Travel Need-to-knows: Important Documents to Remember

Ellie Burnett
Dec 18, 2024
8 min read

In this post, I will cover the important documents to remember when going on holiday, including those needed at the airport and those needed once you get to your hotel or destination. At the end of this post is a PDF poster featuring a handy checklist of all the important documents you will need, as well as those additional documents needed for any extras you have booked.

Travelling is an exciting time, but it can also bring some stress. We've all been in that situation where we've checked we've got our passports for what feels like the hundredth time, and it can be quite nerve-wracking knowing that one lost or forgotten document can be the thing to stop us going and enjoying a nice break.

The documents we need will depend on the complexity of our trip, but there are some documents we will all need no matter what. I will try and cover both the essentials and the additional documents in this post! Let's make a start...

Passports:

This is probably the most obvious one. You need your passport plenty of times when you travel, including:

Checking in for flights
Checking in baggage
Boarding the plane
Passport checks once you land in another country

On top of this, your passport can be really helpful as a form of identification when you are abroad should you need it for any reason.

It's also important to make sure your passport is in date. There are some different rules surrounding this but generally, your passport should be in date for the duration of your stay plus an extra 6 months after this. Some other areas follow the 3-month rule, but to be safe it is good practice to always travel with a passport that is at least 6 months in date plus the duration of your stay abroad.

Boarding Passes:

You can't board a plane without a boarding pass! We need our boarding pass at various points throughout the airport, not only when boarding. This includes during baggage check-in, entering security, and some shops within the airport require to see your boarding pass when making a purchase too.

Most airlines allow you to check in for your flights online before you even get to the airport. Airlines like EasyJet allow you to check in 30 days before whereas British Airways allow you to do so from 24 hours before flying. Upon checking in, you should get access to your boarding pass.

It is a good idea to have both a digital copy of this boarding pass on the phone you are travelling with, as well as a physical paper copy. This way, you have a back up if either you experience any technical issues or run out of battery on your phone, and also if you misplace the paper copy.

If you are travelling with multiple people, it is usually best for each person to have their own boarding pass on their phone (unless of course you are with young children, in which case an adult can keep hold of these) as this can make navigating the airport easier.

I usually keep a copy of all of my family's boarding passes on my phone as well as sending them their own copies too. This means that at the baggage check in, where all boarding passes need to be checked, only one phone needs to be handed over the desk to make things easier. However, if one of you decides to go off to one of the shops, you have a boarding pass should you need it.

Having as many copies in as many locations as possible helps to prevent the stress of losing documents if you know you can get hold of them elsewhere.

Airport parking confirmation & documentation:

If you have decided to book airport parking or the meet & greet service, then you have likely been sent a confirmation by email or post with information such as your order number, important phone numbers to ring on the day, parking location etc.

It's important to have a copy of this with you as you will likely need to show proof of confirmation upon arrival to the meet & greet desks, or have certain information to hand depending on the instructions relating to your specific booking. This could be on your phone, a physical copy, or both.

Always read your confirmation too in case there are any phone calls you need to make to the meet & greet / airport parking companies leading up to or upon your arrival to the airport.

Lounge confirmation:

Booking an airport lounge can be a great way to relax before you fly, and they are becoming increasingly popular. Most airports have 2 or 3 different lounge options!

Always make sure you have some form of confirmation for your airport lounge, even if all you need to do is give a name at the desk. This helps make sure that, should any issues arise with finding your booking, that you have the relevant confirmation with you to resolve any issues. Also, most airport lounges will probably require to see this confirmation anyway.

Once again, a digital copy, physical copy, or both will be fine!

Hotel documentation:

This applies to the hotel in the location you are flying to, but also any hotels booked before you fly, such as those located close to the airport to cut down on travelling time on the day of flying.

Make sure you have your email or physical paper booking confirmations. This is especially the case for hotels abroad who normally like to check the booking confirmation and locate the booking number to get you checked in.

You will most likely receive confirmation for all hotel bookings via email, and will usually receive a PDF attachment containing all the information about your stay. This PDF attachment makes it easy to print off the information, and having it to hand can save the hassle of trying to open up emails at the check in desk. You can also save this PDF to a more accessible location on your phone too so it is easier to find and open.

It can be helpful to read over these documents yourself too as they will likely contain information on check in and check out times, important facts for your day of arrival and for during your stay. It can also be a good idea to read over the dates of your stay and similar details to make sure it all matches up with what you are expecting.

GHIC Cards:

Since leaving the EU, EHIC cards have now become UK GHIC cards (UK Global Health Insurance Cards).

As found on the NHS website, GHIC Cards let "you get necessary state healthcare in the European Economic Area (EEA), and some other countries, on the same basis as a resident of that country. This may be free or it may require a payment equivalent to that which a local resident would pay."

It is free to apply for a GHIC card and they last for 5 years before you need to apply for a new one. You can apply for a new card up to 9 months before your current card expires.

The NHS recommends applying for GHIC cards through their website, and avoiding any unofficial websites. Carrying these with you can be super important in the case of you needing any healthcare whilst on holiday in the EEA.

More information and how to apply can be found here.

Transfer documentation:

This refers to documentation relating to your transport to and from your accomodation abroad. You may have booked a shared shuttle bus or private car for example. Booking your transfers ahead of time is a great way to guarantee a set price and make sure you definitely have some form of transport waiting for you once you land. However, you can simply just choose to turn up and flag down a taxi if you know the area well or know you can guarantee finding one once you land.

If you do decide to book ahead, once again, you will likely receive confirmation of your booking via email along with a PDF attachment for easy printing. Having a digital and hard copy of this, or whatever suits you best, is a good idea as a lot of transfer companies check this documentation to confirm your booking upon picking you up.

Something that is becoming increasingly popular with these companies too is meet & greets at the exit to the airport, where they hold a sign up with your name on so you can easily locate your driver.

Always check your transfer documentation ahead of time as it will contain important information on how to find your driver, specific pick up times, what to do & who to call in cases of flight delays/cancellations/etc, as well as a phone number to call if you are having trouble locating your driver.

Insurance Documentation:

Hopefully we have all got insurance if we are planning to travel abroad! This is probably one of the most important pieces of documentation, alongside our passports and boarding passes.

It will contain important information, phone numbers, the dates you are covered, and what to do should any situations arise where you need to use or contact the insurance company. It will also include information about the specific people covered and what they are covered for.

This is a document I also always have in digital and physical copies. The email containing confirmation can become quite easily lost within a range of other emails if its contents are not saved elsewhere electronically, so having that paper copy can be a nice back up and act as an easy reference for any information you require.

ATOL certificate:

Depending on who you booked with and how you booked your holiday, you may or may not receive an ATOL certificate. If you do, it is important to have a copy of this somewhere, either on your phone, on paper, or (again!) both.

An ATOL certificate is a document that proves a customer's trip/flight is covered by the ATOL scheme. It is issues as soon as you make your first payment for a trip or flight which is covered by this ATOL scheme.

This document will have a yellow background. It will contain passenger details and information, details of what and who is covered, and important information regarding what the protection means and who to contact if anything were to go wrong.

Visas:

Some locations require you to have a visa to visit their country. Some of these locations include China, India, and Australia.

It is usually best practice to research any necessary visas for the area you are visiting before booking travel to make sure you qualify in the first place and that you understand the process required to acquire the relevant visa.