A few years ago, on a humid late March afternoon in London, I learned the hard way that not all countries change their clocks to daylight saving time simultaneously. After ordering a glass of white wine in a cozy Bermondsey bar, I mindlessly scrolled through my phone while the waiters chatted about the advance of the clocks for next Sunday. I almost spit out my Chablis.
Back home in New York City, I was already an hour ahead on the second Sunday in March. While frantically searching on Google, I discovered 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 a month. When you travel, remember the following to avoid issues related to daylight saving time and other time zone errors, and if you’re in the US, don’t forget that most states are moving back one hour this Sunday, November 2.
Daylight saving time occurs on different days around the world, or does not occur at all
The UK isn’t the only country that changes its clocks on a different weekend than the US. For example, most European countries follow the same calendar as the UK, setting their clocks forward one hour on the last Sunday in March and setting them back one hour on the last Sunday in October.
Generally, when traveling in the spring and fall, it is always best to check when the country you are traveling to moves forward or backward, and also if that country observes daylight saving time. In fact, according to Pew Research Centerabout 66% of the world does not.
Although daylight saving time is commonly observed in North America and Europe, many non-European Union European countries (including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Iceland, Russia, and Turkey) maintain standard time year-round.
In 2023, Egypt became the only country in Africa to change its clocks by reintroducing daylight saving time for the first time in seven years. Now, each year, their clocks move forward one hour on the last Friday in April and back one hour on the last Thursday in October.
Not all states within the same country follow daylight saving time.
It’s also worth checking these things even if you’re traveling within the US. In 48 states, daylight saving time applies from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November. Arizona and Hawaii are the outliers that maintain standard time year-round. While it’s less of an issue on an island like Hawaii, Arizona shares enough borders with other states that do observe daylight saving time that it can be problematic.
“Always check the weather when flying back and forth and on cross-state road trips.” Becky Blainesaid TPG newsletter editor-in-chief and former Arizona resident. Otherwise, you risk missing a flight or reservation.
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For simplicity, remember that Arizona is in the Pacific time zone from mid-March to early November, and the rest of the year it is in the same time zone as other states in Mountain Standard Time.
It’s a similar situation in Canada. Canada generally follows the same daylight saving time as the United States, but most of saskatchewanhe Yukon and some parts of Quebec and British Columbia maintain standard time year-round.
In Australiadaylight saving time begins on the first Sunday in October and ends on the first Sunday in April in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria; Meanwhile, the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia do not respect it.
Private island resorts sometimes create their own time zones
Outside of daylight saving time changes, there are some general time zone issues to keep in mind when traveling.
In countries as large as the United States, Canada, and Australia, it’s easy to see why there are so many time zones. But Eric Rosen, TPG’s director of travel content, also noted that in the MaldivesThe airport is in a different time zone than some of the small island nation’s resorts.
Technically, the Maldives has only one official time zone: Maldives Time, which is five hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (often abbreviated to UTC). However, some of the archipelago’s private island resorts add an hour to Maldives time to maximize nightlight for their guests.
For example, The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort sets its clock one hour ahead of the official clock in what it calls “island time,” but also provides guests with butlers who coordinate transfers to and from the airport so no one accidentally misses a flight.
Before you go to the Maldives, be sure to check if your resort offers this as well.
Some places have half-hour time zones.
Due to its geographic 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 Ewensenior editorial director at TPG, considered this a challenge for scheduling purposes.
While traveling in Newfoundland, he received an invitation from Outlook to a dinner at 7:30 pm the following week and accepted it without thinking much about it. However, the dinner itself in the United States began at 6 p.m., a detail that was completely missed until the reminder appeared 15 minutes earlier. At that moment he realized that he would be late.
Other places within 30 minutes of UTC include India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran, and some states in Australia. Do you want to be even more confused? Nepal’s time zone is offset by 45 minutes due to its geography.
Take care of your digital calendars
Even when you’re not dealing with half-hour time zones, it can be easy to make similar mistakes when adding events to your digital calendar while traveling in a different time zone.
“Last year, I took my middle son to a birthday party. We were a few minutes late, but when we arrived, it seemed like the party was almost over.” Tarah Chieffisaid a senior TPG writer. “While the kids were eating cake, I checked my calendar twice to make sure we had arrived at the right time, and it seemed that way. But then I went to check the invitation and, in fact, we had arrived an hour late.”
Your mistake? When you entered the holiday into your calendar while traveling, your calendar app defaulted to the time zone you were in and showed you the wrong time at home.
“Now, I always change the time zone to my home time zone if I enter appointments into my calendar while I’m traveling,” he said.
Another trick?
“Outlook allows you to display up to three time zones on the calendar.” Madison Blancaflorsaid TPG’s editor-in-chief of content operations.
Go to “Settings,” then “Calendar,” then “Time Zones.” Then, check the “Show second time zone in Day and Week view” box below your default time zone. If you need a third party, you can check that box too.
Cruise ships typically sail across multiple time zones
It is also important to remember that it is possible to quickly encounter multiple time zones on cruise ships, especially on transoceanic cruises, where you will be changing time zones daily or almost daily. And if you’re on a Pacific Ocean cruise, you could lose an entire day if you cross the international date lineas Clint HendersonTPG’s chief spokesperson, when he sailed from Seward, Alaska, to Tokyo last year.
Even on shorter cruises, check to see if you’ll need to change time zones. When I was on a five-day Alaska cruise earlier this summer, I changed time zones twice as we moved in and out of Alaska Daylight Saving Time on a round trip from Vancouver (which was an hour ahead, according to Pacific Daylight Time).
Cabin stewards often leave notes on your bed upon turn-down to remind you of upcoming schedule changes. Clint said he had to turn his clocks back one to two hours each night on his cruise. But you can’t always depend on your cell phone to get the timing right when it’s in airplane mode and accessing satellite Internet. Bring an analog clock or alarm clock to ground yourself if you don’t know if your device will update successfully.
Related: Can a cruise help with jet lag? The answer may surprise you
In a nutshell
When traveling, don’t assume that every country or state follows the same DST rules and schedules as where you live, and be aware of time zone anomalies. Missing or gaining an unexpected hour can lead to loss of sleep, being late to an event, and worst of all, missing flights.
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