More than 50 per cent of Kiwis who have traveled internationally said they faced disruption during their trip. Photo / 123rf
Half of all Kiwi travelers will face travel disruption by 2023, with air travel responsible for most of the time.
The report of the future of the journey of Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) revealed that 53 percent of international travelers will experience cancellations, extreme weather events and illness during their trips in 2023.
The most common problem was related to air travel. Almost a third (30 percent) of all international travelers have faced flight delays and cancellations or lost luggage.
You don’t have to look far to find stories of such struggles, to be sure stuck on a plane for five hours or waiting months for an airline refundto Fly around the world to rescue lost luggage gold airline booking errors.
The weather was a less common problem, impacting 12 percent of travelers, followed by illness, which bothered 10 percent.
Southern Cross Travel Insurance CEO Jo McCauley said it was a “fairly similar story” for domestic travellers.
Overall, 42 percent of domestic travelers faced disruptions and most of the problems were related to the plane.
“Among all domestic travelers in the last 12 months, 21 percent of cases were related to airlines: lost luggage, flight delays or cancellations,” he said. This was followed by Covid, which affected 11 percent of travelers.
McCauley said these data align with SCTI’s claims. Most international travel requests were for “travel changes” followed by “medical and evacuation” and “baggage and personal effects”.
However, when comparing claims by value (aka how much the person declared), medical and evacuation were number one, followed by “changes to travel.”
This is probably because medical care or evacuation costs can be extremely high in a foreign country or an emergency.
In April 2023, a Kiwi visit the United States racked up a $1.3 million medical bill after sustaining a head injury during his trip and requiring emergency medical attention. Since the traveler had travel insurance, his costs were paid by Southern Cross Travel Insurance.
However, they would have been left to pay the entire bill if they participated a common pastime of travel gold particular activity which often voids travel insurance.
McCauley said 90 percent of travelers surveyed said they purchased travel insurance for travel in 2023.
Commissioned by SCTI and conducted by YouGov in January 2024, the Future of Travel survey asked 1,023 Kiwis aged 18 and over about their travel experiences and attitudes.
