It takes a lot of paperwork to fly nowadays. What was once considered just a bus in the air to another country has done away with the music and drinks and lavish lifestyle and replaced it with document after document to prove that you have the right to be there. A bus takes a ticket, a flight takes a folder. So, what’s in this folder? What do you need to prove to be able to board a flight? Read on for the full guide.

Covid passport

Ah the gift that won’t stop giving. Covid changed a lot of things, including how we fly. No matter how you feel about vaccines and the politics that come with it, the fact of the matter is that you’re going to need a clean bill of health to enter a majority of countries now. They all have their own individual nuances, so you should check the government website of whatever country you’re about to visit. And think carefully about that too. The Canary Islands belong to Spain, despite being offshore to Africa, which means they’re under the Spanish Covid rules. 

From there, you’ll have to think about how you move forward. You might have to book in a last-minute booster with your GP, or simply gain a Covid passport with your NHS number. Don’t think you can blag it into another country either. They will want to see this Covid passport when you land before you can even grab your luggage.

Travel insurance

And then there’s the issue of you catching Covid while you’re there. If you need medical assistance while you’re out of your own country, you should be covered by your travel insurance. Travel insurance will also cover you if you need to isolate or your flight or holiday is cancelled due to Covid. 

And even outside of Covid, travel insurance is vital. We all know how common losing your luggage is: travel insurance will cover it. Losing your purse: travel insurance will cover it. Cutting your holiday short: travel insurance will cover it. 

Make sure you don’t forget insurance to cover a range of mishaps that can occur while you’re away on holiday. Print out the details to be sure that you have them handy should the worst happen.

Passport

And then there is your actual passport: the thing that proves you are a citizen of your country and allows you access to other countries. Because the bureaucrats like to make things as complicated as possible, you will need to make sure that there is at least 6 months between your trip and the expiration date on your passport or it will be deemed invalid and you won’t be allowed to board – yes, even on a two-week trip. 

There are occasionally individual restrictions depending on the country you’re visiting too. You might want to check the passport requirements of your target country’s government website to be sure you are permitted to enter as a citizen of a country with a tense relationship perhaps. 

Boarding pass

You’ll get a boarding pass when you check in at the airport, but if you’re someone who likes to do the online check-in, you might want to print out the details of your flight. Things go wrong. The airport Wi-Fi could give up, your phone could run out of data, the email won’t open. As much as technology evolves, it does have a habit of taking two steps forward and one step back. A paper copy of your flight details is at least something you can show to a steward to look up your flight. 

And you won’t get on a flight without a boarding pass, so you should have it one way or another.