Before You Book: What South African Travellers Should Sort Out First

Last reviewed: November 11, 2025

The exciting part of a trip is choosing where to go. The part that decides whether the trip actually happens is the admin, and it has a habit of taking longer than anyone plans for. Here is the order we suggest working through it in, well before you pay a deposit on anything.

Start with your passport, today

Take your passport out of the drawer and look at three things: the expiry date, how many completely blank pages are left in it, and whether the cover or the pages are damaged. Many destinations require your passport to stay valid for a set period beyond your travel dates, and many airlines will not board you if it does not. The exact requirement differs from country to country and it does change, so check the current rule for your destination before you book rather than assuming the passport you used last year is still fine.

Blank pages catch people out too. Some countries want more than one clean page available for stamps or a visa, and a passport that is nearly full can end a trip at the check-in counter. If yours is close to expiry or close to full, start the renewal now. Department of Home Affairs turnaround times vary, so treat the passport as the item that sets your earliest possible travel date.

Visas: check before you book, not after

Entry requirements for South African passport holders differ by destination and they are reviewed regularly. Some destinations require a visa applied for in advance, some issue permits on arrival, some require an electronic authorisation before you fly, and the rules can differ again if you are only transiting through an airport. Do not rely on what a friend did two years ago or on a forum post.

Check the current requirements with the embassy or consulate of the country you are visiting, and check the transit requirements for anywhere you change planes. Visa applications can need appointments, supporting documents, bank statements, proof of accommodation and proof of a return or onward ticket, so build real time into your plan. Tell us where you want to go early and we will structure the booking around the application, rather than leaving you with flights and no visa.

Travelling with children

South Africa has additional documentation requirements for children travelling internationally, and those requirements have been amended more than once over the years. In practice, families are commonly asked for proof of the parent-child relationship, and for consent from a parent who is not travelling. Rather than repeating a version of the rule that may already be out of date, confirm the current requirements directly with the Department of Home Affairs and with your airline before you book.

Do that early. Some of the supporting documents take weeks to obtain, and an affidavit or a certified copy is not something you can arrange on the way to the airport.

Travel insurance

Your South African medical aid may cover little or nothing once you are outside the country, and a hospital admission abroad is one of the few things that can genuinely wreck a household budget. Travel insurance is worth buying for the medical cover alone, and it usually also covers cancellation, delays and lost baggage.

Read what you are buying. Check the medical limit, whether pre-existing conditions are covered, whether the adventure activities you have planned are included, and what the excess is. Some destinations require proof of insurance as part of the entry or visa process, which is another reason to sort it before you book rather than in the last week.

Health, banking and copies

• Health requirements: some destinations ask for proof of specific vaccinations, and some recommend preventative medication. Speak to a travel clinic or your doctor well ahead of departure, because certain courses have to be started weeks before you fly.
• Your bank: tell them you are travelling, confirm your card is enabled for international use, and check the daily withdrawal limits and the fees you will pay abroad.
• Copies: keep a photograph of your passport, your visa, your insurance policy and your booking confirmations on your phone, and leave a copy with somebody at home.
• Contacts: save the number of the South African mission in your destination, your insurer’s emergency line, and your airline.

A sensible order to do it in

Passport first, because it sets your timeline. Then the entry requirements for your destination, because they may need appointments and documents. Then insurance and health. Then flights and accommodation, once you know the trip can legally happen. Booking in that order costs nothing extra and removes almost every nasty surprise.

Requirements change, so treat everything above as a checklist of what to confirm rather than a set of permanent rules. Tell us your destination and your dates and we will handle the bookings around whatever the current requirements turn out to be.