NEW Rules of Travel You NEED to Know for 2025!

Passports, visas, baggage rules, and airport security are all seeing some significant changes in 2025 and some of them will have a huge impact on your travel plans. Today I'm going over some of the most important travel changes and how you can be prepared for your 2025 vacations. Let's go! First, let's talk IDs. Finally, almost 20 years after the REAL ID Act was enacted, the U.S. will finally be enforcing the use of REAL IDs. Well, maybe. Right now the deadline to have a REAL ID for air travel is May 7th of 2025, but it looks like only about 70 percent of the states are going to be compliant in issuing those IDs by then. The TSA has proposed a rule that would hold off the full enforcement of REAL IDs until May 5th, 2027. That rule hasn't been approved yet, but if it is accepted, it means if you show up at the airport after May 7th, 2025 without a REAL ID or one of the other forms of compliant IDs, you'll be given a warning instead of being turned completely away at the airport. If you don't have a REAL ID yet or you're having issues getting one by May, you can always use your passport, your global entry card, or a veteran help ID card. And talking about passports, the U.S. State Department has finally rolled out an online renewal process. Yay! So you can avoid having to go through the postal service and mailing everything in. However, there are many limitations to using this online process. To begin with, if you need your passport to travel within less than eight weeks, this service is not for you. And the other requirements you have to meet are, one, you must be over 25 years old. Two, you must have a regular 10-year passport. Three, your passport was issued over nine years ago, but less than 15 years ago. And number four, you have to be applying for a regular tourist passport, not a diplomatic or official passport. Five, you are currently living in the United States, not abroad. Six, you have your current passport with you and it is not damaged, stolen, or lost. If you meet all six of those requirements, then you can set up an online account and start the process. You will need a new passport photo and no, it can't be a selfie. You'll still need to follow certain parameters for the photo, which they do outline for you when you are going through that process. And the last big thing you need to be aware of to use the system is that once you submit your application, your current passport, the one you will still have in your hand, immediately becomes invalid and you cannot use it. So you definitely want to make sure you have plenty of time before your next vacation, before you start the online process, and really any passport renewal process, you need to give yourself plenty of time because you never know when there might be a backlog. The third big change that is going to be implemented in 2025 is the ETIAS, the Electronic Travel Authorization System for visitors from countries that are not currently part of the EU. And yes, that means the U.S. This is another system that has been in the works for many years and has been pushed back several times. The system was supposed to open for applications this month, but a few countries still do not have their systems up and working yet. So you're going to want to keep an eye out for when you can start applying for this visa waiver, as it's actually called. As of right now, they are still expecting the system to be in place and authorizations required by the second quarter of 2025. I've looked and researched and I can't find a more specific date than that. And if this is the first time you are hearing about the ETIAS and you don't live in an EU country, the main things you need to know are that you will have to apply and pay for the authorization online before you arrive in the EU, no matter your age. The cost is going to be 7 euros, which is currently about $7.50 U.S. dollars. But if you're under 18 or over 70, you won't have to pay that fee. Once you've completed the application process and paid that fee, you should have your approval within minutes. You will need the ETIAS to board the airplane or even your cruise ship or tour bus if you're going from a non-EU country to an EU country. It's an important one to keep up to date on and I will be sure to let you know when I hear of any changes. So you're going to want to make sure that you're subscribed. And while we are talking about the EU, another important travel change is actually we're taking a step backwards and it pertains to liquids rules. Over the past year or so, new x-ray technology scanners have been replacing the older scanners and theoretically these new scanners were supposed to allow us to be able to bring larger volumes of liquids to go through security in our carry-on luggage and allow the laptops to stay in the bags, much like you get to do in TSA PreCheck. Rome, Amsterdam, and a few airports in the UK had totally eliminated the liquids limits rules. Unfortunately, it appears there are some quote temporary technical issues with some of the equipment. So for now, both the EU countries and the UK are reverting back to requiring all liquids in your carry-on baggage to be 100 milliliters or less. Another frustrating problem the EU is working on is a rule for regulating standard baggage sizes for all European airlines. There were people reporting earlier this fall that this was something that was going into effect right now. However, that is not true at all. As much as it would benefit all of us traveling to have one one set standard maximum sizes for carry-on luggage and personal item bags, that is not going to happen anytime in the near future. The EU did have a workshop to discuss the matter in July and they were set to have another workshop this month. If there are any new developments that come out of this new workshop, I will definitely let you know. In the meantime, to limit any issues with your luggage size when traveling to and from or even about Europe or really anywhere, always always check your specific airline or airlines that you are traveling on to make sure you know exactly what the sizes of your bag need to be. Now for some good news, there