Winter Holidays is a very special time of the year. We often find ourselves looking forward to it couple of months in advance. When the time finally comes, multiple issues arise unexpectedly. Some of them are caused by bad weather, extra money you have to spend or plain poor management. In order to avoid at least some of those issues, you have to prepare yourself and be ready for some things you did not expect. These are 8 tips that would be useful for any winter traveler.

These are 8 tips that would be useful for any winter traveler.

1. Research the location you are going to

There are a lot of interesting locations to spend some time in winter, particularly if you plan to ski or snowboard. Unfortunately, high popularity often raises the chances for some kind of scam that may await the traveler.

Some of well-known cases are:

– undocumented extra expenses

– poor accommodation quality

– lack of snow

– poor event management

In order to avoid unpleasant experience, we advice to do some research before you actually go and buy a ticket for your arctic cruise. The best places to do that are specialized forums and other on-line communities. People who visited the location share their thoughts and explain pros and cons of the specific resort.

2. Do not put all of your stuff into the same suitcase

Baggage losses is a common situation that happens pretty often. To increase your chances, you may want to put some part of your personal things into your partner’s case and put your partner’s stuff into yours. That way you won’t loose everything if one of the cases ends put lost.

3. Pack Basic stuff

It goes without saying that you have to pack a toothbrush, some medications, and clean underwear. For an arctic cruise, however, you would need some extra items that also qualify for basic in this case. They include spare warm clothing and footwear. It is also advisable that you wear those items that take the most space.

4. Take flights without connections

This could be a hard thing to do, especially if you intend to travel long distances. However, if there is an option to take a nonstop flight you should definitely take it, even if it’s a little bit more expensive. The thing is flights might get delayed due to bad weather. As a result, you could find yourself sitting in the airport for days waiting your connection flight.

5. Check the weather every day

Unfortunately, weather is one those things you can’t rely on. The forecast can change unexpectedly and you can’t do anything to reverse that. What you can do though, is to change the flight. That is, of course in case you booked an early one. Traveling in the middle of a hot season is also not the best idea. Try to plan your flights before the season starts in order to avoid overcrowded airports and have an option to take a different flight. Also do not forget to sign up for your airport’s social media to track weather changes, delayed flights, etc.

6. Buy Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is a good way to cover extra expenses that become necessary as a result of delays and unexpected situations.

With a good travel insurance, you can:

– cover delay-related expenses like hotel rooms, meals, etc

– get round-the-clock support to help you find place to spend the night and sort out other issues

– cover the missed connection expenses in case you missed your connection flight because of the weather conditions

7. Make early hotel reservations

If your arctic cruise includes connection flight or the weather promises to be not of the best kind it would be a good idea to book a hotel room in advance. This way you are secured from spending the night in the airport waiting room. However, do make sure you’ll have the time to cancel the reservation in case everything turns out well.

8. Check if your devices can cope with cold weather

Some older cameras and cell phones react to cold weather pretty bad. This shows when your devices loose charge quicker than usual and sometimes even glitch randomly. The thermal specification for your device can be found in the documentation that came with it or on the manufacturer’s official website. Also do not forget to charge your electronics and your power-banks (if you have those).

Winter trip is a fascinating experience that many of us look forward to during the year. However, when the time finally comes we face issues like bad weather, lost baggage and extra expenses.

In order to avoid a great number of issues always research the place you’d like to visit, pack your bags wisely, make early reservations, check the weather couple of times a day, make sure all your devices are ready for usage and most importantly have fun in the process.