Common travel mistakes to avoid! PART 2

Mistake #03: Not buying insurance
Although it may seem like an unnecessary expense, I strongly advise you to buy travel insurance before a trip. Recently I traveled to Mongolia on work. Unfortunately, Air China decided to leave my colleague’s luggage containing everything we required for our presentation the next day. No matter how much we pleaded with them, the airline would only send us our bag the next day in the evening, way after our presentation was over. If that wasn’t bad enough, I had to pay my tour company an additional USD 200 to send the misplaced bag to the remote town that we stayed in.

Right now, I am in the midst of trying to claim insurance. Luckily for me, I had the foresight the take out a plan, however, getting the money from the company in question is akin to getting blood from a stone, so fingers crossed.

Bottom line is, take out an insurance plan. Read the fine print, see if it is suitable and if the agent understands what you require and recommends something suitable for you and not for their commission. If your baggage gets lost, get a letter from the airline stating that they lost your baggage, keep your ticket, boarding pass and a list of the bags contents handy so you can furnish your insurance provider with these documents in order to make your claim.

Mistake #04: Using a credit card that charges foreign transaction fees
Take a good look at your credit card. Check the fine print in your cardmember agreement. Does it charge a “foreign transaction fee”? Many do. My neighbor booked airline tickets from Mumbai to New York through Qatar Airways on Expedia. But when her credit card bill arrived, it contained a surprise USD44 transaction fee, because Qatar Airways was not based in the United States, even though the transaction took place entirely in dollars. The best way to avoid a foreign transaction fee is to use a card like Capital One, which not only doesn’t impose any transaction fees, but also absorbs the 1 percent fee that Visa or MasterCard charges it for a cross-border transaction. Bottom line, call your bank if you are in doubt and read the small print to prevent any surprise charges.

Tags: credit cards, expedia, frequent flier, frequent traveler, overseas travel, travel insurance, travel mishaps, Travel mistakes, travel smart tips, travel tips