Flight Centre tells Australian travellers: get enough cover

Flight Centre is urging Australian travellers to ensure they have adequate travel insurance.

Travel Insurance News - 24/06/2010

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Australia-based online travel booker Flight Centre has urged Australian travellers to make absolutely sure they have enough of the right kind of travel insurance. The warning comes shortly after an industry study that illustrated the scale of problems with baggage handling in the commercial aviation industry. According to the 2010 Air Transport Industry Baggage Report, one out of every hundred travellers at the world’s major airports has to deal with their luggage being lost.

Some 25 million pieces of baggage were mishandled. Half of them went missing during transfers between flights. Sixteen per cent of lost luggage never even made it onto the aircraft and 13 per cent went astray due to problems with security, ticketing issues or passenger bag switching. The potential for problems is obvious if holidaymakers have no insurance, but people are increasingly travelling with insurance they don’t realise won’t cover them for problems like lost baggage.

Also, as airlines increasingly form alliances to extend their reach or share networks and services, the risk of lost luggage increases. Some airlines provide no compensation for lost, stolen or damaged baggage. Those that do provide some measure of cover may be slow to pay up. As a result Flight Centre is urging all Australians to make sure they not only have travel insurance but ensure it provides the required type and level of cover.

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