggage. There is a significant
risk that they will be missing from your bag on arrival. Travel insurance
companies take a dim view of claims for items lost in this way!
A machine readable passport has the holder's personal details, e.g.
name, date of birth, nationality and their passport number contained
in two lines of text at the bottom of the photo page. This text may
be read by machine.
These two lines of text indicate that the passport is machine readable:
The Biometric British Passport (sometimes known as ePassport) has a
new design with additional security features, including a chip. Externally,
the new Biometric Passport appears very similar to the current one,
although it also features a logo indicating that there is a chip inside.
Internally there are many new security features including pages with
intricate designs and new complex watermarks.
If your U.K. passport was issued on or after 26 October 2006, you will
need a biometric passport to enter the U.S.A. If your U.K. passport
was not issued in the U.K., please check.
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