Travelling can be a hazardous business full of pitfalls just waiting to trip you up. There aren’t many people that haven’t had at least one disaster when they’ve travelled, and often these things have a habit of being costly or even completely ruining your vacay.

There are some mistakes and muff ups that are in fact quite common, despite being completely unnecessary. So we’re running through 6 common travel fails and how to avoid them.

Missed flights

No one wants to be that name being repeatedly read out over the loudspeaker as the boarding gate’s about to shut. But it’s surprising how common it is for people to miss flights.

Double check times and remember, they’re always in local time - so if you’ve got a connection, make sure your watch or phone clock has updated. Check in online if possible to save you time queuing at the airport and ensure you don’t miss the window.

Most importantly of all, be sure to arrive at the airport on time. It’s recommended to allow 3 hours for international flights and 2 hours for domestic flights.

Passport issues

Passport issues can put an end to your vacay before it’s even begun leaving you unable to even board your flight. Before you start booking your travels, always double check your passport is not only in date, but also that it has 3 blank pages and at least 6 months left to run.

That’s right, many airlines will turn you away if you if there’s too little time left to run or too few unstamped pages in your passport. Even the most seasoned of travellers have been caught out by these regulations, and while they’re utterly ridiculous, unfortunately we have to oblige by them.

Changing a tonne of cash beforehand

Lots of people still change their entire holiday budget into the local currency before they go abroad. But there are two large problems with doing this.

Firstly, you’re probably going to end up paying exchange fees to whoever you exchange with. And secondly, you put yourself in massive danger of losing it all, whether it be through theft or misplacing it. Taking large wads of cash abroad isn’t the most sensible idea.

Open up an account that allows you to take money out abroad at a great exchange rate with no fees attached. This way you can take your cash out as and when you need it. Just remember to inform your bank that you’re going away.

Going without insurance

We’ve heard countless horror stories about travellers getting into dire situations and racking up thousands in debts when overseas. Hospital bills, lost luggage, cancelled bookings etc. Travelling abroad without insurance is always a bad idea, regardless of where you’re going.

Sure, it’s boring and sensible and a thoroughly depressing thought that you’ll probably never have to claim on it. But accidents do happen, and if something goes wrong while you’re abroad, you’ll be thankful you invested in it.

Arriving at the wrong airport

One of the most despised tricks that budget airlines employ is to fly in and out of airports that are nowhere near the destination they’re named after. They tend to be absolutely miles away from the cities whose names they bear.

Travel forums are awash with stories of people turning up to completely the wrong airport, wrongly assuming it’s where they’re flying from. Or alternatively, touching down somewhere only to find out they’re not at all where they thought they were and having to pay a fortune for a connection.

Always double check the airports by googling their code. If they are out of town, it still may be worth your while to fly to them, but you won’t be in for a nasty surprise at the check in gate.