Before You Go

Happy holidays start with an up-to-date passport, it is your responsibility to ensure that yours is valid and accepted in the country of travel as well as having the correct visas or other documentation necessary.

It is vitally important that you check all the requirements for your destination before you finalise your travel plans. This page should help you do that, with advice on all our top destinations that require more than your UK passport.

If you are travelling to the USA on or after 12th January 2009, we have very important information from US passport control regarding new entry requirements that you MUST read.

See our Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) web page for more details.

What we wear on holiday is so important - but how do you strike the balance between what you want and what you'll actually wear. How to get there without spending your first day ironing and avoiding those "If only I'd brought..." moments? These tips should help without making you feel like you're planning a military operation!

A convenient way to get travel money is to pre-order your foreign currency and travellers cheques online to be picked up in-store, at Manchester Airport or at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport. For larger amounts of money, the Thomas Cook Cash Passport offers total convenience and flexibility with 24-hour access to cash. With the Thomas Cook credit card you benefit from commission-free holiday money with no cash handling fee at Thomas Cook and 0% foreign exchange fee on all your purchases abroad.

Travel insurance is essential - you should buy this as soon as you have booked your holiday. Good travel insurance will cover you if for some reason you need to cancel as well as cover you for any sporting activities you want to take part in. Make sure you check the small print for exclusions and be scrupulous about declaring any pre-existing medical conditions. If you're planning to take a number of trips, annual travel insurance is better value than one-off cover.

Pre book your airport parking with thomascook.com and you could save time and up to 40% off the cost.

Spread the cost of your holiday and avoid the queues at many of the world's best attractions by booking your attraction tickets and tours in advance.

Also available are travel vouchers and travel insurance.

Health facilities, hygiene and disease risks vary worldwide. You should take health advice about your specific needs as early as possible. This advice features general information, so more specific enquiries should be accessed via The Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice Unit for the most up-to-date information.

You will need your tickets at the airport (or station if travelling by Eurostar), so make sure that you have them available in your hand luggage. If you have an e-ticket remember to take a print-out with you - you may be refused travel without it. For any questions about this take a look at our essential information about tickets and holiday documentation.

After you have booked a holiday there may be reasons why you need to amend the number of people going, transfer arrangements, board basis etc, so we have some essential information here about how to amend your Thomas Cook holiday.

We hope that once your holiday is booked there will be no need for you to cancel, but if you do change your mind or if unexpected circumstances arise, you still have the option to cancel your booking. To find out more about cancellations go to our essential information about cancelling your Thomas Cook holiday (including applicable charges).

If you will be flying with Thomas Cook Airlines and require special assistance due to reduced mobility (including a disability or a medical condition), please contact us to find out about the assistance we can provide you with. If you are flying on another airline, you will need to request this directly with them.