Our top travelling tips

When preparing for your trip, it’s important to review useful travel information and advice, and educate yourself on common tourist traps to ensure you have an enjoyable, hassle-free holiday.

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Travel tips

Language

Try learning a few basic words in your destination’s native language. Locals will really appreciate your efforts even if they are not perfect!

Labels

Label your luggage with your name, home address and phone number with international dialing codes.

Luggage

When travelling as a couple, divide your money and clothes between your suitcases. If one of your bags gets lost, you will still have something to wear and money to spend.

Phone Calls

Purchase a TravelSim to make lower cost phone calls as overseas roaming charges are extremely expensive.

Shoes

If you have bought new shoes for your trip, break them in for several weeks before you leave.

Get smart before you travel abroad

Smartraveller is for Australians planning to travel, already travelling, or living overseas. We help people travel safely by giving them the information they need to make informed choices – from pre-departure to their return home.

This includes information on passports, visas, travel insurance and detailed travel advice on over 175 destinations.

Even if you’ve travelled overseas before or travel regularly for holidays, business or to visit family, staying updated with the latest information from Smartraveller is essential.

Travel documents

Passports

In case of emergency, make sure you take a photo copy of the first page of your passport and store it in a safe place, away from the original. Also leave a copy of your passport behind with a relative or friend. Remember that most countries will not let you enter the country unless you have at least 6 months validity on your passport, so it’s important that you renew your passport before it expires if you plan on travelling.

Visas

Some countries require travellers to have a visa issued prior to their arrival into the country. Visas grant you entry into a particular country on a temporary or permanent basis and are affixed within your passport. Always talk to your travel consultant to see if you need a visa/s for your holiday. Take the worry and complexity out of getting your travel visas with Toll Visas Direct. In just a few minutes this accurate, easy to use service can help you obtain the correct visa for your travel needs.

Tickets and itinerary

We know it’s a very exciting time when you open up your document wallet, but please take a moment to check over and read your itinerary and tickets carefully. This way, if there is anything that needs an explanation or changes, you can flag them with your travel agent. Particularly, make sure that the airline reference numbers and tour booking numbers are printed on your travel documents and that you can quote them if required. It’s probably best to also leave a photocopy of your documents behind with a relative or friend.

Money / Credit Cards

When travelling, you should carry as little cash on you as possible. The best way to manage your money when travelling is through a Cash Passports or Visa debit card. These cards are not only more economical than using a regular ATM card, but are also very secure.

Make sure you have copies of your Cash Passport/credit card numbers, and take the phone numbers of your financial institutions with you so that you can contact your card issuers quickly in case there is a problem. If you want more information on your options, simply talk to your National Seniors Travel consultant.