One humid night in late March a few years ago in London, I learned the hard way that countries don’t all change their clocks to daylight saving time at once. After ordering a glass of white wine in a pub in Bermondsey, I casually scrolled through my phone while the salesmen chatted about the clocks jumping forward that coming Sunday. I almost spit out my Chablis.
Back home in New York City, I had already skipped one hour before the second Sunday in March. As I was busy using Google, I learned that in the UK clocks go forward one hour on the last Sunday in March.
Don’t be like me and lose two hours of sleep in one month. When traveling, keep the following in mind to avoid time-saving snafus and other time zone errors.
Daylight saving time occurs on different days around the world – or not
The UK is not the only country that changes its clocks on a different weekend than we do in the US. For example, many European countries follow the same calendar as the UK, moving their clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday of March and back one hour. hour on the last Sunday of October.
In general, when traveling in the spring and fall, it’s always a good idea to check when the country you’re going to be in is moving forward or backward – and whether that country observes daylight saving time. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, about 66% of the world does not.
Although daylight saving time is commonly observed in North America and Europe, many non-EU countries in Europe remain on standard time throughout the year, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Russia and Turkey.
In 2023, Egypt became the only country in Africa to change its clocks when it reintroduced daylight saving time for the first time in seven years. Now, each year, its clocks go forward one hour on the last Friday in April and back one hour on the last Thursday in October.
Not all regions in the same country follow daylight saving time
It’s also worth double-checking these things even if you’re traveling within the United States. In 48 states, daylight savings time runs from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. Arizona and Hawaii are regular season sellers throughout the year. While not a problem on an island like Hawaii, Arizona shares enough borders with other states that observe daylight saving time that it can be a problem.
“Always double-check the time when you’re flying in/out and on a cross-country trip,” says Becky Blaine, TPG newspaper’s senior editor and Arizona resident. Otherwise, you may risk losing the flight or reservation.
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To keep it simple, remember that Arizona is in the Pacific Time Zone from mid-March to early November, and year-round it is in the same time zone as other Mountain Time Zone states.
It is the same situation in Canada. In general, Canada follows the same daylight saving time as the United States, but most of Saskatchewan, the Yukon and parts of Quebec and British Columbia stay on standard time throughout the year.
In Australia, daylight saving time starts on the first Sunday of October and ends on the first Sunday of April in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, while the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia do not observe it. .
Private island resorts sometimes create their own time zones
Aside from daylight saving time changes, there are some common time zone issues to be aware of while traveling.
In large countries like the US, Canada and Australia, it’s easy to see why there are so many time zones. But Eric Rosen, TPG’s director of tourism, also pointed out that in the Maldives, the airport is on a different time zone than some of the resorts in the small island nation.
Technically, the Maldives has only one official time zone: Maldives Time, which is five hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time, also abbreviated as UTC. However, some of the archipelago’s private island resorts add an hour to Maldives Time to maximize evening light for their guests.
For example, St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort sets its clock ahead of the official clock on what it calls “Island Time” but also provides guests with bottles that include transfers to and from the airport so no one misses a flight.
Before traveling to the Maldives, be sure to check that your resort does this as well.
Related: The surprising reason some hotels have their own time zone
Some areas have half-hour time zones
Because of its location, the Canadian island of Newfoundland is 90 minutes ahead of Eastern time instead of just 60 minutes ahead like the rest of Atlantic Canada. On a trip in July, Nick Ewen, TPG’s senior planning director, found this challenging for calendar purposes.
When he traveled to Newfoundland, he received an Outlook invitation for dinner at 7:30 in the evening the following week and accepted without thinking too much about it. However, the actual dinner at home in the US started at 6pm Eastern Time, a detail he completely missed until a reminder appeared 15 minutes earlier – at which point he realized he was going to be late.
Other places 30 minutes away from UTC include India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran and some states in Australia. Want to get even more confused? Nepal’s time zone is adjusted by 45 minutes due to its location.
Take care of your digital calendars
Even if you don’t deal with half-hour time zones, it can be easy to make the same mistakes when adding events at home to your digital calendar while traveling in a different time zone.
“Last year, I brought my middle son to a birthday party. We ran for a few minutes, but by the time we got there, it seemed like the party was over,” said Tarah Chieffi, TPG senior writer. “While the kids were eating cake, I double-checked my calendar to make sure we had the right time, and it looked like we did. But I went to check the invitation, and it was actually an hour late.”
His fault? When he entered a party on his calendar while he was away, his calendar app automatically changed to the time zone he was in and showed him the wrong time when he got home.
“Now, I always change the time zone to my home time zone when I put appointments in my calendar while I’m traveling,” he says.
Another trick?
“Outlook allows you to have up to three time slots displayed on the calendar,” said Madison Blancaflor, TPG’s managing editor of content operations.
Go to settings > calendar > time zones. Then check the “show secondary time zone in Day and Week view” box under your default time zone. Need a third? You can also tick that box.
Cruise ships often travel to destinations with frequent departures
It’s also important to remember that you’re likely to quickly encounter multiple time zones on a cruise – especially on ocean cruises, where you’ll change time zones daily or almost daily. And if you’re on a trip across the Pacific Ocean, you can lose an entire day if you cross the International Date Line, like Clint Henderson, managing editor at TPG, when he recently sailed from Seward, Alaska, to Tokyo.
Even for short trips, check if you will have to change time zones. “I was on a less than a week trip from Portugal to Spain, and we had to switch time zones back and forth within a day,” said Erica Silverstein, TPG’s managing editor for travel.
Housekeepers often leave notes on your bed during your turn to remind you of upcoming time changes. Henderson says he had to reset his watches between one and two hours each night of his trip. But Silverstein says you won’t always have to depend on your cell phone to get the right time if you’re on airplane mode and accessing satellite-based Internet. We recommend bringing an analog clock or alarm clock to back you up if you don’t know if your device will update properly.
Related: Can a cruise help with jet lag? The answer may surprise you
Bottom line
When traveling, don’t assume that all countries or states follow the same daylight saving laws and schedules as where you live and be aware of time zone confusion. Missing or finding an unexpected hour can lead to loss of sleep, late arrival at an event and, worst of all, missed flights.
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