Planning a Trip Abroad? Here’s How to Make It Easier and Safer

These days, many individuals are preparing for trips abroad. Amidst the hustle of gathering necessary documents and packing, specific preparations can significantly enhance your travel experience. Let me share some helpful tips to ensure a smoother journey before you embark on your international adventure.

Using Incheon International Airport’s Smart Pass service, plane boarding has become more convenient and faster. Smart Pass allows travelers to breeze through the departure process, including immigration and boarding gates, using facial recognition after pre-registering their passport, facial information, and boarding pass. The dedicated Smart Pass lane enables swift departures, making it an invaluable tool.

You can register for Smart Pass using a mobile app, which is valid for five years. However, it’s important to note that you’ll need to register your boarding pass information each time you depart, and it’s crucial to carry your boarding pass even if you’re using Smart Pass.

Incheon International Airport also provides a service to check the congestion level at the departure hall. By searching Incheon Airport congestion or Incheon Airport departure hall on portal sites, you can easily access the estimated number of passengers by time slot, helping you plan your airport departure time.

If you arrive at the airport later than expected, it’s advisable to check your flight status, check-in counter location, and boarding gate in advance on Incheon International Airport’s website. For those parking at the airport, you can also review the route to the connected passageway, facilitating parking near your boarding gate. Simply clicking on View Route will guide you to the shortest path to the departure hall.

You can share this information via KakaoTalk, Line, email, or text.

Before setting off on your international journey, it’s recommended that you scan your passport or ID in advance. You never know what situations you may encounter during your trip, so preparing beforehand is best. Keeping copies of important documents is advisable, especially when traveling to Europe, where the risk of pick-pocketing or robbery is higher.

It is recommended that you take photos and print them out. You can also email scanned copies to yourself.

The Travel Wallet is becoming essential for modern travelers. This card enables fee-free overseas payments. Now, you can pay in the local currency with just one card anywhere. Additionally, you can withdraw money from local ATMs without incurring any fees. There are no charges for exchanging US dollars, Japanese yen, or euros.

With the Travel Wallet, you can withdraw local currency from any VISA-affiliated ATM worldwide, and it supports 45 currencies globally. You can conveniently top up your card at real-time exchange rates 24/7. Furthermore, any leftover foreign currency after your trip can be promptly refunded to your account.

Hana Bank’s Travlog Check Card provides 100% preferential exchange rates for 18 currencies, including the US dollar, Japanese yen, Euro, Singapore dollar, Canadian dollar, and Australian dollar. It offers free overseas merchant fees and remittances and no overseas ATM withdrawal fees. Other cards, such as Travel Zero and Shinhan SOL Travel, which also provide fee-free services, have been introduced, enhancing convenience for travelers.

Exchanging money when the rates are favorable before your trip can avoid concerns about fluctuating exchange rates. One strategy is to pre-load your card with funds and use it like a debit card during your travels. For further details, you can visit each card company’s website.

One of the most indispensable apps for overseas travel is Google Maps. With Google Maps, you can effortlessly navigate to your desired destination anytime, anywhere, even if it’s your first visit to that country.

However, during your trip, there may be instances when your data suddenly runs out or Wi-Fi is unavailable. Even if you purchase a SIM card or use roaming services, there may still be times when internet connectivity is not available. For such situations, it’s highly recommended that you download Google’s offline maps.

With Google’s offline maps, you can access directions to your desired destination without internet access, ensuring convenience. However, since it’s an offline map, it doesn’t offer route search functionality.

You can easily download offline maps by accessing Google Maps and clicking on your profile. It’s a practical way to utilize maps even without internet connectivity.