How much should one invoke "Murphy's Law" when planning travel?

[NWGuy]

No one seems to have mentioned travel insurance. While it can't fix or prevent the problem, it can make it less painful in the wallet. Like other insurance, especially health care now, its a bit expensive, and the hope is not to need it. But if you do need it, it is nice to have.
Had our flight on Delta from Johannesburg back to Atlanta cancelled (a once a day flight) along with the next day's flight, so two large plane loads of passengers all trying to get flights arranged. Was not pretty! Having scheduled in a extra day on the return flight ended up being critical for getting back to work on time. Didn't need to use the travel insurance as Delta covered lodging and meals, but it was close.

 

[Whiskeyman]

I agree. I only fly when absolutely necessary. I find audiobooks make the time in the car "fly" by

For the life of me, I can't listen to an audiobook seriously when I drive. My wife wants to listen to books along the way, and that's fine with me. But I end up paying attention to the route/driving and nothing else due to my one-track mind.

 

[Steve]

For the life of me, I can't listen to an audiobook seriously when I drive. My wife wants to listen to books along the way, and that's fine with me. But I end up paying attention to the route/driving and nothing else due to my one-track mind.

I shut them off while driving though heavy traffic or when there are a lot of turn offs, etc, but on the open road I can listen all day

 

[Whiskeyman]

..If it’s less than a 6 hour drive I just drive rather than fly. If for personal unless it’s across country and I don’t have the time I’ll drive rather than fly...

IMO, that's a really good policy for travel. If I have the time, I'll drive much further than that, because if it's more than six hours, there are likely more photography spots along the way.

One of my dreams is to take a two or three-month vacation and travel where whims take me and my camera. I've done this before in just Florida for a week, and could have easily spent a whole month within one state.

Sometimes, the journey is better than the destination.

 

[Calson]

I used to book 7-10 day trips on dive boats and I always plan to arrive at the departure city 2 days in advance. This allows for dealing with any problems before leaving land. With my last trip to the Pantanal the domestic airline sent my checked case to the wrong city and it took a full day to get it back to the correct city. On a trip to Costa Rica the airline cancelled our flight due to the eruption of a volcano which it turns out the debris can damage the jet engines and does not show up on radar.

Delays can occur and if one is on their own itinerary then no problems. If one is heading out with a group then you need to be at the departure location a couple days early to be safe. This also allows time to acclimate and to resort your gear from a TSA packing job to one suited for travel.

When I flew a half a million miles each year on business I would never let the agents book my trips as the layover times, especially in Dallas, were never adequate. I would change a 45 minute gap between arrival and departure to 2 hours or more. The extra time allowed me to get a meal in the airport and do catch up on voicemail.

It is important unless you are flying business or first class to be in the first group to board the plane to have space in the overhead bins for your baggage. I pay for a premium coach at a minimum to gain early boarding.

We cancelled a trip in 2021 to Ecuador and our travel insurance covered nothing as it was a pandemic and therefore exempt from coverage. It took days to get a credit from the airlines and we lost our 50% deposit for the guide and lodging. Friends booked a river cruise in Europe a couple months ago and their flight was cancelled with only 2 hours notice and so they lost out entirely.

What works the best when possilble is to rent a car and make individual bookings using Travelocitty or other service for lodging. If something goes sideways I can cancel the car and cancel the rooms for a 100% refund. If arriving a day late we lose nothing other than our time. We can also stay at smaller hotels or B&B type places that cannot accommodate a large group, and such places are quiter and our stay is more enjoyable.

I now pay extra for flights with fewer stops as my chances for problems are reduced. I plan to arrive two full days early at my destination. I book with a dedicated guide for my wife and I. This takes more time and effort but saves us money and minimizes problems.

 

[Gayle]

I always try to arrive a day or 2 before I have to, but I live in Alaska where flights are often cancelled due to weather. Because of this, it's not out of the ordinary to call your boss to say that you are stranded somewhere and won't make it to work. I also make sure that I buy trip insurance. I just had a transcontinental flight cancelled 3 days ago because the airline didn't have a flight crew. And in November I was on a plane that was about to take off for Brazil when we were called back because of political upset in Sao Paolo, which closed the airport. My next booked flight has had schedule changes 3 times already, and I was just notified of another. So yes, leaving enough time to make connections, cruises or other tours is essential. And also, the advice your mom gave you to carry a change of clothes in your carry on is also worth it, as my delay for Sao Paolo kept me from my luggage for 3 days...

 

[Whiskeyman]

... And also, the advice your mom gave you to carry a change of clothes in your carry on is also worth it, as my delay for Sao Paolo kept me from my luggage for 3 days...

Those three days are why military travelers often use what is called a "72-hour bag." I've needed enough gear to get me through that 72-hour time period several times, and after the first time of not having it, I never traveled without one again.

