Recently updated on August 23rd, 2024 at 08:24 pm
Congratulations on booking your first trip with Trafalgar! We’re so excited to welcome you on tour. But before we get there, you probably have some questions – from booking flights to arranging visas, packing the right essentials to connecting with your Travel Director. In this article we hope to answer them all – but if there’s anything you still want to know after reading, please leave us a comment and we’ll respond as soon as we can. Ok, let’s dive into the details on how to set up your first Trafalgar adventure the right way.
Pre-Register for Your Trip
The first thing you want to do is pre register for your trip on the MyTrafalgar portal. This lets you put in customizations for your trip, such as dietary requirements, allergies, and specific travel preferences. This is where you’d request twin bedding or double, or mention a birthday or anniversary to your Travel Director. This is also where you put in your passport, insurance and emergency contact information.
For Africa & Asia trips: Travel Directors don’t have pre-trip access to passenger details, but will find out everything they need to know upon the start of the trip.
Access Your E-Documentation
Approximately three weeks before your departure, head back to the MyTrafalgar travel portal to unlock your travel documents, like your itinerary.
Your visas
Look up what visas you need for your target destination. We can help you with this, but this service varies from region to region. If you’re based in North America, South Africa, or EU/UK, we’re able to help you out. However, we can’t provide this service if you’re based in Oceania. Make sure to contact us to check what’s on offer.
Purchase Travel Insurance
Make sure to purchase travel insurance before your group tour, as it isn’t included in your trip package. When that’s done, add your insurance details to the MyTrafalgar portal.
Choose the Right Carry-On Luggage
For safety reasons, small rolling suitcases aren’t allowed inside the coach. So for a carry-on, use a soft-sided bag, such as a backpack or duffel bag as your carry-on.
Our standard luggage allowance includes one main case not exceeding 23kg (50lbs) with dimensions up to 76cm x 45cm x 25cm (30” x 18” x 10”), and one piece of hand luggage not exceeding 30cm x 28cm x 14cm (12”x11”x6”).
Tips: Test the weight of your baggage before travel to ensure it’s manageable. Baggage allowances vary by airline, so check with your carrier beforehand (here’s a handy tool from Skyscanner). For internal flights on Trafalgar Asia and Egypt tours, the allowance is usually 20kg (44lbs). East Africa safari vehicles require soft-sided bags or medium-sized suitcases.
Consider extending your stay with extra hotel nights
A lot of our guests want to extend their stay past their group tour dates to explore more of the destination, before or after the tour. You can easily book extra hotel nights through Trafalgar during the online booking process. But, if you didn’t do so, don’t fret. You can use the MyTrafalgar portal, or contact us to add extra nights for you. If you booked through a travel agent, reach out to them to add these nights to your reservation. You’ll stay at the same hotel from where you start / end the tour, but at the same great rate (much better than booking it yourself).
Arrange Your Airport Transfers
Trafalgar offers complimentary airport transfers for many trips, but this depends on your destination. Visit our Airport Transfers page for more details.
If you booked through a travel agent, they can arrange transfers for you. If you booked directly with us, add transfers via the MyTrafalgar portal under the Extras Tab after entering your flight details. For Travel Agent Partners, use the TAP to add details under the Extras Tab. Some transfers may require contacting us directly.
Look out for your Travel Director email
Around 48 hours before your group tour, you’ll receive an email from your Travel Director introducing themselves, as well as giving their contact information in case of emergency. In this email they’ll confirm the start time, location and any other nice to know info such as what the plan is for that day/afternoon depending on what time the tour starts. This is why it’s super important that you put your contact information into the MyTrafalgar portal if you haven’t already in the booking process.
The last thing to think about? What you’re going to wear for the wonderful Welcome Dinner, which always takes place on the first night of every tour. This is where you get to meet everyone: your Trafalgar team and all your new travel buddies!
We’re open 24/7
Is there something we haven’t covered? Remember that our support team is open 24/7. So, if there’s something about your group tour that’s bugging you in the dead of night, someone will be online to answer your call and question. We try not to contact you too much once you’ve booked, registered, and paid on time. However, we’re always available for you to contact us with any query you might have.
With these guidelines, we hope you feel well-prepared for your Trafalgar tour. But if there’s anything else you need to know, leave us a comment below and we’ll try and respond as quickly as we can. Or contact our support team.