Please help me make a checklist for a 20-year-old’s first flight & holiday to Spain

[Herbace]

’my 20 year old is going on first holiday alone with friend to youth hostel in Spain beginning of July. As a family we have only had one holiday out of the uk (unfortunately covid and health problems meant no flying ) this was when he was toddler so he has no experience at all of finding his way in an airport, being in a plane , checking in and so on . I’ve advised him to check with airline for what can go in bags etc but he’s reluctant to find out more . Please help me to make an essential checklist, it’s been many years since I have been in a plane and I’m feeling pretty useless right now as a parent.

Of course it’s that simple. Or do you think no adult ever goes abroad for the first time without substantial help?

@tiramisugelato we are all obviously very different. I am in my early 50s, have lived in several countries and in my job advise government and big companies on really tricky legal issues. But I still get advice from my parents and other people on lots of things!

But he hasn't asked for advice, that's the point!

Passport, keys, wallet.

Everything else he'll figure out for himself.

If he forgets something he can figure it out there.

My DS travels alone a lot. I know not to ask more than "do you have your passport and your phone?" when he leaves because everything else he can manage without.

I knew from the title what the replies would be. On MN no parent is allowed to be kind or helpful to their adult DC.
A 20 year old who's not travelled before could definitely use some tips.
I won't repeat the useful things posted already, just add a couple.
1.Make sure he has travel insurance booked now and declare any health problems however trivial.
2.Allow three hours at the airport on the return journey because many, not all, European airports are having long delays over the new EES system. Some Spanish airports have a long distance from checkin to the gates, don't linger in a shop or café until you know. Palma is particularly bad, you get through check-in and find all the shops but it's actually another half hour walk to the UK terminal and lots of queues in between.
3.No swimming when drunk

1. When paying by card always select "pay in Euros" not pounds.

Did they not even look at their boarding passes where it says in big letters 'gate closes 30 mins before take off'?

The airline website has all the information he needs, alongside the airport website and gov.uk.

He needs to think about what he'd do if he lost his phone. He needs more than one form of payment and understand how he is charged for currency conversion. He needs to be aware that if he has an accident while drunk, his travel insurance may not pay out, likewise if he does something like hire a moped or undertake other activities not covered by his travel insurance (many are not). He needs to understand luggage rules so he doesn't get charged extra and security rules so he doesn't have anything taken off him at the airport. He also needs to know about the passport control queue after security on the way back and that liquid restrictions might be tighter coming back as they don't have the new scanners in most Spanish airports yet.

But he needs to work these things out for himself and can ask his friend/DM if he's unsure, but without having the OP ask MN do all his thinking for him from the off.

Just make sure he has insurance. The rest I’m sure he can work out himself.

I spent 3 months in the USA aged 19. I had to arrange a visa, get $ and provide evidence of funds, and got myself a job before arrival. And no I wasn’t privileged. The only time I had flown was as a young child on a military families flight from an RAF airport. Had never been on a commercial flight before. I wasn’t a particularly confident or capable young person either but these experiences help us become more confident.

ok you’ve had some nasty comments on here !

things to focus on:
empty water bottle before security, there’s water fountains airside (other side of security) he can refill.
make sure his liquids are small enough to go through security.

get to gate as early as possible for his first flight. I haven’t flown from Manchester for a long time but I seem to recall some of the gates are a bit of a trek from the main lounge area. Be ready for a long walk.

make sure his bag is the right size.

Insurance!!! Take photos on his phone of insurance, EHIC card and passport. Send those to you as well so if he loses his phone as well as any of those, you’ve got the details. (if he doesn’t know your number off by heart, on a bit of paper in his bag somewhere)

Empty cards he won’t use out of his wallet before he goes.

If he’s checking in his main bag, one pair of pants and socks in his hand luggage. If his bag doesn’t arrive, report immediately to lost luggage, they usually give you a sticker on your boarding card with your bag tag number. Don’t dump your boarding card until you’ve got out of the airport with your bag!

Well if he won’t find out more for himself he’ll learn the hard way.

