Unless you're careful, booking a holiday in January could prove an incredibly expansive mistiake.
That's according to Moneysavingexpert.com founder Martin Lewis, who's just issued a stark warning to viewers of Good Morning Britain.
The problem? People who've booked their trip but not protected it.
"You need cover from the moment you go, yet far too many people book a holiday and then leave the cover until later," Martin said.
"Sadly too often I hear stories like 'I’ve just been diagnosed with cancer, I was due to go on holiday in six weeks, but now need chemo.
"The airline won’t refund my ticket, what can I do?'"
"But far too often there's nothing you can do.
"Travel insurance's job is to cover you if you cant go, but if you only get it before you go, or you're missing out all the cover that it protects you in case an eventuality happens before the holiday, such as long term cancer treatment or somebody dying in the family."
The solution: buy insurance the second you book the holiday - or simply put annual cover in place.
"You're only covered for cancellation if you have insurance before an illness/injury, job loss, jury service call-up etc.
"So whether going away soon or later this year, buy ASAB (as you soon as you've booked)," Martin said.
It's also important to make sure you get the right policy in place.
Recent troubles with Flybe, and Thomas Cook's collapse last year, show things can go wrong that you're simply not in control of too.
So check the policy for the phrase "Supplier Failure", or if you've only booked a flight the phrase "Scheduled Airline Failure", to see if you're covered for that too.
When it comes to what sort of policy you should take out, if you're planning more than one trip to Europe for beach holidays or city breaks, most people will be better off taking an annual policy out.
However, if you plan to travel further afield - to the US for example - or on doing something insurers might see as riskier (climbing, watersports, horse riding or skiing for example) then you need to be aware this might not be covered.
In those cases you need to ensure you have cover for those specific activities or destinations in place - and single trip might work out cheaper.
