“This one’s a bit of a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised!” she noted. Countries like Burma, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), India and Vietnam require e-visas or specific visa documents before flying in. Depending on where you go, these can take minutes, hours or weeks to process, so apply early to prevent any last-minute issues.

Read up on visa prices

Flyers should put some money aside for visa fees. Moorwood advised: “The prices are always changing, but as a rule of thumb, visas to some popular tourist destinations can set you back up to three figures.”

Tourist visas for countries such as India, the United States, and New Zealand cost £127, £119, and £106, respectively.

Consider frequent travel programs

“Frequent travellers, like myself, save time with programs like Global Entry (USA) and Registered Traveler (UK). They provide faster customs processing and entry,” says Moorwood.

If you’re a frequent flyer, these programs can make border control much smoother.

Prepare for passport expiry mid-trip

If you’re travelling to countries like Mexico, where passport rules are more relaxed, you might not encounter issues.

Moorwood noted: “Should your passport expire mid-trip, returning home could become problematic. Always, always check you have enough validity for the entire trip.”

Finally, Morwood added: “When I travel, I always double-check my passport for enough blank pages, especially when heading to places like South Africa or China. I also make sure my passport is valid for at least a year when I travel to countries with the six-month rule, like Thailand or Brazil. On top of that, I regularly renew my passport about nine months before it expires anyway, which has saved me from scrambling during high-demand periods.