How International Travelers Can Avoid Scams, Strikes, Disasters and More

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March 10, 2023

I travel to 20+ countries a year sharing my firsthand knowledge of reward travel, travel credit card deals, travel tips and more.

One of my top travel tips for anyone traveling internationally is to check the travel advisories issued by the U.S. State Department and the U.S embassy of that country. I learned this the hard way almost two decades ago when I visited Budapest for the first time and got totally scammed by some “college girls.” As my buddy Matt wrote in a guest post: Had we taken but a moment to read the travel advisory on the US embassy website, none of this would have happened. Here’s more about the scam we fell for.

Photos of France, India, England and BelgiumIn addition to reading U.S. travel advisories, it’s also a good idea to cross reference your research with the advisories of our English-speaking allies like Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. That’s because the State Department’s advisories could be incomplete or politically motivated so it’s smart to cross-reference them. Here are the 3 websites to cross reference before traveling internationally.

If you’re on Twitter, you can follow them in your feed or make a specific list. Canada does a great job warning their citizens of potential problems. Here are some of their latest advisories, which all travelers need to be aware of, no matter where they’re from.

UPDATE: #France’s largest unions have updated their days of strikes and demonstrations for March 11 and 15. Smaller scale, sector-specific strikes continue to occur and could do so outside of these dates.

Canadians in #SouthAfrica: The South African Government has declared a state of disaster in response to ongoing nationwide power shortages. They are expected to continue through 2023 and into 2024. More information: http://ow.ly/siWT50N7CBf

The U.S. State Department’s Twitter handle is @TravelGov and here’s one of their latest tweets:

The following locations are Level 4 – Do Not Travel:
⛔Afghanistan
⛔Belarus
⛔Burkina Faso
⛔Burma
⛔CAR
⛔Haiti
⛔Iran
⛔Iraq
⛔Libya
⛔Mali
⛔N. Korea
⛔Russia
⛔Somalia
⛔S. Sudan
⛔Sudan
⛔Syria
⛔Ukraine
⛔Venezuela
⛔Yemen

Read full Advisories here: http://ow.ly/8ShT50N6bC9

The United Kingdom uses this Twitter handle: @FCDOtravelGovUK for FCDO Travel Advice.

#Belgium Latest updated information on the risk of terrorism. See ‘Terrorism’ page and: http://ow.ly/UIFp50N8yjf

#Sweden Updated information on terrorism in Sweden (‘Terrorism’ page) http://ow.ly/aqsp50N2PuN

The Australian government uses @Smartraveller and their latest at the time of publication was them Retweeting the Canadian Government’s warning on Ecaudor. They also have warnings for multiple countries including Jordan, Israel and Qatar.

We’ve reviewed our advice for #Jordan. We haven’t changed the level of our advice, exercise a high degree of caution. Recent flooding has closed some major highways. Follow advice of local authorities.

We’ve reviewed our advice for Israel & the Palestinian Territories. We haven’t changed the level of our advice, exercise a high degree of caution. Higher levels apply in some areas.

By taking a few minutes to research the travel advisories for the destination you’re planning to visit, you can be more prepared, make alternate plans if necessary and avoid hassles and headaches.

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