Know Before You Go
Travel Protection
Why Get Travel Protection?
Your vacation is a valuable investment, and in today’s travel landscape, it’s smart to consider travel protection, also known as travel insurance. It can help you when travel hiccups or unexpected financial challenges occur.
Here’s why you should consider it:
Common Coverage: Travel insurance can cover issues like lost luggage, flight delays, medical emergencies, and more.
Global Healthcare: Many U.S. health plans don’t cover international travel, so having travel insurance ensures you’re protected abroad.
Credit Card Coverage: Some credit cards offer travel insurance, but check the details to see if it covers everything you need.
Here are a few things trip insurance can provide coverage for:
- Unforeseen trip emergencies
- Delayed or lost luggage
- Flight delays and cancellations
- Sustaining an injury or sickness
- Medical evacuation flights
- Death or sickness of a close family member prior to travel or in destination
- Getting sick before you travel
- Non-refundable components of the trip which were canceled by a covered reason
Travel advisors are not licensed insurance agents and are legally restricted from answering specific policy questions. We can guide you to a product(s) that fit your travel needs. You should review the policy coverage and decide what’s best for you. If there are questions about policy coverage which we can’t answer, we’ll guide you to a source that can.
Passports
- Are you planning to go on a trip to another country in the next 6 months?
If you do not have a valid passport, renewing your passport early is a good idea.
DON’T WAIT!
Getting a new passport or renewing an old one can take up to 6 months because there are so many applications to process. This backlog happened because of the pandemic.
Your passport should be renewed 6 months before it expires. So, check the expiration date on your passport well before your trip!
Mobile Passport Control
Mobile Passport Control (MPC) allows eligible travelers to submit their travel document, photo, and customs declaration information through a free, secure app on their smartphone or other mobile device.
real id
Beginning on May 7, 2025, individuals will need to possess a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, a state-issued enhanced driver’s license, or an alternative valid form of identification in order to board a domestic flight. This requirement stems from the enforcement of the REAL ID Act by the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
To determine if your driver’s license is REAL ID-compliant, look for one of the following stars located in the upper right portion of the card:
Other forms of identification are acceptable, including a passport. Visit the TSA website for acceptable forms of ID, and the DHS website for FAQs regarding Real ID.
Documents
Before you travel, make sure you know about the important documents you’ll need for trips in the United States and other countries. If you plan to go outside the United States, you’ll typically need a valid passport or visa to get into another country and return to the U.S.
It’s up to you to figure out which documents you need and make sure you have them when you travel. If you don’t have the right papers, you might not be able to get on your flight or ship or even enter another country. Sadly, if that happens, you won’t get any money back for your travel. These are the rules made by the government, and everyone has to follow them.
Keep Your Documents Safe: Make two copies of all your travel papers just in case something goes wrong. Give one copy to someone you trust at home and carry the other copy separately from your original documents. To avoid theft, don’t keep your passport in your back pocket, and keep it away from your money.
Travel Websites
TSA PRE-CHECK
TSA Pre-Check is a special program at the airport that makes it faster and easier to go through security. When you sign up and get approved, you can keep your shoes on and leave your laptop and liquids in your bag when you go through security. It’s like a shortcut that helps you get to your plane faster!
STEP
The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, is a helpful program for travelers. It’s like a way to tell the government where you’re going when you travel to another country. When you enroll, they can contact you in case of emergencies or important updates during your trip, so it’s a smart thing to do before you travel abroad.
Smart Traveler Enrollment Program
GLOBAL ENTRY
Global Entry is a cool program for people who travel internationally. It lets you skip the long lines at customs when you come back to the United States. You just use a special machine, answer some questions, and you’re on your way home faster!
Benefits:
- No processing lines
- No paperwork
- Access to expedited entry
- Available at major U.S. airports
- Reduce wait times
CLEAR
CLEAR is a helpful program for airport security. It’s like having a fast pass to get through security faster. When you sign up, you can use a special lane, scan your eyes or fingerprints, and skip the regular lines, making your airport experience quicker and easier!
Mobile Passport Control
Mobile Passport Control (MPC) allows eligible travelers to submit their travel document, photo, and customs declaration information through a free, secure app on their smartphone or other mobile device.
Air Travel
Before you pack your bags and head to the airport, review this website to learn more ab out the following.
- Airport Weather & Delay Status
- Travel Tips
- Carry-On and Checked Baggage
- Pack Safe
- Passengers with Disabilities
Federal Aviation Administration Preparing to Fly Info
health
Check the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) for the latest information before you travel.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
security
Travel Alerts are sent out to share important information about temporary situations, which could be either in other countries or in the U.S., that might be risky for American citizens.
Travel Warnings are given when a place becomes consistently unsafe or unstable for a long time. The State Department suggests that Americans either avoid going there or think carefully about the dangers before traveling to that place.
The Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA) aims to keep American citizens safe when they are in other countries and to make sure our borders are secure. They do this by carefully reviewing and deciding on visas and passports.