Travel in Budget

Stuart S. Travel asked:


You are going traveling. You have lots of expenses to cover. You need to pay for your air fare, your accommodation, your food, your travel while away, cultural experiences and the list goes on. You want to save money so you decide not to bother with travel insurance. You are going on the trip of a lifetime so nothing will go wrong. It’s an unnecessary expense so you don’t need it. Wrong. Very wrong. Traveling with out insurance can be the biggest mistake you make when organizing your trip and a very costly one.

 

What is travel insurance? Well there are two kinds of insurance to look at when traveling.

1. Travel insurance, (sometimes called trip insurance) which covers cancellations, delays, lost baggage and emergencies.

2. Travel medical insurance protects you against any medical expense while traveling.

 

Ideally, you need a combination of the two when traveling. 

 

Imagine these scenarios:

You are in Darwin, Australia when a cyclone hits the area. The city is devastated by the cyclone and all services shut down. You have to be evacuated and sent home. Your travel insurance will cover you for this. You do have travel insurance don’t you?

 

Your luggage goes missing in India. You need to buy new clothes and fast. Can you afford it in your budget? Of course you can, you took out traveler’s insurance – didn’t you?

 

Or what if you go surfing in Hawaii and take a big wipeout? You are so severely injured you need surgery and major medical assistance, and then are airlifted home. But that’s okay – your travel medical insurance covers all that. You have got it, haven’t you?

 

Travel insurance is there to protect you in case bad things happen on your trip. It is a necessary expense. Overseas medical costs can be astronomical if you are not insured. And if you are injured in a developing country, medical attention may not be as good as at home. If you are insured you can get flown home and attended to at no cost.

 

Every year the government deals with thousands of cases of travelers being injured, falling ill or dying overseas. This is a distressing situation for all involved, but made even worse when the travelers are not insured, often leaving them with huge bills to pay. Hospitalization in other countries can cost over one thousand dollars a day. Medical evacuations can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and if you die in Europe, it can cost over ten thousand dollars to bring your body back home. If you do not have travel insurance you have to cover these costs yourself (or your family will have to find the money).

 

Travel insurance is a cost you need to budget for. If you don’t take it out, your medical expenses could cost a whole lot more. Insure yourself and travel safe.

 

This article is brought to you by: Stuart S. Travel – Your Online Travel Guru

www.stuartstravel.com



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David Chandler asked:


When traveling on a budget, one of the most often asked questions is whether it is best to travel independently, reserving your own airfare, hotel stay and sightseeing reservations, or choose a package tour where everything is set up for you in advance.

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. It is largely dependent on the location you have selected and dates of travel. For instance, travel to European destinations are often less costly to book on your own, especially when the airlines are running specials of European airfares in the off-season.

On the other hand, travel to many exotic locations, like Egypt, Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, Thailand, and India, are often much less expensive when booked through a vacation package company or travel agent. That is because these tour operators often have special deals with the national airlines of these companies, and with very nice resort hotels, to provide considerable discounts in exchange for a steady flow of business.

For instance, with a little bit of shopping, you can book a vacation package from New York to Egypt for a grand total of $1,100, including airfare, an excellent hotel, daily breakfast, airport transfers, and daily sightseeing tours, including guided tours of the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. This is far less than you would have paid if you had booked this trip independently.

Similar deals exist for other locations, notably India, China, and Taiwan. So be sure to check on the availability of these package deals when shopping for a budget travel deal.

Of course, some great deals can be had on your own as well, and this is often a great way to go, especially if you are a solo traveler. Solo travelers often have difficulty getting those great deals on package deals, since the required single supplement can often ruin the deal.

It is also important to find out exactly what is, and what is not included, in any package you are considering. Many package deals have optional excursions built in, and these extras can add considerable cost. Be sure to ask for a detailed daily itinerary to determine if you will be left on your own if you fail to take these optional. Also ask for a detailed list of these optional excursions, including full descriptions and prices, and then carefully compare the total price to what you could find on your own.

If you are traveling on your own, be sure to start shopping early, especially if you are traveling by air. The important thing to remember is that airlines allocate only so many seats for those advertised low fares, and if you fail to act quickly, you may be out of luck. It is important to book the airfare, and the hotel, as early as possible to ensure the lowest possible prices.

Ultimately, the decision of whether to choose a vacation package deal or independent travel is up to each individual traveler. It is important to carefully compare package prices with those for independent travel to the same location. It is also important to consider your own personal travel style. Some people are more comfortable with a packaged tour, particularly to an unfamiliar location, while others relish the freedom from schedules that independent travel provides.



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Stuart S. Travel asked:


 

The Internet gives you easy access to so much information that you can become overloaded. When traveling this is definitely the case. Friends and fellow travelers tell you to book your trip on line yourself – you’ll save hundreds of dollars. But is that really the case? Will you be able to access the best and lowest deals? Isn’t it quicker and cheaper to do it all yourself? Maybe – maybe not.

 

Beware the discount web site. Don’t book on the first deal you see. It may claim to be the lowest fare, but you won’t know until you look around and surfing the web for the best price may take quite a while and time is money.

 

Research of web sites stating they will give you best deal shows up many times as an incorrect claim. Many big travel web sites pay homage to their sponsors and advertisers, by showing their ‘deals’ only. In the airline industry, a number of small carriers are ignored and they may well offer the best deal for you, but you won’t know if their information isn’t displayed.

 

Prices of air flights differ wildly on the Internet. Try it and see. Go to a number of travel sites and look for fares to Sydney, Australia. See what you get. And this is what you need to do when booking your travel through the web. It might then be worthwhile to see what a travel agent can get for you. Yes they do have a booking fee imposed on your tickets but, did you know that many of the best budget deals are not available on the web? Specific web sites are only accessible to travel agents.  UNTIL NOW!  STUART S. TRAVEL is a full service on-line travel agency.

 

Remember that air fare prices change many, many times a day. It is going to be impossible to find the best deal. You need to be smart and organized and willing to spend a bit of time researching the best deal for you. Once you think you’ve found a great travel deal, remember to read the details to see if there are any restrictions. Will you be able to change your flight details? If so will it cost you? And how much? Those kinds of details. Things can change and your travel plans sometimes need to be flexible so make sure you know what it‘s going to cost you if you have to alter anything.

 

So if you are going to book your travel through the Internet remember these points: shop around and compare prices; be prepared to be flexible; ask questions; don’t believe everything you read on the websites; read the fine print; give yourself plenty of time to find the best deal and; if in doubt, don’t book it. 

 

If it all seems too confusing (which many web sites aim to be), go to your local on-line travel agent and see what deals they can do for you.

 

This article was provided by:

Stuart S. Travel / Your All World Travel Guru

http://www.stuartstravel.com sherry.hardsey@aol.com



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