continue collecting information for a travel guide

Travelling Without a Passport

Everything Your Tour Guide Wants You to Know Before You Travel

So you’ve booked your trip, taken leave from work and saving hard for your next trip of a lifetime. It’s around this time you’ll start to have many questions about what happens on tour.

Travel to: Europe

During my nine years on the road as a tour guide in Europe, the most important part of any adventure is being prepared, and I have come to believe that having realistic expectations about your trip is one of the most important things you can do to ensure an amazing experience. But how do you know what to expect when it’s your first time on tour?

To help keep your mind at ease, these are the most popular questions that almost every single passenger would ask me on day one of every tour. So, to save you the concern or queries, this is your complete guide featuring everything your tour guide wants you to know before you travel.

Are you ready for a touring adventure of a lifetime?  

What happens if I miss the coach?

People who are generally punctual should never be concerned about missing the coach and it’s important to understand that passengers are never left behind, but sometimes a passenger misses the coach. The truth is, the needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few and if you’re a punctual person, I’m sure you agree.

See Also: Group Tours Vs Solo Travel: Which Travel Style is For You?

If it’s just a trip back to the hotel, simply make your own way via public transit or taxi. If neither are available, ask for help from a local. In the very worst case if you miss a journey from one city to the next, ask the hotel reception for assistance as to how to make your way to meet with the group and contact your tour guide or the tour company to let them know your plans – they’ll be worried about you!

Tip: Set your watch forward by 5 or 10 minutes – it’s much harder to be late this way!

Will I have my tour guide’s phone number?

Some tour companies have a policy that their tour guide must provide a phone number for their guests, but not all of them do. Sometimes, it is also up to the individual tour guide. What we can recommend, is you keep your hotel list with you which is usually provided with your travel documents, or upon joining the tour.

The hotel’s phone number is the best way to get in touch with your tour guide if you find yourself stuck, or you can also call the operator’s emergency phone number or your booking agent in case of emergency.

View this post on Instagram Anyone else with this is what their #Monday looked like? 📸 from @caitlinrussellx A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on Sep 25, 2017 at 10:51am PDT

How do I know where to meet my group at the start of my tour?

This information is shared either on your tour voucher or trip notes. It’s usually in the hotel lobby at 9 am, but if you don’t have this information in your tour documentation, ask at reception upon arrival as your tour guide will usually post a notice in the foyer or leave a note for you at the reception. Also, look out for other travellers also wandering around looking kind of lost because they’re probably going to be joining your tour.

See Also: 5 Tours You Need to Take in Your 20s

When should I arrive in the city where my tour starts?

Some tours begin in the morning, but many will start in the evening. If the tour begins in the morning, you should arrive the day before and stay overnight in, or nearby the tour hotel. If your tour begins in the evening, you can comfortably arrive on the same day – just check the itinerary first.

See Also: How to Save Money on Food at the Airport in Europe

It’s best to look for a flight which arrives around midday, as by the time you get to the hotel, you should be able to check in and most hotels worldwide, will allow check-in around 2 pm. If you arrive earlier and want to explore the city on your own, most hotels will allow their guests to store luggage at the hotel before check-in. If in doubt, just ask.

View this post on Instagram This is our kind of #lunch 👌 Photo from @adventurer.ann A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on Aug 24, 2017 at 10:26am PDT

How will I find my way around in my free time? What if I get lost?

Navigating a foreign city on your own can be daunting, but often results in some of your best travel stories. You have many options to find your way around, including city maps (available at most hotel receptions and tourist info centres for free if not provided by your tour guide), guidebooks, metro maps (found in metro stations) and good old Google maps.

If you don’t have data on your phone, you’ll be happy to know many destinations offer numerous cafes, bars and other public spaces with free Wi-Fi where you can download an offline map. It’s also a good trick to ‘star’ or favourite your hotel, or the coach meeting point and time on your map wither it’s digital, or on paper.

Also, ask for directions. Locals are often very friendly, so even if you don’t speak the language and they don’t speak yours, pointing to a place on the map is a universal language. If you speak English, you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised as to how many people in popular destinations are able to speak a little too if you need it. Simply ask your waiter or a shopkeeper and you’ll be on your way in no time!

Something people also tend to forget, is there are taxis everywhere. If you need to get to the meeting point in a hurry and it’s a bit too far to walk, or you want to head back to the hotel and have had enough of public transit, jump in a taxi and show the driver your map.

View this post on Instagram Some serious #MondayMotivation for everyone today✌️ photo from @_samfrith A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on Jun 19, 2017 at 7:37am PDT

What about laundry?

Depending on the length of your trip, I would always recommend avoiding needing to do laundry while on tour. For small, light items, you might like to hand-wash them during a 2 night stop, or perhaps your hotel has a laundry service, which although usually expensive, is a 24-hour turn-around and very convenient.

Your tour guide may be able to direct you to a laundromat if there is one nearby, but who wants to spend their vacation doing laundry?

See Also: The Biggest Misconceptions About Group Tours

Should I bring cash or cards?

Cash machines are easily found in most locations but check first, what fees your bank is charging you for withdrawals or purchases. It’s always a good idea to have some cash on you, but less is better! Best to check out travel card options where you can withdraw when you want in the local currency

What sort of people will be on the trip?

Lovers of travel, just like you! Some tour groups are open age, others are restricted, for example to youth travel aged 18-39 or exclusively for families with children. Tours are sold globally, so you’ll usually have a good mix of nationalities on your tour, but you’ve likely booked an English language tour, so you’ll probably find the majority of your group come from countries where English is the native language. Tours are popular with solo travellers, but also with groups of friends and also couples.

View this post on Instagram Tag a friend you want to #explore with 🗺 Photo from @lizziepeirce A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on Aug 29, 2017 at 12:32pm PDT

What if I have particular dietary requirements?

Communication is the key when it comes to anything you need while on tour and dietary requirements are no exception. Your booking agent will communicate to the tour operator, any information you’ve outlined at the time of booking so your tour guide should already be aware of your request.

Nonetheless, it’s always best to touch base again with your tour guide on day one when you join the tour. Requirements such as gluten-free, no red meat and vegan are all very common requests and can be easily catered for in most destinations. You can download multi-lingual cards on the internet which you print and keep in your wallet in order to overcome language barriers when you are eating at your restaurant of choice on free nights.

It’s important to note though, dietary requirements are exactly that – restrictions on your diet for health, or religious reasons, covering intolerances, allergies and omissions. Tour guides are generally unable to cater for simple food dislikes. 

What does my tour guide do?

In many destinations these days, in order to walk around a city, explaining monuments to a group, you must be licensed for that particular destination. Many tour operators have a tour guide and driver who facilitate the tour, but your tour guide is different from a local guide. Knowledge and experience will vary from one tour guide to the next, but generally speaking, your tour guide is there to coordinate your tour and to help you enjoy your trip.

Do I need to advise if I have a medical condition?

While your health is somewhat of a personal issue, it’s important your tour guide is aware of any pre-existing medical conditions that might affect your trip. This puts them in the best situation to offer advice or direction should you need medical assistance while on tour, or seek out help in case of emergency.

View this post on Instagram What would your #Pisa photo look like? This one is from @travelbloggeres 🙌 A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on May 16, 2017 at 9:09am PDT

How much time will I spend on the coach?

Naturally, this depends on your itinerary. If you’re curious, you can search the distances on Google maps before your trip which will ensure you’re closer to accurate expectations, but the mere distance you travel is not the only thing to consider when estimating driving times. How long you’re on the coach will also depend on the types of roads you’re on (highways or B roads) and unforeseen circumstances like poor weather or traffic.

Always overestimate when setting your expectations for drive times! In general though, on a typical driving day, you’ll set off from the hotel around 8 am or 9 am and arrive at your destination around 5 pm to check into your hotel. You’ll stop en route for comfort stops every 2-4 hours for a bathroom or food break, and on some days, stop to visit points of interest along the way too.

View this post on Instagram Weekend #goals right here 😎✌️ 📸 from @heyitsjessvalentine #gotouring A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on Apr 27, 2018 at 1:22pm PDT

Is there a toilet on the coach?

Larger coaches are usually equipped with a toilet, but they are generally not the most pleasant of places to go! Your tour driver and tour guide will be making regular stops, so you can always ask how far you are from the next break before you make any decisions!

Are my belongings safe on the coach?

Tour drivers are very proud people and a good driver treats his coach like one of his own offspring. While coaches are always locked while unattended, just like cars, they can be broken into, unfortunately, so it’s not recommended you leave valuables in there for extended periods. If you do choose to do so, you do at your own risk.

View this post on Instagram Guy meets #Gaudi – 📸 from @delafuente___ A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on Jan 8, 2018 at 5:58pm PST

What’s included on my tour?

This information is outlined in your trip notes and also online. It’s important you’re familiar with the inclusions so as not to be surprised while on your tour. Typically, on many group tours, all accommodation and tour transport is included, along with some sightseeing, plus your breakfasts and some evening meals, but lunches are rarely included.

Premium tours may also include certain experiences like a cooking class or performance, but no tour is the same as the next, so it’s always best to familiarise yourself with your particular tour inclusions before setting off. Museum entry fees, shopping, food and drink, plus things like taxi fares, should you choose to do your own thing in a city, will be at your own expense.

I am travelling solo and booked twin share, who will I share my room with?

Most tour companies who offer for solo travellers to be paired with another traveller will pair you with someone of the same gender. The pairing of solo travellers is usually done at random, so remember, communication is important. If for any reason, you are unhappy with your roommate, the best thing to do is to speak confidently with your tour guide. There may or may not be a possibility to swap with someone else, or you may be given the option to pay for a solo room upgrade where available.

It’s important to note that some tours which offer accommodation in multi-bed dorm rooms will offer only mixed gender accommodation.

What should I pack?

Aside from the essentials, like comfortable walking shoes and suitable clothes for the season you’re travelling in, you might also want to pack some smart casual evening wear. My absolute essentials are a phone, phone charger, adapter and wallet and I always double and triple check for my passport. It’s not a bad idea to photocopy your passport and leave a copy in your suitcase, and it’s also wise to have duplicate bank cards, which you should also leave in your suitcase.

See Also: The Perfect Italy Packing List For Summer

It’s also a good idea to wear a watch as you’ll have many meeting times on a tour and also a pen for marking your map. Remember too, that many things like clothes and toiletries can be bought in-destination if you’ve forgotten them, (many better hotels also offer basic toiletries at reception), but if there’s anything you need to buy, your tour guide can tell you where to find them.

Tip: When packing, less is more! Your luggage will be easier to manoeuvre and you’ll have more room for things you’ve bought.

View this post on Instagram When it's finally Friday and you can start planning your next escape! 🙌 – 📸 from @belenhostalet A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on Sep 22, 2017 at 4:00am PDT

Do I have to tip my tour guide and driver?

A gratuity or tip, is, by definition, your choice as a traveller and while unusual in some cultures, it’s common practice in many cultures and within the tourism world. Usually, the tipping etiquette for your particular tour will be covered in your tour documentation, but it’s always up to you. Giving a tip is an opportunity to express gratitude to your tour guide and driver for a job well done.

View this post on Instagram Anyone else wish they were in #Greece right now? – 📸 from @wander_pip A post shared by TourRadar (@tourradar) on Oct 4, 2017 at 1:55pm PDT

A final word: as told by a tour guide

Travel truly is a delight for the senses. Taking in new sights, sounds, foreign cultures and foods day in, day out is always going to be a step away from your day to day back home and often makes for a good night sleep at the end of the day. Take the time to slow down while on tour, to stop for a coffee and watch the world go by and to take a breather. Drink water too, active people need nourishment!

Most of all, be open-minded and considerate of others. It’s impossible that everything always goes to plan, but this is the joy of not only travel but life too and where the best stories come from! Be patient and teach yourself how to say ‘oh well’ when things are not within your control. After all, holidays are for relaxing!

Finally settled down in Vienna after 9 years of leading tours in Europe, Leona first joined TourRadar in 2016. She speaks four languages and enjoys cooking authentic traditional recipes, walking in the hills around Vienna and arranging beer coasters so they're all facing the same way.

Related Articles

• Food & Drink

Your Guide to Amsterdam’s Secret Bars and Speakeasies

One of the most popular cities in Europe, Amsterdam has no...

• Tips & Tricks

Best Destinations for People with Disabilities

The world and its wonders should be available to one and...

The Seven Most Scenic Train Rides in Europe

Forget planes, buses or automobiles: 2024 is the year of the...

The Essential Kilimanjaro Packing List

Get unlimited access to the world's best travel stories. subscribe now., privacy overview.

5 Travel Essentials You Need to Prepare for Group Travel

• The 5 Best Essential Oils For Traveling Overseas
• 6 Common Passport Mistakes You Can Easily Avoid

If you’re planning a group trip, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re the group leader for a high school band trip or the organizer for voluntary hurricane relief efforts, you’ll need to collect these travel documents. These are the most critical travel essentials you must get from travelers to best plan a group trip and book group flights. You may want to bookmark this page for later!

1. Basic Travel and Passport Information for Group Flights

Booking group flights may be the most challenging part of organizing group travel. With numerous details and deadlines to juggle, it’s easy to get lost or stuck at any point in the booking process if you don’t have the necessary information handy. Before booking a flight for someone else , make sure you have the following information for each traveler before attempting to book group flights:

• Legal name (as written on passport)
• Home country
• Passport number (if passengers are unable to provide after purchase)*
• Passport expiration date*
• Date of birth
• Email address (to receive a virtual ticket)
• Travel dates
• Confirmation numbers

*Required for international flights

Pro tip: Want to save time and a headache with booking group flights? A travel expert like Fly For Good  can seriously help!

2. Travel Document Copies

As the trip leader, you should keep copies of your group travel participant’s essential travel documents , or encourage them to keep copies with them. Critical travel documents you should copy include your

• Government ID (license)
• Medication prescriptions
• Credit cards

If any of these become lost, stolen, or damaged, it may become difficult to continue with your travelers. Better to be prepared!

Pro tip:  Bookmark this page so you’ll know how to  replace a lost or stolen passport quickly .

3. Critical Medical Information

Does one of your travelers have a deadly allergy to shellfish? What about sleep apnea? Asthma? Knowing your traveler’s critical, medical information before a trip will come in handy and help you better prepare for travel. To keep track of every traveler’s medical information, consider asking everyone to fill out this  medical form for you. Critical medical information to collect includes:

• Allergies to medications
• Past major medical procedures
• Chronic health conditions

Pro tip: If your host country speaks another language, keep a second copy of your medical information in the local language.

4. Dietary Needs

Although this could fit under critical medical information, it’s worth giving nutritional needs its own section. By knowing your traveler’s food allergies, you can better prepare for travel. For example, if one of your travelers has a gluten allergy, you can call ahead on most planes to ensure a gluten-free option is available on the meal kart when it comes around. Otherwise, they may get stuck on a 7 -hour plane ride with nothing to eat. Yikes–you don’t want that to happen!

Pro tip: Is someone in your travel group gluten free? Check out the Gluten Free Travel Survival Guide .

5. Emergency Contact Information

The trip leader should collect emergency contact information for each traveler, which includes contact information for:

• Family back home
• Banking services
• Primary health insurance
• 24/7 travel assistance (from travel insurance provider)
• Nearest US Embassy during travels

Pro tip:  Distribute the emergency contact information each traveler would need on a pocket-sized card like this one .

Group Travel with Minors

Are you leading a group of teens–without their parents? Then you need to collect parental permission and medical authorization from their parents with a legal guardian’s signature.

Parental Permission Forms should include:

• Minor’s name, birthplace, and passport information
• Parental signature
• Legal guardian’s contact information
• Allergy and special needs

Medical Consent Forms should include:

• Minor’s legal name and birthplace
• Authorized medical treatments
• General health information about the teen
• Identity of the responsible person during travel (i.e., trip leader)
• Primary health insurance information

Gathering this information is especially important if you’re bringing teens outside the country. Without the necessary documents, you may find yourself in a sticky situation with airport security.

Pro tip: Make sure you check each airline’s policies on purchasing airline tickets for minors, as required information may vary.

The most important thing you can get for group travel is travel insurance . With Volunteer Card’s innovative group tool , purchasing for groups is easy!

About Juan Cruz

Related articles.

• 5 Creative Team-Building Ideas for Trip Leaders

Daring to Eat Authentic: Without Getting Sick

10 Tips to Minimize the Risk of Losing Your Luggage

How to Help Refugees with Volunteer Travel Insurance

Manage your trip.

• What Is Travel Insurance?
• File A Claim
• Compare Plans
• Purchase Travel Insurance
• About The Card
• About Our Company

RECENT BLOG POSTS

• How to Prevent 4 Common Traveler Illnesses
• How to Make the Most of An Unexpected Trip Delay
• 6 Most Inspiring Companies That Give Back When You Buy
• 5 Travel Hacks for Packing Toiletries

Discover story-worthy travel moments

Where to next.

Best in travel 2024

Travel stories and news, explore our latest stories.

May 2, 2024 • 5 min read

Visit historic towns, castles and palaces, plus epic mountains and remote beaches on these top touring routes through Germany.

May 2, 2024 • 9 min read

May 2, 2024 • 8 min read

May 2, 2024 • 6 min read

May 1, 2024 • 9 min read

May 1, 2024 • 12 min read

May 1, 2024 • 6 min read

May 1, 2024 • 7 min read

Apr 30, 2024 • 6 min read

Apr 30, 2024 • 7 min read

Apr 30, 2024 • 4 min read

shop our books

Our guidebooks & travel books

Whether you’re interested in traveling to a new city, going on a cruise, or cooking a new dish — we’re committed to inspiring you to experience travel in a whole new way. Lonely Planet’s collection of 825+ travel and guidebooks is sure to inspire the traveler within.

#lonelyplanet

Follow lonely planet:.

Plan, Ready, Go®

The Best Travel Guides (Online and Books)

Even in the digital age, travel guide books are an important part of my travel planning journey. I have read and tried many different travel books and online travel guides. And I pulled together a list of what I think are the best travel guides (books and online resources). 

