Travel Mistakes not to Make in 2024

You’ve been counting down the days and finally your vacation day is here – hurray! It’s time to grab your bag and head straight to the airport to catch your flight. But before you do that, I’ve made a list of some of the travel mistakes that I’ve made so that you don’t have to.

Sometimes there is just so much to do prior to heading out on vacation and it’s easy to overlook something that makes getting to your destination city a bit stressful. There’s nothing worse than the stress of scrambling to get all your things packed, getting stuck in the middle seat or missing your flight altogether.

I hope these tips help make your travel day go smoothly. Here are 10 travel mistakes not to make in 2024:

1. Working the Day of your Flight

I know sometimes this can’t be helped. Especially when you have a later flight, it makes sense to keep working that day. I typically have limited vacation days, so why waste a whole vacation day on your flight day when it could be allocated to time at your destination?

I’m going to tell you why you should consider taking your flight day off (or at least a half day!). I’ve done it both ways – where I worked a full 8 hour shift before heading to the airport and where I’ve taken the day off. Working the day of your flight is definitely do-able, you just need to be really prepared.

Chances are if you plan to work the day you’re leaving on vacation, you should have all of your things packed and ready to go (I mean it! Don’t think you can come home from work and start packing). And I don’t know about you, but I have an extensive to-do list prior to leaving on a flight. Another thing to consider is, how does your work day look? It should be fairly flexible and not too packed with meetings and last minute to-do’s, as you don’t want to leave anything unfinished prior to leaving on a holiday. There would be nothing worse then having to jump on an emergency Teams call when you need to start commuting to the airport.

Some of my to-do’s include ensuring I have all my things packed. That I’m checked in to the flight. A plan is made for my cats and my home is clean from top to bottom. The flight days where I end up taking the day off are always the most relaxed, exciting and stress free as I have time to do these tasks.

When I am working, as much as my rationale is that I’m saving a vacation day, my mind is just so split. Theres rush of trying to finish up work, but also the stress that I need to then race home, ensure everything is packed, the home is in good order and that I’m leaving enough time to head to the airport. However, the relief of making it to the airport after all of that is nothing short of amazing.

2. Packing Last Minute

This one always leaves my head spinning a little bit – as I’m guilty of this! I’ve written a full list of packing essentials for your next summer vacation to help keep your next trip stress free and relaxed. When you pack last minute, you may end up forgetting essential items that you really wanted to bring along on your vacation.

Sometimes you need to go out a buy some extra items for your trip and if you don’t leave time for that, you may end up having to purchase that in your destination city for double the price (or not finding it at all!). As much as Amazon is great for their one day delivery, if you miss that window for purchase, you may have to leave without it.

I always say as long as I have my boarding pass, phone and passport, I’ll figure everything out later if I end up forgetting something. But having everything organized, packed and ready to go does take away a lot of stress. Especially if you don’t want to be disappointed that you left your camera charging on your countertop when you arrive to the airport.

Bonus tips:

• If you are bringing a portable charger or laptop, make sure these items are in your carry on and not your checked luggage. These are usually requirements by the airport, as they don’t allow these items to be checked.
• Make sure you have your essentials like a few items of clothing, valuables that you don’t want to go missing with you in your carry on, as you want to be prepared if your luggage gets delayed or worse, lost during the flight. That way, you still have some essentials to help tie you over for a couple days until you can figure out your lost luggage situation.

3. Not Pre-Weighing your Bag prior to getting to the Airport

This one is especially important when you are checking a bag. If you are over their weight limit, you will be asked to remove some items. This is fine if you still have space in your carry on, but it does add an extra travel stress if you have to go into your perfectly organized suit case and dig a couple items out. If it doesn’t fit you may have to leave it behind!

An extra tip to consider is if you are anticipating that you’ll be bringing back purchased goods, leave some room in your suitcase for those things! You wouldn’t want a completely stuffed suitcase to then realize that you have no room to fit the snacks, clothing and souvenirs that you bought.

4. Not Checking in your Flight 24 Hours in Advance

Most flights allow you to check in about 24 hours in advance. Checking into your flight prior to heading to the airport will save you lots of time and you can avoid waiting in lengthy airport lines. Especially in cities that do not have a self-serve kiosk for you to print your boarding passes. I find those are the airports that likely have long lines for check in with an agent.

If you don’t have a bag to check, just head straight to security with your boarding pass and off you go! If you have to check a bag, some airports have the self serve bag drop and all you have to do is print off your baggage tags at the self serve kiosks prior to dropping it off. It makes the process so much quicker if this is available, so I would highly recommend you take advantage of those self serve options.

