Avoid These Spring Break Travel Mistakes

Spring break travel is coming soon, and now is the perfect time to begin booking hotels, flights and planning your destination. But instead of spending your spring break in the airport, or finding yourself scammed with nowhere to stay, families can take extra precautions now to make sure this is a spring break without travel mishaps. Here are a few travel mistakes to avoid, and a few tips on how to make spring break travel go more smoothly:

Mistakes to Avoid:

Making Assumptions About Your Flight

While in a perfect world, every flight would always be on time, this isn’t usually the case. And if you’ve been one of the very few to never have to deal with a delayed or canceled flight, you still aren’t immune. It’s important to stay updated about the status of your flight. While yes, you want to arrive at least 2 hours prior to your flight, families with young kids could find themselves living a nightmare if they arrive 5 or 6 hours early to the airport with nothing to do, because they didn’t know their flight was delayed. Download your airlines app where you can easily check and stay updated on the status of your flight before you leave.

Overpacking

Whether you’re going away for one week, two weeks, or even just a few days, lugging around several, heavy suitcases and having more clothes and gadgets to keep track of can increase your stress levels. First, pack for or help your kids pack (it’s probably a good idea to pack a few extras for them). Then, begin packing for yourself. You don’t need to pack a brand-new outfit for every single day of the trip. Mix and match pants and shirts, take one or two bathing suits for your weeklong beach trip, not 7, pick 2-3 pairs of shoes that can be used for any outing, etc.

It’s also important to remember you can always buy something you need at your destination and that not EVERYTHING has to be packed in your suitcase. Prioritize the most important things and leave the rest at home.

Travel tips:

Travel on Off Days

While it may not be possible for everyone, traveling during the less busy days of the week can really clear traffic and keep you from becoming stressed. Typically, the best days to drive or fly are Tuesdays and Wednesdays because the least amount of people travel on these days, whereas Friday, Saturday and Sunday will have the most amount of people. Traveling on the least popular days, if possible for your schedule, can help you experience less crowds and likely less problems.

Insure your trip

2023 travel has proved that the airline industry can become a mess very quickly no matter the time of year. More travelers than ever are looking into and purchasing trip cancellation/interruption policies. These few extra dollars could save you the trouble of having to find your own way home, or to your destination whether it be during summer travel, the holidays, etc.

If you plan on utilizing benefits from your credit card for travel insurance, look closely into your credit card’s policy/insurance. Unlike travel insurance, these plans aren’t customized for your personal travel experience. Trip cancellation/interruption can compensate you if you need to stay overnight or even a few days before being able to get home. Goose Insurance offers travel insurance from an app that is quick and easy to obtain without health checks or dozens of medical history questions answer.

Remember to be Kind

One of the most important things you can do is to remember to be kind. Airport workers have no control over whether or not a flight takes off, and they are simply doing their job, just as gas station workers are trying to get through the influx of customers as quickly as possible. One smile, or simply understanding that it is the busy season for these workers can not only keep your spirits high when things go wrong, but workers may upgrade your seat or put you at the top of the list for the next available flight simply because you were nice.

Keeping a positive attitude year-round and can make the craziness of travel easier and better for everyone. Remember that kindness tends to have a chain reaction, you never know whose day you’ll be able to make by being nice to someone else.

Omar Kaywan is Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Goose Insurance