Winter School Holiday: Check Your Travel Documents Before You Go

To ensure your trip goes smoothly, it is worth checking well in advance that your travel documents, as well as those of your travel companions, are valid and meet the entry requirements of your destination country. Every week, some travelers’ trips are cancelled or postponed because their documents do not comply with the destination’s rules.

All official requirements and restrictions can be found on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website “Reisi Targalt” (“Travel Smart”) https://reisitargalt.vm.ee/ or IATA website https://www.iatatravelcentre.com/

Most common mistakes:

• A family holiday in Turkey with an all-inclusive package is only a few hours’ flight away. For many families, however, it has remained just a dream, because to travel to Turkey, your passport must be valid for at least 150 days. If this has not been checked before departure, there is nothing that can be done at the airport. Anyone whose travel document does not meet the destination country’s requirements must stay behind.
• When flying to Egypt, your passport must be valid for at least six months.
• ❗️Egypt and Turkey are not isolated exceptions. Many countries have similar or even stricter passport validity requirements. Always check the entry conditions of your destination before traveling, either on the Reisi Targalt website or the IATA website.
• When traveling via the United States, you must complete an ESTA application or apply for a visa at the embassy if you do not qualify under ESTA citizenship categories, even if your final destination is another country. There is no visa-free transit through the USA. If you have submitted an ESTA, you should always check its status before traveling. It must not be “Pending” or “Not found.”
• We have had many cases where passengers could not board their flight in Tallinn because their ESTA was not completed.
• Name change = check your tickets! Getting married may be a joyful event, but it can be fatal for travel plans. There have been cases where tickets were purchased early, then one traveler’s name changed, and during check-in it turned out that the name on the ticket did not match the travel document. This means only one thing: boarding will be denied.
• If you are planning to travel with skis during the winter school holiday, you should inform the airline in advance that you wish to bring ski equipment. The number of ski bags allowed on board is limited. During school holidays demand is high, and if space has not been reserved, you may arrive at the airport to find that there is no room left. Unbooked ski equipment will be left behind and will not be forwarded.
• It may be an old story, but it still surprises some travelers: since Brexit, it is no longer possible to travel to the UK with an ID card — a passport is required. And now, additionally, an ETA is also needed.
• Make sure well in advance whether your destination requires an electronic travel authorization and apply early. Receiving a response can take up to 72 hours, so if you only start the application at the airport, approval may not arrive in time. Without the required authorization, the traveler will not be allowed to board.
• When completing any electronic application, be especially careful when entering your personal details. Your name must be entered exactly in the same format as shown in the machine-readable zone of your passport. If your passport number contains the digit 0 (zero), do not mistakenly type the letter “O.”
• Arrive at the airport on time and do not be late for the boarding gate. Flights depart as scheduled — and trips do genuinely fall apart because passengers arrive too late at the gate.