And this so from a parent with a child with SEND who travels to compete abroad annually (with team GB so not alone) yet still managed to pack his power bank in his suitcase to come home. It was replaced with an official letter telling him it had been removed and destroyed 🤦🏼‍♀️🤣

Going on a lads holiday? Never mind the plane, he just needs passport and tickets and to follow everyone else.
But put some suncream in his bag and remind him to hydrate. Aquarius is a flat rehydration drink most Spanish shops and vending machines stock. Great hangover cure.

A plane was diverted a few weeks ago because a passenger said they'd left a power bank in the hold, this seems to be the issue of the hour, alongside EES panic of course. Airlines really don't want them in the hold due to fire risks, so if they're picked up in security screening, more of this will happen.

When I flew last week, Jet2 announced about a dozen times in a two hour flight that if you had a power bank with you, it must be with you in the cabin, not in the overhead locker and if it was actively charging, it must be out on the tray table not in your bag.

I knew from the title what the replies would be. On MN no parent is allowed to be kind or helpful to their adult DC.

But he hasn't asked for his mums' help - that's the point. I wouldn't have wanted my mum to interfere and offer me advice at that age - I'd have found it really infantilising that she was assuming I was incapable.

I’m doing this for my ds flying off with a mate

before:
have you booked travel insurance
is your passport in date
do you have a GHIC (Europe)
does your bank card charge /do you need money?
does your phone provider charge / do you need to think about roaming etc
when do you need to check in online
do you have the right size luggage for the airline
what is on the other side of security at the airport
swap travel insurance details with your mate and with me
give your friend my number and vice versa

on the day
passport
have you checked in online
portable charger (hand luggage)
fully charged phone
get there three hours early
drop bags
go through security asap
watch the boards
go to your gate as soon as it’s announced

then it’s down to them to do it in reverse

@Bjorkdidit

A plane was diverted a few weeks ago because a passenger said they'd left a power bank in the hold, this seems to be the issue of the hour, alongside EES panic of course. Airlines really don't want them in the hold due to fire risks, so if they're picked up in security screening, more of this will happen.

FWIW it wasn't just a case of the bank being in a bag in the hold, it seemed the owner had also left it plugged in to a mobile phone in the bag.🙄

And as you point out a few airlines have very recently changed rules and are now insisting power banks or the bag they are in stays within sight of the owner, so they have to go either in the seat pocket or in a bag under the seat in front, etc.....they're not even allowing them to go in the overhead lockers..

This was 3 years ago.

He went out to Berlin to compete again last month and just before he flew home he said “don’t worry - my power bank is in my hand luggage” 🤣

TBF, his mum knows him better than we do and her concerns could be that he is likely to be under prepared. She did say that he seems to think Manchester Airport will be similar to a bus station?

@Herbace has his friend more recent experience of travel? That could help.

I think women are just fed up of women that baby men.

He's 20, I'm pretty sure he is capable of looking up the airline to find out what is allowed baggage wise. Gosh I'd been living away from home for 2 years by 20, my family never flew apart from once when I was a baby, we did go abroad every year but drove and travelled around Europe. Amazingly I managed to travel the world on my own in my early 20's, my mum didn't ask randoms on the internet what I should pack in my bag though, or indeed organise anything for me!!! Let him work it out for himself!

But he’s an adult and if he’s under prepared then that’s his issue to solve, not his mums.

Honestly, it’s no wonder there are so many grown men who are incapable of basic life tasks when there are 20 year olds being babied like this. I was living abroad in a non-English speaking country at that age, ffs.

Yes but had you experience of travel before then with family, say?

Apart from a school exchange, my first foreign travel wasn't until I was nearly 21 and I went on my first package holiday with a friend. The friend had flown once before on a similar holiday with family members so was slightly more clued up than me. I have made up for it since!

FWIW my DD (30), who has travelled lots, is currently on holiday with a female friend of the same age who has never been abroad before or flown. If it wasn't for DD she probably wouldn't have the nerve to go alone since her family have never travelled either.

Yes, but there were lots of people on the same course as me who had never been on a plane or left their countries 🤷‍♀️

DH didn’t travel abroad until he was 37 - he seemed to manage just fine without someone writing him a list.

I have a lot of cousins. All my female cousins moved out in their early twenties. Some of my male cousins are still living at home in their 30s and 40s. Women definitely treat sons different than daughters

I would remind him of the technical stuff: passports, health insurance, ehic, power banks in hand luggage, liquids. I am sure the rest he can work out for himself.