Check This List Before You Check Your Bag: Travel Tips from the U.S. Department of State

BY KAREN CHRISTENSEN, OVERSEAS CITIZENS SERVICES U.S. BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

DO YOU PROVIDE your clients a suggested list of what to pack? If you’re limiting your list to recommendations on shoes or toiletries, your customers could be missing out on valuable information.

What do your clients need to know before they go? Before your clients book a trip, they should: . Apply for a passport, if they don’t already have one. Nearly 10 years have passed since the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative resulted in an unprecedented surge of passport applications.

As these passports are now due for renewal, we expect increased demand for passports to continue through 2018. Therefore, the earlier your clients apply for a passport, the better! Summer is the busiest season for passport applications, so applying in the winter or early spring will help reduce processing times.

. Check the validity of their passports and make sure there are blank pages. Some countries require passports to be valid for at least six months beyond the traveler’s arrival date in country. Some countries might require at least two blank pages. If travelers don’t meet these requirements, they might not be allowed to board the flight or enter the foreign destination. We recommend travelers think of the passport like a nine-year document—when you have had it for nine years, it’s time to renew.

. Remember special requirements for kids. All U.S. citizens traveling outside the United States, regardless of age, require a passport. Additionally, families need to be extra mindful that passports issued to children 15 and younger are only valid for five years—not 10 years like adult passports. Both parents’ signatures are required on children’s passport applications.

. Visit travel.state.gov. Our website is the authority on applying for or renewing passports. It also provides travel information about every country in the world. Before your clients book a trip, they should understand the security situation in their destination, as well as any special circumstances there—such as availability of medical care, accessibility issues, visa requirements and required immunizations. After reviewing this information, they can decide for themselves whether or not they are comfortable traveling to that country. After your clients book a trip, we recommend they: . Enroll in STEP. The Smart Traveler Enrollment Program lets us know your client is in country, enabling us to easily contact them in case of emergency. Via STEP, your clients can get real-time security and emergency messages about events as they are unfolding that could save both their vacations and their lives.

. Follow us on social media. We push out a great deal of travel information through our social media accounts on Twitter (@TravelGov) and Facebook (facebook.com/travelgov). In addition to posting the messages we send out through STEP, we regularly provide general travel tips and host interactive chats that might be of interest.

For example, once a month, we host a Twitter Q&A about passports, and the public can tweet questions for one of our experts to answer.

. Get insurance. Many U.S. healthcare plans, including Medicare, do not cover medical costs overseas. Some foreign hospitals require payment up front—and in cash. Your clients should check with their provider and consider purchasing a supplemental policy. Medical evacuation insurance is also a good investment.

The week or day before the trip begins, your clients should: . Write down key information, such as the address and phone number of the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, as well as the local 911 equivalent. These numbers are found in the country information on our website, travel.state.gov.

. Devise a communication plan with family back home. Your clients should share their itinerary with their loved ones and set expectations for how often they should check in. Will they call regularly? Are there times when Internet access won’t be available? All of this is good to discuss before the trip, as we often receive calls from concerned family members who haven’t heard from their loved ones. Many times, the traveler is perfectly fine—he or she has simply forgotten to check in.

Of course, no matter how much preparation your clients do for their big trip, bad things can happen that are out of their control—a stolen passport, an illness or injury, or, in the worst- case scenario, a death. At those times, consular officers at our 275 U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide are standing by to help, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We look forward to serving you and your clients!

The State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs’ highest priority is to protect the lives and interests of U.S. citizens overseas. The bureau provides routine and emergency services to Americans at our embassies and consulates around the world and serves citizens during their most important moments— births, deaths, disasters, arrests, and medical emergencies. Karen Christensen has served as the deputy assistant secretary of state for Overseas Citizens Services since August 2014.