00:00
Terminal sounds, jet overhead

00:04
Female voice making an announcement: Once again, ladies and gentlemen United Flight 217 to Calgary is closing….

00:12
Kristin Stadum: Nobody remembers the trips where everything goes perfectly well. You remember the stories where strange things happen and just pack your patience, embrace the journey.

00:23
Voiceover: Welcome to the air up there, a podcast about the wide world of aerospace presented by the Federal Aviation Administration.

00:52
Eva Ngai: Hi! I'm Eva Lee Ngai, and today we're excited to give you some tips and tricks on navigating some of the challenges you might find while traveling internationally. We'll talk about passports, packing, and the ever-present security requirements. We're also going to get some tips from several veteran travelers. 

00:52
Andres Rodriguez: It's taking longer to get US passports right now.

00:55
Kristin Stadum: The CDC offers travel tips including recommended vaccinations for parts of the world. 

Caroline Tanner: Since I've had Global Entry. I have not waited more than three minutes I would say to enter back into the country. 

Kristin Stadum: Avoid over packing. Make sure that you take your universal plug or charger. 

Caroline Tanner: There are many tools to ease the travel experience, including Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, and CLEAR. 

01:21
Eva Ngai: My first guest is Kristin Stadum, my colleague and international traveler who recently returned from a visit to South Africa. Thanks so much for joining us, Kristen. What advice do you have on international traveling in terms of planning, paperwork, and packing? Let's start with planning. What do you do to plan an international trip?

01:46
Kristin Stadum: Well, thanks for having me. I have traveled to around 70 countries, but countries change over time, but about 70 countries spread across all seven continents. When I'm planning an international trip, I consider where I want to go away and think about the weather that time of the year like hurricane season is not the best time to plan a trip to the Caribbean. And monsoon season can really put a crimp in plans to travel to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar. So, I just look to see where I'm thinking about going is it the right time of year to go there?

02:29
Eva Ngai: What kind of paperwork do you need? And do you have any suggestions on what we need and what we need to know for travel?

02:34
Kristin Stadum: The CDC offers travel tips, including recommended vaccinations for parts of the world. Some vaccines, and I plan ahead, because some vaccinations will require a series of visits to a travel doctor. In Washington, DC, where I live, it's easy to find a travel doctor. But not all primary care physicians have all of these travel vaccinations, so you might need to travel out of your area. And some of them might require a series of visits. And then I'll start tracking flights, I'll look into hotel costs, I'll read some travel books, magazines, blogs, to get an idea of the cost for my trip and try to figure out how much I want to spend this, the cost of food in some places is more expensive. So that has geared us toward or pushed us towards staying in apartments versus hotels so that we can shop at grocery stores and do our own cooking. It doesn't keep us from going to these places. But it helps us decide which direction we want to go. I also consider whether I'm comfortable traveling on my own, or if I'd rather travel with the group. Some places like this last trip to South Africa, I was traveling with my husband, and we rented a car and we drove along the southern coast of South Africa. On my first trip there was a monthlong camping safari and I went with a group because I was not comfortable driving off road or through game parks by myself and I saw a lot more and a lot of different things. You know traveling with a group and there are pros and cons of each whether I want to be with a group or if I want to travel on my own. And once I booked the trip, I look to see if my credit card is going to charge me any foreign transaction fees. And I look at well I know that my mobile flip phone plan includes international data, but I recommend that anyone look at their mobile phone plan to see if they'll have international coverage, what the cost might be for that. Would it make sense to get a SIM card or to get a phone in their destination and because it's important to be able to use you know GPS to use navigation if you are on your own or to be able to connect with people at home?

04:28
Eva Ngai: So Kristin, can you address travel insurance? Do most people need it?

04:44
Kristin Stadum: Travel insurance is interesting. Um, I’ve definitely gotten it for some trips and there are other trips that I have not had it. You need to consider you know what happens if you do get sick or injured on vacation? Will your health insurance cover you? I highly recommend looking into your own health insurance to see what the coverage is for when you're traveling abroad. That's just the health side of things. But also, if you're traveling with a group, some do require trip insurance. And you need to think about, you know, what happens if there's an event, an earthquake, or unexpected violence in an area and you need to be removed from a country. Are you going to pay for that out of pocket? Some credit cards, notably, like the travel rewards credit cards may include some travel insurance, but not every credit card does. So, I highly recommend looking to see if you already have this as part of the card that you use to book the trip. Does your health insurance cover you? As I said, I've definitely gotten it in the past and it's been helpful. I had a bag not make it back from I think it was Zanzibar. And I think I had five flights to get home. My, my suitcase is still somewhere between Zanzibar and Kenya and Ethiopia and Rome… DC. I'm not sure where. But this was a bag that I had had for three, four weeks of travel, including camping equipment, and the airline would cover it based on weight. So, I think they offered me $150 / $200 for everything that I had for a trip of that length. So, trip insurance definitely helped replace a lot of those things that were lost.

06:12
Eva Ngai: So, we've done all the work of planning, and we have our paperwork. Do you have any tips for packing to go abroad?

06:20
Kristin Stadum: I do. So, the first thing I want to say is avoid over packing. You want to have freedom to move, right? Like you need to carry your bag and a lot of places, especially if you're traveling through historic districts like they don't have elevators. And that first, the first flight or the first floor in a lot of European countries is you know up a flight of steps. So, if you're staying on the third floor, that's what we would consider the fourth floor and you are carrying a suitcase up to the fourth floor through old narrow stairs and stairwells. And do you really want to carry something that's overloaded with things that you're only going to wear once or use once or have just in case. You sit in the airport, you read a book and you get on the next flight and have the best trip you possibly can.

