Travel Insurance Protects

By Author: Mathew Sabri
Total Articles: 33
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For all travel warnings go to the FCO website, which provides information on where not to travel. The swine flu outbreak in Mexico is a case in point. The FCO imposed a full travel ban on the country for a short period of time because of risk of spreading the disease. Insurers, tour operators and airlines all follow this advice and so customers were entitled to have their money refunded.

Since then the ban has been lifted and those who no longer wish to travel to Mexico unfortunately won't be able to recoup the cost of their holiday through their insurer, unless of course there is another valid reason not to travel. The reverse is also true. Anyone who travels against the advice of the FCO will automatically invalidate their policy.

Frequent updates to the status of places occur, so it is important to take a look often. The FCO warnings are region-specific, so might include only part of a country. An example would be the recent bomb in Lahore, Pakistan, which put parts of the country off limits whilst other parts were open to travel to.

If it happens that the travel company is responsible for disrupting ...
... or cancels your holiday they should give you an alternative or your money back. However, they are not obliged to compensate you for any disturbance, inconvenience or disruption caused. They might if you are lucky.

If all goes well and you arrive where you should have and on time, you should also reduce the risk of becoming ill whilst abroad. Most of it is common sense. If the guidebook warns against drinking tap water, then obviously don't do it. Washing your hands is often even more important abroad, particularly in hot countries, than at home, and is the simplest way to avoid the transmission of germs and bacteria.

When dining out or cooking yourself make sure meat is properly cooked, so that any germs have been killed in the cooking process. White meats should be pale and of an even colour, with no traces of pinkish opaque flesh showing through. The juices that flow from white meat when cooked should be clear, not pink or bloody. Red meats obviously aren't necessarily well done and can be bloody.

Other annoyances occur for a vast number of reasons, such as the incident at Bangkok airport in November, when protesters held a sit-in and stopped the airport from functioning. There was no danger of violence but it did casue a lot of flights to be cancelled. Travel insurance really helps under these circumstances because it means another flight will be provided for you, so you won't end up stranded.

The bottom line is, anything can happen. So whilst you shouldn't be put off travelling overseas by the dangers or inconveniences that may occur, you should buy a decent travel insurance policy to give you peace of mind and make sure you're protected.

Make sure you are always covered in any situation, AA Travel Insurance offer comprehensive holiday travel insurance at great rates. For cheap travel insurance visit them at aatravelinsurance.com.