axenholidays

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Before you go!

Making plans to travel abroad?

Read our Traveller’s Checklist, to find out:

If you are unsure about the suitability of a destination etc., please call us, so that we may check for you or alternatively you may seek supplementary information which can be obtained from libraries, tourist offices, internet etc.

 

Safeguard Your Documents! Make two copies of all your travel documents in case of emergency. Leave one copy with a trusted friend or relative at home and carry the other separately from your original documents. To help prevent theft, do not carry your passport in your back pocket, and keep it separate from your money.

  • Passport:Apply several months in advance for a new passport. If you already have one, it should be valid for at least six months after you return home and have two or more blank pages, depending on your destination. Otherwise, some countries may not let you enter.
  • Visas:You may need to get a visa before you travel to a foreign destination. Contact the embassy of the countries you will be visiting for more information.
  • Medications:Some prescription drugscould be illegal in other countries. Check with the embassy of your destination(s) about regulations and documentation before you travel.
  • Consent for Travel with Minors:If you are traveling alone with children, foreign border officials may require custody documents or notarized written consent from the other parent. Check with the embassy of your foreign destination before traveling to see what you may need.
  • International Driving Permit:Many countries do not recognize a U.K. driver’s license, but most accept an International Driving Permit (IDP). Read more about Driving abroad before you go.
  • Health Insurance: Many foreign medical facilities and providers require cash payment up front and do not accept U.K. insurance plans. Check your U.K. health care policy to see if it will cover you overseas. If not, consider buying supplemental insurance. Make sure the insurance you purchase covers any special medical needs or risks you anticipate on your trip.
  • Emergency Evacuation:Evacuation for medical treatment or to leave a crisis area in another country can become very expensive. You should strongly consider purchasing evacuation insurance in case of emergency overseas.
  • Unexpected Expenses: Trip interruption or cancellation, flight delays, lost or stolen luggage, and other unexpected travel costs can add up. Check with your credit card companies to see if they provide coverage. If not, consider additional insurance.
  • Foreign travel advice:Sign-up for for free to receive travel and security updates about your destination(s).

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  • Safety and Security Information: Read the Travel Advisory and Alerts for the countries you will be visiting. Review entry/exit requirements, visas, local laws, customs, medical care, road safety, etc. Write down contact details for the nearest embassy or consulate to carry with you in case of emergency while traveling.

    • Crisis Planning:Make an evacuation plan that does not rely on the government. Consider buying emergency evacuation insurance. If a crisis occurs while you are abroad, check in with loved ones and update your social media status so family and friends know you are okay.
    • Health Precautions: Check out recommendations for vaccinations and other health considerations from (GOV.UK)and World Health Organization (WHO). 
    • Money Matters:Before going abroad, notify your bank and credit card companies of your travel, and check exchange rates.

Choosing your holiday

 If you are unsure about the suitability of a destination etc., please call us, so that we may check for you or alternatively you may seek supplementary information which can be obtained from libraries, tourist offices, internet etc.

  • Property/Hotel standards: Standards can vary between properties of the same class in different countries, and even in the same country. E.g. city hotels which often cater for business as well as leisure travellers may well have generally higher standards than a beach resort hotel where the whole atmosphere will tend to be more relaxed. It is important to read carefully the individual hotel descriptions. Accommodation in all hotels, whatever the rating, is in standard rooms unless otherwise stated.

 

  • Views: Rooms described as having s sea, pool or city view may not have full sea, pool, or city views because of trees, plants or buildings blocking view.

 

  • Dress code: Although most hotels do not have a strict dress code, a few guidelines maybe useful. Casual elegance is expected throughout many countries such as the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Far East resort hotels. During the day, shorts and sarongs are more practical, but in the evenings, men are normally expected to wear shoes, long trousers and at least a polo shirt. City hotels generally expect you to be properly dressed – swimsuits in the lobby are not acceptable but dress shorts are normally acceptable.

 

  • Check in: Hotel rooms are not generally available until around 3pm on the day you check-in. When you check-in many hotels may ask for an imprint of your credit card to cover personal extras. If you do not have a credit card, they may ask for a cash deposit.

 

  • Check out: Many flights home leave late in the evenings and the check-out time for most hotels is between 11am – 12noon on the last day. Booking a room for early arrival or late departure: Generally, hotel rooms will be available between approximately noon and 3 pm, and are to be vacated between 10 am and noon, irrespective of your arrival or departure times, unless we have stated otherwise. Should you wish your room to be ready prior to noon on your day of arrival or available after 10 am for an afternoon or evening departure, it is possible to reserve the room at the time booking at a cost no greater than an extra night price.

