English Travel Vocabulary: Planning a Trip

Are you going to travel? Make sure you’re prepared with the vocabulary you will need for your business trip or vacation. In this lesson, I’ll teach you the English vocabulary you must know for travel -- from preparing your travel itinerary and making reservations, to getting your visas and boarding your flight. It is essential that you know this basic English travel vocabulary, because English is an international language. ESL students who are studying abroad will find these words very helpful. Even if you are not travelling to an English-speaking country, as a tourist, you will need to communicate with people at the airport, and at tourist attractions. Watch this lesson, take the quiz, and have a safe trip! TRANSCRIPT Hi. Welcome again to . My name is Adam. Today, I’m talking about a very interesting topic because, for example, in Toronto right now, it’s very, very cold. I’m thinking about travelling; I would love to go somewhere hot to get away from this winter. So, when I travel, I have, of course, to make travel arrangements. So here, we have a list of words, a list of things that you must think about before you go on a trip to a different country. We’re going to go over each of these. We’re going to start with “booking“ and “reservation“. Now, many people think that this is more or less the same, which it is. To book something or to reserve something means to keep a place, to keep your place. You book a flight, you book a hotel room. Generally speaking, you make a reservation at a restaurant; you make a booking with a travel agency or with a hotel, with accommodations, any type of accommodation. Speaking of, accommodations are hotel, motel, hostel, B&B, bed and breakfast; all kinds of accommodations. Make sure you have a booking before you go, so your place is safe, it’s kept for you. When you arrive, it’s all good. Next, when you’re at your destination, the place you’re going to, you might want to “rent“ a car. Okay? Sorry, this is accommodation. One thing I wanted to also make sure - “accommodations“, without the “s“, “accommodation“ means something different. Okay? “Accommodations“ is where you’re going to sleep. And you might want to “rent“ a car. You can also “hire“ a car. Means the same thing. British people generally use “hire“ more, North Americans use “rent“ more often. Next, you have to think about your “baggage“. Suitcase, luggage, bags, anything you’re carrying with you. You might have “check-in baggage“. Sorry, I don’t know if you can see this guy. “Check-in baggage“ and “carry-on baggage“. “Check-in baggage“ means you give it to the airline, they put it under the plane, you pick it up at your destination. “Carry-on“ means you carry on, so you carry it on your shoulder on to the plane. Okay? In your carry-on, you have to be careful, it has to be small. You can’t have liquids because of security and all that stuff. So things that you can’t put in your carry-on, you must put in your check-in baggage and give to the airline. Next, when you get to the airport, assuming you’re flying, you will have to do a few things that concern the word “boarding“. Before you board your plane, get on your plane - you will get a boarding pass that lets you pass through security and into the airport. On the boarding pass, you will see your “boarding time“, this is when you get on the plane and your “boarding gate“, the place in the airport where you’re going to get on your plane before takeoff. Okay? We can also use this for a train. You board a train, you get a boarding pass with a boarding time, and generally a boarding platform. Okay? So “boarding“, getting on your vehicle, whatever vehicle that might be. You will also generally need to get a “visa“ to many countries. Now, a “visa“ is something that you use to get into a country, it gives you permission to stay in that country. But be aware: many places, if you’re going through another country... So, for example: I’m going to country “C“ via country “B“. “Via“ means by way of or through. So I might need a “transit visa“, means I can go there, switch planes and keep going on my journey. But I’m still in another country, I need a transit visa. Excuse me. Also, make sure you’re prepared to spend money as soon as you get to your destination. If you’re going to a different country, that country will but using a different “currency“, type of money. In Canada, we have Canadian dollar. America has American dollar. Okay? For things like that. In Europe, you need the euro. So make sure you have some of the currency before you go, or purchase it at the airport or at the destination you’re going to.