 

[Calson]

It is why I never check anything I cannot buy at my destination and have a very basic toiletries kit. I only check clothing items which go in a large hard case. At my destination the hard case is used to keep photo gear and laptops safe - items that would never fit in a room safe. A collapsible duffle is used for our clothes during a trip.

 

[Howard5252]

I have taken some trips to far away places, including Antarctica. For $50, the travel company I use always offers to make all of the travel arrangements for me and I always let them do it. They are plugged into the airlines computers and are in a much better position to handle the unforeseen problems. They are also up-to-date on just what papers are needed to enter a country. An added benefit of letting the company select the air travel is that you could find others from your trip on the same plane or in the same predicament upon attempting to enter a country. It may not get you in but you won't be alone and the stress will be shared by the group.

 

[joe43]

There is great advice posted in responce to the posted question. When my wife and I travel on onternational flights we always try and add a extra day and we buy travel insurance AND medical evacuation insurance. We are both 79.

My wife and I flew to JoBurg from Houston via Paris for a photo safari in Botswana. We planned to arrive a day early to relax and provide an extra day in case we had issues with our flights. Thank goodness we did as our flight from Paris to Joburg got cancelled. The airline took care of lodging and meals and rebooking and we left for JoBurg the next morning. After one night at our hotel in JoBurg we flew to Botswana as originally scheduled. In our safari group almost everyone planned to arrive a day earlier. One other couple had a delay like we did.

Medical evacuation insurance is relatively inexpensive and worth every penny if youhave a medical issue while traveling. On a small boast Alaskan cruise we were on one passenger had to be airlifted via a hellicpoter for a medical issue that occurred during the night. On a Rhine river cruise a friend of ours had a heart attack. He had med insurance that took care of everything--from the boat to a hospital in France for treatment and then return to the US. They had travel insurance too which likely covered some of the additional costs.

Allowing for extra time for connecting flights (especially at Heathrow) is a must IMO. Those airline approved transfer times of 45 minutes are not long enough. Two or more hours is more like it.

My cell phone does not allow for international service or i have not figured out how to access it. Those more familiar with how to make sure you have phone service ought to post info about the options. Having the ability to make a call might be important in these days.

 

[TonyDownunder]

I believe, "make plans for the worst, hope for the best"

“Smile it could be worse. So I did and it was “

 

[TonyDownunder]

It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

 

[PharmDoc]

This thread hits pretty close to home... Last summer we flew into London for the start of a 2 week cruise of Norway. Thank goodness we've learned over the years to arrive a day early for such trips, as of course my luggage was delayed somehow in Atlanta, and while I was told it would arrive later that morning at Heathrow, it didn't. I tried contacting everyone that I could to get help finding my bag and getting it to me. Since it's nearly impossible to really get any assistance in that situation, we went "shopping" in London the next morning for a whole set of clothes to replace what was in my luggage (I always carry my camera gear with me into the plane). That afternoon the hotel called me when I was a the cruise ship terminal, which was about an hours drive from the hotel, to tell me that my bag had arrived and did I want to pay a taxi to drive it to the cruise terminal. I of course said "yes" and the bag arrived a couple of hours before our cruise set sail. So...a close call, but definitely glad we went a day early. We did have travel insurance (always on an expensive trip like that), and while it took a few months, they did reimburse me for the clothes I bought in London.

 

[OurWarHeroes.org]

Unless I'm driving and have a trunk available... I travel as light as possible. I wear a ScotteVest and if I can't fill those pockets with things I need (Except camera) then I leave rest behind and get stuff at destination and if I'm near a US Base, I use the post office to ship what I don't toss at destination back home in a flat rate box. The jacket can be easily laid on conveyor belt at checkpoints. - Most of my destinations now-days are all by car. I try to have at least one inverter with me or cigarette lighter plug charging device so batteries are charging while I'm driving etc. Keep water in the door beverage holders. The less I carry with me, the more time I can spend shooting.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[agrumpyoldsod]

I ran across this article in today's New York Times:

Help! A Check-In Agent’s Mistake Made Me Miss an Antarctic Cruise and I’m Out $17,000.

An American Airlines error kept a traveler from getting to her cruise’s departure, but the carrier wouldn’t take financial responsibility and her trip insurance refused to pay. Then our columnist stepped in.

www.nytimes.com

Since I don't know whether the piece is locked behind a paywall, I will very quickly summarize: a woman was leaving for a long-planned and expensive ($17,000) Antarctic cruise, but when she went to check in with American Airlines (of course it was American) in Nashville, the rookie gate agent told her she needed travel documents that she did not, in fact, need to enter Chile. She missed the flight, she missed the cruise, and both American and AuroraExpeditions refused to compensate her. Yikes. She finally wrote to the Times, and the paper's "Travel Dispatch" columnist intervened on her behalf.
She got compensated.

