If you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel.
This was made crystal clear after New Zealand woman Amanda Sesio was hit with a medical bill of almost $300,000 after coming down with pneumococcal pneumonia in the US last month. Her condition deteriorated and she was placed on life support.
While you would have to have a heart of stone not to feel sorry for her, everyone knows the US health system is a bit of a basket case and travelling without insurance seems irresponsible in the extreme.
Read: The three biggest travel concerns for Australians
In another instance, an acquaintance came down with appendicitis in the US when he met up with his parents holidaying there. The hospital was going to charge $24,000 to save him, but he was able to negotiate the bill down to $12,000 by agreeing to leave the hospital within 24 hours.
All good examples of why travel insurance is vital to your planning, not just an add on.
Read: What would make you give up your airline seat
Qantas extends connection times
In recognition of the continuing shemozzle that is Qantas at the moment, the airline has decided to increase its minimum for outbound international connections from 60 minutes to 90 minutes to improve the odds your baggage goes to the same place you do.
“While there are lots of good reasons why, the simple fact is our operational performance hasn’t been up to the standard our customers are used to, or that we expect of ourselves,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said.
No kidding.
The airline will notify customers and agents with existing bookings who are affected by the change and move them to an earlier flight at no extra cost.
And while Qantas has hired more than 1500 people since April, the airline’s service continues to suffer due to staff falling ill with COVID. Sick leave is tracking 50 per cent higher than usual, according to travelweekly.com.au.
Read: Top tips to avoid airport chaos
Qantas also faces further industrial action, with staff at baggage handling provider Dnata voting to consider industrial action.
Dnata is one of the companies Qantas outsourced its baggage handling to after illegally sacking staff during the pandemic.
They’re back
Plane spotters rejoice! In a further sign the travel industry is getting back on its feet, Emirates is returning its A380 aircraft on its Perth-Dubai route, offering up to 500 seats daily.
Emirates has been servicing the route for 20 years, carrying an estimated six million passengers during that time.
Have you heard any horror stories of people travelling without insurance? Why not share your experience in the comments section below?
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