How long since you checked your passport?

Occasionally we take over a booking that a client has made online only to discover that they have forgotten something really important – to check the date their passport expires. Online travel sites don't ask this question - or any of the other important ones that can make or break a trip.

Passports don't need renewing every year – and no-one sends us a reminder when they are due for renewal – so it can be easy to overlook renewing them. The downside is pretty awful. If you arrive at a check-in desk with an out of date – or soon to be out of date passport – you will be refused travel. You will lose the money you have paid towards your holiday and of course you will be hugely disappointed.

Visas are another formality that can be overlooked. I will never forget arriving to check-in for a flight only to see the couple in front of me in tears. They had booked their holiday to Vietnam online and no-one had told them they needed a visa!

So here is a little plug for travel agents. We check these things! We ask you if you have an up to date passport – in fact we ask to see your passport. And we know when you need a visa.