A travel expert is warning about "travel chaos" after a passport e-gate outage caused huge delays over the bank holiday weekend.
A 24-hour outage caused hundreds of gates to crash across major UK airports, leaving travellers having to wait for manual passport checks on the busiest day for UK air travel since 2019.
The delays occurred just days after thousands of people were unsure whether their holiday would go ahead at all, with British Airways cancelling flights last week due to an IT failure. And while many people will opt for fast track security passes to alleviate their airport stress, this won’t protect them against similar passport security failures, or flight cancellations.
READ MORE: Simple ways Manchester Airport passengers can avoid queues
David Parker, divisional director at A-Plan Insurance, is now urging travellers to make sure they have cover for strike action and similar airport delays to avoid losing money. Mr Parker said it is crucial, as airlines won’t compensate you if you miss your flight due to passport or security queues.
He told the ECHO: "It’s up to you to protect yourself.” As well as urging holidaymakers to opt for a policy that covers delays, A-Plan Insurance also reveals the other ways you can save money on your travel insurance this summer.
Organise cover as early as possible
Many people put off organising travel insurance until right before they fly, rather than sorting it straight after they’ve booked their flights. However, this means you’re vulnerable in the weeks running up to your trip and will lose money in the event of a last-minute cancellation or delay.
Compare different deals and providers
Although it can be tempting to opt for the first reasonably-priced policy you see, shopping around and comparing different providers is the best way to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Make sure to check what each policy covers, as price doesn’t always correlate to the quality.
Keep an eye out for sponsored deals too; some comparison sites have partnerships with providers to promote their rates, and skew the deals you see first.
Consider taking out a group policy
Combining cover for your family or partner on a shared policy can be cheaper than covering everybody individually - just make sure that everyones’ individual circumstances (like medical conditions) are accounted for. This is because covering everyone under a single policy reduces the admin and premiums needed to process a claim, making it cheaper overall.
Avoid paying for unnecessary extras
Excluding certain terms from your policy can reduce the cost of your insurance, so make sure you actually need what you’re paying for. For example, you can forgo any winter sports cover for a beach holiday, and holidaymakers heading on staycation can ignore policies that charge more to cover a cancelled/delayed flight, unless you’re flying domestically, of course.
Check whether you’re already covered
You may already have travel insurance without realising, so check whether you’re still covered from an annual policy you took out last summer, or that you don’t already have cover as an added feature with your current account or credit card. But even if you are already covered, double check that the policy applies to this trip and that you’re fully protected.
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