I return to my favorite travel guides again and again with each trip that we plan. Once you find a travel guide series that you know and trust, it can really speed up the travel planning process.  

But which travel guides are the best? Keep reading for the full list!  

Need help with planning your trip? Check out our guide to the best travel planning resources .  

This post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  See disclaimer.

Are travel guidebooks still used now? 

Absolutely! Although you can find a wealth of travel planning help online, the good old-fashioned travel guidebooks are still very much available and in use. 

Some people prefer to use paper travel guidebooks. You can flag important sections and highlight things you want to remember. We’ve even ripped our books up (they’re meant to be used!) and traveled only with the sections covering the cities and sites we visited. 

E-books are also a great option for travel guides. If you use e-books, you can easily travel with several guides without adding a single ounce to your luggage. It’s a perfect option for those who travel carry-on only .

Rick Steves: best travel guides for Europe 

Rick steves guidebooks .

Some seasoned travelers look down their noses a bit at Rick Steves guide books . There’s no reason for that. Rick Steves knows Europe inside and out from decades of traveling, leading tours, writing books, and producing episodes of his wonderful series  Rick Steves’ Europe.  

Rick Steves books are excellent guides and well worth the money. I highly recommend them, especially for travel planning beginners or for anxious travelers who are looking for an expert to tell them where to visit and how. 

His books are kept up to date and quite detailed, even to the point of including full guided walking tours (often several) and detailed guided tours through major sites. 

• Steves, Rick (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 604 Pages – 09/06/2022 (Publication Date) – Rick Steves (Publisher)

Rick Steves online 

You can also get a lot of good free travel tips and help on the Rick Steves website, including the forums . There are forums specifically for countries, reviews, and several forums about general travel tips topics. 

They’re a great way to get insight and tips from other experienced travelers…even those who disagree with Rick Steves itinerary suggestions. (Shocked face.)

Rick Steves Audio Europe Travel App 

I also highly recommend the Rick Steves Audio Europe Travel App . It’s loaded with audio guides for walking tours and top travel destination sites like the Colosseum in Rome and The Louvre Museum in Paris.  

Download the audio tours for your destination so you can listen to them on your mobile device as you explore your destination. 

Rough Guides: my favorite travel guidebooks overall 

Super practical and easy to read, Rough Guides are my top choice for any destination that isn’t in Europe (for which I prefer Rick Steves guide books ). 

The UK-based company was founded in 1982 with the  Rough Guide to Greece . Since then, they have published travel guidebooks for well over 100 destinations all over the world. 

In addition to their main guidebook series, they also offer Pocket Rough Guides, On a Budget, Snapshots, phrasebooks, and inspirational guides like “Make the Most of Your Time on Earth.” 

• Guides, Rough (Author)
• 840 Pages – 10/18/2022 (Publication Date) – Rough Guides (Publisher)

Rough Guides website 

Rough Guides isn’t just a guidebook publisher though. Since 2017 they have offered tailor-made trips to over 70 destinations. created by local travel experts. 

Their website provides some basic itineraries, travel recommendations, and basic destination information for free that can help get you started on planning your travel itinerary . 

Fodor’s 

The great travel writer Eugene Fodor once said “You don’t need to be rich to travel well.” And that’s been kind of my mantra for the last several years. 

In 1936 Fodor wrote the first modern travel guide book . It was for British audiences and he wrote all 1200 pages himself. The book was O n the Continent: An Entertaining Travel Annual .

According to Fodors.com , “The guide went beyond reporting on the sights and for the first time included information about Europe’s culture and people, practical information like how to tip, and was the first to be annually updated.” 

Since  On the Continent  was first published, Fodor’s has been a trusted name in travel guides. They now claim that their travel writers have covered more than 8,000 destinations around the world . 

In addition to the Signature Guides, their other series include Fodor’s Inside, In Focus, and 25 Best. Fodor’s says that  Fodor’s   Italy  is the company’s top-selling guide book. 

• Fodor’s Travel Guides (Author)
• 896 Pages – 12/20/2022 (Publication Date) – Fodor’s Travel (Publisher)

Fodor’s website 

Fodors.com was one of the first travel websites when it launched in 1996 . Today the site offers destination guides, general travel content, and forums about specific destinations or general travel topics such as air travel. 

Frommer’s 

The venerated Frommer’s travel guides were launched by Arthur Frommer in 1957 with a guide to visiting Europe on $5 a day (yup. $5.). That guide followed his book about how to travel Europe as a GI (Frommer was in the Army at the time). 

Frommer’s quickly grew to become one of the most trusted names in travel guidebooks. 

Several years ago, Frommer’s was acquired by Google, which pulled the plug on their print books in the spring of 2013.

Arthur Frommer reacquired the company shortly thereafter and then quickly made a deal to get the books back in distribution. Frommer’s then started emphasizing their Easy Guides and Day by Day series, which were smaller and easier to read and carry than the typical large guidebooks they saw on the market. 

• Gordon, Yvonne (Author)
• 602 Pages – 08/23/2022 (Publication Date) – FrommerMedia (Publisher)

Frommer’s website 

Frommers.com is a fine place to start planning for a trip for free. Destination information includes city layouts, how to get around, and their top picks for hotels and dining. 

They also provide other general travel content and feature articles plus trip ideas for honeymoons, arts and cultural travel, national parks, family travel, road trips, and more. 

The Frommer’s Travel Show (podcast) 

Pauline Frommer, daughter of Frommer’s founder Arthur Frommer, hosts The Frommer’s Travel Show podcast . New episodes come out approximately once per week or several times a month. 

Bradt Guides 

Known for publishing guides for lesser-traveled destinations (though certainly not less deserving), Bradt bills itself as “the world’s leading independent travel publisher.”  

Bradt guides are the go-to for destinations not covered by other publishers. They say that “over two-thirds of Bradt guides still have no direct competition from other publishers.” 

The Bradts’ first book,  Backpacking Along Ancient Ways Peru & Bolivia , was the first to detail the Inca Trail.

Later they became known for writing guides to destinations “post-conflict.” These included Rwanda, Kosovo, and the Baltic States after the fall of the Iron Curtain. 

In addition to their destination guidebooks, Bradt also publishes a Slow Travel series of UK destinations, a Wildlife series, and general travel literature. 

• McIntyre, Chris (Author)
• 456 Pages – 06/01/2022 (Publication Date) – Bradt Travel Guides (Publisher)

Bradt Guides Travel Club 

Avid travelers can support Bradt by joining their Travel Club through Patreon. There are three tiers: Bradtpacker, Globetrotter, and First-Class Traveller. Each tier offers differing levels of subscriber benefits including things like e-books and access to their bespoke travel planning service. 

Lonely Planet  

Lonely Planet books for a long time were quite popular especially with younger backpackers looking to travel on a budget. The books can be light on the details that certain travelers (beginners, anxious travelers) might wish for when making good decisions about where to spend their travel dollars. 

Lonely Planet books are good for independent and adventurous travelers . Or for those who just want some recommendations but not a prescribed itinerary with a ton of detail.  

In addition to their popular guidebooks, Lonely Planet also publishes phrasebooks, general travel books, food books, and children’s books. 

• Mayhew, Bradley (Author)
• 288 Pages – 03/16/2021 (Publication Date) – Lonely Planet (Publisher)

Lonely Planet website  

You can get some basic, inspirational travel information to start your travel planning from the Lonely Planet website . Sadly, they set their forums to “read-only” some time ago. In my opinion, the forums were the best (and most valuable) part of the website. 

Marco Polo 

Marco Polo is best known for its compact and colorful pocket travel guides. They also offer spiral-bound itinerary-based guides, phrasebooks, folding maps, travel handbooks, travel journals, city maps, and road atlases. 

• Marco Polo Travel Publishing Marco Polo Travel Publishing (Author)
• 136 Pages – 10/15/2022 (Publication Date) – Marco Polo Travel Publishing, Ltd. (Publisher)

Marco Polo Discovery Tours App 

The free Marco Polo Discovery Tours app offers travelers a variety of guided itineraries through many destinations. For example, you can download a 23-day driving tour of New Zealand with a step-by-step driving tour over both islands. 

DK Eyewitness: among best travel books for visuals 

I enjoy reading DK Eyewitness guides, especially when I’m looking for information about the history and culture of my destination.  The glossy full-color books feature beautiful photographs and illustrations perfect for inspiring your travel itinerary. They cover more than 100 destinations. 

DK was founded in 1974 by Christopher Dorling and Peter Kindersley. They published their first travel book in the early 1990’s promising to show you “what others only tell you.”

They also cover all the usual grounds for travel guidebooks: itineraries, maps, dining and accommodations recommendations, top sites, etc. 

• DK Eyewitness (Author)
• 592 Pages – 04/26/2022 (Publication Date) – DK Eyewitness Travel (Publisher)

Where to Go podcast 

Produced by the team behind the DK Eyewitness books, each episode of the Where to Go podcast dives deep into a particular destination. New episodes come out every two weeks or so. 

Insight Guides 

For more than 40 years, Insight Guides have published guidebooks covering more than 200 destinations. 

In my experience, they’re quite a bit heavier on destination history and culture than any other travel guide I’ve encountered. So, if that’s not something you enjoy, then these guidebooks might not be your top choice. 

Insight Guides series include: Explore Guides, City Breaks, Pocket Guides, City Guides, and Experience Guides. 

• Guides, Insight (Author)
• 144 Pages – 04/01/2018 (Publication Date) – Insight Guides (Publisher)

Insight Guides website

You will find some travel information on the Insight Guides website , making it a decent place to start if you’re unsure of your destination.

The emphasis of their website seems to be on advertising their Insight Guides trip offerings…not that there’s anything wrong with that. 

Atlas Obscura 

Atlas obscura book .

Unlike all of the other travel guidebooks listed above, Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders is not a series of guidebooks but rather one book that details an incredible array of oddities and wonders around the world. 

Here’s how the authors describe their book and website (more on that below): 

“The site, and this book, are a kind of wunderkammer of places, a cabinet of curiosities that is meant to inspire wonderlust as much as wanderlust. In fact, many of the places in this book are in no way ‘tourist sites’ and should not be treated as such. Others are so out of the way, so treacherously situated, or (in at least one case) so deep beneath the surface, that few readers will ever be able to visit them. But here they are, sharing this marvelously strange planet with us.  Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras & Ella Morton,  Atlas Obscura , revised second edition, (New York: Workman Publishing, 2019) vii

The revised second edition (published in 2019) added more than 100 new sites to the 2016 first edition. The book is delightful reading if you’re into oddities around the world. I definitely recommend picking up a copy. 

• Hardcover Book
• Foer, Joshua (Author)

Atlas Obscura website 

Make sure you stop by the Atlas Obscura website  during your travel planning if you like finding out-of-the-way sites, or unusual places to visit, or want to make it a priority to get off the beaten path. 

You can even take Atlas Obscura trips to some pretty unusual places and even with some unusual activities…such as assisting biologists with bee research at Redwood National Park. 

Atlas Obscura podcast 

Atlas Obscura launched a podcast in March 2021, which I’ve really enjoyed listening to. Early episodes covered sites such as the Gates of Hell in Turkmenistan, the Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts, and the old Widow Jane cement mine in Rosendale, New York. 

Final thoughts on the best travel guidebooks 

The best travel guides will be the ones that you use and that help you plan a trip that you truly love. I personally like to use a combination of travel guidebooks and online travel planning resources. 

But don’t just follow my advice. Try these guidebook series and online travel guides for yourself and find the ones that you will like and use for your trip planning. 

What are your favorite travel guidebooks?

More articles related to travel guides 

• Travel planning resources  
• The top books about travel and self-discovery 
• Best books to read before you travel to Paris  
• The best books about the South 

Pin this post!  

Darcy Vierow is a busy professional and travel planning expert with years of experience maximizing travel with limited time and on a less-than-average salary. Her tips have been published by Forbes, MSN.com, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, Aol, Newsbreak and GOBankingRates. Read more about Darcy Vierow .

Michelin guides (the green books) are great!

I used to use the “Let’s Go: Europe” guides, which were great. They were targeting college age students mostly, but they had lots of good information re: trip planning for everyone.

Which guidebooks (and/or websites) are best for planning train/plane travel while in Europe? Any standouts?

Thanks for your very helpful information!

You’re welcome, Wayne. The Man in Seat 61 is THE expert in European train travel. His website is: https://www.seat61.com/ . He’s also pretty active on Twitter. I’d also recommend checking out https://www.rome2rio.com/ for helping with planning transportation for any trip. Thanks for reading!

My family had a great time in Paris. We had a wonderful time there and enjoyed the culture of the region. The nightlife was fantastic, and the city’s elegance is indescribable. We are in love with the place and explore so many places like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, Louvre Museum, Cruise on the Seine, etc. After reading your blog I would like to revisit there.

Oh, I’m so glad you enjoyed your trip. Thanks for reading!

Amazing! I know nothing about traveling all over the country, what a wonderful looking place to explore.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. *

Privacy Overview

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

A local’s travel guide to Austin: what to eat, see and do in three days

Standout spots include food truck parks, honky-tonk hangouts and Lady Bird’s wildflower sanctuary

A ustin has become one of the most popular places in the US to move to, and also to visit. Droves of people descend on the city in March for the South by Southwest tech, film and music festival and in the fall for the Austin City Limits music festival. And Austin is one of the top five destinations in the US for bachelorette parties. Don’t let the bachelorettes scare you away, though. Austin is a great place to spend a few days, so long as you do it like a local.

My family and I moved to Austin 12 years ago, after living in New York for many years. I’ve also lived in Washington DC , the San Francisco Bay Area and Philadelphia. Austin has a feel all of its own: it has a world-class music scene, great food that now goes well beyond Tex-Mex and barbecue, Texas history and fun shopping and museums – all with less hassle than bigger cities in the US.

Here’s my guide to a long weekend there. In addition to picks for adults, I’ve included some recommendations for families that our kids (now teenagers) have loved through the years. And I’m vegetarian, so I’ve chosen some of the city’s best veggie eats options. Don’t worry, my meat-eating wife made sure that I included great barbecue choices, too.

Day 1: Pool party & pickles

Start your day with a walk or run on the trail at Town Lake (it’s officially labeled on maps as Lady Bird Lake, but locals refer to it as Town Lake). This 10-mile (16km) trail on both sides of a dammed portion of Texas’s Colorado River (a different Colorado River than the bigger and more famous one) is tree-shaded, beautiful and one of Austinites’ favorite places to exercise. If you have time, walk through Zilker Park, which is right next to the trail. If you have kids, go to the new and very fun playground at Butler Park, complete with a splash pad just up the path from the playground.

Austin was one of the cities that started the food truck scene in the US several decades ago, and now there are more than 2,000 food trucks in the city. Some are located in trailer parks that have multiple truck options and picnic table seating. After your morning at Town Lake and Zilker Park, have lunch at the Picnic food truck park, or the nearby original location of local favorite Chuy’s (the Tex-Mex chain is now expanding throughout the US). Other great lunch options include Green Mesquite and Carpenters Hall .

In the afternoon, go for a swim at Barton Springs Pool . Open year-round, this massive basin measures three acres and is fed by underground natural springs. It’s open throughout the day, and it’s free before 8am and after 9pm.

Head back to your hotel or Airbnb for a rest, and then get ready for dinner. Tonight is casual: barbecue at Terry Black’s , or if you’re vegan, the food truck Rollin Smoke for a fantastic vegan barbecue sandwich made with baby portobello mushrooms, spicy slaw, barbecue sauce and pickles. It’s my favorite vegan barbecue sandwich in Austin (who says you can’t have barbecue if you’re veggie?), and it’s located in a food truck park with beautiful old trees shading the tables. Rollin Smoke has very good meat options, too (I’m told).

If you have young children, head to Phil’s Icehouse . They have burgers and a full playground where the kids can play before or after dinner. Just don’t put them on the spinning flower after the meal. And be sure to get some ice-cream after dinner at Amy’s Ice Creams , a longtime favorite of Austinites. Amy’s is located next to Phil’s, and it’s so good we had an Amy’s truck serve dessert at our wedding.

After dinner, head out to see some music at one of Austin’s many local music venues. One of our favorites is the Continental Club . There’s a main club downstairs and the intimate Continental Gallery upstairs, where you can see local musicians in a cozy space. Other great venues include C-Boy’s and the new Moody Amphitheater . For full local music listings on any night, check the Austin Chronicle . And if it’s summer, look to see if Blues on the Green has a free concert that night. If you have kids, take them to the free Rock the Park concert series, produced by local radio station KUTX.

Day 2: Breakfast tacos, books & bats

Start your day back at the lake with a rowing workout that’s almost, but not quite, on the lake. Rō Fitness is a local studio that has outdoor rowing classes by the water. It’s way more fun than working out at an indoor studio.

You’ll need fuel after your workout. Grab a breakfast taco at Veracruz or Tacodeli or Tamale House East . Breakfast tacos are an Austin staple (they are to Austin as bagels are to New York), and all three of these places have delicious options.

Today is a shopping day. Start out at BookPeople , one of the greatest bookstores in the US. It’s locally owned and independent, but the size of a superstore. BookPeople also dares to take a stand on issues, including being one of two bookstores that recently sued Texas state officials over a newly passed book ban law. It has an excellent kids section, and organizes live readings by kids’ authors.

After you’ve gotten your book fix, head across the street to Waterloo Records , one of the best record stores in the US. Waterloo carries new and used vinyl, CDs and merchandise from rock to jazz to local Texas music. For more shopping options, head over to the stores along South Congress Avenue and South First Street (including Roadhouse Relics , a neon art store and gallery that is one of our favorites), and if you want to go thrifting, our teens say Austin Pets Alive Thrift and Texas Thrift are the best.

After all of the shopping, it’s time for lunch. If you’re near BookPeople and Waterloo, head over to Soup Peddler, a local place for homemade soups, smoothies and fantastic grilled cheese sandwiches (trivia: Soup Peddler got its name because the founder started out delivering homemade soup by bike before opening full store locations). Or if you’re near South Congress and South First, go to the food trucks on South First or Underdog or Fresa’s .

