We often fly models to Shoot Producers (that is, we pay for the flights, and accommodation when a shoot is organised for a model in a city other than her home city). We have a page on the mechanics of how we pay for travel, but we know some models have not flown before or often, so we have some tips based on experiences we have had. ✈️
“She [Shoot Producer Ursula] was very professional. She has done this job for more years and says this company is paying the biggest wages in the EU for Girl-Girl shoots” (Andreea, Jul 2021).
Before you fly
Check the dates and times on your electronic boarding pass, make sure they are correct. Consider possible timezone issues.
Double-check the name is correct – airlines may not allow you to board if the name does not match the ID exactly. We’re careful when we make bookings, of course, but we’re only human!
If you’ll get in at the accommodation at the Shoot City late at night (we try not to schedule it this way, but sometimes it’s unavoidable), consider packing a meal (or of course, you can buy something at the Shoot City airport).
“I was worried about traveling to a new place alone… It is obviously a worry! But, it was all planned for me and I had a schedule to stick to. I got to the airport on time and landed okay… Everything went fine!” (Bonnie T, Mar 2022)
Your phone charger
The country you’re flying to may have different power outlets (for example, anywhere in Europe is different from Australia, Canada, the US, and the UK!).
That means your phone charger won’t plugin!
However, with a power adapter, it’ll work fine (Europe works on 230v, whereas the US is 110v, but phone chargers can deal with that, no problem).
You can get power adapters at a local department store or supermarket ($) at the airport ($$$), or in the destination city (€€€).
Consider travel visas
Visas are a whole thing, we have a separate FAQ just on Visas.
At the airport
“When I prepared I was a little bit nervous because this was my first time traveling alone. This was my first time flying and moving around a new city on my own. I was anxious and nervous! Once I was in Berlin, it was no problem and I enjoyed it so much! I don’t know! It is my personality to feel anxious. Leena [Model Liaison] and Hermann [Shoot Producer] did good work with me. My anxiety was about this being my first time. I wasn’t actually nervous. They did all they could for me 🤩🤩🤩! Nothing was really scary! It was a sensation for the first time traveling alone. I think that’s normal.” (Alessia T, Feb 2023)
We’ll provide your flight details (departure and arrival dates, times and places, booking reference number) around one week before you travel.
On all flights, you need to “check-in” – let the airline know you really do plan to travel on your booked flight. Often this can be done online, and the airline will email you about this. If you have checked baggage 🧳(that is bags that will go in the hold of the plane, not with you above your seat), you can also check-in when you drop your bags off.
Flights are booked by us with a set baggage allowance🧳🧳. Bringing more than that 🧳🧳🧳🧳will cost additional fees that need to be paid by you before you can board. The e-ticket we send you has info on this. Let us know early if there’s a problem.
It’s best to arrive early at the airport – three hours before for international travel, two hours for flights within your own country (or within the EU), at least. Checking bags can take time, as can security checks. Sometimes, planes are delayed and you have to wait more time, but sometimes planes are on-time as well, and you never know. Better not to risk it!
Most airlines can issue your boarding pass on your mobile phone (instead of a printed piece of paper). Increase your screen brightness so the scanner can read it, so it’s easy to get through security posts.
Keep your passport safe!
Keep your passport / other ID safe but accessible. Airports are usually busy and stressful, and losing your ID can totally ruin your trip (you may not be able to board the plane without ID, and you definitely will not be let into the destination country without a suitable ID (usually, a Passport), and anyway, we cannot make a shoot of you if you do not bring your ID to the shoot! 😓
Travelling onward
When you travel for work with us, we’re paying for your flights and accommodation for when you’re doing shoots with us… but you may choose to stay longer and see the sights or travel further. You’ll need to organise and pay for your own accommodation on non-shoot days, but as you’re already there, it seems a shame not to see the sights! ⛲
This is also helpful with visas – being able to say you’re there for a holiday (as opposed to work) makes travel significantly easier.
