Shopping

The Difference Between Travel Alerts and Travel Warnings

Should travel advisories from the U.S. State Department make you change your plans?
This image may contain Airport Human Person Terminal and Airport Terminal
Getty

These days, travel alerts and warnings seem ubiquitous—ingrained in our public consciousness via the Internet and social media, transmitted from the annals of the State Department to first class lounges and boarding areas and everywhere in between. Yesterday, the U.S. government re-upped its March 2015 warning against American citizens traveling to Iran, especially, emphatically, for travelers holding dual Iranian and American citizenship.

It was the fifth State Department warning this month alone—after Honduras, the Democratic Republic of Congo, North Korea, and Cameroon. Last month, the department issued a warning against travel to Turkey a day before the Ataturk airport bombing, which they renewed following the attempted military coup on July 15. It followed eight others in July: Mali, Iraq, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Sudan, Haiti, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon.

With everything happening in the world today, it can be hard to know what to do when confronted with new, potentially unnerving, information. But what are the actual differences between a warning and an alert—and should you cancel your trip? It depends.

What is a travel warning?

According to the State Department, a travel warning is a broad-reaching caution—for when the government wants you to "consider very carefully whether you should go to a country at all." Travel warnings may stem from unstable governance, extenuating circumstances, frequent violence and terrorist attacks, or civil war.

How long do travel warnings last?

Of the two, travel warnings tend to stay in place for much longer than travel alerts: "Travel warnings remain in place until the situation changes; some have been in effect for years." For example, the warning against travel to the Darfur, Blue Nile, and Southern Kordofan regions of the Sudan were most recently updated in January this year—from an original warning that was published in June 2015.

What is a travel alert?

Travel alerts are issued on the heels of specific, one-off events. According to the State Department, examples of reasons for issuing an alert might include an election season that could mean strikes, demonstrations, or disturbances; a health alert like an outbreak of H1N1; or evidence of an elevated risk of terrorist attacks. These travel alerts are usually assigned an expiration date weeks or months in the near future. For example, the travel alert issued for Europe in May, following attacks in France and ahead of June's UEFA European Championship soccer tournament and the Tour de France, expires at the end of this month.

Which is more serious—a travel warning or a travel alert?

The short answer? It depends. While a travel alert is issued on the heels of what intelligence and government sources consider a one-off or short-term event (for example, the anti-government protests in Ethiopia) with temporary repercussions that may appear to have more imminent danger, travel warnings are often rooted in longer-term instability endemic to a region that poses a great risk to travelers (like the conflict in Syria).

Should I cancel my trip?

Every trip is different—and it's important to consider your own, individual circumstances when deciding whether or not to call off travel plans. The most important thing to remember when an unexpected warning or alert is issued is to keep threats in perspective. "By all means, we should review the State Department’s warnings and alerts," Traveler's Ombudsman Eric Jordan wrote earlier this year. "Then, rather than avoid travel, we can take the precautions we believe are reasonable."

What about travel health warnings?

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issue their own set of travel notices separate from the State Department. In addition to providing information on communicable diseases particular to regions and countries around the world, the CDC site also features recommendations for precautions and inoculations on a country-by-country basis—including the United States.

Remember...

The State Department also maintains a Worldwide Caution page, which is continually updated with "information on the continuing threat of terrorist actions and violence against U.S. citizens and interests throughout the world." It also hosts a find-your-closest-embassy directory for consular assistance and help in case of an emergency.