As you’re heading back to rest up, grab an ice-cream at Amy’s, a gelato at Dolce Neve or cupcakes at Sugar Mama’s .

Some good dinner options for tonight include Loro , Suerte or Este . And if you’re looking for a vegetarian option, one of my favorite veggie restaurants is Bouldin Creek Cafe . It’s casual, with a great menu that includes vegan chips and queso. If it’s nice out, take a seat on the patio.

Tonight’s activity could be going to see the bats at the Congress Street Bridge. Austin has the largest urban bat colony in North America, and in season they live in one of the bridges that crosses the Colorado River (they migrate to Mexico in the cooler weather). Bat-watching is a lot more fun than you might imagine from horror movies (and these bats look more like birds than vampire bats). If you’re not in the mood for bats, head to the legendary Broken Spoke . Get there early for dance lessons, then hoof it at this classic Texas honky-tonk.

Day 3: Live oaks & Lady Bird wildflowers

It’s your last day in Austin, and it’s a good one for visiting a museum. Some of our favorites include the Bullock Museum to learn all about the history of our state (bonus fact: Texas was once its own country , and some people want it to be its own country again ). If you’re a fan of 1960s history, visit the excellent LBJ Presidential Library , which is the home of the 36th president’s papers. It has good exhibits on the US civil rights movement and 1960s US history in general. Another excellent museum option is the Blanton Museum of Art , or you could tour the Texas capitol (Austin is, after all, the capital of Texas). If you’re a nature fan, head to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center . And if you have kids, the Thinkery is an excellent children’s museum.

For lunch, it’s time for more barbecue (you’re in Austin, don’t fight it). Two terrific barbecue trucks are Mickelthwait and LeRoy and Lewis . And LeRoy and Lewis has another of my favorite vegetarian barbecue options: cauliflower burnt ends.

In the afternoon, head back to Town Lake. This time, get out on the water by renting a kayak, stand up paddleboard or paddle boat (a kid-friendly option). If you have time and energy for a drink, head over to the ABGB for happy hour. They have a great beer selection, lots of outdoor seating and local bands playing music.

For your farewell dinner, a few of our favorite restaurants that are a bit on the fancier end are Hestia , Uchi or the Lenoir wine garden, where dinner is served under live oak trees more than a hundred years old. And for a fantastic vegan option, go to Fabrik for a seven-course vegan tasting menu. You’ll need a reservation well in advance (they’re currently booking four to six weeks out). And for your final night in Austin, head out to another music venue. Or if you have kids, take them to the Austin favorite Peter Pan Mini Golf , which has been around for 75 years, or check Do512 Family for family events that are happening the dates you’re in town.

Question Time

When is the best time of year to visit austin.

There’s no dispute: it’s hot in the summer in Austin . A great time to visit is between October and May. From June through September, many days will be over 100F. If you’re here in the summer, spend lots of time at the Barton Springs pool.

Is Austin expensive?

Austin hotels can be expensive during big events like South by Southwest or the Formula One weekend. But for most dates, it’s less expensive than larger cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Will I need a car to get around Austin?

Most of the places that I’ve recommended are within walking distance from downtown. You can also rent bikes and scooters to get around. Austin’s public transportation is primarily through local buses, which can take you further out if needed. And car-share options are easy as well.

Steve Sachs is managing director of the Guardian US. He has worked at large and startup media companies for more than 20 years. He loves all kinds of music, and his most recent favorite concert, the Texas Songwriters Hall of Fame Show, featured a host of singer-songwriters including Lyle Lovett and Emmylou Harris

• Hometown tour

Most viewed

Ad-free. Influence-free. Powered by consumers.

The payment for your account couldn't be processed or you've canceled your account with us.

We don’t recognize that sign in. Your username maybe be your email address. Passwords are 6-20 characters with at least one number and letter.

We still don’t recognize that sign in. Retrieve your username. Reset your password.

Forgot your username or password ?

Don’t have an account?

• Account Settings
• My Benefits
• My Products
• Donate Donate

Save products you love, products you own and much more!

Other Membership Benefits:

Suggested Searches

• Become a Member

Car Ratings & Reviews

2024 Top Picks

Car Buying & Pricing

Which Car Brands Make the Best Vehicles?

Tires, Maintenance & Repair

Car Reliability Guide

Key Topics & News

Listen to the Talking Cars Podcast

Home & Garden

Bed & Bath

Top Picks From CR

Best Mattresses

Lawn & Garden

TOP PICKS FROM CR

Best Lawn Mowers and Tractors

Home Improvement

Home Improvement Essential

Best Wood Stains

Home Safety & Security

HOME SAFETY

Best DIY Home Security Systems

REPAIR OR REPLACE?

What to Do With a Broken Appliance

Small Appliances

Best Small Kitchen Appliances

Laundry & Cleaning

Best Washing Machines

Heating, Cooling & Air

Most Reliable Central Air-Conditioning Systems

Electronics

Home Entertainment

FIND YOUR NEW TV

Home Office

Cheapest Printers for Ink Costs

Smartphones & Wearables

BEST SMARTPHONES

Find the Right Phone for You

Digital Security & Privacy

MEMBER BENEFIT

CR Security Planner

Take Action

COVID-19 Travel Guide: How to Prepare for Your Trip

The pandemic is worsening again, so here's a checklist to help you deal with the unexpected

Once again, COVID-19 has made travel planning a lot more complicated.

As the coronavirus Delta variant triggers fresh outbreaks around the globe, many destinations are imposing new restrictions. In New York City, for example, people will soon need proof of vaccination to enter many indoor facilities, including restaurants and gyms.

If you’re headed overseas, the requirements are also in flux. The Centers for Disease Control recently added 16 countries to the list of “very high” COVID-19 risk destinations.

Meanwhile, airlines, hotels and rental agencies continue to face shortages of staff and other resources. That means you are likely to face schedule changes, delays, and other headaches, says Charlie Leocha, president of Travelers United, a consumer advocacy group.

If you do find your flight or other bookings are canceled, there are a number of remedies to pursue (see below). But above all, be prepared for hassles. This checklist can help.

3 Days Before

• Reconfirm your reservations. This should include those for airlines, car rentals, hotel, tours, and restaurants.

• Recheck digital tools. Make sure you can log in to travel provider apps and other navigation and destination tools. Add any missing customer service phone contacts.

• Sign up for travel provider alerts. This way you’ll get immediate information on changes.

 • Give credit card issuers your contact info. Your charges might be flagged while you’re traveling.

The Day Before

• Check in online. Doing this 24 hours before departure can help you skip ticket counter lines.

• Print your boarding pass. It’s wise to have a backup for your digital pass. If you have TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, and it’s not indicated on your boarding pass, call the airline, or go online, and provide your Known Traveler Number.

• Gather documents. Put your passport, driver’s license, boarding pass, and vaccine record in a folder or large envelope so that they’re together.

• Scroll key websites. Check the CDC, State Department, and destination websites for any news, such as COVID-19 restrictions, that might affect your travel plans.

• Pack only TSA-approved items. The checklist on the TSA website can guide you. If you can, stick with a single carry-on to minimize waits at check-in or the risk of lost luggage.

En Route to the Airport

• Scan your phone. Look for alerts, such as notifications about gate changes or flight delays.

• Have travel documents handy. Make sure they’re easy to access.

• Give a heads-up. Let friends and family members at your destination know that you’re on the way.

If You Run Into Problems

• Be polite and persistent. Customer reps will be more likely to help you.

• If your flight is delayed or canceled, call the airline or use its app, even if you’re in line for a gate agent. This may let your reschedule your flight faster.

• If the hotel or car rental agency cancels or loses your reservation, ask the manager to provide a substitute, or even an upgrade. Or check other options—a vacation rental or a room in another hotel, for example.

• Ask for a refund. If the services are not available, request your money back, or a credit or voucher.

Penelope Wang

I cover everything from retirement planning to taxes to college saving. My goal is to help people improve their finances, so they have less stress and more freedom. What I enjoy: walks through the city, time with family, and reading mysteries, though I rarely guess who did it.

Sharing is Nice

We respect your privacy . All email addresses you provide will be used just for sending this story.

Trending in COVID-19

Should You Get a Flu Shot After Getting the Flu?

How to Prove You're Vaccinated for COVID-19

Should You Take Zinc for a Cold?

Cleaning Secrets for Every Room

Travel Blogger Academy

Write. Travel. Get Paid for Both.

The Essential Guide to Newsletters (And Why Every Travel Blog Needs One)

Email Tips © by Ron Mader

Nothing sexy here…

No flashy “Web 2.0” gimmicks or other such strangeness.

Instead, we’re going to focus on the oh-so- un sexy (but EXTREMELY effective) newsletter.

Yes, email .

Now you might be wondering… Why a travel newsletter? Why not Twitter? Or  Facebook?

Listen closely.

Because in this post you will learn:

• How to get started (including my favorite service to use)
• What types of content/style works best
• How people are building seven and eight figure businesses with email
• Five simple reasons email crushes social media
• Why travel is the perfect market for this model (and how to get started)
• How to convince readers to sign up - without being annoying
• The two simple factors in growing your readership
• Extremely smart (and PROFITABLE) ways to monetize

Ready? Then let’s roll…

First, what is a travel newsletter?

A newsletter - sometimes called an “autoresponder” - allows you to email subscribers whenever you want.

There are two kinds of emails you can send:

• Broadcast emails: these are sent out to your subscribers only once. Broadcasts are great for announcing new blog posts, “breaking” news and any other timely events.
• Follow up emails: these are set in an automatic sequence that can run forever. For example, you can write 20 emails and have them go out every three days on autopilot.  Follow up emails, done correctly, are the bread and butter of your business.

Why travel blogs are PERFECT for newsletters

People love travel, right? And they’re  always  interested in seeing pictures.

Now here’s the thing:  travel blogs thrive on beautiful imagery … so why not send these to your subscribers via email?

Gary Arndt uses his collection of photos as an incentive to get people to subscribe (and I’ll bet it works like Gangbusters).

When you visit  Gary’s site  you’ll see this:

Right upfront, Gary asks you to join him by email (social channels are also available, though less visible) and offers a strong incentive as to why you should.

Pretty… freakin’… sweet.

Pro tip:  Ask for just an email address (no name). It usually boosts signups.

email © by Sean MacEntee

5 Unsexy (But True) Reasons You Need An Email Newsletter

#1. Newsletters are PROACTIVE.

When people subscribe to your travel newsletter, they’re welcoming you into their inbox… and that’s a very, very personal space. Sure, you could hope people come back to your blog, but you GREATLY increase your chances by sending them an email every now and then.

#2. Newsletters are SCALABLE.

Ask yourself: when was the last time a Tweet delivered traffic to your blog six months after it got posted? Probably never, right? Yet I’ve got a newsletter which still delivers traffic to tens of thousands of people… even though it’s over five years old.

#3. Newsletters build RELATIONSHIPS.

The free Travel Blogging 101 course here is delivered in 24 emails, each of which is a blog post in itself. These emails help provide value to my subscribers in an awesome way.

#4. Newsletters feed social media (not the other way around).

OK, there are exceptions. Caz & Craig recently broke TWO MILLION followers on Pinterest (congrats guys!). Vagabondish has over 120K Twitter followers.

But you know what?

The money is still in the list. You simply create valuable content, set it to “drip feed” out for every new subscriber and continue building the relationship.

Social media, on the other hand is a one-off shot. How many Tweets from six months ago still send you traffic? Yet I have newsletters that continue to send traffic for up to five years .

Social media gets people to your site. Your newsletter keeps them coming back. [Tweet this!]

#5. Newsletters are PROFITABLE. You can sell valuable products/services to your subscribers… or charge premium rates for advertisers. (We’ll get to this a bit later.)

In summary: newsletters allow you to build your audience at scale, provide immense value, increase traffic (by sending subscribers to your blog), fuel social media and help you monetize your blog.

© by opensourceway

3 Common travel newsletter mistakes

The following are common mistakes for people just starting out with newsletters:

#1. Start without a plan. Newsletters - much like travel blogs - need to have a focus. Additionally, each email should build on the one before it and “tease” the reader about to expect in the next one.

#2. Treat your readers like scum.  Of course you wouldn’t do this… but… a lot of people treat their subscribers like their own personal ATM machine.

Your subscribers are the most important part of your audience . They - unlike casual readers - know, like and trust you enough to give their email address.

Don’t abuse this!

Instead, give them your BEST. For example, subscribers to my free Travel Blogging 101 course get 24 private blog posts .

Not just emails, mind you… full length blog posts (more on this a bit later). They also receive access to private videos, blog critiques  and a whole bunch of other good stuff.

This is MUCH better than overloading them with sales pitches, ads and affiliate schemes.

(*Note: nothing wrong with selling products or ads… just don’t overdo it!).

#3. Rely on RSS feeds. This ain’t gonna do it. Email subscribers are much, much more valuable. Don’t focus on getting RSS subscribers - go for email!

Aweber List set up: Shoutmeloud © by denharsh

My preferred newsletter provider

My personal choice is Aweber.

I’ve used them for 5+ years and absolutely LOVE their service.

It’s easy to use, (relatively) inexpensive and has incredibly high deliverability rates.

‘Nuff said.

What type of content/format works best?

Valuable content is whatever your audience wants. Ask them questions like “What would you like to see more of?” or “What are you struggling with?”

I highly recommending creating unique content for your subscribers.  It’s a way of saying “thank you” and lets you provide something special for people willing to hand over their contact details.

You can add these emails to your autoresponder so you constantly receive valuable feedback. Qualaroo is an interesting option as well.

You can see it on Trekity.com to see how we’re using it or just visit their site.

Regarding style:

— Most people’s attention span is short with email. Aim to keep emails under 200 words .

— Email should include links to your blog and/or other sites. Studies have shown 21 links per email have the highest click through rate (I don’t follow this, though, just FYI).

— Emails should “tease” your reader to click to your blog for more great content.

© by queenbeeofbeverlyhills

Design: why you don’t need any… yet

When it comes to sending emails, you’ve got three options:

#1. Use text-based emails.  No pictures or fancy formatting. This is the simplest route and is perfectly fine (it’s what I use here).

+++Note: if you go this route, activate click tracking so you can track your hyperlinks. This is VERY important for tracking if someone is clicking through.+++

#2. Use HTML templates. Aweber’s got over 150 email templates right here . Simply use these, add pictures and you’re up and running!

#3. Design your own. If you’re just starting out, don’t bother. If you want, expect to pay $100+ for an email design (less if you’ve already got logos, branding, etc. covered).

I recommend starting with #2.

How to get more subscribers to your travel newsletter

Growing your travel blog’s subscriber base boils down to two things:

— Improve traffic

— Improve conversion from traffic to subscribers

For the first one,  here are 101 ways to increase traffic . And here are  several other ideas .

For improving conversion rates, you’ll want to take feedback from your readers (from your newsletter, Qualaroo, social media… whatever… just ASK them!) and create a valuable resource around that.

Then…

Pitch it  hard  on your blog  (I’m very upfront about TBA and  Trekity  being email focused - I don’t want you to see ads or buy stuff… just subscribe for more goodies).

Place the opt in form in many places.  A large spot on your homepage, in the right sidebar and at the bottom of every post are good places for that.

What about popups? Aren’t they annoying?

I certainly think so… but they work. Whether you use them is up to you.

19 Travel newsletter ideas

Here are 19 ideas for newsletters to get you started:

#1. Recipes from around the world

#2. Your best photos (see Everything-Everywhere.com )

#3. Your best pieces (see Matt-Gibson.org )

#4. A 20 part series on lessons learned from travel (see YTravelBlog )

#5. A 24 part course on travel blogging ( right here! )

#6. How to prepare for the trip of a lifetime (delivered over several emails)

#7. Travel hacking tips

#8. Profiles on travelers relevant to your audience (e.g. adventure, backpacker, couples, etc.)

#9. “Guest” emails written by someone else

#10. Expert interviews

#11. Round ups of the best resources around the web (e.g. “10 Must Read Articles on North America”)

#12 Personal travel stories

#13. Special discounts (this is great if you can negotiate deals with companies on your subscribers behalf)

#14. New blog posts

#15. “How to” emails which solve a very specific problem (e.g. “How to Slash Airline Fees in Half”)

#16. Ongoing video series featuring your favorite destinations

#17. News items

#18. Relevant non-travel content (e.g., a series of fitness tips for outdoor enthusiasts)

#19. Free ebooks (written by you or others)

Need more ideas? These 101 headline templates will keep you busy 😉

3 Proven ways to monetize your newsletter

#1. Direct ads. You can include ads in the email itself, either as a banner or text link (which, unlike paid links on your travel blog, do not violate Google’s terms of service).

Direct ads usually charge anywhere between $25 - $50 CPM (meaning every 1,000 subscribers) which make it much more lucrative than ads on your blog.

Because advertisers realize subscribers are much more valuable than general blog traffic… and they’re willing to pay a premium for access.

#2. Sponsored emails. Similar to direct ads, sponsored emails - sometimes called “dedicated emails” - are all about the advertiser. You retain editorial control. Rates for sponsored emails range anywhere from $100 - $250 CPM (per thousand subscribers.

#3. Sales. Sell your own products or others (through affiliate deals). Depending on your market you can/should create your own products and sell them to your audience.

The process is simple: ask subscribers what they want and give it to them. More on monetization here and here .

Proof that newsletters work (testimonials from the TBA course)

Done correctly, email marketing is extremely powerful. I put a TREMENDOUS amount of effort into the free TBA course here… and it’s paid off tremendously.

