The UK Insurance Blog

In the light of the troubled situation in Bangkok, especially the city’s airport, what are passengers expected to do when planning a trip to this troubled part of the world? According to the article “Bangkok Airport: what to do if you’ve booked a holiday to Thailand” the situation is changing very rapidly and people planning to travel to Bangkok should check for up to the minute information from their tour operator or airline.

An anti-government protest campaign that has been occurring in Thailand during the last days of November have left thousands of business travellers and holidaymakers stranded in Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok. People were arriving at the airport to find they were unable to travel. Confused and bewildered, holidaymakers destined for the UK were being refused travel and basically hanging around waiting for information – any information! It turned out to be a long wait as they were eventually redirected to other airports.

If you were planning visiting Bangkok in the very near future, you will probably want to find out how safe you and your family are going to be. Some tips are provided to help you on your way.

Aside from contacting your tour operator, you would be well advised to contact the Foreign Office. Check with the airline or tour operator if you can rearrange your travel date or whether you would be able to cancel. Check your insurance company to find out if your travel insurance will pay out if you cancel your holiday under the current circumstances. If it turns out that the Foreign Office advises UK travellers not to visit the country, your travel insurance will become worthless and operators will put measures in place to fly home any British citizens that are stranded out there with immediate effect. In such circumstances, people who are about to travel will be offered a complete refund or an alternative holiday to a comparable destination.
What if the Foreign Office does not advise against travelling to Bangkok? If you cancel your holiday on the basis of caution, you will not be able to cancel without incurring a penalty (read the small print of your small print). However, that said, some tour operators do tend to offer an alternative should you show “disinclination to travel”.

The situation in Bangkok is a rapidly changing one so if you are soon to travel to this destination, all you can do right now is to keep an eye on the various information channels. By the time you are set to travel, you may find the situation completely alleviated and go about travelling to the city as normal.

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Everybody is talking about the collapse of XL, the latest in a series of casualties of a struggling holiday market. An interesting article by Teresa Hunter in online Telegraph highlights how we can all survive the collapse of a tour operator or travel agent.

With another airline losing the battle to stay afloat, it is becoming more obvious that more and more travel insurance policies are not equipped to protect customers in the event of a collapse of a tour operator or airline.

According to the article, the Association of British Insurers state that many policies will not protect holders in the event of collapse of a tour operator. While there are certain policies that do protect you from the effects of a failing tour operator, the holidaying public needs to be aware which policies will cover them. Policy shopping at the Post Office, AXA Direct and M&S will pay dividends in the unthinkable event of an airline or operator collapse. AXA currently offers cover of £3,000, the Post Office £1,500 and M&S will compensate up to £6,000.