[7] Blurt writer Tim Hinely gave note of the album being a culmination of their overall sound from their first two records, calling it "just as whimsical and good-timey" as both of them.

Club's Noel Murray wrote, "While Safe Travels still gets overly busy and bombastic at times, and while Thornewill's and Siegel's songwriting can still come across as overbearing, the potential is always there: Not just for another unbeatable winner like "Somebody," but for little beams of light to come breaking through the clouds, illuminating the clutter.

"[9] Billy Hepfinger of PopMatters felt the record had a more "pristine and lush" production and more sophisticated "melodies and song structures" throughout the track listing, but was filtered through a "soggy early '00s indie sound" that comes across "a little too generic, or a little too uninspired", concluding that "Safe Travels is the sound of Jukebox the Ghost gearing up for the next phase of their career, the one where they swing for the fences.

praised the album for its Ben Folds-inspired tracks ("At Last", "Don't Let Me Fall Behind"), but criticized the second half for trying to be more earnest, concluding that "Jukebox The Ghost need to focus on their strengths rather than their attempts to be taken seriously.

But if you're too much of a realist to believe in trick lighting, happy endings or choreographed emotion, Safe Travels will probably leave you wishing for riskier terrain.