Posted on: Sunday, November 14, 2004

SAVVY TRAVELER
Finding crucial travel info

By Irene Croft Jr.

Here's how to obtain essential travel information before an overseas journey. Keep this list handy for future reference.

Travel Advisories

The U.S. State Department operates a Consular Information Program that offers three categories of information: Travel Warnings, Consular Information Sheets and Public Announcements.

Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend Americans avoid travel to a certain country.

Information Sheets are available for more than 200 countries. These reports do not generally include advice but purport to present conditions, such as health, crime, and any instability, in a factual manner so the traveler can make an independent evaluation concerning travel to a particular country.

Public Announcements are used to disseminate information quickly about terrorist threats and other relatively short-term conditions posing significant risks or disruptions to Americans abroad.

In addition, the Department of State offers a list of publications pertinent to travel abroad addressing such subjects as judicial assistance in a foreign country, emergencies and help, tips for travelers to specific countries, sending money overseas, and visa information.

For current bulletins on specific destinations, contact the U.S. State Department's Overseas Citizen Services Hotline at (888) 407-4747, or receive reports via fax by dialing (202) 647-3000 or online at www.travel.state.gov.

Health Precautions

For recommendations and comprehensive health-status reports on your prospective destinations, contact Centers for Disease Control at (877) 394-8747; for auto-fax reports at (888) 232-3299; for recorded Traveler's Health Hotline at (888) 232-3228 or visit www.cdc.gov/travel. Offered are disease risk and prevention information by specific region, reference documents, disease outbreak bulletins and additional in-depth reports on malaria, yellow fever, cholera and other threats.

Do have any inoculations registered in a yellow International Certificates of Vaccination for your continuing medical/travel records. If your doctor or public health office does not have booklet PHS-731 which contains the certificate, it may be purchased for $1.25 from the U.S. Superintendent of Documents by calling (866) 512-1800, by fax at (202) 512-2250, or visit bookstore.gpo.gov/sb/sb-302.html.

Medical Assistance Abroad

If you do not possess a Gold or higher-level MasterCard or Visa card, American Express or Diners Club card, you will not have access to these companies' excellent emergency assistance programs. But there is a savvy alternative for the price of a modest donation.

The International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers, (716) 754-4883 or www.iamat.org, will provide a directory of qualified English-speaking doctors where you are going, as well as many other invaluable services. Its approved physicians have agreed to a very reasonable fixed payment schedule to cover medical visits at their office or your hotel and have pledged to be on call to IAMAT members 24 hours a day.

Travel Insurance

Trip cancellation and interruption/default (TC&I) policies generally cover you in the event that you, your traveling companion or a close family member at home falls sick or suffers a severe accident, either before or during a trip. Most cover you, within very specific parameters, if your tour operator or cruise line fails, if unexpected terrorism or other calamity arises in your destination area within 30 days of departure, if your house is severely damaged, if you're called to jury duty, or even if you miss your departure because of a traffic accident.

Most pay the difference if your travel companion has to continue the trip alone, as a single traveler. Most of these policies are "bundled" and will also pay for overseas medical expenses and emergency medical evacuation, should you need it. And most waive exclusions for pre-existing medical conditions, provided you buy the insurance policy within a specified period after your initial trip deposit.

Compare carefully the policy inclusions and exclusions and premiums of top-rated travel insurers like: CSA, (800) 348-9505, www.travelsecure.com; Access America (800) 284-8300, www.accessamerica.com; and TravelGuard, (800) 826-4919, www.travelguard.com.

To choose the most appropriate coverage and price, compare all of your travel insurance options at www.insuremytrip.com.

Customs

U.S. Customs exempts returning American citizens from paying duties on the first $800 of dutiable items, an increase from $400. This is your basic exemption. The next $1,000 of dutiable items is subject to a flat 10 percent duty rate.

For comprehensive details on duties, exempt and forbidden items, serious shoppers should request information from the Honolulu Customs Office, 861-8462 or online at the recently renamed Customs & Border Protection site (under the umbrella of U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security), www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel.

Electrical Current

Small American electrical appliances, such as an electric toothbrush and shaver, usually operate usually on 110 volts, 60 hertz AC, and are rarely compatible with overseas currents and outlets.

Franzus Company, at (800) 706-7064 or www.franzus.com, includes online and in their free pamphlet, "Foreign Electricity Is No Deep Dark Secret," a list of the voltages and outlet types for nearly 150 countries. Appropriate plugs and adapters may be purchased through print and Internet catalogs such as Magellan's, (800) 962-4943 or www.magellans.com, and TravelSmith, (800) 950-1600 or www.travelsmith.com.

Weather Conditions

For preparation in travel planning and packing, www.weather.com provides current forecasts plus invaluable month-to-month temperature and rainfall averages for hundreds of cities around the world.

Irene Croft Jr. of Kona is a travel writer and 40-year veteran globetrotter. Her column is published every other week.