The short answer: pack an international business trip by working backwards from what stops the work, not from a list of objects. Three things changed between 2025 and 2026 that a generic packing list will not tell you: cabin power banks are now capped at two per passenger on Japanese carriers from 24 April 2026, Europe's border checks have gone biometric and are slower than they were, and the company laptop you carry can raise an export-control question. Sort the connectivity out before you fly with an eSIM and you remove one object and one airport queue at the same time.

Eleven things that actually belong on a business trip packing list

Packing lists get long because "useful" and "the trip fails without it" sit in the same column. Split them by two questions instead: can I buy it there, and does the work stop without it? What survives is short.

  1. Passport with enough remaining validity, plus a digital copy stored somewhere other than the passport itself.
  2. Travel authorisation reference numbers for destinations that now require them. More on this below.
  3. Company laptop and its charger. The charger is the classic single point of failure: model-specific, and rarely bought at a destination in an hour.
  4. Phone with an eSIM already installed before departure.
  5. Power banks, two at most, with legible capacity markings.
  6. A travel adapter and a multi-port USB charger. Meeting rooms and hotel desks have fewer sockets than you expect; turning one socket into four solves more problems than a bigger battery does.
  7. Business cards, more than you think, with your title in English.
  8. Two payment cards on different networks, so a fraud block on one does not end the trip.
  9. Medication, with documentation for anything prescribed. Some countries require paperwork for specific compounds.
  10. Clothing counted by laundry access, not by number of nights.
  11. A receipt envelope or scanning app. Expense filing is a thing you pack for your future self.

Items two through five are the ones whose rules changed recently. That is almost always where an old packing list fails, not in the socks.

From 24 April 2026, cabin power banks are limited to two

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced new rules for carrying power banks in the cabin, applied from 24 April 2026. The core of it: no more than two power banks in the cabin, each rated 160 Wh or less. The ministry's notice also states that charging a power bank in the cabin, and charging other devices from a power bank, are prohibited.

The airlines published matching notices. Japan Airlines allows up to two units of 160 Wh or less per passenger from 24 April 2026, prohibits charging a power bank from the aircraft's power supply, and asks passengers to refrain from charging devices from a power bank. ANA announced the same change from that boarding date, citing a change to the international standard set by ICAO alongside the ministry's revised guidance, and asks passengers to insulate the terminals with tape or a plastic bag to prevent short circuits.

An earlier step took effect on 8 July 2025: power banks may not be stowed in the overhead bin, and any charging must be done where the device stays visible. Putting a battery in the overhead locker and going to sleep stopped being an option at that point.

What this means when you pack

  • Check that the capacity marking is readable. If neither the Wh nor the mAh rating can be read on the label, nobody can assess it at the gate. Replace worn units before the trip.
  • Anything above 100 Wh needs a check with your airline. The 160 Wh ceiling is separate from the long-standing practice of requiring airline approval above 100 Wh.
  • Power banks still cannot go in checked baggage. Give them a fixed home in your cabin bag so they never get swept into the suitcase at the last minute.
  • Rules vary by carrier and country. The Japanese rules above apply to flights operated by Japanese carriers; on other airlines, follow that airline's published policy.

The practical consequence is a design change rather than a packing change. If you need power in the air, run the device from the seat outlet directly. Trade one large battery for a better multi-port charger and cables, and you come out ahead under the 2026 rules.

The company laptop is not just an item, it can be an export

This never appears on a tourist packing list, and it should appear on yours. Under Japan's Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act, carrying equipment out of the country can count as an export. There is a carve-out for travellers: as JETRO's trade Q&A explains, a PC carried by a person leaving Japan temporarily for their own use, including one with built-in encryption, and brought back, does not require an export licence.

The risk sits in the contents. The same guidance notes that carrying controlled technical data out of the country on storage media can require a service transaction licence under Article 25(3) of the Act. A trip where you take design data abroad to show a partner is exactly the scenario that provision is about.

In practice, work through it in this order.

  1. Find out whether your company has an export-control or trade-compliance contact. If it does, tell them the destination and what data is travelling, and let them decide.
  2. If there is no such function, separate publicly available information from confidential technical material. Keep the second category in the cloud and off the device.
  3. Drop physical USB drives from the packing list. They carry both a loss risk and a compliance risk, and they solve a problem that a working connection already solves.

This is one of the rare cases where packing less also reduces legal exposure — provided you can reach what you need once you land.

Border formalities are now part of the packing list

Europe: the Entry/Exit System

According to the Embassy of Japan in Belgium, the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) began phased operation on 12 October 2025. It applies to travellers from non-EU countries entering the 29 European countries in the Schengen area for short stays such as tourism or business. At border checkpoints, passport data, biometric data (facial image and fingerprints) and entry and exit records are registered electronically.

For a business traveller the cost is time. First registration involves capturing a facial image and fingerprints, which takes longer per passenger than a stamp did. Until the phased rollout settles at every crossing, avoid scheduling a meeting for your arrival day, and allow more connecting time than your instincts suggest.