Here are what some travel bloggers are saying about my newsletter:

“Thank you so very much! This is so insightful and your expertise is really going to help me improve my site. I really appreciate you taking the time. I’ve already started to make a few of the changes! You can tell you genuinely want to help us be better at our craft. Your expertise on SEO and building traffic were invaluable. You were so honest, specific and personable - I feel like you were talking to each one us of one on one!  Thanks for the personal attention and detail 🙂 I know I wouldn’t find any of this info in a book! Can’t wait to see what else is in store at TBA!” - Cristina, thetravolution.com

Adam, I loved the course, need to go back over much of what you covered that is now on the site. Keep up the great work. - Molly McHugh

I just wanted to say thank you so much for all the advice you’ve provided through the Travel Blogger Academy. All the articles, interviews, and profiles you’ve done have been immensely helpful in understanding where and most importantly how to improve. Your input and advice on the finer points of running a website as a business will really help me take my site to the next level. Thank you! Thanks again Adam, and all the best with your future endeavors (I know the TBA course is at an end but I do hope to see much more from you!). Please feel free to excerpt my comments here for use in testimonials. Cheers, Reena, wanderplex.com

Your 25 lesson course over-delivered beyond all my expectations. Filled with quality content, practical advice, it is everything one needs to start a travel blog! Thanks for taking the time to create this for us! - Sophie

I’ve really gotten a lot out of your series, and can’t believe you offer it for free! Keep up the excellent work! Paige Conner Totaro, alloverthemap.net

Hi Adam, First of all I would like to thank you for having set up this awesome blogging course. Whenever I virtually meet new travel bloggers, I recommend your course to them. I love the way it is broken down in short sections. I just went back at some of your previous lessons (yes I am such a nerd that I re-read them sometimes to refresh my memory). - Tamara Braun

Further reading

Travel newsletters haven’t really caught on yet… but they will. The following articles will help you understand how to implement your newsletter (and which companies do right).

•  How Travel Newsletters Boost Revenue With Newsletters ( Part 1  and  Part 2 )
• Copyblogger’s series on  Email Marketing
• Getting Started With Autoresponders  - this step by step guide will help you set up an Aweber form.
• A Wildly Profitable Timing Template for Email Marketing
• 5 Secrets of a Great E-Newsletter Business

Adam Costa is co-founder and Editor in Chief of both Trekity.com and TravelBloggerAcademy. He currently lives... um... somewhere.

What an AWESOME guide Adam!! I have this bookmarked and am going through your tips to improve our newsletter experience. I have just finished a new autoresponder series which will be ready for my subscribers very soon. Thank you so much for mentioning our blog. Our newsletter and ebook have been really big at building that community and trust.

Glad you dig it, Caz. Your autoresponder series will save you sooooo much time. Can’t wait to see it launched!

This is a great guide and reminds me of all that I’ve been doing wrong! I’ve had an email ezine for about six years and have quite a few subscribers - but I don’t do anything with them. I have a couple of affiliate links but that’s it. What I do is provide unique content and about a year later I rewrite and research the latest and turn it into a page for my website. Your write-up makes me realize how little I’ve done with my most loyal followers - and you’re so right, they are.

Hi Leyla, newsletters are a big part of why I’m not active on social networks. I spend a LOT of time asking for feedback and creating great stuff for our subscribers. Darcie does the same.

Best part? You continually build on your efforts. The work you did last month still applies today (unlike many social channels). Do you have any plans for your subscribers in the near future?

Thanks Adam for more great content! We have our newsletter going but need a few more subscribers. We have the community, just not the conversions. Will work on that 🙂

Conversions are what it’s all about, my man. I highly recommend split testing your opt in (and its offer) on your site. Optin Skin lets you do that fairly easily.

Lots of great information here Adam - and some good inspiration! Newsletters are invaluable, but as mentioned, you have to have a plan and keep the approach simple to sustain it.

My initial email-subscription approach offered a link to a series of Quick Reference Travel Guides for my Travel-area niche in Turkey, as well as an elaborate monthly newsletter. I created the first newsletter, which faded fast - and my sign up announcement was changed to “receive my Quarterly newsletter” rather rapidly!

Why? As well as maintaining blog content, I just didn’t have the time to create an elaborate newsletter on a monthly basis - it was just too overwhelming. But I continued to sent out a “new Guide is here” email on a monthly basis.

Somewhere along the line, my Quarterly newsletter petered-out, and the information in my “new Quick Reference Travel Guide” announcement emails expanded into a simplified monthly newsletter.

This simplified approach, currently in place, continues to be really successful. I receive a continual flow of new subscribers; I have a high click-rate back to content on my blog; and a low un-subscribe rate. But most importantly, this newsletter approach doesn’t stress me out each month! (fyi. I use MailChimp - and this helps keep the process easy and manageable)

Any changes I make to my simplified monthly approach are small and sustainable, enabling me to maintain my communication frequency without too much effort. Your list of “19 newsletter ideas” is a useful checklist to reference when I’m looking for inspiration - it’s clipped to Evernote — thanks!

Excellent comment Jay - thanks for sharing!

What I love about newsletters are that - once you put them together - they continue to run on autopilot.

This is great for two reasons:

1. It continues to build lasting relationships with new subscribers (even if I’m off doing something else at the time).

2. There isn’t that ongoing pressure to create new content. That’s a fundamental problem with blogs: a lot of people won’t read your older stuff. You’re always pushed to create fresh content.

But with a well prepared autoresponder series (ie newsletter) a new subscriber receives EACH and EVERY email in a predetermined series. So you can put them together in a logical progression.

As you mentioned, newsletters can be stressful - but if planned and executed properly, it will save you a lot of time (and headaches).

Perfect timing Adam! I’ve had “Create a monthly newsletter” on my to-do list for a few months now. Time to get proactive and get started!

I’ve installed a pop-up and started collecting email addresses. How many do you think I should have before I start sending out content? I hate the idea of talking to an empty room!

Also, any ideas of what is the best time of day, week or month to schedule the newsletter to hit readers’ inboxes?

Also, another quick question, how do I track the links from my newsletter?

Great questions, Bethaney.

Start writing content right away. Instead of sending broadcast messages - which only go out once - write “follow up messages” which are sent automatically to every new subscriber. This way, you may have an “empty room” to start wit… but it’ll fill up quickly 😉

Best time to publish? That’s really something you need to test yourself. I send mine out M-F between 9AM and 12PM if that helps. But you really need to see what works for your audience.

Tracking links: Aweber lets you track clicks from your emails. When you create a message it asks if you want to track them.

Excellent article Adam. The idea of sending a small (ca. 200 word) newsletter out on a regular basis by filling an autoresponder is a great one, it makes it seem doable! I produce a lot of content and am thinking of a weekly newsletter, but I’m going to load up the autoresponder first before I get going. I will continue to offer email updates of new blog posts (these go out daily) as there seems to be a demand for this too. Finally decided on my ‘giveaway’ for signups too so must get that sorted. Exciting stuff, especially with RSS dwindling we need to have a solid email strategy in place before they finally kill Feedburner…

Thanks for commenting.

“I’m going to load up the autoresponder first before I get going…” Once it’s loaded your newsletter does the heavy lifting for you. Just be sure to add an email or two in their asking for feedback to help you “course correct” your newsletter.

Speaking of which, what you like to learn more about here at TBA?

I just wanted to express my gratitude and excitement after having found your site. Once upon a time I was a rather popular travel writer and lost my thunder after I had to disappear offline to take care of a sick family member. I’ve since returned to the industry, a bit cautious and doe-eyed, but eager to earn my place in travel world once again. I read your blog EVERY DAY..LOVE the post about stealing your own content (Yes, I was only using TWO of those mediums!), and this step-by-step newsletter guide has given me all kinds of encouragement and inspiration. Thanks again. Your contribution to the world of travel writing is invaluable 🙂

[…] How Travel Bloggers Should Build An Email List (But Don’t) […]

• Create Content
• Build Relationships
• Grow Traffic
• Watch Interviews

Return to top of page

Copyright © 2019 TravelBloggerAcademy.com   ·   All Rights Reserved   ·   Terms of Use   ·   Privacy Policy

• EN - English
• PT - Portuguese
• ES - Spanish
• How it works
• Become a Host
• Download the app

Top Destinations

• United States
• United Kingdom

What type of experience are you looking for?

• Non-Profit School
• Permaculture project
• Eco Village
• Holistic Center
• Guest House
• How Worldpackers works

Learn from the most experienced travelers of the community

Traveling with worldpackers, planning and budgeting for travel, make a living while traveling as a lifestyle, travel with worldpackers.

• Using Worldpackers
• Work exchange
• Social impact
• Plan your trip
• Women traveling
• Budget travel
• Solo travel
• Language learning
• Travel tips
• Get inspired
• Digital nomads
• Travel jobs
• Personal development
• Responsible travel
• Connect with nature

Top destinations

• South America
• Central America
• North America
• More destinations
• WP Life WP Life
• Exclusive discounts Discounts

10 common travel problems and how to deal with them

If you travel for long enough you'll experience all these problems and more. You'll also learn that every problem has a solution. Here are 10 of the most common travel problems and ways to avoid them.

Adam NomadicVA.com

Apr 01, 2023

When it comes to travel problems, I've experienced them all!

When you commit to a life of travel you have to accept that it won't always be a smooth operation. Some trips go perfectly without a single problem, but many don't. Some things you can prepare for, others you just have to react to.

The best solution to most travel problems is preparation . Sometimes you'll need to be creative and resourceful with your solutions but this is also one of the joys of traveling . 

You can't prepare for every eventuality, but no problem is insurmountable.

While the situations and specific circumstances may differ, there are common problems that happen to all travelers eventually. 

We'll discuss 10 of the most common travel problems and ways to avoid them .

10 common travel problems and their solutions

1. getting lost.

Some people have fantastic spatial awareness, others not so much, but most people have got lost at least once in their life. It can be a horrible feeling — your heart beating faster as the panic starts to rise. You can get lost anywhere: a supermarket, airport, town center or in the wilderness. 

With modern technology this is one of the easier travel problems to avoid. In the past you'd need a map for each country. Nowadays almost everyone has a smartphone. Before you leave, download Google Maps and then download the offline map for whichever cities you'll be visiting. The offline maps are tiny — normally between 20 to 50mb.

With the offline map on your phone you can browse even without an internet connection . 

A word of warning though, this is not a foolproof plan! If your battery dies the plan comes crashing down. A pen and paper may be ancient technology, but they don't require batteries. Write down your destination just in case.

The most important thing is to not panic. If you can, take a seat and take some slow breathes. Strangers are generally nice and helpful so, if it's safe to do so, ask for directions. If you don't speak the language you can show them the written address (it's not advisable to flash your phone around).

2. Getting mugged

In nearly 20 years I've only been mugged four times. Two of them were in my hometown, minutes from my house.

Some countries are more dangerous than others. It's important to check for any government warnings before you visit. It's also advisable to check Facebook groups and other forums for the opinions of other travelers.

A word of advice though — don't believe everything you read . 

If I'd listened to every bit of advice about South America I never would have got on the plane. I've read hundreds of horror stories about Brazil yet I lived there for over a year without a single problem.

There are lots of articles about how to stay safe when traveling , but what should you do if you actually get attacked?

Don't panic!

The first thing you need to do is report it to the police. You'll need a Crime Reference Number to claim on your insurance. If you're traveling with Worldpackers , your host will know the nearest police station and be able to help you with any translation issues.

Once that's done it's time to deal with the emotional side. After I was attacked in Chile I became quite emotional. I was attacked after leaving a bar, beaten up and robbed. For days afterwards I didn't want to leave the hostel and I was suspicious of everyone in the street. 

I questioned myself. Why me? What did I do wrong? Was it my fault?

It wasn't my fault. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It took me a while to accept it, but it wasn't my fault. It wasn't personal. They didn't know me. I was just a random tourist to target. Once I accepted that it was just business for them I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. That may seem silly, but it's an important emotional shift to make.

You're allowed to feel anger, rage and frustration, but you have to learn to let it go. They're destructive emotions. The majority of the world are awesome people. Don't let a few idiots ruin your journey.

3. Losing your phone

This may seem like a silly one to add to a list of travel problems . Why not a camera? Laptop? Bag? Because most people do everything through their phone.

I had a phone stolen recently in Argentina . Without it I couldn't:

• tell the time
• top up my prepay debit card
• find the nearest police station
• alert my family that it had been stolen
• access my travel e-tickets
• cancel my contract
• tell anybody about it because my translator was on my phone

I had to use the public computer in the hostel, which then caused all kinds of security alerts with my online accounts. Logging in from a foreign computer usually requires answering additional security questions, and then they helpfully offer to text a code to your phone.

Not helpful when the phone is lost!

Make sure you:

• know all your passwords
• update all your account details before leaving
• have a backup email address to receive those annoying security codes

This is one of the more common travel problems as mobile phones are big business all over the world. Your shiny new iPhone could be a year's worth of wages for a local. 

The solution is to use common sense and not wave it around in public. As with all valuables, keep them out of plain sight and, wherever possible, on your person or locked in a safe.

4. Getting sick

Sickness comes in many forms when you're traveling .

• Travel sickness

Travel sickness is caused when signals from your inner ear don't match up with your visual signals. For some people it happens every time they travel. Others only suffer on certain types of transport. I used to hate buses. The smell of the engine and the rocking motion would cause me to hold my breath. This was a problem for any trip longer than 30 seconds.

If you don't have travel sickness medication then there are a few things you can try. First I would try and limit the stimulation. Looking out the window at the passing buildings made me worse, so I would focus on the chair in front and focus on my breathing.

For other people the opposite is true. Distract yourself and take your mind off the feeling, either via conversation, music, counting things out the window, etc. Replace the sensory malfunction with another sensory input.

If you can get access to fresh air and a drink of water then hopefully you can calm the feeling and focus on other happier thoughts.

This is one of the lesser travel problems. While many people use jet lag just to mean tired, it is an actual condition. It's caused when your natural body clock gets out of sync after crossing time zones. Your body still thinks it's one time but the world is operating at a different time.

When I flew to Australia I was woken at 2am by the flight attendant with my dinner. A Thai green curry at 2 o'clock in the morning might sound great after a night of partying, but not when you're stuck on a plane. For the flight staff it was the normal dinner time, but my digestive system didn't agree.

Symptoms of jet lag can include tiredness or restlessness and an inability to sleep. There are a few different approaches to getting over it. You can either try and sleep it off, but this could mean missing time at the start of your trip. I prefer exercise. When you get to your destination try and be as active as possible.

Go out, walk a lot, get lots of fresh air. I don't recommend alcohol as this can mess with your body clock even more. If you arrive in the middle of the night and can't walk around, relax. Meditate, read a book or something which doesn't involve lots of stimulation.

• Insect bites

While some bites can just be itchy or a slight annoyance, others can be quite dangerous. If you're going to a place where mosquitoes or other bugs are known to bite, wrap up. Better than any repellant is a layer of clothing. If you do get bitten try not to scratch. Easier said than done, but this can lead to worse problems.

I am a magnet for biting insects, from fire ants in Costa Rica to mbutu in Paraguay to mosquitoes anywhere in the world. When I step off the plane, it's insect party time. I always carry a good, non-toxic repellant plus some essential oils to treat the itching for when I do get bitten.

It's also important to know the active times for the insects. They vary around the world so get local advice, but most mosquitoes are active from dusk and dawn. Try to avoid being out at these times. If you are, make sure you're covered up or wearing a good repellant.

If you get bitten and start to feel sick, seek medical advice immediately.

Even if it's cloudy, wear protector! Check the weather conditions before you travel and especially the UV levels. A cloudy sky can still produce dangerous levels of UV, and that's what does the real damage.

Apply 30 minutes before going out and then every two hours afterwards. If you're swimming or sweating then go crazy and do it every hour. The saying "less is more" does NOT apply to suncream!

The effects of sunburn can be horrendous. I was unable to walk for two days after thinking I was safe on a cloudy day. It felt like I'd been hit by a car... it was absolute agony for 48 hours.

If you have access to aloe vera, use it! It works miracles for sunburn. If you don't have any then keep the burn cool without applying ice directly. Or even better yet, don't get sunburn! Prevention is much less painful than treatment. Sunburn is one of the travel problems with lasting effects so try and avoid it at all costs.

Now that you know how to protect yourself, here are 15 summer travel ideas .

• Food poisoning

Food poisoning is a travel problem that can strike at any moment. Symptoms can include nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting or diarrhea. If it's bad then it can hit you within hours of eating or drinking the contaminated thing. Anti-diarrhea tablets can be a lifesaver... literally.

Before traveling anywhere I always pack toilet paper. I consider it almost as important as my passport. That may sound dramatic but I've been in some sticky situations before. If you develop food poisoning then you'll understand.

While I mentioned diarrhea tablets earlier I only use them as a last resort. This is your bodies way of clearing the contaminate from your body. Let the body clean itself. This may mean a day or two by the toilet, but at least you'll be clear afterwards.

Drink plenty of fluids but avoid dairy and alcohol. Once you start to feel a little better then start with soups or broths and build back up to solid foods.

5. Not speaking the language

This is a travel problem I've lived with for years. 

Not being able to communicate with the people around you can lead to all kinds of emotions:

• Loneliness (see below)
• Frustration
• Determination
• Encouragement

Hopefully you noticed how that list went from negative to positive. 

While being unable to speak the local language can cause lots of negative emotions, it can also be the catalyst to greatness .

Body language, sign language, gestures and smiles. They are all powerful ways to communicate. Use every single one of them. If you're afraid of speaking new languages abroad , don't shy away from meeting new people because you don't know words. Use these other forms of communication as an ice-breaker.

Study languages as much as you can before you travel. It's an incredible form of respect that will be appreciated worldwide if you make the effort. Even if it's just a few words or phrases it will help. There are hundreds of apps, guides and language programs you can try.

The best way to learn a language while traveling ? Speak. It can be slow, painful or lead to lots of laughter. It all depends on what attitude you approach it with. While some languages are much harder to grasp than others, a lack of words is a travel problem with an easy solution.

6. Loneliness

Loneliness is not one of the travel problems which affects everyone, but when it strikes it can be the worst problem imaginable.

There's no single trigger. It doesn't just affect people who suffer from depression or emotional people. 

No matter how strong or independent you are, loneliness can set in and ruin your trip .

It's important to be aware of your feelings. A sudden change in circumstances can really change your attitude to traveling. If things start going wrong and you don't address them then they can spiral out of control.