The one thing the columnist told the woman she had done wrong was not to arrange such a short turnaround (less than a day) between her arrival in Chile and the departure of the cruise ship. This recommendation resonates with me at this very moment, as I am scheduled to leave Monday evening for Medellin, where I will join Glenn Bartley's two-week Colombia bird photography workshop. Meanwhile, I am smack dab in the middle of California's "atmospheric river," and another great big atmospheric river storm is headed our way on Monday, where it will last into the evening. As it stands, my flight (on American!) will depart for the first leg, SFO to Miami, at 10:30 pm or so. I am scheduled to arrive in Medellin around 2 pm on Monday.

But what if the flight is delayed or even canceled? Ok, I contacted Glenn, and he says that if I come in a day, or even two days late, he will arrange for a car to take me from Medellin to Jardin, where the group will spend the first three days of the trip. I will be out a couple of days of photography, but I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me.

In light of this, it occurs to me that perhaps for this kind of trip I should plan to fly to my destination a day early, just to be sure. I know lots of people do this, especially when traveling across time zones where there is a danger of jet lag. In fact, there is another member of this forum who is participating on this very same photo workshop and she will be arriving a day early. Kudos to her.

So my question (finally): how and how much do you plan for possible delays in your travel when you partake in long-distance photo workshops or heck, other types of vacation trips? Any stories to share? Tips?

Doug Greenberg

Kenya I add an over night stay in Nairobi in bound and outbound.

 

[dasm]

Kenya I add an over night stay in Nairobi in bound and outbound.

We added two nights in Nairobi after arrival and before we head out to Amboseli. We will also stay in Amsterdam for two nights before our Nairobi flight. Although we have travelled with just carry-on before to Europe, this time we have decided to book one luggage for each of us so that my wife and daughter can only carry small backpack as carry-on. I will, of course, have MindShift Backlight 36L as my carry-on. In the checked luggage, we will distribute our clothings into three suitcases, in case one of them didn't arrive in time. We are planning to take three sets of clothings for each with more under garments. We will be taking down jackets, especially for the morning game drives.

 

[Calson]

With group travel it is a different situation and one is the most vulnerable. If the flight is delayed or luggage is lost as I experienced on my last two overseas trips, it can take 48 hours to be ready for the departure of the group. Arriving two to three days early has always been prudent and it is far more necessary under the current circumstances.

It is why I avoid group travel as much as possible. If I book my hotel stays myself and I encounter any problems I can cancel reservations at at most I am out the cost of one night in a hotel. I can cancel a car reservation at no loss and not pay for food not eaten at restaurants.

With the climate crisis it is also much more likely that airline service will be disrupted in ways that cannot be predicted. More chance of flooding that impacts road travel and lodging and animal locations.

I have twice been in a group where sick individuals decied to make the trip regardless and they gave me their bug and I lost a full day of shooting.

I do take 100% of my photo gear on the plane to minimize serious problems but cancelled or delayed flights still occur. On my last trip to Alaska the infamous PenAir ground crew removed our checked luggage so as to make more room for crates of fish. We had to spend the night in Anchorage and return to the airport to get our luggage and lost a full day of travel as a result. The others airlines are no better in their treatment of their customers so you are at their mercy.

 

[RichF]

Stuff happens, though infrequently, so best to be prepared for it, though the vast majority of time nothing happens. In perhaps 200+ trips over the last 25 years (some weekend driving trips, other 3 week trips to africa) I have only had gear failed a handful of times. Never-the-less I try to take reasonable precautions to avoid being dead in the water if something happens. For example, years ago on a 2-3 day wildlife shoot, i had a Canon 1D-series camera was DOA when I arrived. I only use a single camera on these type of shoots, seldom change lenses. But fortuitously I brought a backup camera so I could continue shooting. Otherwise I would have wasted the trip.

 

[Howard5252]

You might be in a country where the postal service is "unreliable". I was in Ushuaia, Argentina and was told just that when I wanted to send something home.

 

[MrFotoFool]

Increasing pilot shortage (and other issues) means flying is less reliable than ever and will not get better any time soon. So yes, plan an extra day. I have been to Europe seven times since 2009 and my last trip, September 2022, was the only time I had a travel issue (both going and coming back). Going out, my connecting flight from London to Brussels was cancelled, so I had to spend the night in London and fly out next day. Coming home, train strike in France meant my train from Carcassonne to Toulouse Airport was cancelled and I had to get an expensive last minute taxi ride.

 

[EricBowles]

I ran across this article in today's New York Times:

Help! A Check-In Agent’s Mistake Made Me Miss an Antarctic Cruise and I’m Out $17,000.

