Travel is one of the best investments you can make in life, right? So don’t cloud the experience with unnecessary costs, and believe us, there are some rippers you don’t want to be spending your hard earned pennies on! TripADeal Travel Tip for today: when it comes to travel documentation, you are who you are on your passport!
Travel documents
Blame bureaucracy, or blame your parents, but it doesn’t really matter in the end. Accept the fact that when it comes to travelling, you need to fill out your application documents to AN EXACT match to your passport. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been known as Brenda all your life. If your application documents actually say you’re Betty, then that’s how you fill out your documents.
The Passenger Information Form (PIF)
TripADeal organises your travel documents (any ticketing, insurance and/or visas) based off information you provide on your Passenger Information Form – TripADeal’s online application forms. The process is automated, so there is no human eye running over documents as such.
Dot your “i’s”, and cross your “t’s” UNLESS your passport doesn’t – A TripADeal Travel Tips
Common Mistakes
Here’s a list of common mistakes when filling out the Passenger Information Form.
Middle names: left off completely or only one put down when the traveller has two middle names.
Missing Letters: typing too quickly and a letter or two are missed.
Letters back to front: typing too quickly or on a mobile and letters are accidentally mistyped.
Maiden names: maiden names are written on the Passenger Information Form but the traveller gets married and updates their passport to their married name.
Nasty surprises
Airports can be stressful enough – more often than not, you’ve woken up early to be there hours before your flight, you’ve travelled in a cab or grabbed a lift with friends or family. Whatever it is, you’re outside your everyday routine. You’ve managed to grab the passports, but did you know that if your travel documents don’t match the exact spelling/details on your passport, there are a number of fates you may face.
The Rules
You may not be able to travel with the travel documents as printed. Airlines state that their tickets are often non-refundable and non-transferable and/or that penalties, fees and increased fares may apply. You may be charged a change fee by the airline, but that’s if a change is permitted at all. Please note that airlines control ticketing 24 hours before the flight, and during travel, so we are often unable to make any changes at this late stage.
Worse still, you may find yourself in one of two situations.
1. You have to pay premium emergency rates to buy new tickets, or
2. Choose to forfeit the trip because your budget doesn’t stretch that far. And be warned, insurance rarely covers such situations. Please note that changing details for Hotels, Transportation (especially, but not limited to the bullet train) and Cruises also incurs administration charges.
The logic
Being slumped with an administration charge to change tickets is an inconvenience for sure, but consider why Airlines need to do this. There are a number of processes in place in airports and the journey through needs to be as seamless as possible. Things such as security, identity-checking, and anti-fraud checks are in place, and need to be completed to departure time schedules. Getting it right at the departure airport, also ensures that you’ll be given entry at the arrival destination. And it all starts with making sure you get it right from the start on the Passenger Information Form.
Talk to us
If in doubt, simply call one our friendly Travel Consultants on 135 777.
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