Being apart from loved ones for an extended period of time is the classic reason, but it can also be as simple as missing a birthday or having nobody to share a special moment with. These small things can add up and really weigh on your mind.

If it gets to a certain level you could be tempted to cancel your trip and go back to your previous life. Traveling asks you to step out of your out of your comfort zone and, without enough positive reinforcement, it can become overwhelming.

There's no easy cure for loneliness. Humans are sociable creatures by design so the easiest solution is to reach out. The saying " You're never alone when you're traveling " is mostly true. Unless you're way out in the wild then chances are you'll be able to speak to somebody.

Speak to your Worldpackers host or other travelers . 

I'm not saying pour your heart out or cry on their shoulder, but you can if it helps. Depending on your emotional state it may only require a smile, hug or a beer with like-minded people.

If that doesn't help then contact the Worldpackers support team . They're all experienced travelers who've lived the travel life. They've all experienced these travel problems and can offer assurance and support. When you're traveling with Worldpackers experiences , you're NEVER alone.

7. Running out of money

This can be a major problem which you'll definitely want to avoid.

Unexpected things do happen though. Things break, unexpected charges come up, plans change and emergencies happen. It's impossible to account for every eventuality. 

Before you travel research the country you're visiting . You want to have an idea of the general cost of living so you can budget properly . 

Save as much money as possible, and always try and have an emergency fund which you don't touch. This can be a credit card or savings account. It should have enough money in for a return flight — that's the last resort should an emergency happen and you need to return home.

Traveling can be expensive so make sure you read about how to save money while traveling , and it's also worth thinking about making money while you travel. 

Unless you have a huge amount of money saved up or you've mastered how to travel on a budget , it can disappear quite quickly. The Worldpackers Academy  has some great material about creative ways to make money while you travel.

If you're a traveller on a budget, check out our travel hacking tips.

8. Missing a flight

This all depends on whose fault it was — yours or the airline.

If it's your fault, there's very little that can be done. 99% of the time this is one of the travel problems with a simple solution. Always arrive in plenty of time. If you think there's even a possibility you won't make it then check the rescheduling rules for your ticket. If you do miss the flight and it was all your own fault then it's time to beg.

Airlines have no obligation to help you if it was your fault . 

All you can do is explain to the staff in a calm, reasonable manner what happened. Don't shout at them. As emotional as you may be, it wasn't their fault. They're just doing their job, so don't be rude to the airline staff.

If you can get on the next flight, all good. If not, and you may not be able to fly for a while, it's time to start thinking about the additional things you've booked. Are you going straight to a Worldpackers host? If so, message them and make them aware of the situation. If you have an Airbnb, hostel or tour, do the same. Don't let the missed flight snowball and ruin everything.

If it wasn't your fault you missed the flight, now you have options . 

Different countries have different rules. Speak to the airline staff and, once again, be calm and reasonable. Some airlines will offer compensation, a free hotel or a free upgrade. It all depends on the individual situation.

I missed a flight transfer in Panama and ended up with a free stay in a 5-Star Hilton Hotel. Admittedly it was only for 5 hours, but it was a nice surprise.

A missed flight isn't the end of the world. Take it as a travel lesson to learn from.

Keep reading:   The most helpful 26 tips for first time travelers

9. Baggage not arriving

This is one of those infuriating surprise travel problems . You check your bags in, get the boarding pass, enjoy the flight and then your bags don't arrive with you.

This happened to me and I was devastated! Luckily it happened on the return trip so I could just go home and wait for the bags to arrive. They eventually did three days later. If it happens on the outbound flight it's a different story.

According to AirfaireWatchdog , "On average, airlines lose around two bags for every 1,000 passengers, and that includes bags that are temporarily misplaced."

That's a disturbingly high number. Certain airlines are better than others so do some research before booking your flight. Even with all the research in the world it's still possible to be the unlucky one. There's absolutely no way to predict it.

While you can't predict the future, you can be prepared . 

Take a change of clothes in your carry-on luggage. I also always carry my toiletries bag with me. This way if my big rucksack goes missing I have something to change into and a way to freshen up.

It's a huge inconvenience, but you can survive.

If your bags don't arrive be sure to speak with the airline staff and find out the procedure. You may have to phone them or they call you. 

Some airlines deliver misplaced bags to your hostel while others need you to go and collect it. Before you leave the airport make sure you know the exact procedure, they have your details and you have theirs.

10. Breaking up with a partner

A  common travel problem  is the breakdown of relationships. As we mentioned before, travel takes you out of your comfort zone. This can lead to stress and frustration. If you're traveling with a partner this can be magnified.

It doesn't matter if it's a girlfriend, boyfriend, best friend or family member, disagreements happen. When you're living in each other's pockets 24/7 there are more opportunities for these disagreements to happen. 

The anticipation of traveling is an incredible time. Whoever you're going with, it's an exciting time to plan, look at photos, make bucket lists and fantasize about the incredible adventures to come. The reality can be quite different as you discover hidden personality traits and different approaches to problem-solving.

My advice for traveling with a partner is to be honest and to compromise, but don't compromise your happiness . 

If you really want to do something or go somewhere and the other doesn't, talk about it. The breakdown of most relationships occurs when there's a lack of communication. 

It may not work for all travel partners but don't be afraid to separate and meet again a few days, weeks or months later. That short break could be the spark you need to rekindle the fire. For romantic partners I recommend brutal honesty. The second a problem arises, talk about it. Don't let anything fester.

Read my guide to couple travel for more detailed information about taking your relationship on the road.

That concludes my list of the most common travel problems and ways to avoid them. 

Every problem has a solution. If you travel for long enough you'll experience all 10 of these and more. Does that mean you should avoid traveling to avoid these problems? Absolutely not!

The benefits of travel far outweigh the negatives. Once you've had these experiences you'll be better equipped to handle whatever life throws at you, either on the road or back at home.

These 'problems' will make you stronger, more resourceful and much more resilient .

Happy travels!

Join the community!

Create a free Worldpackers account to discover volunteer experiences perfect for you and get access to exclusive travel discounts!

Adam Fraiel

NomadicVA.com

Author, digital nomad, copywriter, virtual assistant and travel blogger - I love telling stories, sharing experiences and helping others achieve their dreams.

Be part of the Worldpackers Community

Already have an account, are you a host, leave your comment here.

Write here your questions and greetings to the author

Jun 08, 2022

I just read your article. I hope i can get some advice from you. I am not a travel writer. I just wrote an article about my travel experience with a popular airport and what i went thru. I don't know where to send the article and this is my 1st time writing such an article.

Jun 11, 2022

balbosasolutionhome.com

More about this topic

The comprehensive guide to couple travel

How to choose a travel companion: find the perfect adventure buddy.

How to find unique accommodation anywhere

How do Worldpackers trips work?

As a member, you can contact as many hosts and travel safely as many times as you want.

Choose your plan to travel with Worldpackers as many times as you like.

Complete your profile, watch the video lessons in the Academy, and earn certificates to stand out to hosts.

Apply to as many positions as you like, and get in contact with our verified hosts.

If a host thinks you’re a good fit for their position, they’ll pre-approve you.

Get your documents and tickets ready for your volunteer trip.

Confirm your trip to enjoy all of the safety of Worldpackers.

Have a transformative experience and make a positive impact on the world.

If anything doesn’t go as planned with a host, count on the WP Safeguard and our highly responsive support team!

After volunteering, you and your host exchange reviews.

With positive reviews, you’ll stand out to hosts and get even more benefits.

• Mobile Forms
• INTEGRATIONS
• See 100+ integrations
• FEATURED INTEGRATIONS
• See more Integrations
• See more CRM Integrations

• See more Storage Integrations
• See more Payment Integrations

• See more Email Integrations
• Jotform Teams
• Enterprise Mobile
• Prefill Forms
• HIPAA Forms
• Secure Forms
• Assign Forms
• Online Payments
• See more features
• Multiple Users
• Admin Console
• White Labeling
• See more Enterprise Features
• Contact Sales
• Contact Support
• Help Center
• Jotform Books
• Jotform Academy

Get a dedicated support team with Jotform Enterprise.

Apply to Jotform Enterprise for a dedicated support team.

• Sign Up for Free
• Form Templates /
• Booking Forms /
• Travel Booking Forms /

Travel Information Form

A travel information form is used by travel agents to gather the information they need in order to book travel and accommodation for their clients. With this free online Travel Form template, you can seamlessly receive travel information from your clients directly through a custom online form, eliminating the need for back-and-forth emails or phone calls and speeding up your booking process. Just update the template with the questions you’d like to ask, add your logo and update the color scheme to match your branding, and embed the form in your website or share it with clients directly. Responses are stored in your secure Jotform account, easy for you and your team to access on any device.

Make this Travel Form your own with our drag-and-drop Form Builder! Change fonts and colors, include your unique company logo, add extra questions, include file upload fields to collect additional documents, and even connect with 100+ free form integrations to automatically sync form submissions to other accounts you’re already using — such as Google Sheets, Dropbox, Box, Trello, Asana, Google Sheets, and more. No matter what sort of travel services you offer, you can use this free Travel Form template to collect the information you need, and more easily arrange a stellar travel experience for your clients.

More templates like this

Flight Reservation Form

A flight reservation form is used by an airline or travel agency to gather information needed to book air travel for clients. Ready to see your booking rates soar? Streamline the flight booking process for passengers and take your business to new heights by collecting the information you need in a single, secure online Flight Reservation Form. Form responses are stored in your Jotform account, creating an easy-to-access database of passenger information — and if you’d like to boost functionality and send form responses to your other accounts, just link your form to a few of our 130+ app integrations. Give your Flight Reservation Form a unique look with Jotform Form Builder! Add your company logo, change fonts and colors to match your branding, or include any terms and conditions your customers may need to know. If you charge a fee for your service, accept payments through your online form via trusted payment gateways like Square or PayPal. Get ready for your bookings to take off — by bringing your reservation process online with our free Flight Reservation Form, you’ll save time, reduce unnecessary back-and-forth calls and emails, and smooth out the process for your customers.

Vacation Itinerary Form

This Vacation Itinerary form is normally utilized by travel agencies or person who just wants to travel and would like to have a detailed itinerary form. This vacation itinerary form will be a great help for those who are planning for a trip or travel agencies looking for a standard template they can use when organizing a trip for their clients. The form will need information such as destination, duration of stay, arrival time, mode of transport and cost.

Guest Registration Form

A guest registration form is used to collect information from hotel guests. Whether you run a small, private bed and breakfast or an internationally renowned five-star luxury resort, get new customers and boost repeat business with our free Guest Registration Form template! All you need to do is embed the form on your website, share it with a link, or have your guests fill it out on your tablets or computers — then watch as guests submit their information directly to your booking system!If you’d like to accept card payments online, integrate with a trusted payment processor like Square, PayPal, or Stripe — we have 100+ other apps you can choose from, too. Integrate your hotel’s otherwise scattered data with a free Guest Registration Form — track guests, add notes, and stay organized with Jotform!

Your account is currently limited to {formLimit} forms.

Go to My Forms and delete an existing form or upgrade your account to increase your form limit.

RV Like a Pro: The Ultimate RV Checklist Collection for Stress-Free Travel

From historical havens to coastal retreats, we're unveiling destinations that blend adventure and comfort

Published on April 29th, 2024 in Travel Tips

Embarking on an RV adventure merges the freedom of the open road with the comforts of home, but it also demands thorough preparation.

But the worst, literally the worst feeling, is forgetting something you meant to bring or neglecting a preparation task you meant to do.

This is where checklists come into play.

With the right checklist, you can give your brain a break and just check off every item on the list, knowing that when you’re done, you’ll be 100% prepared for your trip.

Whether you’re a seasoned RVer or a first-time explorer, these checklists are designed to ensure that nothing is left to chance. From vehicle maintenance to packing essentials and handling unforeseen challenges, this guide provides you with the ultimate tools to travel with confidence and style.

Each of the checklists below come as a PDF download that you can print and hang in your garage if you’d like.

RV Maintenance Checklist

Creating a comprehensive RV maintenance checklist is crucial for ensuring safety, comfort, and the longevity of your vehicle.

But it can be a lot of work!

That’s why we’ve made it easy for you—Here’s a tailored checklist inspired by common practices and recommendations for RV care, divided into pre-trip, during trip, and after trip tasks.

Following this checklist can help you maintain your RV in top condition, ensuring that each trip is safe and enjoyable. Regular maintenance not only prevents unexpected breakdowns but also extends the life of your vehicle.

Download a PDF version of the RV maintenance checklist here .

RV Packing Checklist

Here’s a comprehensive RV packing checklist to help ensure you have everything you need for a smooth and enjoyable trip.

This checklist covers a broad range of items to consider for your RV trip. You may need to adjust quantities and specific items based on the duration of your trip, the nature of your destinations, and personal preferences.

Download a PDF version of the RV packing checklist here .

Advanced RV Checklist

This advanced checklist prepares you for a wide range of scenarios, from unexpected weather changes and remote location challenges to technical issues and personal safety concerns. Tailor it to your specific travel plans and preferences for a smooth, worry-free journey.

Here’s an RV checklist focused on lesser-known or rarely considered circumstances, offering advanced tips for those looking to be thoroughly prepared for nearly any situation on the road.

Download a PDF version of the advanced RV checklist here .

Armed with our comprehensive RV checklists, you’re now ready to tackle any adventure that comes your way. Remember, successful trips are all about preparation.

By using our tailored checklists for maintenance, packing, and advanced scenarios, you can focus on making unforgettable memories rather than dealing with avoidable hiccups. Download the PDFs, print them out, and keep them handy in your RV.

With every checklist ticked, you’re not just prepared; you’re empowered to hit the road in style and safety.

Speaking of preparation, have you considered a travel assistance membership to help you prepare for the unexpected during your RV trip?

With a membership from Emergency Assistance Plus® (EA+®), we provide all sorts of protection that travel and vehicle insurance do not, such as:

• Emergency medical evacuation
• Transportation home
• RV/vehicle return
• Pet housing or return home assistance

Plus a LOT more.

Check out the plan information page on our website for a detailed list of protection we provide.

Additional RV resources from EA+:

• Here Are 30 RV Tips to Help You Live Your Best RV Life
• The Complete Guide to RV Travel Insurance
• Planning the Ultimate RV Road Trip
• Winery Camping: The Ultimate Summer RV Trip

Enjoy the journey and travel smart!

A Knowledgeable Traveler is a Happy Traveler

Our mission is to empower you on your adventures. Sign up today for our free monthly newsletter.

Related resources

Wanderlust at Any Age: 10 Inspiring Summer Destinations

Destinations

From historical havens to coastal retreats, we're unveiling destinations that blend adventure and comfort.

Chasing Sunshine: Your Ultimate Guide to Snowbird Season

Discover the magic of snowbird season—explore top destinations and ensure a smooth transition in and out of your winter sanctuary.

Stay in the Know

If knowledge is power, you’ll be at your strongest by subscribing to our newsletter, which will keep you informed of the latest updates and improvements to the EA+ programs, not to mention travel tips and member stories.

Subscribe to Newsletter

" * " indicates required fields

By subscribing, you give us permission to send you valuable content, expert advice, and exclusive EA+ offers. We will not sell or distribute your email address to any third party at any time. View our privacy policy .

• Book with Confidence
• Pay Over Time
• Traveler Reviews
• Traveler Insurance
• Travel Visa
• Traveler FAQ
• Ethical Tourism
• Booking Terms
• Community Guidelines
• Host a Trip
• Hosting Benefits
• Host Testimonials
• Trip Itineraries
• Host Resources
• Host Referral Program
• Hosting Contact

TrovaTrip Glossary

For hosts & travelers.

Pending [Trip Status] - Once a trip is set "Live" (becoming bookable by Travelers) it will automatically be set to the "Pending" status and will remain in this status until it reaches the minimum number of bookings needed in order to operate.

Confirm(ed) [Trip Status] - When a trip reaches the minimum number of bookings needed in order to operate.

Pending [Booking Status]  - When a Traveler books a trip, their status will be “Pending” until the trip reaches the minimum number of Travelers for it to happen. Then, the Host can approve or deny their spot. Hosts maintain full discretion to approve or deny a spot on a trip.

Confirm(ed) [Booking Status] - When a Traveler’s booking request is approved by the Host. After approval, the Traveler’s status will change from “Pending” to “Confirmed”.

Waitlist(ed) [Booking Status] - A Traveler joins the waitlist for a trip when the trip is sold out, but they are still interested in joining. In the case another Traveler cancels, the spot will be offered to the next person on the waitlist until the spot becomes filled again. It is important to note that once a spot opens us, the interested party will have 24 hours to pay for 25% down payments in order to secure their spot before the opening is offered to the next person on the waitlist.

Survey [Link] - A data collection tool that TrovaTrip provides to all Hosts that gathers information on their audience to help them plan the perfect trip. The survey collects data on an audience’s travel budget, top destinations, age and more.

Email Collection [Link] - A link shared with a Host's audience to continue collecting contacts after the survey period is done. This allows Hosts to build up their email contact list prior to launching a trip so they have a higher chance of confirming their trip the day of the launch.

Go Live / Launch - The day a trip becomes bookable by Travelers.

Portal - The website found at my.trovatrip.com where anyone with a TrovaTrip account can access their trip information, personal information, etc.

Trip Form - The form each passenger, including both Hosts and Travelers, is required to fill out prior to a trip. It collects information such as flight details, allergies, travel insurance information and more.

Host - The person who is offering a trip to their community through TrovaTrip. Hosts are responsible for bringing people together to take on a trip, marketing their trips and sometimes running workshops (which will be described on their trip page). Please note that Hosts are not the destination experts and should not be expected to know the local languages, provide destination information, etc. That’s the job of the local Guide!

Guide - The local representative that leads Hosts and Travelers on their trip. Guides speak the language, know the area and best modes of transportation, ensure the group arrives at the planned activities on time, know the best restaurants and how to help/who to contact in case of an emergency.