5. Not Choosing your Seat

Some airlines allow you to choose a seat for free or upgrade your seat for a fee. I always opt to choose my seat rather than have it randomly assigned, as you don’t want to end up at the back of the plane where boarding and landing take forever. To ensure you get the best pick of seats, check in right when you are able to, this is generally 24 hours before your flight time. If you wait too long, you may not have many options left for seating.

I would also recommend that if you have a long international flight, pick an aisle seat. I know window seats are nice for the view, but during overnight flights, you’ll mostly have the window closed anyways. Sitting on the aisle allows you to be able to get up and walk around at your leisure without feeling like you are disturbing your neighbours every time you want to get up.

6. Not Leaving Enough Time to get to the Airport

When you’re leaving on a domestic flight and don’t have any bags to check, the process through security is simple, as long as you’ve checked in prior to heading to the airport. Depending on the season and time of your flight, the lines at the baggage drop off and security my be lengthy and so you want to leave enough time for processing.

They say generally be at the airport 3 hours before an international flight and 2 hours before a domestic flight. Some of my time saving tips are to check to see if your departure airport posts real time security wait times. This helps in choosing which gate to go to and you’ll avoid standing in a lengthy security line.

For example, at the Calgary International Airport, even if your flight gate is A, you can still enter through gate B. You may have to walk a little bit further once you’re through, but the Calgary International Airport has shuttles that run between each concourse. Of course, be sure to check if you are entering the domestic or international terminals, as they are usually on different sides of the airport. When in doubt, check with the agent at the front who scans your boarding pass prior to entering security.

7. Arriving to the Wrong Terminal

I wanted to tell you about a recent trip I had departing from the Calgary International Airport to Ho Chi Minh city in Viet Nam. Even though I was technically heading to an international destination, I was laying over in Vancouver. This meant that I needed to go to door 2 of departures (domestic WestJet departures) and not door 16 (international WestJet departures). I was extremely lucky that there was no line ups at either counters for bag drop, as it’s an additional 8-10 minutes walk between these doors.

International and domestic departures typically have different terminals or gates depending on the size of the airport. When I am not sure or haven’t been to a certain airport before, I always double check what my flight plan says and do a quick search of the airport map so that I have a general idea of where to go. It’s helpful to let your Uber driver know which terminal to drop you off at, as this will save you lots of time walking if you end up at the wrong one.

8. Not Pre-Downloading your Favourite Shows & Podcasts

Once you get on the flight and enter airplane mode, you’re going to wish you had prepared a few things to watch or listen to on your flight. Especially if you have a 6+ hour flight until your destination, it is nice to have a couple things to do to keep yourself occupied.

Some flights offer wifi for purchase, but I like to save money where I can and just pre-download any YouTube videos, Spotify podcasts, music albums or Netflix shows prior to the flight. That way I can binge watch the latest season of my favourite show or listen to my favourite podcast (pst. the first season of the we should have coffee podcast is out on both Spotify and YouTube).

9. Not Packing your On-Flight Essentials

This might be unpopular opinion, but I love long flights. Hear me out, a whole 6+ hours where you literally have to slow down, not worry about anything work related and binge watch the latest season of your favourite show? Count. Me. In.

To help with making that flight as comfortable as possible, I always have my on-flight essentials packed in my carry on. Make sure you keep the items you need for the flight stored in a bag that fits under your seat rather than placing it in the overhead bin for easy access.

I have a full routine when on a long flight because I see it as an opportunity to just wind down, relax and it forces me not be “on” all the time. You can really enjoy the flight by bringing the little things that make you happy. For me, some of these things include – bringing my skin care products so I can complete my skin care routine to freshen up. The plane is so dry and it’s just nice to take off the make up to allow my skin to be clean and moisturized (helps with breakouts too from travel!).

I also like to stay cozy, so I bring a pair of knitted socks to wear on the plane so I can take my runners off. My journal, reading light and book are also some of my favourite travel essentials to help me wind down for an overnight flight.

10. Not Reviewing the Travel Requirements

If you are travelling internationally, make sure you review the travel requirements for entry into that country to ensure you don’t get turned away. Your passport and boarding pass may not be enough, as some countries require a visa to enter. I was visiting Viet Nam the other month and visitors must have an e-visa prior to entering the country. If you missed this crucial step, it may mean your trip will be significantly delayed or you’d have to cancel altogether – as applying for documentation takes time to process.

If you’re interested in knowing more about Viet Nam travel requirements, I wrote all about it here:

I hope this post helps you along with your travels and let me know if you have any questions or if there’s anything else you’d like to see here on the blog. Have the best travel day!