Trip Countdown Timer
A live countdown to wheels-up, with the deadlines that have to happen before it counted down beside it — and the ones you have already missed flagged in red.
Nothing you type here is uploaded, stored or sent anywhere. It all runs in your browser.
The deadlines that actually catch people out
- The passport six-month rule. Most countries will refuse entry — or an airline will refuse boarding, which happens first — if your passport expires within six months of your arrival date. That is not six months from today, and it catches people whose passport is technically still valid. Check it the day you book, because a renewal is measured in weeks and the queue is seasonal.
- The appointment, not the visa. When a visa takes six weeks, five of those are usually waiting for a consulate slot. The lead time you need is the lead time on the appointment, and you cannot find that out after you have booked flights.
- Vaccines that need two doses. Several courses need a second dose weeks after the first, and some need a further two weeks to be effective. Six weeks is the default here because it covers most of them; a travel clinic will tell you if yours needs longer.
- Insurance bought after the thing went wrong. Cancellation cover only covers events after the policy starts. Buying it the week before you fly protects the trip but not the booking, which is the more expensive half.
- Check-in opening at 3am. On airlines that charge for seat selection, check-in opening is when the free seats go. If the flight matters and you are two people who want to sit together, this is a 24-hour deadline, not a 24-hour window.
Why the time zone field is there
A flight at 06:00 from Tbilisi is not the same instant as 06:00 where you are reading this. If you are counting down to a trip that starts somewhere else — a connection, a cruise, a friend's wedding — the countdown has to be anchored to the departure airport's clock or it will be hours out. The field defaults to your own zone, which is right most of the time and wrong in exactly the cases that matter.
Where this is stored
In your browser, in local storage, and nowhere else. There is no account and no backend. That means it survives a reload and a reboot, and does not survive clearing your browser data, using a private window, or opening the page on your phone. If a trip matters, the deadlines belong in your calendar as well — this page is a view of them, not a system of record.
The timer also stops when you switch tabs. A one-second interval running in a background tab for three weeks is a real amount of battery for no benefit, so it is cleared on hide and restarted on show.
Questions people ask
Will my trip still be here tomorrow?
Yes, on this browser and this device. It is saved in local storage, which survives reloads and restarts. It does not sync anywhere, so it will not appear on your phone, and it disappears if you clear site data or use a private window.
Where do the default lead times come from?
They are conservative working figures, not rules: 120 days for the passport check, 60 for a visa, 42 for vaccinations, 30 for insurance and 2 for check-in. Real requirements vary by nationality, destination and airline. Change them to what your trip actually needs — the numbers are inputs for exactly that reason.
Does it check whether I need a visa?
No, and be suspicious of anything that says it does. Visa requirements depend on your nationality, your destination, your purpose, your route and sometimes your last few stamps, and they change with a fortnight’s notice. This page counts down to the deadline you set; the requirement itself is a question for the destination’s own consulate.
Why does the countdown pause when I switch tabs?
Deliberately. The interval is cleared when the page is hidden and restarted when it is visible again, so it is not ticking in a background tab for weeks. The numbers are recomputed from the clock when you come back, so nothing drifts.
Can I add deadlines that are not on the list?
Yes — name it, give it a number of days before departure, and it joins the list with its own countdown. Parking booked, dog sitter confirmed, currency ordered, the prescription that needs a repeat. They are saved with everything else.
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