Travel insurer battleface believes travellers have inadequate levels of insurance coverage in the face of likely airline and airport operational challenges and delays, plus the US hurricane season, this coming peak travel season in Europe and North America – and calls on travel agents and other intermediaries to ensure customers have appropriate cover this summer.
Sasha Gainullin, CEO of battleface highlights that “by every measure possible, this is going to be one of the biggest summer holiday periods ever in terms of volumes of bookings. But both airlines and hotels haven’t fully returned to full operating capacity at a staffing and infrastructure level.
“If you also consider airline staff strikes in Europe and the fact that the hurricane season is already upon us in the US, it’s highly likely we’re going to see repeats of the travel chaos we saw last year – resulting in delays, cancellations, and a lot of disappointment for domestic and international travelers alike.
“What’s concerning though is that a significant amount of travelers still don’t take out appropriate insurance coverage to protect themselves against such situations, mistakenly thinking it is always the airline’s responsibility to compensate them or help them make alternative plans.
“Unfortunately, this is often not the case, particularly in the United States where airline regulations are different from the European Union, for example, meaning an airline might not put them up in a hotel for the night when a flight gets cancelled because of hurricanes or other weather conditions beyond their control.
“The insurance industry needs to do more to educate travelers on the importance of taking out adequate protection by creating customized products that allow them to choose the benefits they require and nothing more – as well as doing a better job at communicating clearly with travelers about what is and what is not included in their policy.”
In addition, battleface calls on travel intermediaries – be they retail travel agents, tour operators, online travel agencies or B2B sellers – to consider taking the following action to support travelers with their insurance needs at what could potentially be a very stressful time:
- Outline the cancellation, delays and rebookings policies of the trips (including flights) you are selling and make sure that your customer fully understands what would happen in such circumstances.
- Find insurance providers that can fill the gap in protection between what the airline will and won’t offer in case of delays and cancellations.
- Consider offering such policies as an addition to any package you offer to customers as standard – they’re more likely to take the policy than being offered it in a separate booking flow.
- Work with an insurance partner that offers you an online portal to resolve inquiries and claims on behalf of your customers.