Operator - The certified companies that TrovaTrip partners with to organize accommodations, meals, activities, transportation, local Guides and more. The Operators are in charge of building out TrovaTrip's itineraries and ensuring the trips run seamlessly. 

Trip Coordinator - The go-to contact for Hosts and Travelers leading up to the departure of a trip. Trip Coordinators are responsible for coordinating the logistics and details of a trip including activities, meals, itinerary details, the local Guide, airport transfers, etc.

For Hosts  

Awaiting Payment [Traveler Status] - Once the TrovaTrip Customer Support team attempts to contact someone on the waitlist, the Traveler's status becomes "Awaiting Payment." If they accept the spot, status will be updated to "Confirmed."

Early Bird Price - Hosts are able to offer discounted pricing to entice Travelers to book as soon as their trip becomes available. The quantity of discounted spots available is equal to the minimum number of Travelers needed to "Confirm" the trip. Please note that not all trips offer early bird pricing. 

Regular Price - The standard price for a spot on a trip, without the early bird pricing discount.

Cost Per Traveler - The base cost associated with each Traveler’s spot on a trip before a Host adds their margin. This cost includes things like accommodations, food, activity fees and more.

Qualified Response - A survey respondent age 18+ with a travel budget of $2,000 or higher. Data shows that Hosts who collect 50 or more qualified survey responses have a higher likelihood of successfully confirming their trip.

Audience Research - A phrase used to refer to the data collected from the survey.

Audience Tab [Host Portal] - A section only viewable via the Host portal that displays data collected from a Host’s audience survey. Findings include things like travel budget, top destinations, age and more.

Bookings Tab [Host Portal] - Where a Host may view the booking information for all their Travelers.

Pre-trip Awareness - Promotions that are done leading up to a trip’s "Go Live" date with the purpose of raising awareness about the trip and making for a successful launch.

Deny Traveler - When a Host does not approve a Traveler to join them on a trip. Hosts maintain the right to approve or deny Travelers as they see fit.

Flight Advance  - A Host can opt in to add​​ a flight advance if they want to receive a portion of their earnings once their trip is confirmed to help cover their airfare. Advancements are not separate from earnings. 

For Travelers

Double Occupancy - The standard room configuration for trips run by Trova. When 2 Travelers share a room in the destination's accommodations.

Roommate - The other person a Traveler will share a room with during the trip.

Transfer - The mode, date and time of transportation in a destination. This includes shuttles to and from the airport, activities, meals, etc.

Flight Guidelines - The guidelines TrovaTrip provides for each trip that inform a Traveler which airport to fly in or out of, the timeframe in which they should arrive or depart, and how many transfers will be provided to get them to the hotel and vice versa.

Tip - A gratuity amount customarily given to someone who provides a service in addition to the basic price of the service. Tips and their amount differ based on social customs and etiquette, which Travelers can learn more about in the trip preparation documentation TrovaTrip shares before a trip. Please note that tips for local Guides are not included in the booking cost of the trip and are encouraged as a sign of appreciation for a Guide’s hard work.

Optional Activities - Activities that are available for Travelers to opt-in through purchase for an additional fee.

Trip Credit - A voucher that contains a dollar amount valid for use with TrovaTrip within 365 days of issue. Trip credits are typically provided in the case of confirmed Traveler cancellation. TrovaTrip’s cancellation policy can be found here and details surrounding Covid rescheduling can be found here .

Unapproved [Booking] - When a Traveler’s booking request is not approved by the Host. Hosts maintain full discretion to approve or deny bookings and TrovaTrip does not have any insight into this.

• Tourist Survey: What It Is, Tips & Examples

Introduction

A tourist survey helps you to gather relevant information quickly. The data gathered in this survey is mainly sourced from tourists and people who have traveled widely for leisure.

Tourist surveys are an effective way to gain insight into the kind of people that visit your location, frequently. This way, you can predict future trends, display the typical visitor behavior and have the right persona of an ideal traveler or tourist. 

In this guide, we will show you what a tourist survey is, ways in which you can put them to use, the benefits some tips, and lots more.

What is a Tourist Survey?

A tourist survey is a research tool, that helps you collect information from people who have traveled frequently for leisure. This set of people are called tourists.

A tourist survey, hence, focuses on collecting information from people on the places they visited, the level of service they received, the hospitality of the locals in the area, the weather, the cost of leisure, entertainment accommodation, etc. It covers any information you want to gather about people’s experiences as it relates to travel. 

With this information or data, you can share information with others that provide relevant information on areas people would want to visit.

Tourist Survey Uses

Tourist surveys can be used for various purposes. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

Travel Agencies

Data from tourist surveys can be used to gather insight into choice destinations, the kind of activities that certain tourists enjoy, the number of funds they expend, etc. This information can be used to create custom campaigns to attract people to this destination that are now part of the areas your travel agency cover. 

Hotel Management

In the same way, hotels can use these surveys to discover what people truly think of the services they offer, from the cleanliness of their rooms to the quality of food, the cost, and the overall customer experience. This feedback would help them improve on weak areas and capitalize on their areas of strength as unique selling points. 

Government Agencies

Government establishments can use this data to drive more visitors to their country and generate revenue. With this information, they can create policies that encourage travel to their country and also create campaigns to create awareness about certain choice locations to create new streams of income for their citizens and invariably benefit from it.  

Tourist Survey Advantages

The advantages of tourist surveys are numerous and they include;

• The creation of custom strategies that would increase tourist visits to a particular location.
• Creation of targeted activities that would appeal to tourists based on data gleaned.
• Provision of excellent customer experience, that would speak to the unique needs of the tourist, as expressed in the survey forms.
• Create better strategies that allow the increase of tourists, both for companies and governments.
• Better activities can be created for the interest of tourists.
• Companies and organizations can offer a good experience to customers by knowing their needs.

Doing online surveys for tourists has a significant advantage since the visitor is given the option of being able to respond from any mobile device at the time they want.

Large amounts of information can be obtained about the most visited tourist sites to create better strategies for them to continue generating income.

With tourist surveys, you can create publicity for areas loved by tourists and achieve the following.

• Honest feedback

Tourist surveys are one of the ways to gather objective and honest feedback that can only be gathered from travelers who have truly experienced all that a particular location has to offer. With this information, you can get valuable insights into what their perspectives are, on exhibits, events, and their general visitor experience.

• Your Visitors Know That Their Opinion Counts

Gathering feedback via a survey like this one helps to let your respondents know that their opinion counts for something. Especially when you take actions based on their feedback, this builds trust in whatever brand you represent. 

• Customer Persona

Do you wonder exactly who is coming to visit your attraction? Not only can a survey provide feedback about your destination, but it’s also an opportunity to collect demographic data about your visitors so you can better understand your audience and market to them more effectively. It may even reveal an opportunity to tap into a new market you hadn’t thought of before. 

• Create Actionable Goals.  

Feedback from your visitors can help you can set realistic goals that will lead to impactful change within your organization. Any concerns raised by visitors can be converted into goals to be addressed. Equipped with the knowledge of what your visitors want you can turn your survey into fuel to grow your attraction’s bottom line this summer.

• Track Your Growth

With consistent surveys, you can track your growth and changes made as a result of the feedback from your visitors.

Tourist Survey Tips

A tourist survey is a tool that allows you to collect information about people’s opinions about the place they visited or the services they received. Through a survey, people can provide data that allows us to measure the service quality, the facilities’ safety and hygiene, assess the places they visited, the activities they carried out, etc.

A tourist survey mainly allows us to obtain quality information quickly. This data comes directly from tourists or travel enthusiasts. Online surveys for tourism reduce costs and facilitate execution for specialized personnel who carry it out.

If you are going to create a survey for tourists, these tips would help. Remember that not everyone would respond to the study or speak the same language as you.

Design short surveys that allow you to collect enough information for your goals, especially because when someone is visiting a city, they usually do not plan to use that time to fill out a questionnaire. Outlined below are tips that would help you create your tourist survey.

Tip 1: Brainstorm

The thought of conducting research and getting valuable insight is an intriguing one. Oftentimes, we get caught up in the excitement of it all, and we lose sight of the main objectives.

Before jumping in and writing visitor survey questions, ask yourself what you want to learn.

Are you looking to better understand who is visiting? Or maybe you would rather learn what attractions are the biggest draws.

No matter what you’re looking to get out of the research, it’s essential to have a game plan.

With a clear understanding of what it is you want to learn, you can draft a better, cleaner survey. Having a game plan also keeps you focused when it comes to analyzing the data later on.

Tip 2: Check Your Sample Sources

Many tourism organizations have access to visitor databases, either through opt-in email lists or other databases that collect guest information.

Therefore, it can be helpful to work with other agencies and organizations in your region to see what is available.

Tip 3: Go Online, Go Mobile

Online tourism surveys are one of the best types of market research methodologies . It’s a practical and cost-effective way of gathering high-quality data in a short period. All age groups are conversant with this digital technology.

Tip 4: Keep It Short, Engaging, and Simple

Nobody wants to take a 15 to 20-minute survey. We find the ideal travel and tourism survey to be 15 to 20 questions in length. The 5 minutes mark has been identified as a threshold where many respondents abandon the survey. For this reason, keep the survey short.

Make sure the respondent is engaged throughout the travel survey. Change the scales from question to question using sliders, visual images, or grids. 

No one likes a 1 to 5 scale question rating 20 different rows on a grid. Keep your survey engaging.

Lastly, keep it simple. No need to use big words or confusing phrases. Ensure questions are short, unbiased, and to the point.

Examples of Questions for Tourists

Examples of questions for tourists:

• What is your preferred means of transport to travel?
• What kind of place do you like to visit when you travel for leisure?
• How often do you go on a trip?
• What season of the year is your best time to travel?
• What kind of activities do you enjoy when you travel?
• Where was the last place you visited on vacation?
• What factors do you consider when purchasing a travel package?
• Where do you like to stay?
• How do you find accommodation?
• On average, what price would you consider ideal for a travel package?
• When making a trip, do you prefer company or would you rather go alone?

Tourist surveys are one of the quickest ways to increase your revenue and offer visitors the kind of service they want during their stay.

How To Create a Tourist Survey With Formplus

Formplus is the preferred offline and online data collection tool for creating and administering surveys and questionnaires in research. With Formplus , you can build different types of online tourist surveys with the various tools and features in our form builder. Better still, you can choose from the wide assortment of templates, which are ready to use and can be customized to suit your preference.

 Here’s how to make the most of an Online/Offline Survey with Formplus:

• Log into your Formplus account at www.formpl.us to get started. If you do not have a Formplus account, you can create one on the website via the signup page.

• After signing into your Formplus account, click on the “Get Started ” button to access a tutorial on the form builder.

• The next step is to create a title and use the add form fields, on the left-hand bar that has all the field options. Drag and drop anyone that suits your preference, edit each field to include the questions and options you want, and save the file.

• The next step is to set up all your preferred integrations.

• In the builder’s customization section, you can use various tools to edit the look and feel of your form, in terms of design, theme, font style/size, custom background images, and include your company logo.

• Here, you can personalize your forms further by adding an intro and closing page and also add new pages to capture or share more information. You can decide on other options like storage, privacy, and much more.

• Choose from any of the options available for sharing your survey, from socials to links, QR codes, email, social media, etc, You can now customize your link or use the default link provided.

• View the responses from your respondents and details of who your participants are. Afterward, you click on the analytics button to get your report.

• The final step is to test your form to see how they look before you launch.

Tourist surveys are an effective way of getting insights from visitors and would-be visitors to your location or business on their preferences, dislikes, and any other information you require.

This data can be used to hone your business to fit the need of your target audience.

Connect to Formplus, Get Started Now - It's Free!

• survey research
• survey research method
• tourist surveys
• Angela Kayode-Sanni

You may also like:

The PR Pros Guide to Public Relations Surveys

Introduction We all know that public relations is a crucial part of any business’s PR strategy. But how do you know when and how to use...

Pricing Surveys: Methods, Tips & Templates

Pricing is a major motivator for most customers when purchasing a product or service. Customers are always looking for the best deal, an...

How To Correct Biased Survey Results

Introduction Survey biases can occur in any survey, but they are more likely to occur when the survey is conducted by humans. Humans are...

Matrix Question Surveys: Types, Examples, Pros & Cons

Introduction Matrix questions are a type of survey question that allows respondents to answer multiple statements using rates in rows...

Formplus - For Seamless Data Collection

Collect data the right way with a versatile data collection tool. try formplus and transform your work productivity today..

Connecting Flights Guide

Welcome to our comprehensive FAQ on connecting flights!

If you’re looking for information on how to navigate the process of transferring from one flight to another, you’ve come to the right place. Here, you’ll find answers to common questions on topics such as layover time, baggage handling, and missed connections. Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or a first-time flier, this guide is designed to provide you with the information and tools you need to make your connecting flight experience as seamless and stress-free as possible.

So sit back, relax, and let’s get started!

• What Is This Page About? How to Use This FAQ Page?

This is an FAQ and collection of all our best resources, 2-in-1.

On this page, there are only short answers to frequently asked questions about connecting flights, something many of you will be 100% satisfied with. However, in many cases there is more to the topic than a short, 1-2 sentence, or 2-paragraph answer, and then we prepare longer, in-depth answers.

To learn more about the topics, click on the links provided.

Table of Contents

What is a connecting flight, why airlines have connecting flights, are connecting flights cheaper than direct flights, what is a boarding pass, how to get a boarding pass, how to get boarding passes for connecting flights, can you get a free flight if you miss connecting flight, what are multi-city flights, are connecting flights always in the same terminal, do you have to go through security on connecting flights, what is a layover, what is a stopover, is a 45-minute layover too short for international flights, why book a long layover, what is a self-transfer flight, are self-transfer flights safe, how to make self-transfer flights safe, how much time do you need between self-transfer flights, make your trip safe from day 1, what is carry-on bag, is carry-on bag free, what is checked baggage, what happens with baggage on connecting flights, delayed baggage on connecting flights, lost baggage on connecting flights, can you get missed connecting flight compensation, what to do if you miss your connecting flight, do airlines hold flights for connecting passengers, what does rerouting mean in air travel, your connecting flight is overbooked. what happens next, what is uk / eu flight compensation regulation, what is right to care (in the eu, uk law).

1. Connecting Flights: Basics

If there’s more than one flight, these are connecting flights. If you are flying not directly but through some other places, these are connecting flights.

Here’s a visual demonstration:

See our in-depth guide on connecting flights here .

Airlines offer connecting flights for a variety of reasons.

Some of those reasons are: to serve more destinations, to increase efficiency, to offer more options, to accommodate longer journeys, and to save costs.

Read more: Why Do Airlines Have Connecting Flights?

The answer is not always straightforward, as it depends on many factors including the type of airline, the route taken, and the time of year. In general, however, connecting flights tend to be cheaper than direct flights.

Read more: Are Connecting Flights Cheaper Than Direct Flights?

A boarding pass (or a boarding card) is a confirmation that you can board a plane. It’s your flight ticket. You must show it to board the airplane. A boarding pass contains information about flight times, gate number, seat number, flight number, and, of course, has passengers name and last name.

Usually you receive it 24 – 48 hours before the flight.

Read more: What is a Boarding Pass?

You’ll get your boarding pass after you check in for your flight. Usually check-in happens not earlier than 24-48 hours before the flight. 

Many people nowadays do online check in.

There are three most likely scenarios:

• All your flights are operated by one airline. This is the easiest and also the most common option. In this case, mostly all you have to do is to check in online and download boarding passes. Usually check-in starts not earlier than 24-48 hours before the flight.
• Your flights are operated by different airlines. You may need to do airport check in. Try to check in online. If that’s not possible on neither airline’s website, don’t worry about that. Arrive to airport 2-3 hours before the flight, and check in there.
• You have a self-transfer connection. You have to check in for every flight separately. You will also get boarding passes separately.

Read more: Boarding Passes for Connecting Flights

Yes, you can get a new flight for free, if you miss a connecting flight, and it wasn’t your fault. It works like this with most airlines globally.

It doesn’t apply to self-transfer flights.

Read more: Can You Get a Free Flight if You Miss Connecting Flight?

Multi-city flights are itineraries, where you have more than one destination. They are like connecting flights. They offer the same benefits (easy to book, one reservation, protected by airline). And at the same time, you are having more than one destination.

In this case, sop or stops in between are called stopovers. Because you are actually stopping in between, not just transiting through.

Read more: What Are Multi-City Flights?

Connecting flights are not always in the same terminal.

Depending on the airport and your airline, you may need to change terminals during your layover in order to catch your connecting flight. Some airports have multiple terminals that are connected by shuttle buses or trains, while others require you to exit one terminal and enter another through a separate security checkpoint.

Read more: Are Connecting Flights Always in the Same Terminal?

Whether you need to go through security again during a connecting flight depends on the specific details of your itinerary. In some cases, you may be required to go through security again if you are changing terminals or if your connecting flight is departing from a different area of the airport.

However, if your connecting flight is departing from the same terminal and gate as your previous flight, you may not need to go through security again.

Read more: Do You Have to Go Through Security on Connecting Flights?

2. Layovers and Stopovers

Layover is a stop between flights.

Read more: What Is a Layover?

Stopover is a long layover (usually 24+ hours).

Read more: What Is a Stopover?

If these are airline-protected connecting flights, it’s safe.

Yes, you may  miss a connecting flight due to delay  of previous flight. Yes, you may not reach your destination today. Your baggage may get delayed. All of this is possible. All of this may happen. However, as long as it’s an airline-protected connection, you are safe, because it’s airline’s responsibility to find a solution.

Read more: 45-Minute Layover? Risky?

There can be benefits to having a long layover during a connecting flight.

Taking a long layover can be an excellent way to break up the monotony of long-haul flights and make the most of your trip. Long layovers offer a number of benefits, such as allowing you to experience a destination in more depth, save money on airfare, and enjoy some sightseeing or shopping.

Read more: Are Long Layovers Worth It: Pros and Cons

3. Self-Transfer Flights

To put it simply, self-transfer flight is DIY connecting flights. You buy two separate flights to get to your destination. It can also be more than two flights. You yourself are responsible for making it on time between flights.

