Staying safe abroad
We thought we had made it through the dust cloud into a sunny summer. But just a month after the first bout of ash caused havoc over European airspace another cloud of ash from Iceland threatened to cause more disruption. Luckily, like many horror sequels, the second round didn’t have such as great effect. But now another dark cloud is shrouding British aviation in misery, namely strike action by BA’s cabin crew.
It’s not just weather, strikes and even clouds of ash that ruin holidays. Back in 2008 and 2009 many holiday companies, travel agents and airlines went bust including most famously XL Airways, which left thousands of customers stranded across the globe. Due to the Internet travel revolution, hundreds of travel companies have sprung up and many aren’t affiliated with ABTA and lack ATOL registration.
If you are booking a holiday this summer, make sure you cross all the ‘t’s’ and dot all the ‘i’s’. This means checking the validity of your travel company and getting comprehensive and specific holiday insurance.
Before you book do your research. Check that your travel company is ATOL licensed. ATOL protects you from losing your money or being stranded abroad if your travel company become bankrupt. It checks the tour ops and travel organisers it licenses and requires them to take part in a financial guarantee.
ABTA is the Association of British travel agents, which works as a self-governing body monitoring the standards of British travel agents. Therefore it makes sense if your chosen holiday provider is also a member of this association.
Once you have booked your holiday, get travel insurance as soon as possible. This doesn’t mean your policy will start as soon as you pay; you can start the cover from your travel date. However, in the case of the BA strike, if you have cover taken out before the action was announced you are much more likely to make a successful claim if you want to be financial reimbursed for any delays etc.
Also, thoroughly read the small print of your insurance policy to find out exactly what is and what isn’t covered. Political unrest such as that in Thailand; freak and unforeseen weather conditions, such as the ash cloud; and extensive and prolonged industrial action, are not always covered, especially by the smaller and cheaper insurance companies. Sometimes if a deal looks too good to be true, it often is.
Therefore get your holiday cover from a reliable insurer. AA Travel Insurance is a company that has a long history in insurance. AA Travel Insurance manages to offer cheap holiday insurance that is also comprehensive and reliable.
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