Splash More Cash On Travel Thrills – Not Travel Insurance

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Splash More Cash On Travel Thrills – Not Travel Insurance

Published on: November 7th, 2008 12:03am by: consult

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Many travellers expect to pay tourist prices, or even be swindled by savvy con artists when they jet off to exotic destinations. But almost half of all Australian travellers believe they're being ripped off before they even leave home - just by purchasing travel insurance.

(OPENPRESS) November 7, 2008 -- According to research by leading insurer AAMI, while seven out of 10 (71 per cent) Australians took out travel insurance when heading overseas, 46 per cent said they felt 'ripped off' when making this purchase.

AAMI National Public Affairs Manager Geoff Hughes said having travel insurance was a great way to cover yourself against unexpected incidents in foreign countries.

"The majority of Australian travellers are smart for choosing to protect themselves with travel insurance but for some, hefty policy prices mean taking the risk of travelling without any cover. More than one quarter of Australians (28 per cent) said they didn’t buy travel insurance when going on holiday, with a quarter of those (26 per cent) saying it was an added cost they couldn’t afford," Mr Hughes said.

"However, nearly all the travellers we surveyed (95 per cent) said they felt safer on their holiday, knowing they were covered. But this peace of mind shouldn't come at a high cost," he said.

With AAMI's new International Travel Insurance policy, customers can expect to pay about half the cost of purchasing insurance from a travel agent.

"Almost half of all travellers (46 per cent) said they purchased insurance through their travel agent. But even though it may be more convenient for customers to buy their cover at the same time as booking their holiday, it's worth shopping around for the significant savings that can be made," he said.

"And not surprisingly, travellers with an exciting holiday ahead of them would prefer to spend their hardearned cash on anything but insurance."

With the money they could save by buying an AAMI policy, travellers said they be most likely to splash out on a hotel room upgrade (20 per cent), followed by a meal at an expensive restaurant (18 per cent) and a bottle of bubbly to drink while they're on holiday (14 per cent).

And if customers need to make an insurance claim while on holiday, AAMI's policy makes the process easy. "We have dispensed with claim forms, in most cases, so customers can have their claim sorted quickly and easily over the phone, without the hassle of complicated paperwork. That should provide great relief to two thirds (66 per cent) of the Australian travellers who said they found buying and managing their insurance policy a difficult process," Mr Hughes said.

"Smart travellers would say that if you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel. But with AAMI's International Travel Insurance, holidays - and peace of mind - just got a little more affordable."

(Consumer travel insurance research was conducted for AAMI by pureprofile and is an independent internet survey of 1273 Australian consumers in all states and territories.)