is a brand new travel tool that is going to allow you to not only get amazing flight deals, but if you are a miles and points user or like me you want to become a miles and points user, you will be able to search using filters for miles and points across all different travel points plans. DailyDrop Pro is a total game changer in becoming a savvy traveler. Not only are you going to be able to search by miles, but once you choose that trip that you want to book with your miles and points, it will take you step by step through the miles and points booking system, which I've always found to be very very challenging. In addition, when you add your credit cards and other various points cards to your wallet in the system, it's going to keep track of each of your card's benefits that I know I forget what those benefits are and or sometimes don't even know what benefits that we have. I do want to point out that this is not a sponsored video, but I am an affiliate, so I do get a little bit of permission if you sign up using my link in the description below. But even if I wasn't an affiliate, I would absolutely be sharing this with you because I think it is such an amazing travel tool. Not only will it save you money by getting great deals on airfare and hotels, whether you're paying cash or using your points, but it will help keep your travel spending organized for both past trips and future trips. Given that this system was created by the expert travelers that we all know and love, Kara and Nate, I am not surprised that they have thought of all the ways to make this a super easy user-friendly system. DailyDrop Pro is just launching now and they are offering some incredible deals to the first people who sign up. So go check it out. It might just be how you find your next bucket list trip for a bargain. And you know you want to get those bucket list trips in for 2025, right? Continuing on with the good news, the U.S. Department of Transportation passed several new rules for airlines to improve the, quote, passenger experience. Most of the rules have gone into effect or will be in effect by the end of this month. There are a few that might be a little bit later. The three most impactful ones are, one, the airlines are now required to give you a no-hassle refund or a voucher that is good for five years if your flight is cancelled or significantly delayed. Two, if your checked luggage does not arrive within 12 hours domestically or 15 to 30 hours internationally, kind of depending on the length of your flight, the airlines must refund you those checked bag fees immediately. And number three, airlines must guarantee free family seating for families traveling with children who are 13 or younger. There are quite a few other consumer protection rules that are being put into place. So if you want to read more about those, I will have a link below that goes into all of the new regulations that the Department of Transportation put into place. You can also look forward to more positive changes with airport security, including a self-service option. I know it feels so Jetson. These self-service pods have been in the testing phase over the past year and the plan is to begin using the first one in January of 2025 for pre-check passengers at the Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. So if any of you guys go through Las Vegas in January and you get to use one of these, I want to know. Please let us know in the comments below because I will be curious how this thing works. As this technology gets approved, it will most likely only be used in the pre-check lanes and it will probably take a number of years, like with anything, to get them installed at multiple airports throughout the United States. In the meantime, you'll see an increased use of the kind of newish CT scanners for examining your baggage. This technology allows officers to view the bags in 3D for a more detailed inspection, which means you don't have to remove your liquids or laptops. Many of the TSA pre-check lines are already using the machines. I know the places I go through, I know they've been using them. And for international travelers, the TSA is working on a one-stop security program that would allow passengers arriving from certain international airports to completely bypass additional screening when connecting to domestic flights in the U.S. Which you know, you know, it's a pain in the ass. But they're only going to do this if the security standards are aligned between the two countries, the U.S. and whatever the other country is that you're traveling from. I believe this is the system that is already set up when you return to the U.S. from the Dublin-Ireland airport because we did passport control in Dublin and when we arrived in Atlanta, it was like we were arriving on a domestic flight, which was fantastic. No having to go stand in line and get your luggage and go through TSA security again. It was lovely. Finally, if seeing people on an airplane exposing their bare feet gives you the total ick, then you are in luck. When you purchase an airplane ticket, you are agreeing to a contract of carriage and within that contract is an actual mandate that passengers dress appropriately, including the specific words that, quote, bare feet or offensive clothing aren't allowed. Many U.S. airlines have the right to boot you from the plane if you are barefoot and over the age of three or five, depending on the airline. Although this has been a rule for quite a while, it's only recently that some of the airlines are really starting to crack down on people who choose to expose their tootsies. Honestly, it's pretty gross to walk around a plane barefoot and really pretty rude to expose your seatmate, especially if you don't know them, to your bare feet too. But now exposing your feet could get you kicked off the plane. It's best to at least keep your socks on and make sure those are some compression socks that you are wearing, especially for those long flights. And if you need help finding a great pair of shoes to wear on your travel days, just check out this video over here. Thank you so much for watching and I hope you have safe and wonderful travels.