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don’t match. For example, a woman named your layover will be longer than 24 hours.
Jacqueline was denied boarding for a flight to Another visa-related mistake? Assuming you
Greece because the ticket had been booked can just get one at the airport. This is often
under the name “Jackie.”
the case, but sometimes you’ll be required to
Wrong destination pay in the local currency, which you might not
You might think it’s impossible to book a flight have, and if your credit or debit cards don’t
work for any reason, you could find yourself
to the wrong country. You are, unfortunately,
wrong – it’s surprisingly easy to find tales of stuck at the airport. Get it sorted ahead of time
woe involving people who flew somewhere to spare yourself these problems.
completely different than their intended Biosecurity violations
destination. For example, a British couple
were accidentally booked for a trip to Many countries have strict rules about bringing
Grenada, which is in the Caribbean, instead foreign foods, plants, or animal products in
of the Spanish town of Granada, which is, from abroad. You might think, well, I don’t
you know, in Spain. They didn’t realize what have any illicit fruits in my bags, I’m good. But
had happened until after the plane took off. these biosecurity rules apply to more than just
Or consider the couple who booked a dream exotic seeds – like a passenger traveling from
Bali to Australia who was socked with a nearly
vacation to Las Vegas – but booked the flight $2,000 fine for bringing McDonald’s breakfast
departing from Birmingham, Alabama, instead sandwiches into the country. The passenger
of Birmingham, England, where they actually didn’t disclose the fast food, and paid the
lived.
price. Don’t make the same apparently tiny
It’s easy to rush through a booking online, mistake.
and if the drop-down menu shifts at the last
moment and you don’t notice, you might find Breaking driving rules
yourself flying somewhere very far from where If your travel plans include renting a car, be
you’ve booked your hotel, or having to make certain you know how everything works in
some expensive changes to your plans. your destination country. Even if there are no
posted signs (that you notice) and you don’t
Missing visa do anything too dangerous, you might find
It’s easy to overlook the fact that you need yourself receiving dozens of fines in the mail
a visa to enter or transit through one of the long after your trip. This happened to writer
countries on your itinerary – many countries Ryan Krogh in 2019 – he and his wife rented
don’t require a visa for folks traveling from the a car and tooled around Italy for a bit. They
U.S. But assuming that can get you into a lot wound up with hundreds of euros in fines for a
of trouble, so it’s best to check whether you laundry list of parking and speeding violations
need one and get it in hand before you leave. they didn’t even know they were doing. A
And don’t assume that just because you’re series of tiny mistakes in a foreign country can
transiting – passing through a country on your cost you big.
way somewhere else – that you don’t need
a visa – often you absolutely do, especially if lifehacker.com
6 November 2024
