Travel Checklist
Planning a trip? Experienced travellers have some tips to share…and you can imagine what they went through to gain such wisdom!
- Get your passport early. To be on the safe side, apply at least 3 months before you plan to leave. And if you already have one, check the expiry date…how fun would it be if the passport expired while you were out of the country?
- Call CUETS to let them know you will be travelling (phone number is on the back of your Wainwright Credit Union MasterCard). Tell them your travel dates and destination. With that information already on file, use of your MasterCard credit card far from your home address will not trigger a security alert and cause card suspension.
- Make photocopies of your driver’s licence, passport, birth certificate, credit and debit cards, Alberta health care card, in short, whatever you have in your wallet. Take one copy with you (but don’t keep the copy in your wallet), and leave a copy with someone you trust.
- Arrange for your home to be taken care of. Check with your insurance to find out how often it will need to be checked. Have your house sitter keep your home looking “lived-in” – no newspapers collecting on the doorstep, indoor lighting rotated, snow shovelled, or sidewalk swept, etc.
- Notify the post office of your absence so they will hold your mail (or, if you have home delivery, ask your house sitter to take the mail in every day.)
- Arrange for alternate payment methods – take cash, a credit card, a debit card, travelers’ cheques. But don’t keep them all together, in case your wallet or suitcase goes missing.
- Check the expiry dates on your cards… if a card expired while you were away, you wouldn’t be able to use it. Contact your branch if expiry is close to renew your cards early.
- If you want to stay in touch, check with your mobile phone provider to make sure your phone will work where you are going. Temporary add-ons or disposables are good options if your plan will not reach.
- If you are travelling to a foreign country, contact your branch and order some local money. You’ll likely get a better rate of exchange than at an airport kiosk. Purchase travelers’ cheques at your branch as well.
- Purchase travel insurance - vital for any travel outside Alberta. You can get it at your Wainwright Credit Union branch. It’s affordable, comprehensive and it’s only a phone call away. You will avoid the high cost of out-of-province health care should you get sick or be injured on your trip.
- Pack:
emergency phone numbers for your credit union branch, lost/stolen cards, your doctor, next of kin, etc.;
a list of web addresses you often use. Your “favorites” only work on YOUR computer; also a carefully-disguised list of your passwords;
a list of your prescription drugs and the pharmacy phone number;
your itinerary - include contact information for each place you plan to visit. Leave a copy with someone you trust.