See our in-depth guide on self-transfer flights here .

Self-transfer flights can be safe. More or less.

If you know what you are booking and take the necessary precautions. Having a good travel insurance might be handy in this case.

Read more: Are Self-Transfer Flights Safe?

Here are a few ideas, how to make self-transfer flights safe: have a long enough connection time, travel with hand luggage only when possible, book protected self-transfer flights whenever possible, and always have a plan B.

Travel insurance covering travel changes is also recommeded.

Read more: How to Make Self-Transfer Flights Safe?

Book protected self-transfer connection with Kiwi.

It’s a good idea to have 4 to 5 hours between self-transfer flights

Because you have to collect and recheck your bag.

TRAVEL INSURANCE

SafetyWing  – Insurance for nomads

4. Carry-on Baggage

Carry-on bag is the baggage you’re carrying with you on the plane. There are specific rules and limitations that apply to carry-on baggage. These rules are different from rules regarding checked baggage.

For example, you aren’t allowed to carry big liquids in a carry-on bag. At the same time, you are allowed to carry power banks ONLY in carry-on bag.

Read more: What Is Carry-on Bag?

At least one bag will be free.

But airline baggage policies are constantly changing. For example, many European low-cost airlines (like Ryanair and Wizz Air ) now allow only one free personal item. If you want to travel with a regular size carry-on, you will need to book priority boarding which will allow you not only board the plane faster, but also bring 1 regular carry-on bag and 1 personal item.

5. Checked Baggage

Checked baggage is the bag you check in with an airline.

You don’t carry it on the plane with yourself.

Read more: What is Checked Baggage?

On connecting flights protected by airline, your baggage is transferred by airline. On self-transfer flights – you collect and recheck baggage yourself.

Read more: Baggage on Connecting Flights

What to do if your baggage hasn’t arrived with you?

As soon as you realise that your baggage hasn’t arrived with you, report it to the airline’s luggage desk or customer service desk at the airport. They will give you a Property Irregularity Report (PIR) number which is used to track your baggage.

Read more: Delayed Baggage on Connecting Flights (Possible Scenarios)

If your delayed bag is not found within a certain period of time (usually 21 days), then you may be entitled to claim compensation from the airline for lost luggage.

Read more: Lost Baggage on Connecting Flights (Tracking, Your Rights, Compensation)

6. Missed Connections

If you’re traveling to or from Europe and your flight is delayed or cancelled due to an airline’s fault, you may be entitled to compensation under EU regulations (up to 600 euro from the airline). It applies also to missed connections that cause delays at the final destination – if you arrive later than planned, you may be entitled to flight compensation.

Read more: Missed Connecting Flight Compensation in Europe

If you miss your connecting flight, the first thing to do is to contact your airline as soon as possible. They can provide you with information on your options for rebooking or finding an alternative route to your destination. The airline will book you on the next available flight to your destination at no additional cost.

Read more: What to Do if You Miss Your Connecting Flight?

Are you worried you might miss your connecting flight?

Will a connecting flight wait for you? In most cases, no.

However, if a flight is delayed and there are many passengers who are connecting from this delayed flight onto the same connecting flight, the airline might hold the connecting flight for these passengers. But if there’s only one person, then no.

Read more: Do Airlines Hold Flights for Connecting Passengers?

7. Other Situations

When an airline changes its planned route for a flight, it is called rerouting. This can happen because of bad weather, problems with the airplane, or even because of politics in the country where the plane was going to land.

It is done to ensure passenger safety.

Read more: What Does Rerouting Mean in Air Travel?

If a flight is overbooked, the airline may ask for volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for instant compensation, such as vouchers or cash. If there are no volunteers, the airline may involuntarily deny boarding to some passengers.

Read more: Your Connecting Flight Is Overbooked. What Happens Next?

8. UK / EU Flight Compensation Regulation

The EU Flight Compensation Regulation, also known as EC 261/2004, is a regulation that establishes air passenger rights for flights departing from an airport in the European Union (EU), Iceland, Norway or Switzerland. The regulation applies to all flights operated by EU airlines, as well as non-EU airlines departing from an EU airport.

Regulation UK261 is a regulation that establishes air passenger rights for flights departing from and arriving in the United Kingdom (UK). It is similar to the EU Flight Compensation Regulation (EC 261/2004) and provides passengers with similar rights in cases of flight disruption such as cancellations, delays, and overbooking.

Read more: UK / EU Flight Compensation Guide

Under the UK / EU Flight Compensation Regulation, air passengers have the right to care in cases of flight disruption such as cancellations, delays or denied boarding due to overbooking. The right to care ensures that passengers are provided with basic amenities and assistance during their wait.

The right to care includes provisions for meals and refreshments, access to communication channels such as phone calls and emails, and accommodation if necessary. The specific requirements for the provision of care depend on the length of delay and distance of the flight.

Read more: Right to Care (EU, UK Law)

Take Trips, Make Memories

Goshuin Guide: What Is It & How to Collect

A trip to Japan isn’t complete without a visit to one of its many ancient shrines or temples, which provide a glimpse into the country’s rich cultural heritage. As you navigate through these sacred places, you may encounter a unique practice that beautifully combines spirituality, calligraphy, and the joy of collection: the tradition of goshuin. Find out what it is and how to collect goshuin in our comprehensive guide.

What is a Goshuin?

Goshuin (御朱印) are seal stamps given out at many Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines across Japan. Each goshuin is a unique work of art, consisting of the shrine or temple’s name in black ink calligraphy , a distinct red seal representing the location, and the date of the visit .

Goshuin History and Meaning

Traditionally, these temple stamps or shrine stamps were proofs of pilgrimage; they were given to show that one had visited a particular shrine or temple. Some say one could bring goshuin stamps to the afterlife as a proof of devotion.

Today, many tourists and locals alike collect goshuin for their aesthetic appeal, and as a memorable token of their visit.

What is a Goshuin-Cho?

Goshuin-cho (御朱印帳) is a special book dedicated to housing these unique goshuin stamps. It is very important to collect only temple or shrine stamps in your goshuin-cho. If you have anything other than these stamps, such as station stamps, in your goshuin-cho, you may be declined a goshuin.

Where to Buy Goshuin-Cho

You can purchase it at most temples and shrines ; each place often has their own specific designs for goshuin-cho. Depending on the design, the cost of one book can range from 1,500 to 3,000 yen.

Purchasing your first goshuin-cho from a shrine or temple you particularly like or feel connected to, can be a meaningful start to your goshuin collection. My first book was from Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto (the one on the left below).

You may also find goshuin-cho at stationery stores and department stores . For instance, I bought another book at Hyakudan Kaidan in Tokyo after visiting their gallery (the one on the right in the photo above). I have a separate post about visiting Hyakudan Kaidan, a lesser-known cultural and architectural landmark in Tokyo .

Why Collect Goshuin?

As mentioned previously, it is said that goshuin was traditionally collected as a proof that one had visited a particular shrine or temple. I started collecting goshuin out of curiosity, thinking it would be an interesting and engaging way to connect with Japan’s religious and cultural history. It soon turned into a rewarding travel experience for me.

Each goshuin is not just a souvenir from the temple or shrine I visited. It also takes me back to the very moment it was collected : the tranquil morning filled with the rustling sound of the camphor trees at Meiji Jingu , or the rainy and quiet afternoon at Kodai-ji temple. My first goshuin-cho bought at Kiyomizu-dera is now a visual diary, a vivid reminder of the places I visited on my first trip to Japan.

Goshuin Cost

Each goshuin usually costs 300-500 yen. Half of the places I visited in Kyoto charged 300 yen, while half charged 500 yen. All the places I visited in Tokyo charged 500 yen.

Some places, like Hakone shrine and Senso-ji, offer more than one goshuin design . You can request just one or all the goshuin designs you like. Fushimi Inari is unique in that it offers the opportunity to collect up to five goshuin, one from the main shrine and others along the trails up the mountain.

Below are the two goshuin stamps you can obtain at Senso-ji. The stamp on the left is for Kannon, the main deity of the temple. The one on the right is for Daikokuten, one of the Lucky Gods worshipped at Yogodo hall on the temple grounds.

Where to Get a Goshuin

Most temples and shrines offer goshuin, often at the location where amulets are sold. It is sometimes quite easy to find. For example, you can ask for a goshuin right at the entrance booth at Hakone shrine (before climbing the stairs to the main shrine). Or at Otagi Nenbutsu-ji in Kyoto, you can request a goshuin from the same window at the entrance ticket booth.

There are also times when the place to obtain goshuin is not as obvious. For instance, the goshuin counter of Meiji Jingu is located inside the prayer hall Kaguraden. The goshuin counter of Senso-ji is also in a separate building, called Yogodo hall, off to the side of the main temple.

Most temples and shrines have signs to tell you where to get goshuin, but they are typically in Japanese. Few places have signs in English though (I can recall only Kinkaku-ji off the top of my head). Therefore, it is best to memorize how “goshuin” is written in Japanese Kanji characters (御朱印), or “goshuin-jo” (御朱印所) to find goshuin locations. Goshuin-jo means place/office to receive stamps.

You can see three “shuin-jo” (朱印所 ) signs with an arrow pointing to the left that I circled in blue in the photo above. They are signs within Senso-ji temple grounds that show visitors where to get the stamp.

Goshuin Location Tips

• Most goshuin offices open from 8 am to 4 pm or 4:30 pm , so plan your visit accordingly if you want to collect goshuin.
• Some large temples and shrines provide online maps showing you where goshuin offices are located, for example, Meiji Jingu and Senso-ji .

Written vs. Paper Goshuin

Goshuin can come in two main forms :

• Written directly into goshuin-cho by the temple staff or shrine priests
• Offered as a separate piece of paper that you can glue to your goshuin-cho later

I enjoy watching the staff hand-write the calligraphy, so I do like written goshuin slightly more. Here is the list of temples and shrines I visited and the respective type of goshuin I was given:

• Written goshuin: Kiyomizu-dera, Kinkaku-ji, Kodai-ji, Yasui Kompira-gu, Yasaka Shrine, Yasaka Koshindo temple, Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, Adashino Nenbutsu-ji, Hakone Shrine, Senso-ji
• Separate paper goshuin: Fushimi Inari, Meiji Jingu (the priest still hand-wrote the date), Ueno Toshogu shrine
• Stamped goshuin: Tenryu-ji (both the calligraphy and seal were stamped directly on my book)

How to Ask for a Goshuin

You’re now at the right place to obtain goshuin. The next question is: “How do I ask for a goshuin?” .

Well, when I tried to collect my first goshuin at Kiyomizu-dera, I was both excited and nervous. Clutching my brand new goshuin-cho, I was unsure of the correct goshuin etiquette or the right words to use, so I just clumsily handed my book to the staff. Thankfully, my Japanese local guide assisted me with the next two goshuin, providing me a chance to observe and learn. From then on, I felt more comfortable with the process of requesting a goshuin on my own.

Below are the steps you can follow to ask for a goshuin . These steps are not official rules or procedures, just what worked for me.

• Pray at the main shrine/temple first, if you can, before heading to the goshuin office. The primary purpose of visiting should be to pay respect and appreciate the landscape and architecture, not to collect goshuin.
• At the goshuin counter, greet the staff with either “Ohayou gozaimasu” (Good morning) or “Konnichiwa” (Hello/Good afternoon).
• Ask for the goshuin by saying “Goshuin o onegai shimasu” (Please give me a goshuin) while handing staff your goshuin-cho with the correct page opened .
• I always opened my book to the blank page I’d like the goshuin to be written on and showed the page to the staff, saying “Koko desu” (Here, on this page please) (it’s not a must to say this though).
• Hand over the money (often 300 or 500 yen) to the staff.
• The staff will tell you to wait there a bit , or sometimes give you a number to come back and pick up the book later, or give you the goshuin paper.
• When receiving your goshuin-cho back, say “Arigatou gozaimasu” (Thank you) and bow slightly.

I found that most staff at goshuin counters could speak and understand some English, so overall, it’s not difficult to obtain a goshuin even for beginners.

Other Goshuin Etiquette and Tips

Here are more tips for collecting goshuin:

• Be respectful while on the grounds of temples and shrines and follow the general Japanese temple and shrine etiquette .
• Also be respectful, patient and remain quiet while observing the staff prepare the goshuin.
• Since my Japanese is not good enough to read all the information on a goshuin, I liked to take a photo of it against the backdrop of the respective shrine or temple. This helped me remember each stamp’s origin.

Overall, I can’t recommend the experience of collecting goshuin enough. It is a simple way to engage with and appreciate Japanese culture while traveling across the country. I hope you will find my goshuin collecting guide helpful, and feel free to comment and share your favorite goshuin.

If you need more tips, read my top useful tips for traveling to Japan here.

Similar Posts

Review: Madoka no Mori Ryokan in Hakone

Top 11 Best Ryokan in Hakone with Private Onsen

Top Tips for First-Time Travelers to Japan

Explore Kyoto Cuisine: Top Local Foods and Restaurants to Try

Why Meiji Jingu Should Top Your Tokyo Itinerary (Plus Visiting Guide)

Things Worth Splurging On When Visiting Japan

Hi! Does Senso-ji sell the books as well?

Hi Elizabeth, Yes, Senso-ji was selling the goshuin books when I was there in May. There may be a slight chance of them running out of stock, but since Senso-ji is such a famous and popular destination, I guess that risk is small.

Hi Elizabeth, Thank you so much for your detailed writeup! I am studying everything for a trip on my own in 2024. In particular, I can’t wait to collect the goshuin stamps! You mention that your guide took you to Kennin-ji temple but it is not on your list of goshuin. I checked their website and could find no mention of the stamps. Were you able to get one?

Hi Elaine, We went there quite early (around 8:30) and Kennin-ji visiting hours started at 10:00, so I didn’t get a goshuin from this temple. We walked around the grounds (quite large and beautiful) which almost always opened. I plan to visit Kyoto again in December, and this time I will make sure to go to Kennin-ji during their visiting hours.

I meant to say Thank you Sophie! Sorry about that! Elaine

Hello, I have read that some temples won’t put goshuin in your book if there are stamps from shrines or vice versa. Did you run into this? I don’t want to cause any offense.

Hi Toni, I didn’t run into this. I also asked my Japanese guide this question, and he said it generally shouldn’t be a problem for tourists. Just make sure they are all goshuin done by temples and shrines. I heard there are other types of stamps, such as station stamps, and those shouldn’t be included in the book.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

The Ultimate Guide for Travel Data Management: Best Practices & More

Types of travel data

Best practices for organizing and tracking travel-related data, data management systems, data security and privacy, travel industry experts, case studies.

As data becomes increasingly important across verticals, it’s essential to understand its role in the travel industry. Most importantly, understand how to leverage it to make informed business decisions and improve your internal processes and travel experience . After all, data will play a pivotal role in helping the tourism sector’s market volume reach $992.10bn by 2026 .

It all starts with effective travel data management, which refers to your process of tracking, recording, storing, and organizing the data created and collected by your travel business. 

The benefits of excelling at travel data management include i mproved business decision-making, efficient marketing campaigns, reduced operating costs and improved expense management, better-optimized processes, and ultimately increased profits. 

Let’s see how you can unlock all these benefits learned from the best travel data management case studies in the tourism industry. However, before we go to case studies, let’s learn about the different types of travel data your organization collects and how you can improve your data collection and organization efforts. 

Talking about travel data management without pinpointing travel data types provides little to no value. You must be able to identify the travel data types you want to manage efficiently and decide how you want to use each one of them . 

One of the main challenges of travel data management is that the travel industry collects massive amounts of data . It also comes from a variety of sources and through different data pipelines. The Big Data in the travel sector typically includes:

• Booking data – While booking data is a vast concept and rather hard to define, it generally refers to all the travelers’ data contained in the CRS. It can include a guest name, billing information, address, travel agent, rates, arrival & departure info, and stay information;
• Itinerary data – An itinerary data set can contain automated and manual data entries, including air and hotel data, dining reservations, ground transportation, planned routes, tasks for a trip, events, and to what extent each item across itineraries is popular (booking frequency);
• Expense data – Expense data includes all the expenses of doing business as a travel business. It can consist of all commission rates by each one of your suppliers, office costs, costs associated with maintaining your digital platforms and communication channels, and payroll expenses;
• Flights data – Flights data includes all flights provided by your selected airline suppliers. It can contain schedule data and other flight content such as departure and arrivals, patterns in booked flights, and missed flights;
• Destinations data – Destinations data contains essential information on destinations in your current offer. It can have destination performance data to help you pinpoint the most popular destinations and destinations where tourists spend more time, destination weather data, and currency fluctuations data;
• Transportation data – Transportation data includes all the information your business accumulated on all transportation options in your offer – their performance, popularity, missed flights data, costs, and so on;
• Customer data – your customer dataset includes a wide range of data entries usually stored in your CRM. It can include customer names, addresses, demographics, transportation, package & amenities preferences, past travel history with your brand, and so on.

Some of this data can be unstructured in free form or structured and ready to use in relevant fields and records. Travel data management can help you better structure your data, screen it for errors, and get it ready for use for analytics. 

When it comes to best practices for organizing and tracking travel-related data, the best thing you can do for your travel business is to standardize these procedures. Here are a couple of things that you should standardize first:

• Data quality – which criteria your data needs to meet before you can use it to fuel business decisions or offer personalization;
• Data quantity – the more data you have, the better. You should set a minimum threshold for your data quantity so you can make sound business decisions;
• Real-time access – you need access to your data on demand as it can help you identify trends and opportunities so you can fuel your immediate business decisions;
• Data warehouse – you also need to dedicate one central storage for your data to avoid breaking data in silos;
• Data monitoring – finally, you need to be able to monitor your data around the clock to measure your KPIs and make changes as you go.

Here are some of the approaches to tracking travel-related data.

You can put all data management systems in the travel sector into three categories – manual, spreadsheet-based, and specialized software systems. Let’s quickly take a look at each one of them. 

Manual systems

It’s not uncommon to see small travel agencies and novice travel agents using manual systems to track and record travel-related data. These systems can include tables in Word, email correspondence, and 

storing important data on local drives and thumb drives .

