With two Bank Holiday Mondays, and therefore two long weekends, May is the perfect chance for people to take a mini-break away to quench their holiday thirst until summer arrives. Thus, popular European countries are preparing for an influx of British tourists wishing to make the most of their extra long weekends.

Unsurprisingly, travel prices reflect this, and holidays over these three-day weekends are often more expensive than normal, as holiday companies cash in on what would perhaps otherwise be a lull in holiday sales. Although when you consider the limited amount of three-day weekends you get in a year, a slight increase in cost perhaps seems more tolerable.

Travelbite.co.uk have compiled a list their top destinations for the bank holiday weekend breaks. Their selections add a bit of variety to holiday, as they suggest more unusual places than holiday makers’ usual, more predictable choices. They reveal Croatian city Split as their top May bank holiday break destination, followed by Tunis in Tunisia and Manama, Bahrain. Berlin and (surprisingly) Washington DC make up the top 5.

Wherever the destination, travel insurance is just as important as ever, and May holiday makers booking last minute short breaks shouldn’t let it slip their minds. Unfortunately, unexpected things can go wrong on short breaks too, and having adequate travel insurance should be considered essential. Getting cover shouldn’t cost much either, as the price for single trip travel insurance is calculated depending on how long you are travelling for (as well as taking into account your destination, travel party size and ages). So, essentially, the shorter the trip, the cheaper the cover. For example, popular travel insurance provider Direct Travel Insurance’s comprehensive policies start from £5.50 for 5 days in Europe.

With the current weakness of the Euro against the British pound, trips abroad could, arguably, not be as good value as they have been, and UK trips may become more common for weekend breaks, especially in May. Seaside resorts such as Brighton and Blackpool are all expected to grow in popularity, as people from inner cities seek sun and sand without leaving the country. Even for weekend breaks within the UK, travel insurance could still be worthwhile. For example, cover for cancellation, money and personal belongings would be covered by most policies, and, with cover starting from £3.50 (based on a Direct Travel Insurance policy for one adult), getting covered for your Bank Holiday break won’t exactly break the bank.

Article Author – Rob James

I’m traveling every week from Halifax West York to Manchester and return the ticket cost me £10.50

How can iget cheap tickets and save money?
thank you.

hi,
Im originally from Zambia but currently in the uk on a work permit. I am planning on goin to spain next month, where can i get my travel insurance from? Most places i have looked at are for UK residents only!

That is no reason not to take a gap year because similar accidents can and do happen closer to home but gap years do generally involve extended travel to remoter parts of the globe and thereby lies the problem. According to the FCO, over 200,000 people in the UK, of all ages, are now taking gap years or sabbaticals abroad with India, Peru and Tanzania currently the most popular places for gap year placement.

The UK Government has also recently announced a £10 million scheme to offer 18 to 25 year old from less advantaged backgrounds the opportunity to undertake placements living and working in developing countries. This means that the trend to take a gap year is set to grow even more and one estimate puts the global market to be worth a staggering £11 billion pounds by 2011. So how do you reduce the potential risks involved? The FCO offers very useful advice on their website at www.fco.gov.uk/travel and they do keep up to date travel advice information on most, if not all countries. What is still surprising though is that 25% of all travellers go abroad without adequate travel insurance but why take this unnecessary risk? Although travel insurance will not prevent something happening to you, it can certainly help to reduce some of the stresses in the aftermath. Medical expenses including repatriation, loss of baggage, legal assistance, and curtailment are just some of the essential benefits that come with most policies and it is now possible to buy tailored policies from specialist providers to cover almost every combination of gap year.

What is the cheapest/fastest way to travel from Dusseldorf, Germany to London, UK?

North end of City

Several years ago, I spent a gap year in Spain. I found work as a reception assistant for an estate agent that rented flats to mainly Spanish tourists, but also to the occasional French, German or British couple who had ventured away from the Alicante area. The town was Gandia, in Valencia, famous for stunning beaches and a favourite destination for holidaymakers from Madrid, and which boasted a university offering degree programmes in tourism and hospitality. My language skills were however limited, which meant I was destined to return to the UK for the time being. However, I had tasted something of the contrast between hard work and hedonism that is an essential part of the tourism industry.

A career in the tourist industry has obvious appeal if you’re looking to work overseas, but there are other ways of entering the business. If you want to work abroad, a job as a tour operator, or as support staff in a restaurant or hotel could be sensible choices if your language skills are limited, but this also depends on your previous work experience and personal strengths (if you’re very outgoing, this can make up for limited language skills). If not, or if you’re looking to work in a country where English is the first language or you are bilingual, then your options increase significantly, from sales to executive level, but you’ll need to find out about visa requirements. You could also look for a travel recruitment company that specialises in your country or regions of interest.

Language skills are useful even if you don’t want to leave the UK, with demand for proficiency in languages as diverse as Cantonese and Finnish, in areas ranging from travel sales to customer service or administrative support. Knowledge of travel through personal experience is also an asset for an office-based role, as are good people skills, computer literacy and attention to detail when making complex travel bookings. One reward of working in the industry is that you may well be treated to familiarisation trips, especially if you’re selling prestigious holidays or cruises, as well as discounts on holidays and accommodation.

