Jul/094
Travel insurance claims for Swineflu
For weeks no UK consumers excited about their summer holidays have been dampened by the news that their travel insurance might not cover Swine Flu. Of course, thois is a huge worry for the consumer especially as we see swine flu cases increase by 100% week on week. Travellers trying to make a claim on a travel insurance policy for swine flu will no longer need written documentation from a GP.
However, travel agencies and organisations are strongly urging the public to keep hold of their Tamiflu medication labels as proof that they have overcome the illness. Insurers will need to validate each individual claim concerning swine flu.
Individual airlines have different procedures for dealing with passengers too unwell to fly and most employ medical teams to make assessments. This is a completely different can of worms and one which Consumer Help will leave to the discretion of the airlines.
Those being quarantined whilst on holiday will need written proof of their illness to be able to claim compensation from their travel insurers.
Jul/090
House of Commons transport committee: Higher ticket fares on the way
The House of Commons transport committee has criticised privately owned rail franchises for increasing ticket prices, up to 11% in the recession. The consensus amongst the committee was that the current relationship between rail companies and commuters is unfair, with passengers being treated unfairly. The franchising system means companies bid to run trains on a particular route and those that bid the highest premium payments win the contracts. The rise in ticket costs on regulated rail fares including all season tickets rose on average 6% which is contrary to negative inflation and disproportionate to the real economy.
Lord Ardonis, Transport Secretary reiterated that the report backed a policy by the government to limit fares to no more than 1% above inflation. The consequence being lower fare rates by January 2010. In reply to the criticism the Association of Train Operating Companies stated that the existing system offers a punctual service and that passengers are satisfied.
Jun/090
The Travel Industry - A Summary
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organisation defines tourists as people who “travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited”. Tourism has become a popular global leisure activity. In 2007, there were over 903 million international tourist arrivals, with a growth of 6.6% as compared to 2006.
Despite the uncertainties in the global economy, international consumer arrivals during the first four months of 2008 followed a similar growth trend than the same period in 2007. However, as a result of the economic crisis, international travel demand suffered a strong slowdown beginning in June 2008, with growth in international tourism arrivals worldwide falling to 2% during the boreal summer months, while growth from January to April 2008 had reached an average 5.7% compared to its 2007 level. Growth from 2006 to 2007 was only 3.7%, as total international tourism arrivals from January to August were 641 million tourists, up from 618 million in the same period in 2007.
Tourism is vital for many countries, such as the U.A.E, Egypt, Greece and Thailand, and many island nations, such as The Bahamas, Fiji, Maldives and the Seychelles, due to the large intake of money for businesses with their goods and services and the opportunity for employment in the service industries associated with tourism. These service industries include transportation services, such as airlines, cruise ships and taxis, hospitality services, such as accommodations, including hotels and resorts, and entertainment venues, such as amusement parks, casinos, shopping centres, various music venues and the theatre.
Jun/090
Airline group unveils its first alliance-branded facility to consumers
SkyTeam, the airline group that includes Continental Airlines, Delta, KLM and Kenya Airways, opens its first alliance-branded lounge at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 on 4 June.
The 1,600 square metre two-level space is on the site of the old British Airways Concorde lounge, an area vacated by BA when it moved into Terminal 5.
The new lounge, from a flowing concept based on the SkyTeam ribbon logo by Brandimage – Desgrippes & Laga, features a wine bar, a wellness centre with showers, an oxygen bar and full-body massage chairs, an entertainment centre and luggage storage. The lounge is situated opposite gate 10 and will open from 5:30am to 10:30pm.
Lindsay Melrose, the firm’s associate director, said: “What really stands out is the series of ‘living walls’ – vertical gardens which at first glance may appear to be a straightforward case of hanging plants on a vertical surface, but were in fact a big technical challenge: under closer inspection it is an ingenious method of growing plants directly out of the walls using a unique planting and irrigation process; there is no soil involved.”
Jun/090
UK Consumers Taking Advantage of Cheap Coach Travel
The credit crunch has thrown a spanner in the works for families’ holiday travel plans this year. Not only do they have on average less money than this time last year but the weak Pound against the Euro means there are now plenty of reasons to stay in the UK this year, especially as we are promised a hot summer.
One UK holiday-maker said “the sooner you can book your coach tickets, the cheaper the fare. Travelling outside peak times should also cut costs. Shop around on accommodation prices, think about house swaps with friends and family and try to haggle with hoteliers, for example, to drive down the cost.”
The National Trust are estimating that the UK will witness a sharp 30-40% rise in UK tourism in 2009 with consumers taking advantage of many popular tourist hotspots, attractions and stately homes.
Jun/090
Network Rail launch TV ad to thank Consumers for their patience
Network Rail are launching a national £2.5m campaign which will run for six weeks and will traget local consumers who have been affected by train delays over the past decade. The ad appears to carry a dual purpose of thanking passengers who have suffered long delays but also to promote their 53 renewed platforms, 430 miles of new track and 174 upgraded bridges.
The campaign carries the strapline: “Built in the 19th century. Rebuilt for the 21st”.
“As much as we could we wanted to buy media that matched the footprint of the train line,” said Mark Shaoul, the head of marketing services at Network Rail.
“We wanted to work on a very local level targeting press and poster sites at stations up and down the line just saying ‘thank you’.”
Jun/090
Tragedy of Air France Flight 477 a Reminder to the Consumer
On the 1st June 2009 Air France Flight 447 from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Ocean with 228 men, woman and children tragically losing their lives. Over the last century sky travel, in particular aircraft travel has become near perfected safety-wise which is why this tragedy seems all the more shocking and preventable.
Even a seasoned sky traveller would be forgiven a twinge of nervousness and concern after reading about this. However, despite such incidents, sky travel is fantastically safe. The rate of fatality is about one fatality per 50 million passenger miles, making it 20 times safer than driving and to put it in perspective you’re more likely to die in your bathtub or by falling off a ladder than in an air crash.
Any time when a piece of technology is designed by humans there will obviously be flaws which, despite endless trying, can never really be ironed out completely and there will always be the risk of failure. This is exaggerated by the sheer scale of an aircraft and the dangers and unnaturalness of travelling through the sky thousands of feet from ’safety’.
The terrible accident of Flight 477 serves as a reminder to us all that technology is impressive, but it’s not invulnerable. As consumers we put our life in the hands of manufacturers and tour operators and it is a common opinion that a little more respect for mother nature wouldn’t go amiss.
Jun/090
H1N1 Swine Flu Included in your Travel Insurance?
Mrs K was informed by her insurer that expenses resulting from trip cancellations because of the H1N1 flu would not be covered. Banks should not advertise travel insurance that only appears to offer travellers peace of mind as this is too vague. Most people will not read the fine print and will assumed that they would be covered if they were in a situation like Mrs K’s.
There are 2 notable packages that do not offer comprehensive cover to include H1N1 and these are; MSIG travel insurance as well as the Got-It-Covered plan from Standard Chartered Bank, as stated by the Ministry of Health. The message to the policy holder is to check carefully what you are covered for. There are many things which are not included in travel insurance packages and although unlikely to pop up individually, these things when grouped together present a significant risk.
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