Airport, Baltic, Health, Tourism, Transport

Insure your trip. Travel insurance is a must have of any holiday, but especially in the case of more active or sport-filled holiday, such as ski trip. It covers not only health related risks, but also baggage and equipment theft, damages and getting lost. Whereas different insurance companies have different terms and conditions, it is reasonable to consult with the company of your choice to find the best insurance package that protects you against all possible risks. One should always make sure that insurance selected is valid the whole travel period, including the day when you start your travels from home and the day you travel back home.

Pack your equipment carefully and bear in mind the rules of the airline company. If you have decided to take your equipment along with you on the trip in order to save costs of renting on the spot, plan ahead how to pack all the necessary equipment, so that it would be in correspondence with airline rules, it would be comfortable to carry around and it would be fixed in place, so that skis or other equipment would not move around and damage or scratch each other. If possible, pack the equipment into special ski bag that keeps precious equipment from being damaged. In addition, you can use plastic wrap available at airports. It is important to add on the luggage the label with address and name – if the luggage gets lost it can easily be identified and sent back to the owner. According to Ilva Priedniece, Public Relations and Marketing Manager at SmartLynx Airlines, any sporting equipment is classified under special baggage for which airlines have different terms and conditions – this is why it is reasonable to read the conditions of the specific airline you are traveling with beforehand and if needed, inform the company in advance of bringing ski baggage along to your trip.

Fly directly to destination. If you take week-long holiday, there is not much point in spending big part of it at airport. Fly directly to destination – as close to ski resort as possible, where the transportation infrastructure between the airport and ski resort works like a well-oiled machine, so that in mere hours after landing you will be already able to enjoy the snowy slopes. You will save time and money that otherwise would have been spent on car rent and you will be able to take maximum from the holiday. From December to April SmartLynx Airlines flies to skiing destinations such as Bergamo, Geneva, Salzburg, Friedrichshafen and Turin from Riga and Tallinn.

Check-in timely. As Latvians we are used to small “home airport” where we get things done quickly with no major waiting, and usually we manage with online check-in nowadays that speeds up the process even further. According to Priedniece, this is why people often forget that in case of going to ski trip with big baggage, we need to consider extra time to be spent in airport check-in desk. “In order to avoid rushing and intense situations, we always advise to come to airport in time and to leave some spare time for check-in – especially if you travel with special baggage,” added Priedniece.

Pack only the essentials. As ski equipment and clothing already take a lot of room in your baggage and put on extra kilos, select critically what you need so that you would not have to pay for extra weight.  Packing at home one might feel like clothing for different occasions is needed, but the fact of the matter is that usually ski holiday is spent in skiing gear and clothing – often even while enjoying after ski party. However, do not forget about emergency bag that includes all the essentials for smaller injuries and sunscreen to avoid “skier’s sunburn”.