If you are planning on working for a UK travel agent, there are a number of diplomas and vocational qualifications in travel, such as the City and Guilds courses in travel and tourism and various CRS (Computer Reservation Systems) courses, which will help you with airline reservations, fares and ticketing, hotel reservations and car hire. The Guild of Travel Management (GTMC) offer specific skills for business travel. Business travel roles are often filled by people who have previous experience of travel customer service, since they will involve the challenging of fulfilling the demanding requirements of high paying, business clients.

Travel recruitment companies can help you find a role in the leisure industries, from travel consultants to airline staff and car hire representatives, and provide information on the sorts of qualifications you’ll need. They may also offer ways to try out new industries or roles on a temporary or contract basis: benefits of which can include up to 4 weeks’ paid holiday, referral incentives, and holiday and travel offers.

Perhaps if I’d planned it better, I could have ended up with a more lucrative year in the tourism industry. But in the end, perhaps I am better suited to being an arm-chair travel representative.

According to the latest report by the UK travel analysts, “In the past three four years people in UK have taken travelling as the basic requirement for them round the year. Earlier it was only once a year when people step out to have the holiday bash. Due to the sudden drop in air-fares and the mounting work pressure, people now await more eagerly for the outings.

Huge Mark, a Sales executive comments on the same, “I usually take on a holiday trip several times in a year in order to make an escape from the hefty work schedule”. With the fast growing travelling needs among the people, the concept of travel insurance policy has also made its foray hugely into the market. People now are not willing to take risks with their holiday plans as it is the only time during the year when one can relax without any impediments on the way. It has also been revealed that nearly 60% people in UK opt for travel insurance.

But taking a travel insurance policy is not enough; one must make a thorough study of all the policies available in the market to get the appropriate choice. It takes only few minutes to make a comparative study between the various offers available in the market. Inapt travel insurance cover may increase the problem instead of providing help whilst the trip. Cheap travel insurance cover is not that tough to find as people assume about it. Through a proper navigation online one can also get to know about the new policies and about their exact requirements.

Commenting on the same Rudy Jennson, a regular traveller added, “Initially I used to get cover on each of my single trips through out the year. Actually I wasn’t aware the provision of multi-trip policies which not only saves the money but also offers an apposite coverage for the regular travellers.

Sometimes the travel agents in the market also mislead the customers, as they earn more commission by selling in various individual policies. Naturally a travel will look for his/her benefit instead of taking care of your specific requirements. Usually, buying a policy costs to a person much more than the actual rates in most of the cases.

Following are the few noteworthy points which must be considered while taking any policy:-

1) You must be fully aware about the kinds of coverage offered within your travel insurance policy. Usually most of the travel insurance policies cover the change and cancellation of trips, emergency medical assistance, etc. But there are various situations when you require more than it, like coverage for loss, damage of important belongings, flight delays and others. So it is very important to get to know about all kinds of coverage and for that you also must specify all your exact requirements to the travel insurer.

2) Compare the shop for the best insurance cover. The best way to compare the policies in on internet.

3) Read the small prints properly.

4) Check out for the cover confines and also for any prohibition if there are any.

Check out for the websites like insurancebookers.co.uk, saga, insure and go and thus compare their vibrant policies.

The answer really depends on the type of holiday planned, the length of stay and whether you want to accept the risk of not being covered if something does go wrong. It is also worth remembering that UK travel insurance cover is generally included if you take out the more expensive Europe of Worldwide cover, though do check the small print rather than assuming that this is always the case. A Europe or Worldwide annual multi-trip travel insurance policy will be more expensive as an initial payment up front but will cover you for an unlimited number of trips abroad, and in the UK, throughout the year, provided the length of stay of each trip does not exceed the policy limit, normally around 31 days away per trip.

So is a UK travel insurance policy worth considering? Probably yes if only one or two short breaks a year are planned and it will be very inexpensive to purchase for the cover provided. This can be very useful should you subsequently cancel a trip, say for illness, as your holiday costs will be reimbursed subject to any excesses to pay. Your personal effects will probably be covered too which is an important point to consider as theft and loss is not just confined to holidays on the ‘Costas’ – these things happen at home too. What you will almost certainly not be covered for will be for medical emergencies and expenses as insurers argue that the NHS is available for such instances and will point out that travel insurance is not a substitute for private medical insurance. The lack of medical cover in UK only travel insurance policies is the main reason why insurers can offer these policies for the very low prices on offer.

On balance, travel insurance for UK holidays and short breaks is probably a good buy for those holidaymakers who tend to stay at home for their breaks away and there is an increasing number of people who are doing this. One final word of warning though is do check the small print as many, if not most, insurers do require you to have proof of booked accommodation for a minimum stay of normally 2 nights away for the policy to be in force so the Sunday ‘trip out’ is definitely outside this definition!