Europe: ETIAS

ETIAS is a separate scheme that will require visa-exempt travellers to obtain a travel authorisation before departure. As of August 2026 the EU's official site states plainly that ETIAS is not in operation and that no applications are being collected, and that the specific start date will be announced several months before launch. The published design is a EUR 20 application fee and stays of up to 90 days.

So no ETIAS is needed for a European trip today. Search results are full of unofficial "ETIAS application" services; there is no reason to pay a fee for a scheme that has not started. Check the EU's own site for the launch date.

The United Kingdom: ETA

The UK already requires an Electronic Travel Authorisation from most visa-exempt visitors. GOV.UK states that an ETA allows travel to the UK, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man for up to six months, costs GBP 20, and is needed by every person travelling, including babies and children. It also states that an ETA does not guarantee entry.

The two cases business travellers miss are transiting through a UK airport and travelling with family. Both need checking on GOV.UK once the itinerary is fixed rather than assumed from a previous trip.

An eSIM is the one item that removes items

Connectivity is unusual on a packing list: with an eSIM, capability goes up while the number of physical objects goes down. Nothing to collect, nothing to return, and the whole purchase happens before you leave.

  • It works on arrival. Having a ride-hailing app and a messenger alive before you clear immigration matters more when you are travelling alone, and you skip the airport SIM counter entirely.
  • You keep your home number. A dual-SIM setup lets calls and SMS codes reach your work number while data runs on the local plan.
  • There is nothing to hand back. Rental device pickup and return are the steps that fail on delayed or early-morning flights.
  • You are not dependent on public Wi-Fi. When you are handling company material, simply not putting it on an unknown free network is itself the security control.

If you work from a laptop, confirm tethering works before you leave; plans and OS settings can block it, and that is a bad discovery to make abroad. See using an eSIM for tethering and setting up dual SIM for travel. If you are still weighing the options, eSIM versus pocket Wi-Fi compares them, and plans for your destination are on the Coral eSIM plan page.

Fix the packing list at three deadlines, not all at once

72 hours before departure

  • Check passport validity against the destination's requirement
  • Apply for any travel authorisation, such as the UK ETA, allowing time for processing
  • Ask your export-control contact about the laptop and the data on it
  • Buy the eSIM and install the profile on the phone; activation is normally done on arrival

The day before

  • Cut the power banks down to two, confirm the markings are legible, and put them in the cabin bag
  • Collect chargers, cables and the adapter in one pouch
  • Gather booking confirmations, invitation letters and business cards
  • Review roaming settings so nothing connects unintentionally

After landing

  • Turn on data roaming for the eSIM line and confirm you have service; skipping this one step is the most common reason people conclude an eSIM "does not work"
  • Check that meeting notifications appear at the correct local time
  • Decide where receipts will live for the rest of the trip

For device-side settings see phone settings to change abroad, and if you have no choice but to use a public network, read how safe free Wi-Fi really is.

FAQ

How many power banks can I take on a business trip?

On flights operated by Japanese carriers, from 24 April 2026 you may carry up to two power banks in the cabin, each rated 160 Wh or less. Japan's transport ministry announced the rule and Japan Airlines and ANA published matching notices for that boarding date. Power banks still cannot go in checked baggage. If a unit is rated above 100 Wh, check with the airline in advance, and on non-Japanese carriers follow that airline's own policy.

Can I charge my phone from a power bank during the flight?

From 24 April 2026 this is restricted. The ministry's notice states that charging a power bank in the cabin and charging other devices from a power bank are both prohibited. Separately, since 8 July 2025, power banks may not be stowed in the overhead bin and any charging must happen where the unit remains visible. If you need power in the air, use the seat outlet directly.

Is an eSIM or a local SIM better for business travel?

For short trips an eSIM is easier to manage. The purchase is finished before you fly, service works on arrival, and there is no counter queue and no device to return. Keeping your home number active for calls and SMS codes while data runs locally matters when colleagues reach you on a company number. A local carrier contract is worth considering only if a local phone number is genuinely required for the work.

Do I need ETIAS for a trip to Europe right now?

No. As of August 2026 the EU's official ETIAS site states that the system is not in operation and that no applications are being collected, and that the start date will be announced several months in advance. What is already running is EES, in phased operation since 12 October 2025, which registers your facial image and fingerprints at the border. Plan for slower immigration queues rather than for an ETIAS application.

Do I need permission to take my work laptop abroad?

A laptop carried for your own use and brought back does not require an export licence under the Japanese carve-out, even with built-in encryption. The issue is what is stored on it: taking controlled technical data abroad on storage media can require a service transaction licence under Article 25(3) of the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. Ask your company's export-control contact, and if there is none, keep confidential data off the device and reach it from the cloud instead.

Packing lists go stale in their rules, not in their objects

What derails a business trip is rarely a forgotten adapter. It is the battery you packed the way you packed it last year, the travel authorisation that did not exist last year, and the question about your data that nobody asked last year. The objects have barely changed in five years; the rules attached to them are rewritten annually.

So a packing list should carry a date next to every item that depends on a regulation. This one is written from primary sources as of August 2026. Before you fly, open your airline's notice and your destination's official site yourself. Then settle the connectivity before you leave, because the problems you cannot solve after landing are the only ones that really cost you.

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