An American Airlines error kept a traveler from getting to her cruise’s departure, but the carrier wouldn’t take financial responsibility and her trip insurance refused to pay. Then our columnist stepped in.

www.nytimes.com

Since I don't know whether the piece is locked behind a paywall, I will very quickly summarize: a woman was leaving for a long-planned and expensive ($17,000) Antarctic cruise, but when she went to check in with American Airlines (of course it was American) in Nashville, the rookie gate agent told her she needed travel documents that she did not, in fact, need to enter Chile. She missed the flight, she missed the cruise, and both American and AuroraExpeditions refused to compensate her. Yikes. She finally wrote to the Times, and the paper's "Travel Dispatch" columnist intervened on her behalf.
She got compensated.

The one thing the columnist told the woman she had done wrong was not to arrange such a short turnaround (less than a day) between her arrival in Chile and the departure of the cruise ship. This recommendation resonates with me at this very moment, as I am scheduled to leave Monday evening for Medellin, where I will join Glenn Bartley's two-week Colombia bird photography workshop. Meanwhile, I am smack dab in the middle of California's "atmospheric river," and another great big atmospheric river storm is headed our way on Monday, where it will last into the evening. As it stands, my flight (on American!) will depart for the first leg, SFO to Miami, at 10:30 pm or so. I am scheduled to arrive in Medellin around 2 pm on Monday.

But what if the flight is delayed or even canceled? Ok, I contacted Glenn, and he says that if I come in a day, or even two days late, he will arrange for a car to take me from Medellin to Jardin, where the group will spend the first three days of the trip. I will be out a couple of days of photography, but I don't expect anyone to feel sorry for me.

In light of this, it occurs to me that perhaps for this kind of trip I should plan to fly to my destination a day early, just to be sure. I know lots of people do this, especially when traveling across time zones where there is a danger of jet lag. In fact, there is another member of this forum who is participating on this very same photo workshop and she will be arriving a day early. Kudos to her.

So my question (finally): how and how much do you plan for possible delays in your travel when you partake in long-distance photo workshops or heck, other types of vacation trips? Any stories to share? Tips?

Doug Greenberg

When I'm leading a trip, group members that travel are usually coming in a day early if they have any connection to be made or limited alternatives for booking alternate flights. I'd guess 75% come in a day early, and those that don't are driving or have short direct flights with no connections. If I'm leading a group or have a leading role at a meeting, I always arrive early.

The thought process is something like this. For a major trip, you probably have a cost of $1-2,000 per day or more. Missing the first day and arriving on the second day can mean missing 15-30% of your trip - plus all the aggravation. Given that an extra night only costs $250 or so, it's very cheap insurance. It's also a good way to adjust to the locale, the time zone, and have a little travel time on your own to get acquainted with the location.

 

[Calson]

My wife and I bought travel insurance prior to a series of trips to South America. Then came the Covid shutdown and this was not covered by our travel insurance. Same would apply if there is "civil unrest" in a country (Equador, El Salvador, India, Haiti, Kenya, etc.).

Where some kind of travel insurance is important is for covering medical expenses if one is injured outside the USA. An air ambulance for example can cost tens of thousands of dollars and not be covered by the usual medical insurance policies.

 

[Anjin San]

IMO, that's a really good policy for travel. If I have the time, I'll drive much further than that, because if it's more than six hours, there are likely more photography spots along the way.

One of my dreams is to take a two or three-month vacation and travel where whims take me and my camera. I've done this before in just Florida for a week, and could have easily spent a whole month within one state.

Sometimes, the journey is better than the destination.

For us…it’s a matter if we fly if there’s ocean in between or if we have to be there tomorrow. Otherwise…driving is far superior and we can like you see things on the way.

 

[Lotuselite]

Ivan Rothman wrote

"I had a brand new Nikon DSLR with EN-EL18 battery and a new charger which was found to be broken on my trip (I shook the charger and could hear loose wires rattling inside) - and I was the only Nikon shooter in the group, so I was done when my batteries ran out of juice."

This is where a power bank can come to the rescue as long as you can charge the battery in camera .
Of course phones, iPads earbuds etc. can also be charged if you are away from wall power.

Just make sure that it is OK for the airline you are on as some of them have limits on the capacity of power banks.
I believe that the 20,000 models are pretty well OK with most carriers but some seem to restrict starting at the 26,000 capacities.

 

[janas]

For the life of me, I can't listen to an audiobook seriously when I drive. My wife wants to listen to books along the way, and that's fine with me. But I end up paying attention to the route/driving and nothing else due to my one-track mind.

I agree with this.. Safety should always be the top priority when driving, and it's natural for your focus to be on the road rather than on an audiobook... Perhaps you could explore other ways to enjoy books together with your wife..