 

  • Room upgrade/honeymoon/ anniversary offers: When the offer of a room upgrade is mentioned, it is usually an upgrade to the next category of room (not suite) available within the hotel. We will of course do everything possible to arrange this, but it is not always possible to guarantee the provision of a double bed for honeymoon couples.

 

  • All inclusive: All Inclusive normally means all meals and local drinks (during the bar opening hours), as well as day and evening activities at your hotel. Beer available in the All-Inclusive package is usually draught not bottled, local wine is usually house wine served by the glass from a barrel not a bottle and carbonated soft drinks are usually on tap not bottled. Drinks may be served in plastic beakers not glass, particularly around swimming pools. The service, facilities and meals available do vary from hotel to hotel and from country to country. An extra charge will be made for imported alcoholic drinks and certain facilities such as games machines or pool tables still require you to insert your own coins. You must also pay for infant’s meals locally.

 

  • Note: Times when included drinks and snacks are served may sometimes vary, but typically between 11am and midnight. A ‘cash’ bar may operate outside these times. Alcohol licensing laws vary for different countries so guests cannot be served with alcoholic drinks in All-Inclusive hotels if they are under age for that country. In certain countries the law does not allow the serving or consuming of alcoholic drinks during specific religious festivals and as a result the hotel will not be able to serve you alcoholic drinks during this period. There may also be age or experience restrictions on some water sports.
  • Alcohol: Liquor laws are strict in the USA. If you are under 21 years or even look under 21 you will not be able to purchase alcohol. Carry some identity with you to prove your age. Please remember that you can not carry alcohol in your car, unless it is locked in the boot.

 

  • Children on Holiday: Any charge for a baby cot in the room and food are paid by the guest direct to the hotel and there is no entitlement to a separate seat on the aircraft if the flight is full. International airline regulations allow only one infant per adult. We do not recommend holidays for children under 10 on escorted tours, coach tours or on safari (unless in private minibus). Some destinations, owing to their lack of special child or medical facilities are also not suitable for very young children but we would be happy to advise which hotels or resorts we think suit your requirements best.

 

  • Holiday Seasons: Most of the destinations we feature are available all year round. Some do have quieter ‘off peak’ periods when you can take advantage of un-crowded beaches and more personal attention from hotel staff at excellent prices. At this time, it may be necessary for hotels to scale down the size of some of their facilities, such as restaurants, to match demand. Similarly, during peak periods hotels experience full occupancy which may result in a livelier atmosphere and slower service in busier facilities.

 

  • Public Holidays: Virtually all countries have public holidays, religious or otherwise. The festivities may temporarily disrupt your holiday and some religious holidays such as Ramadan, which affect many Moslem countries, may result in a reduction of facilities and entertainment. Others are somewhat chaotic but great fun to be a part of. We suggest that you take this into consideration when selecting your departure date.
  • The appropriate Tourist Offices are happy to supply more detailed information or you may wish to refer to the Internet.

 

  • Other Hotel Guests: Many hotels, especially in cities and major resorts, accommodate conventions and conferences. Also, at certain times of the year, some destinations have an influx of groups such as students, associations or clubs. The hotels we feature are shared with guests from many countries with different cultures and customs. We have no control over the acceptance of bookings at the hotels we feature other than our own. We are therefore unable to accept responsibility for any limitation of facilities due to such groups or inconvenience that their activities may cause you, but would be happy to advise which hotels or resorts we think suit your requirements best.

 

  • Meals: Meals if included are based on table d’hôte menus, or a meal voucher system unless specified otherwise in the text. Holidays which include main meals generally commence with dinner on the day of arrival at your hotel and terminate with breakfast (on half board) or lunch (on full board) on the day of departure. No refunds on meals not taken can be given. Special diets of any kind (including vegetarian) can seldom be catered for adequately within the constraints of a table d’hôte menu and cannot be guaranteed. We would therefore strongly recommend that anyone with special requirements takes a holiday where no meals (or only breakfast) are included and simply buys the most acceptable dishes from the à la carte menu available locally.

Flights & Request

Upgrading your flight: A long-haul flight is generally not a joyride when flying in economy class on scheduled or charter flights. Flights are often full, your choice of seats may not be available, and it may not be possible to obtain seats together. AxenHolidays offers a range of ‘upgrade’ options designed to give you a more comfortable journey at a reasonable supplement.

 

Flight seat requests: We strongly recommend (particularly if you are flying economy class), that you check in early if you have particular seat requests. AxenHolidays has no control over seats allocation and even if pre-booked with the airline, no guarantee can be made that they will be still available on departure.

