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tips & tricks when booking flights

Are you about to book flights to join one of our trips?

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Many problems can arise when flying to dive destinations such as delays, lost luggage, missed connection and other problems. But the worst of all is if you miss the beginning of your trip. Read below suggestions on how to avoid the most common problems. And, please share with us your DRAFT flights so we can comment and help you book the best flights.

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BOOKING TIPS

  • Book 3-4 months before the trip which typically are the best prices with the most choice. If you have miles to use you can book earlier. Exceptions are trips around major holiday like Christmas and Easter.
  • Book only direct with airlines and not via aggregators
  • Avoid cheap carriers like AirAsia or Jetstar that have bad track records
  • Only book with the airline the flights they operate, not flights by other carriers.
  • No layovers under 3h - especially on the way to your destination. If a layover requires to change airlines (new check-in) allow 4h.
  • Arrive at destination with 24h buffer - especially for liveaboards

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Have travel insurance

  • Make sure you have travel insurance or dive insurance with a travel component. This is very important if you do miss your boat departure
  • Dive Assure is the company that we use for our dive and travel insurance. They offer a Dive&Travel insurance that covers dive accidents and travel problems outside of your home country. It is also possible to ensure individual trips, though it seems more economic choice to insure for the year. Buy Here . (Please select Simon Lorenz - Insider Divers as reference)

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packing TIPS

  • Be aware of Visas on arrival AND transit visas (United States require ESTA also for transit)
  • Passport should be at least 6 month validity from END of trip. And a page left to stamp.
  • Read our massive packing list and video and see all items you need to pack.

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Flying TIPS

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Flying contributes to climate change​

chose to offset your flights

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By Simon Lorenz

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As you are embarking on the next Insiders trip I want to touch base on the topic of our carbon footprint and what I do as regards offsetting.  This is a personal choice of course but I thought I would share some details on what I do myself as it might help those wanting to do more, but who maybe don’t know where to get started.

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In essence, I calculate the carbon footprint of my flights and buy equivalent credits directly from Gold Standard - read below.

Background: It is a sad fact that our favourite hobby comes with a price that our planet has to pay. As we take planes to get to these exotic destinations we add to the global warming problem over-proportionally.  Taking a long-haul flight generates more carbon emissions than the average person in many countries around the world will produce in a whole year (in fact flying is responsible for around 2-2.5% of worldwide carbon emissions). If you want to know how bad your footprint is try this WWF calculator (but be ready to feel bad). For example a direct flight from Hong Kong to Bali is CO2 1.2t. From London to Bali its CO2 4.2t - (a depressing fact for you: in order to stop climate change everyone should generate no more than… wait for it… 0.6 t per year!)

Of course the best way to reduce our carbon footprint would be to stop or reduce our flying. However, where that is not an option (giving up diving is not an option for me at this point!), what I can do is to look to offset my flight driven carbon emissions by donating to projects that help to reduce emissions, namely through carbon offsetting.

Some airlines offset their emissions already, but mostly you have to buy these offsets and a lot of money is no doubt lost in marketing and inefficiencies.  After some studying, I feel the best way is to pay direct to a project in an amount that relates to the emissions of my specific flight plan.

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GOLD STANDARD

Here is what I do: *Gold Standard* was initiated by WWF and other NGOs to support projects that actively reduce carbon emissions or support initiatives that stop adding to greenhouse gases. They have a series of projects with limited carbon offset prices of 10-20USD per tonne of CO2.

Step 1 - calculate my tonnage

https://co2.myclimate.org/en/flight_calculators/new (simple)

https://www.atmosfair.de/en/offset/flight (more options - also more strict)

Step 2 - buy credits for the tonnage https://www.goldstandard.org/take-action/offset-your-emissions

Gold Standard sell credits for real carbon neutral projects to offset your flights (and other emissions) that you can pay with PayPal or credit card.

Examples:

For a return trip Hong Kong to Bali you could pay 11-25 USD to fully offset your flights.

For a return trip San Francisco to Bali you might pay around 100 USD

Both are around 5% of flight costs! Of course you can just do any amount you feel comfortable with, you are still supporting good causes!

It is totally up to you what you do. Some opinion leaders argue it is the responsibility of the airlines to do all offsetting and I wish they would. But I personally feel bad about my footprint so I would like to do something to support meaningful projects.  I don’t profess to be an expert in this area so am also welcome to constructive feedback and suggestions!

As you are embarking on your next trip I want to touch on an uncomfortable topic - the carbon footprint and what I do about it myself. I buy carbon credits from a reputable provider to offset my flights.

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