Having money on your trip
We’ll pay you for shoots you appear in, but it can take days or weeks for that money to arrive, depending on what country your bank account is in (more info on how payments work). That means you’ll need to have access to other money while you’re travelling. For example;
Jane lives in Florida, in the US. She arrives in Barcelona ready to do five shoots over seven days. She arrives with US$20 (that she changes at the airport, to €17) assuming she’ll be paid after her first shoot day so she can take some tours on her days off, and maybe eat out sometimes too.
Jane takes the rest of the first day to relax and get over jet-lag, then does her first shoot the next day.
We send payment to Jane after her first shoot (so, two days after she arrives), but it takes six days to get to her American bank account.
Jane has to live off €17 (US$20) for eight days! 😟
So, be sure to have access to money before your shoot money arrives (and, it’s always possible a shoot could be cancelled or rescheduled at the last minute – or even on the shoot day – too).
Paying for things overseas
Credit cards (Visa, Mastercard) and EFTPOS / ATM cards (eg, Maestro, Cirrus) work fine in every city we have Shoot Producers, so long as they are “unblocked” by your bank before you travel – you must ask by visiting your bank, or calling them to ask for this to be done.
Often, these cards will not work if they are not actively unblocked before departure, so beware!
Note that American Express and Diners (and other exotic credit card brands) are not accepted broadly outside of the US. We recommend against relying on such cards. Visa or Mastercard are accepted in many more places.
Managing your money from shoots
It can be tempting to spend money as soon as you get it – especially on a trip when you have many shoots booked because you know you’ll be earning more money next week. But things don’t always work out as planned. For example,
Mary was booked for five girl-girl shoots and several solo shoots over an eight-day visit. Mary chose to do the Solo shoots first.
Mary did her solos and chose to be paid for them after they were done. No problem. She went out for a night on the town, and bought a sweet new bag and cute socks with the money she earned.
When she started making the girl-girl shoots, she was having a good time, but the third, fourth and fifth shoot had to be rescheduled indefinitely, due to an unlikely string of events. One partner was ill and could not travel for the shoot. Another had tested positive for an STI, so needed to get that treated. The third changed her mind at the last minute!
This kind of stuff happens all the time (to us), but it’s rare one model is affected by so many issues in one trip… but “luck” is funny that way.
Because this all happened with little notice, we were not able to organise replacement shoot partners for Mary (we tried!), and she missed out on €2250 of shoot fees, as she had to return home for work as originally scheduled.
And, she’d already spent the money she had earned from the solo shoots!
So, we recommend to count your chickens after they have all hatched!
Using mobile data internationally
Mobile phone data when travelling overseas is a big problem – pre-paid phone plans often disallow international roaming completely (meaning, no calls, and no data overseas!), and post-paid (contract) phone plans often charge exorbitant rates for very little data or calls.
Ask your service provider for details (likely will be on their website as well). Sometimes, you can pre-pay for temporary international data allocations, or change your plan for the duration, to make it a little less costly.
It’s very likely your accommodation will have free wifi but ask to make sure.
You can buy a local pre-paid SIM card for your phone. It will cost similar to what you pay in your home country for data and local calls. That will mean most of your apps will work (eg, Twitter, Insta, Snap, Facebook, Skype, etc) but some apps will not (eg, SMS and WhatsApp are tied to your mobile phone number, which changes if you use a local SIM).
Some models have taken an old phone on their trip to put their main (home country) SIM in, and put a local data SIM in the main phone to deal with this problem.
Accommodation in Europe
Accommodation in Europe is different from that in the US, Canada, and Australia. Most accommodation in Amsterdam and Berlin do not have cooling – it rarely gets above 20°C / 68F in those cities, and certainly not for more than a few days a year.
Secondly, accommodation in old parts of cities (where we often book accommodation, as it’s conveniently close to transport hubs) may not have elevators (though, hotels and housing will seldom be more than four stories).