• An efficient way to track data
• Minimal costs
• Storing data is convenient
• Lack of structure
• Becomes obsolete as the data scales up

Spreadsheet-based systems

Spreadsheet-based systems are more advanced than manual systems. They refer to any type of Excel-like software used in travel-related data tracking and organizing. You can use these systems on-premises or in the cloud thanks to solutions such as Google Sheets and Office 365.

• Provide a better overview of the data
• Can easily structure data across records
• Support for basic analytics with built-in support for mathematical operations
• Scalability can be an issue with the number of suppliers and clients increasing
• Can result in duplicates and errors

Specialized travel management software

Finally, we have specialized travel management software built to facilitate and automate several processes that travel agencies manage on a day-to-day basis . These platforms can be set up to automatically track and organize travel-related data.

• Automated data tracking and storing
• Can track various types of data, including expenses, market information, and so on
• Helps centralize key data
• Can be costly
• Sometimes onboarding and training are required

Modern travelers are aware of the risks of sharing their sensitive data. In fact, 81% of them believe the potential risks of sharing their data outweigh the benefits it unlocks for them . As a travel business that collects and processes travel data, you need to address issues related to data security. 

More importantly, you must communicate your practices and security measures to potential customers to instill trust and generate business. There are many things you can do, including using state-of-the-art firewalls and antivirus, training your employees on best cyber security practices, encrypting data, and never sharing it with 3rd party companies .

Furthermore, you must ensure compliance with relevant laws and regulations, such as GDPR in the EU and CCPA in the US . 

Whenever in doubt, you should broaden your perspective on the subject of travel data management – and what better way to do it than to tune in and find out what experts think about it? Below you can find out what the most prominent names in the travel sector have to say about the key data management trends and most common issues. 

Francisco Reverte at Salesforce

Francisco Reverte is a Senior Account Executive for the Tourism industry at Salesforce, actively working on solutions to enable travel companies to efficiently address customer demands. He outlined the abundance of data as the main challenge of good data management in the sector.

Francisco is confident that the solution lies in solutions that can go through the data at scale faster than human workers. “New technologies like Big Data or Artificial Intelligence (AI) are the future of the platforms used for travel data management. Solutions powered by emerging technologies can help travel brands get to know their customers better, boost customer loyalty, and increase profitability,” Reverte explained.

Ignacio Ochoa at Iberostar Group Hotels & Resorts

Ignacio Ochoa is currently eCommerce and Online Marketing Director at Iberostar Group Hotels & Resorts. Iberostar currently manages the hotel chain consisting of 114 properties around the globe. According to him, the biggest challenge of travel data management is leveraging all visitors’ touch points with the brand to create personalized customer experiences.

“We seek a fully-optimized experience for every customer on every device, whether it be on a website adapted to desktop and mobile, as well as assisted sales services and the contact center,” Ochoa elaborated. In his efforts to help the chain improve visitors’ experience, Ochoa suggested they start using Google’s G Suite as it not only streamlines data management but also enables the brand to step up its ongoing digitization process. 

Stephen Lan at Amperity

Stephen Lan is a Director of Product Marketing at Amperity, a customer data platform. His years-long experience in the field makes him firmly believe that the biggest challenge of bullet-proof travel data management is working with data in silos instead of having a single data warehouse. It can lead to errors as data in silos can contain duplicates, incomplete profiles, and outdated information.

“It’s important to have an accurate customer data foundation that will allow you to identify and segment the right customer audiences,” said Stephen. “You’re not going to know the right audience to target until you have a complete customer profile, so it’s important to start by asking questions about what data and sources you need to drive your strategy and business objectives forward.”

That’s why Amperity focuses on developing a customer data platform on Machine Learning and AI able to score data, identify duplicates, and output actionable reports travel companies can use to develop better personalization. 

Víctor Mayans at ARTIEM Hotels

Víctor Mayans is Marketing Director of ARTIEM Hotels. He has been working with the brand long enough to highlight the main challenge of travel data management – all your efforts must contribute to collecting high-quality data. Only high-quality data can help a brand stay authentic and consistent across all digital channels and still be able to offer a personalized experience.

“Executing without measuring and improving doesn’t do very much. That’s why integrating measurement tools like Analytics or DataStudio, along with PowerBI that help you control KPIs while integrating them with customer satisfaction and sales metrics, is fundamental,” said Víctor. 

According to him, the best way to manage travel data is to invest in a robust CRM that has the capability to collect quality and actionable data. 

Besides learning from the tourism industry experts and discovering how some brands leverage Big Data and data management to achieve better results, you have other options as well. You can look for travel data management case studies . Or, in other words, see for yourself the exact moves travel businesses make to stay on top of their data management practices and what results they achieve . 

With this in mind, we give you four case studies highlighting different travel data management strategies and their outcomes.

Issta’s flight inventory management done right

As one of the prominent OTAs in Israel, Issta had to make its offer comprehensive and diverse. The firm caters to the needs of B2C and B2B companies. Given that the agency has a significant number of subdivisions and interacts with various clients, the information it communicates needs to be on point. 

The challenge of doing flight inventory right came from the fact that each of Issta’s divisions had its own list of suppliers. Managing the data in silos that consistently keeps changing is indeed quite a challenge. To overcome it, the company worked with a 3rd party company and had a custom management platform built . 

Thanks to the centralized inventory hub and connections with multiple suppliers, Issta drove more direct sales and satisfied quality standards. 

Faith Motors replaced papers with a new system

Faith Motors is a booking service provider with a focus on transportation services. However, the company ended up stuck with legacy methods of handling data. The workforce collected and processed data manually, and it was mainly stored in files and stored in cabinets. The company decided to completely digitize its travel data management practices. 

By replacing its manual system with the digital one , Faith Motors managed to completely transform its business and how they handle data. They collected data across various channels, structured it, and stored it for later use. The brand delighted clients by providing up-to-date and accurate data. The new system enabled data transparency and helped the company leverage data to deliver personalized offers.

Travelport Digital’s transition to real-time data analytics

To do real-time data analytics, you need to have pristine data management practices. In the travel niche, it means that all data has to meet the standards for structure, be error-free, and be regularly scanned for duplicates and inconsistencies. Achieving all this at scale is particularly challenging because there are many data pipelines to manage. 

Travelport Digital, as one of the world’s largest mobile travel technology providers, experienced all of the above challenges on its road to enabling real-time data analytics. They needed a comprehensive platform for travel data management. One that can track and record all travelers’ touch points with the brand, including various travelers’ actions and patterns such as research and booking, ancillary purchases, and itinerary management. 

Travelport had a custom solution made. The results are outstanding. Travelport app users can now receive personalized updates and recommendations thanks to real-time clickstream data analysis.

Waterloo travel agency is switching to an internal online travel data management platform

The following case study is of an online travel agency based in Waterloo, Australia. The agency offers various travel packages, including activities, hotels, and flights. The company wanted to have a platform able to process all the contracts with suppliers while storing data on inventory. The only way to achieve this goal was to align with a software company.

The travel agency had a travel data management platform built with extensive inventory management capabilities. Thanks to these capabilities, the agents were able to get access to the accurate and most recent data so they could create travel packages from scratch and use API to publish them across different platforms. As a result, the agency was able to seamlessly stream and manage travel data across 350,000 properties from 12,000 destinations . 

Uniglobe’s alliance with Amadeus

One of the benefits of good travel data management is the ability to delight customers with accurate data almost immediately after they take an interest in a travel package or complete booking. However, to do it, you need access to a comprehensive travel management platform with automation capabilities . To achieve it, Uniglobe decided to align with Amadeus, a leading IT provider in the travel industry .

Uniglobe started using Amadeus’s m-Power technology . Thanks to new tech, most data management practices were automated, including informing travelers about trip details the moment they complete the booking. The system automatically registers changes and notifies clients about significant changes to their schedules, thus preventing inconveniences and bringing the travel experience to the next level.

Travel data management is a huge deal in the travel sector. If you do it right, you can leverage the data your business and consumers generate to make smarter business decisions, improve your travel experience, and stand out from the crowd.

When it comes to travel data management, the go-to solutions for many travel companies are data management platforms (DMP) and travel management platforms (TMP) . Given that every travel business is unique, you should define your business goals, identify the data that can help you reach them, and custom-tailor your data management practices to bring you closer to those goals. 

Subscribe to our newsletter

Yay you are now subscribed to our newsletter.

Cristóbal Reali, VP of Global Sales at Mize, with over 20 years of experience, has led high-performance teams in major companies in the tourism industry, as well as in the public sector. He has successfully undertaken ventures, including a DMO and technology transformation consulting. In his role at Mize, he stands out not only for his analytical and strategic ability but also for effective leadership. He speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. He holds a degree in Economics from UBA, complementing his professional training at Harvard Business School Online.

Mize is the leading hotel booking optimization solution in the world. With over 170 partners using our fintech products, Mize creates new extra profit for the hotel booking industry using its fully automated proprietary technology and has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue across its suite of products for its partners. Mize was founded in 2016 with its headquarters in Tel Aviv and offices worldwide.

Related Posts

Big Data Can Improve Revenue Management in the Travel Industry

4 min. Big data has become a vital asset in many different industries in recent years. With so many people sharing their information online and platforms logging customer behavior, there’s a need for an efficient way to process all that raw information. The travel industry is no different, as owners and managers are constantly discovering […]

3 Ways How Companies Use Big Data

10 min. “Data is the new soil because, for me, it feels like a fertile, creative medium. Over the years, online, we’ve laid down a huge amount of information and data, and we irrigate it with networks and connectivity.” David Mccandless 2020 statistics reported by bornfight.com show that 90% of the world’s data has been […]

Demand Forecasting: Factors Affecting It, Why It is Important, & More

5 min. Markets of all sizes around the globe are becoming oversaturated. Meanwhile, harsh competition has made them volatile as well. Consumers have access to more information, which tremendously helps them in making the right purchasing decision. All of it makes the future uncertain for businesses. How does a business thrive and achieve objectives in […]

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

The .gov means it's official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

What the New Overtime Rule Means for Workers

One of the basic principles of the American workplace is that a hard day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay. Simply put, every worker’s time has value. A cornerstone of that promise is the  Fair Labor Standards Act ’s (FLSA) requirement that when most workers work more than 40 hours in a week, they get paid more. The  Department of Labor ’s new overtime regulation is restoring and extending this promise for millions more lower-paid salaried workers in the U.S.

Overtime protections have been a critical part of the FLSA since 1938 and were established to protect workers from exploitation and to benefit workers, their families and our communities. Strong overtime protections help build America’s middle class and ensure that workers are not overworked and underpaid.

Some workers are specifically exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime protections, including bona fide executive, administrative or professional employees. This exemption, typically referred to as the “EAP” exemption, applies when: 

1. An employee is paid a salary,  

2. The salary is not less than a minimum salary threshold amount, and 

3. The employee primarily performs executive, administrative or professional duties.

While the department increased the minimum salary required for the EAP exemption from overtime pay every 5 to 9 years between 1938 and 1975, long periods between increases to the salary requirement after 1975 have caused an erosion of the real value of the salary threshold, lessening its effectiveness in helping to identify exempt EAP employees.

The department’s new overtime rule was developed based on almost 30 listening sessions across the country and the final rule was issued after reviewing over 33,000 written comments. We heard from a wide variety of members of the public who shared valuable insights to help us develop this Administration’s overtime rule, including from workers who told us: “I would love the opportunity to...be compensated for time worked beyond 40 hours, or alternately be given a raise,” and “I make around $40,000 a year and most week[s] work well over 40 hours (likely in the 45-50 range). This rule change would benefit me greatly and ensure that my time is paid for!” and “Please, I would love to be paid for the extra hours I work!”

The department’s final rule, which will go into effect on July 1, 2024, will increase the standard salary level that helps define and delimit which salaried workers are entitled to overtime pay protections under the FLSA. 

Starting July 1, most salaried workers who earn less than $844 per week will become eligible for overtime pay under the final rule. And on Jan. 1, 2025, most salaried workers who make less than $1,128 per week will become eligible for overtime pay. As these changes occur, job duties will continue to determine overtime exemption status for most salaried employees.

The rule will also increase the total annual compensation requirement for highly compensated employees (who are not entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA if certain requirements are met) from $107,432 per year to $132,964 per year on July 1, 2024, and then set it equal to $151,164 per year on Jan. 1, 2025.

Starting July 1, 2027, these earnings thresholds will be updated every three years so they keep pace with changes in worker salaries, ensuring that employers can adapt more easily because they’ll know when salary updates will happen and how they’ll be calculated.

The final rule will restore and extend the right to overtime pay to many salaried workers, including workers who historically were entitled to overtime pay under the FLSA because of their lower pay or the type of work they performed. 

We urge workers and employers to visit  our website to learn more about the final rule.

Jessica Looman is the administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Follow the Wage and Hour Division on Twitter at  @WHD_DOL  and  LinkedIn .  Editor's note: This blog was edited to correct a typo (changing "administrator" to "administrative.")

• Wage and Hour Division (WHD)
• Fair Labor Standards Act
• overtime rule

SHARE THIS:   

The 50 Best Bars in North America 2024 Were Just Announced

By Charlie Hobbs

Since 2022, when World's 50 Best first began ranking North America’s 50 Best Bars, New York City and Mexico City have vied for the top spot. Always the bridesmaid, CDMX's Handshake Speakeasy has earned second place for the last two years in a row (first trailing Attaboy, then Double Chicken Please —both beloved Lower East Side joints). This year, however, the Colonia Juarez cocktail bar takes first place at long last.

While New York City is no longer top dog, its watering holes occupy second, third, and fourth place with Superbueno, Overstory , and Martiny’s, respectively. Rounding out the top five is another Mexico City establishment, Rayo.

Last year’s number one, Double Chicken Please, has fallen to seventh—but New York City continues to house more of North America’s top bars than any other city, with 12 of the US’s 26 entries. The other bars are Katana Kitten (No. 12), Employees Only (No. 15), Dante (No. 20), Attaboy (No. 31), The Dead Rabbit (No. 33), Maison Premiere (No .41), new entry Angel’s Share (No.43), and Milady’s (No.44). With the exception of Maison Premiere in Williamsburg, all of the above bars are located in downtown Manhattan.

So, what is it that pushed Handshake Speakeasy over the top this year? The details are unclear, but the bar—which is notoriously difficult to find, and therefore aptly named—has for one thing maintained its quality with nothing short of steadfast joy. Emma Sleight, 50 Best’s Head of Content, notes in a statement that the bar is “part of a strong cocktail culture in Mexico ” that warrants celebration. Adding to the mystique is bar director Eric van Beek, who with his team cooks up clarified juices, fat-washed spirits, and home-made syrups from a proper alchemist’s laboratory hidden onsite.

There are, as always, superlatives galore to be picked apart from the results. Superbueno earns the title of Disaronno Highest Entry for its debut at number two (the bar opened in early 2023) and in the process also takes the crown as the best bar in the United States. Toronto 's Civil Liberties is the best bar in Canada for the third year in the row (No. 21), while the best bar in the Caribbean is Puerto Rico ’s La Factoría (No. 18). Grand Cayman marks its first entry on the list with Library by the Sea (No. 35)—it was also recognized with the London Essence Best New Opening Award.

Also notable: San Francisco ’s True Laurel (No. 30) takes home the Kettle One Sustainable Bar Award with some much-needed representation for the West Coast ( Los Angeles has two entries, Thunderbolt at No. 8, and Mírate at No. 46.) The 270 members of the voting academy bestowed Claudia Cabrera of Mexico City’s Kaito del Valle with the Roku Industry Icon Award for her work championing female bartenders through her Japanese izakaya-style bar program.

The full list of winners can be found below, to be studied for your next few rounds of drinking on this great continent.

Handshake Speakeasy was crowned the best bar in North America.

• Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
• Superbueno, New York
• Overstory, New York
• Martiny's, New York,
• Rayo, Mexico City
• Jewel of the South, New Orleans
• Double Chicken Please, New York
• Thunderbolt, Los Angeles
• Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
• Tlecān, Mexico City
• Zapote Bar, Playa del Carmen

Katana Kitten, a New York regular on the list, came in at No. 12.

Steph Koyfman

Alex Erdekian

Laura Walsh

Jamie Spain

12. Katana Kitten, New York

13. Café La Trova, Miami

14. El Gallo Altanero, Guadalajara

15. Employees Only, New York

16. Aruba Day Drink, Tijuana

17. Café de Nadie, Mexico City

18. La Factoría, San Juan

19. Kumiko, Chicago

20. Dante, New York

21. Civil Liberties, Toronto

22. Service Bar, Washington DC

23. Allegory, Washington DC

The Botanist Bar in Vancouver is the second-highest Canadian entry at No. 24.

24. Botanist Bar, Vancouver

25. Herbs & Rye, Las Vegas

26. Baltra Bar, Mexico City

27. Bekeb, San Miguel de Allende

28. Kaito del Valle, Mexico City

29. Bar Pompette, Toronto

30. True Laurel, San Francisco

31. Attaboy, New York

32. Meadowlark, Chicago

33. The Dead Rabbit, New York

34. Selva, Oaxaca

Library by the Sea represents Grand Cayman's first entry on the list, at No. 35—it also took home the London Essence Best New Opening Award.

35. Library by the Sea, Grand Cayman

36. Century Grand, Phoenix

37. Arca, Tulum

38. Pacific Cocktail Heaven, San Francisco

39. Cloakroom, Montreal

40. Bar Mordecai, Toronto

41. Maison Premiere, New York

42. Hanky Panky, Mexico City

43. Angel's Share, New York

44. Milady's, New York

45. Brujas, Mexico City

46. Mírate, Los Angeles

47. Cure, New Orleans

48. Best Intentions, Chicago

49. The Keefer Bar, Vancouver

50. Atwater Cocktail Club, Montreal

Recommended

Etéreo, Auberge Resorts Collection

Dawn Ranch: First In

North America Travel Guide

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Traveller. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.