Children under 12 no longer need a passport, but air travelers do need a little more money in their pockets: With the new year, some things are changing for vacationers that they should know before booking their next trip. We have briefly summarized the most important changes in the 2024 travel year for you.
Until now, children under 12 have been able to enjoy a small advantage over adults when traveling internationally: the child’s passport was sufficient to enter the country. However, this will no longer be issued from 2024. This means that families have to think about an alternative for their youngest children. There are two of these to choose from: the ID card or a passport with a chip. Both are significantly more expensive than the children’s pass – and take longer to create. If you’re going to be traveling with children soon, you should take care of this early on. If you already have a children’s passport, you can still use it until its expiry date. However, more and more countries do not accept this because of the missing chip, for example the USA or South Africa.
Mallorca, Venice, Barcelona, Crete – the list of European destinations that have once again felt the effects of mass tourism this year is long. There is currently no blanket solution to overcrowded streets, dirt and noise pollution, but in many places people are resorting to price increases out of necessity. In Greece, for example, tourism taxes are rising significantly, in some cases by more than 50 percent. Venice is planning an entry fee for day tourists, while hoteliers in Mallorca want to increase the cost of overnight stays. In many places it will be significantly more expensive.
Let’s stay with finances: Flight prices are also expected to rise significantly again in 2024. On the one hand, this is due to the high demand, which is met by a still scarce flight supply when compared to the time before the coronavirus pandemic. Another reason is the increased use of environmentally friendly fuels, which are more expensive to produce, and the planned tax increase by the federal government, which will probably also be reflected in the price of flights. Flying is becoming more expensive overall, although many low-cost airlines have recently even reduced their prices. It is therefore more worthwhile than ever to compare prices intensively before booking. By the way: The cheapest way to fly is to book as early as possible.
Faster, better and more comfort: Deutsche Bahn’s timetable for 2024, which is already active, promises improvements in many areas. The group wants to get out of the misery between unreliability and dissatisfaction with more trains, an expanded range of night trains and additional seats on long-distance trains. Ultimately, however, the promised punctuality targets remained castles in the air. And the coming year is expected to start with a new rail strike lasting several days. In any case, the GDL union has warned of a new strike in January. Once the tariff dispute is resolved, perhaps Deutsche Bahn can really devote itself to its punctuality goals. It remains to be seen whether this will happen next year.
Sources: Deutsche Bahn, Federal Ministry of the Interior
