Planning Your Holiday ? The Essentials

By Author: Augustine Starcic
Total Articles: 10
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There''s nothing like the anticipation of going away ? researching your destination, planning flights and accommodation, buying a guidebook, all of these things add to the excitement of going on holiday. But all too often, things can go wrong ? flights delayed, luggage lost, falling ill, all of these things can threaten to jeopardise your plans. Follow these tips and hopefully you''ll minimise the chances of disaster befalling you:

Leave in plenty of time. If you''re making journeys that are a) particularly time sensitive b) expensive and c) hard to find (inexpensive) alternatives for, then make sure you allow yourself plenty of breathing room. Think of all the things that can cause delays ? bad weather, traffic jams, detours ? and do all you can to make sure that even if all three occur, you can still be punctual.

Check everything. Booking flights? Check your dates and your spelling ? administration errors can be difficult and costly to change. Double check departure times and final check-in - call the airline to make sure.

Read the small print. You see it all the time, people writing in to a newspaper ...
... consumer rights columnist, complaining of how they were short changed by a big bad corporate company. And despite the horrendous, and sometimes hilarious behaviour of some firms, much of the time, the original problem could have been prevented if the complainant had just read the small print. Yes it can be tedious. But it could also save you a lot of money.

Pay by credit card. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, your bank is equally as liable as a supplier to refund you when there has been a breach of contract i.e. the supplier has failed to provide the goods, or there has been misrepresentation of the product.

Keep in mind that this only applies for amounts between ?100 and ?30,000 and there is a caveat which bears particular relevance in the case of holidays. If the money goes to a different business from the one that provides the goods, as in the example of travel agents who don''t provide the flight but book the flights for you, the transaction might not be covered by this act. Still, if you''re spending over ?100, make sure you pay by credit card.

Buy travel insurance. Make sure the policy you have is suitable for your intended destination, dates and the sort of travelling you''ll be doing, and hopefully you won''t need to use it. Remember, it''s not only injuries your insurance should cover ? legal fees, lost luggage, and delayed flights, are just some of the things protected against.

Take care of the planning well in advance, and you''ll be free to enjoy a stress-free holiday. Augustine Starcic recommends that you always take out travel insurance.