07:10
Eva Ngai: Next, we have Andres Rodriguez from the State Department. What is the plan of action you recommend for international travelers?

07:20
Andres Rodriguez: In 2019, for example, before COVID, we issued almost 21 million. It was about 20,600,000 passports, both book and cards. In 2020 and 21 though that number dipped down to 11 million and 15 million in last year, 2022, we issued the most passports in our history, actually. Nearly 22 million passports were issued. W pair we pair up those stats with what we're seeing now in early 2023. And we see that demand is high. It could be that we're going to surpass our issuance number from last year. It could be that we will issue over 22 million passports again in this year in 2023. And you pair that up with information from TSA, and it just looks like Americans are on the move and traveling in large numbers. The current processing time for routine service is 10 to 13 weeks and for expedite it's currently seven to nine weeks. There are over 7,000 locations around the country where you can apply for a passport. They include post offices, clerks of court, public libraries.

08:37
Eva Ngai: So, if I'm planning an international trip, and I've applied for my passport, and I'm waiting for my passport, can you talk about other steps that I need to take for my trip to be safe? Do I need to enroll in STEP?

08:51
Andres Rodriguez: We do offer the Smart Travel Enrollment Program. We refer to it as STEP. It has its own website step.state.gov. You would go to this website, enter your information, including information about your contact information, and then information about your trip. And then you can it will allow you to receive real important safety and security messages directly from the local US embassy or consulate. And then it will also help you help us contact you in the event of an emergency.

09:26
Eva Ngai: So, speaking of emergencies, say you're in the country and you're pickpocketed, or you lose your passport, then what are you supposed to do?

09:36
Andres Rodriguez: If you do have the unfortunate incident of a robbery or maybe you're you've just misplaced or accidentally lost your belongings, including your passport. You would then contact the embassy to be seen in person and we are able to issue emergency passports from our consulates and embassies.

09:59
Eva Ngai: Thank you Andres. We are thrilled to talk to Caroline Tanner with The Points Guy. We're going to talk about international travel. Welcome, Caroline, tell us about Global Entry.

10:14
Caroline Tanner: Global Entry is a US Customs and Border Protection program that facilitates expedited entry into the US for pre-approved low risk travelers via automatic kiosks at nearly 60 airports. So, it's program that you have to apply for, you have to be pre-approved for, you have to complete an interview. And as I mentioned, it also includes a membership to TSA PreCheck. So, you get those benefits as well for five years for just $15 more. So, in total, you get Global Entry and TSA PreCheck for $100 for five years.

10:52
Eva Ngai: So instead of waiting in customs for hours, you can just go to an in-person meeting when you get your Global Entry interview.

11:02
Caroline Tanner: So essentially, you don't need to fill out paperwork or wait in processing lines. Instead, you approach the regular Customs line depending on the airport. I live in Chicago, so I fly back mostly to O'Hare International Airport. So, there'll be a sign for the Customs lines. And then there’ll be a sign for Global Entry. And so, you’ll approach the Global Entry if you’re a member. You present your machine-readable passport or a US Permanent Resident Card. You place your fingers on scanner for fingerprint verification. And then you complete just a very quick Customs declaration. Usually, you don’t have anything to declare and then you’re on your way through. And then we’re also seeing at some airports, facial recognition. So that makes this process even quicker and easier at some airports. But since I've had Global Entry, I have not waited more than three minutes, I would say, to enter back into the country. So, it's well worth it. And in my experience, in my opinion, as far as the amount of time saved when you come back and especially, you know, after you've traveled abroad, you're usually tired. Maybe you're coming off of a long flight. Maybe you've had a connecting flight, a long travel day. The last thing I want to do is wait in a big line when I'm trying to get home after an international trip.

12:15
Ryan Willis Safety PSA: Do you mail gifts to friends and family in the United States or abroad? Maybe you own a business that ships products to customers. The FAA wants to make sure you know how to properly pack and label your packages, so they don’t end up becoming a danger to everyone on a flight. 

Did you know that items you use every day are considered dangerous goods or hazardous materials, like lithium batteries, dry ice, fuel and many aerosols and paints? So, what does that have to do with air travel?

When a package with dangerous goods is not packed, labeled, and handled properly, it puts everyone near that package at risk. That includes baggage handlers, pilots, crew members and passengers on the aircraft transporting your package.

Vibrations, static electricity, temperature, and pressure variations can cause items to leak, generate toxic fumes, start fires, or even explode if not shipped properly. Lives, safety, property, and the environment all rely on YOU to know the rules.

So, let’s all keep each other safe. Before you ship your next package, check with your carrier and visit faa.gov/safecargo.

13:23
Eva Ngai: Thank you for listening. Remember, while passports are good for 10 years for adults, they expire after five years for kids. Don't over pack and get Global Entry and TSA PreCheck to ease the stress of domestic and international flights. We hope these tips help you travel like a pro. If you liked this episode, hit subscribe and leave a review to let us know and share with a friend who's headed abroad. Safe and happy travels.

13:55
Female voice: The air up there is a production of the Federal Aviation Administration. For a transcript of this episode, and to follow us on social media for the latest Aviation Safety News and guidance, visit FAA dot gov slash podcast. That's FAA dot gov slash podcast.

Music bed out.