Airline passenger news and views

A lot of people are booking their summer holidays at this time of year and will be faced with decisions over travel insurance. 

On the positive side, there have never been more options and insurance has never been as cheap as it is at the moment.

On the negative side, you still get what you pay for and cheap insurance can be just another name for a complete waste of money.

People do not read the small print. Insurance companies know this and seem to actively discourage you from even attempting to do so.  As one recent letter received in this office suggested “There is no need to do anything, we will automatically take the premium by direct debit, freeing you up to enjoy yourself”.

Part of me supposes that if people are naive enough to believe that crap then they almost deserve to be cheated.  Sadly, it is not that simple. It is the elderly and the genuinely trusting that can get caught in a web of dishonesty that seems to have become part of our recent culture.

Even ignoring the cons and cheats, we still have the problem that insurance policies have failed to keep pace with changes in the way that people book their holidays. The independent traveller can now be left exposed to risks that would previously have been covered in the more traditional package holiday.

Simply put, if you book flights, accommodation, car hire etc. separately, then you are exposed to the risks of cancelation, delays and company failures. Of course insurance policies are available that provide the same levels of cover as the ABTA and Atol schemes, and these are not necessarily expensive. But, you have to decide what cover you want and you have to make the effort to understand the cover that you are buying.

Simply opting for the cheapest is unlikely to be the right choice.