Small mistakes when traveling but make you lose a lot of money

Broken passport

You may not think too much about the state of your passport when you throw it in your bag and head to the airport, but a 'damaged' passport can — and often will — be rejected at various stops along your journey. According to the State Department, a passport will not be accepted if:

1. Stained from any liquid
2. tattered
3. Missing page
4. The stamp is blurred.
5. punched

You might think a small stain on your passport wouldn't be a problem, but think again: A couple traveling to Bali were recently denied boarding because one of their passports had a coffee stain on it. While "normal wear and tear" doesn't matter, if you notice any flaws on your passport, it's best to replace it immediately—and before your next trip.

Expired ID card or passport

Another small mistake you can make with your documents is trying to travel with a passport that's too close to its expiration date—or an expired ID card or driver's license.

If your passport is still technically valid but is within six months of its expiry date, you may find yourself denied entry to countries.

Name does not match

If the name on your boarding pass doesn't match the name on your ID, you're unlikely to be let through. Security checkpoints and airlines require the name on your ID to match the name on your ticket, so if you misspell your own name or let someone else autofill your middle name field, you could run into problems.

Another easy mistake to make involves dates—some foreign airlines use a 'day/month/year' format on their websites, so it's easy to enter your birth date incorrectly, which can cause delays—or worse—when someone notices that the information on your ticket doesn't match your passport.

The severity of these issues can depend on who you're dealing with. Small errors can often be resolved fairly easily—but if you're traveling internationally, you may have a more difficult road ahead if the information on your paperwork doesn't match.

Wrong destination

You might think it's impossible to book a flight to the wrong country. Unfortunately, you're wrong—it's surprisingly easy to find sad stories about people who flew to a completely different destination than their intended one. For example, a British couple accidentally booked a trip to Grenada, in the Caribbean, instead of the Spanish town of Granada, you know, in Spain. They didn't realize what had happened until the plane took off.

Booking tickets online is easy these days, and if the drop-down menu changes at the last minute without you noticing, you could find yourself flying to a place far away from where you booked your hotel or having to make some costly changes to your plans.

Lost visa

It's easy to overlook the fact that you may need a visa to enter or transit through certain countries on your trip—many countries do not require visas for people traveling from the United States. But even if you do, it's best to check whether you need a visa and apply for one before you leave. Don't assume that just because you're in transit—passing through a country on your way to another—that you don't need a visa—often you absolutely do, especially if your layover is longer than 24 hours.

Another visa-related mistake? Assuming you can get a visa at the airport. This is possible, but sometimes you will be asked to pay in local currency if you don't have it, and if your credit or debit card doesn't work for whatever reason, you'll likely be stuck at the airport. Be prepared to avoid these problems.

Jessica Tanner

Update 06 October 2024