Direct flights: The flight routings used in connection with our holidays may be used on special fares which do not necessarily take the most direct route. Some itineraries require a change of aircraft en-route. A flight that is described as direct is one where there is no need to change aircraft during the journey. However, stops may be made en-route for re-fuelling or to let passengers on and/or off.

Smoking on flights: The majority of airlines have introduced a total smoking ban on most or all of their flights. Please ask at the time of booking if this information is important to you.

 

  • Reconfirming return/onward flights: It is your responsibility to ensure you follow ALL RECONFIRMATION INSTRUCTIONS which will be shown EITHER on the FRONT of our invoice or on your travel documents. AxenHolidays will not be liable for any additional costs due to your failure to reconfirm flights.

    Ticket despatch and travel documents: Tickets will be despatched 7 days before departure, however, in the case of late payment and/or late bookings, tickets may be handed to you at the airport on departure. Please ensure that you check the flight timings on your tickets carefully. The correct timings, using the 24-hour clock system, may have been adjusted since booking with us or since you received your invoice.

    Special requests: Where special requests i.e. diet, room location, a particular facility at a hotel, flight seat requests and/or particular meals etc. are an important factor in the choice of holiday, you must advise us when the booking is made. We are happy to pass your request on to the hotel or airline but cannot guarantee that it will be accommodated. We will also pass on any dietary requests to airlines but we recommend that you check directly with the airline once your tickets have been issued.

Travel Tips

Put everything important ONLINE

Store those passport documents, itineraries, insurances, warranties, receipts, work certificates, etc. online. Google Drive is great at helping you with this, and best of all? You will be able to access it digitally, from anywhere in the world!

Travel insurance

Make sure you sort this out before you leave your home country because trust us it will be more expensive if you buy it once while traveling. Like all things in life, the future is unpredictable, so you want to cover all bases in case you run into trouble.

 Medicine & toiletries

We’re talking vitamins, Panadol to cure headaches, berocc to keep you as healthy as possible, band-aids, travel shampoo, tampons and anything else you might need on your trip like contact lenses, prescription glasses…you know the drill. It pays to be prepared.

 Vaccinations

Before you leave, talk to your doctor about what shots you might need for your trip, especially if you’re traveling to Asia or Latin America. Keep the vaccination card safely with your travel documents in case the authorities ask for it while traveling.

 Unlock your phone

Unlocking your phone before you leave means you can purchase local sim cards everywhere you go – a MUCH cheaper alternative to paying roaming charges and less stress than depending on WIFI.

 Pack strategically

Take a good look at your wardrobe. what do you wear the most What goes with absolutely ANYTHING? Most likely plain colors (black, white and a few patterns are always good) These will be your biggest assets and you will end up wearing them most of the time. Pack wisely.

 Micro- fibre towel

Towels are bulky as. Micro fibre towels are thin, light, take up minimal space and do the job just as well. Problem solved.

 Cash

Not too much of course, but some $$$$ are always handy. The US dollar in particular is accepted everywhere and is particularly useful when sorting out visas and the like. Also make sure you separate out your cash throughout your bag as you don’t want to be carrying it all in one place. Carrying a little bit of currency for your destination is wise as you’ll get better rates from home rather than the airport.

 Credit cards or travel cards

Travelex cards are a great cash card option as they avoid these pesky conversion charges. Just be sure to activate your card before you go or if relying on credit cards, make sure you let your bank know which countries you’re going to in advance.

 Electronic gadgets

Portable speakers, headphones to keep you company on the bus/plane/train/car and a camera are all pretty essential. iPads are a great laptop alternative as they’re small and light, just make sure your gadgets are all covered in your insurance policy.

 A journal and pen

To write about your awesome experiences whilst travelling / to note down any information just in case your phone’s out of juice…

 Comfortable shoes

Flip flops, a pair of runners – you never know what activities are around the corner.

 A reusable water bottle

Because we know you care about the environment. SIGG do some pretty awesome ones, and if you love your coffee don’t forget your reusable travel mug too!

 Stress less

Travel is meant to be fun so enjoy it! If you’ve booked with Axen Holidays you know we’ve got the important bases covered; like transportation and accommodation (and way more), so really all you need is an open mind and a positive attitude for your holiday. Now roll on the adventure…

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) issues travel advice on destinations, which includes information on passports, visas, health, safety and security and more. For more information refer to the link:

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

To make the most of your trip abroad we recommend that you check out the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) website. Packed with essential travel advice and tips, this website offers a wealth of country-specific information that only the FCO can provide.

www.fco.gov.uk/knowbeforeyougo