Planning a trip involves more than picking a resort. This page rounds up the official resources, tools and references that come up most often when planning a vacation — government travel information, health and safety resources, and practical tools for currency, weather and documents.
For our own planning advice on timing, insurance, flights and packing, see our Travel Deals & Planning guide.
Government Travel & Safety Information
U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories
Country-by-country travel advisories and safety information for U.S. citizens traveling abroad.
CDC Travelers’ Health
Destination-specific vaccination recommendations and health notices for international travel.
STEP — Smart Traveler Enrollment Program
A free service that lets U.S. citizens traveling abroad register their trip with the nearest embassy or consulate, useful in case of an emergency.
Passports & Entry Requirements
U.S. Passport Services
Official information on applying for or renewing a U.S. passport, including processing times and requirements.
Entry, Exit & Visa Requirements
Country-specific entry requirements, including visa rules and passport validity windows, listed within each country’s State Department page.
Currency & Money
XE Currency Converter
A widely used tool for checking live exchange rates before and during your trip.
Weather
AccuWeather
Extended forecasts for your destination, useful for packing decisions and monitoring hurricane season in the Caribbean and Mexico.
National Hurricane Center
Official tracking and forecasts for Atlantic and Caribbean tropical storms during hurricane season (June–November).
Flights & Airports
TSA Security Screening
Current rules on carry-on liquids, prohibited items and what to expect at security.
FlightAware
Real-time flight tracking, useful for monitoring delays or picking someone up at the airport.
Need Help Planning?
These resources cover the practical side of travel, but if you’d like help narrowing down a destination or resort, tell us your dates, who’s traveling and approximate budget, and we’ll help you put together a plan.
How to Use These Travel Resources
These travel resources are worth checking well before you book, not just right before you leave. Passport processing times, visa requirements and health advisories can all affect whether a trip is even feasible on your timeline, so it pays to check the relevant travel resources early rather than after paying for flights or a resort.
Government travel resources tend to be updated more frequently than most travel blogs or guides, since they reflect real-time policy changes, so treat the official sources linked above as the final word if anything on this page seems out of date.
Bookmark this travel resources page if you plan to travel more than once this year, since it saves you from re-searching for the same official sites every time you plan a new trip.
If you are traveling internationally for the first time, start with the passport and entry-requirement travel resources above before anything else, since those are the items most likely to derail a trip if they are not in order well ahead of your departure date.
Weather and hurricane-tracking travel resources are especially worth checking in the days leading up to departure for a Caribbean, Gulf Coast or Florida trip during hurricane season, since conditions can change quickly enough to affect flights and resort operations.
Currency conversion travel resources are useful for budgeting before a trip, but keep in mind that the rate you see online rarely matches exactly what a resort, restaurant or currency exchange counter will actually offer, so treat it as a helpful estimate rather than a guarantee.
Flight-tracking travel resources are most useful on the actual day of travel, whether you are checking your own flight status or timing when to leave for the airport to pick someone up, since real-time gate and delay information changes faster than an airline’s own app sometimes reflects.