Which would you choose?

You’d probably opt for the i-phone (other smart phones are available!). But why, when they both make and receive calls and the Nokia is cheaper and has a better battery life?

The reason:

You want to do more than just make calls, you want the functionality that a smart phone offers. You know all about the technology; your friends have one, its been recommended and you want to have something that ticks all the boxes. Simples.

However, if you knew nothing about phones and were using an online comparison website, you may not come to the same conclusion. Take a look at our hypothetical website, compare-the-small-cute-mammal.com:

Based on the table, you could be forgiven for thinking both phones are comparable.

Now apply this to gap year travel insurance

When you look at a comparison website, do you know what you are comparing? Do you know what you want?

Is a 12 month annual policy the same as a 12 month long-stay policy?

Chances are, you aren’t sure so you may be inclined to buy based on price. In which case you could be choosing the 3210.

The reason:

We don’t know much about travel insurance. Its not super exciting, we don’t discuss it with friends in the pub and we have little inclination to research it. You’ll probably choose the cheaper option believing that all insurance policies are the same. Or you may take a free travel insurance policy that comes with your dad’s credit card. Saves money, right? Wrong.

Travel insurance policies vary massively, and if you opt for the wrong one you could find yourself travelling without any cover at all.

What’s the solution?

Research gap year insurance: spend 15 minutes trying to understand “why” we need travel insurance, “what” it can do for you while away, “when” you may need it and “how” to use it. You’ll be surprised how useful a good policy is, you’ll also be shocked to see how easy it is to buy something that won’t work.

We’ve put together some comprehensive tips and observations designed to help you to better understand the importance of gap year travel insurance. We have also partnered with reputable student insurance provider Endsleigh; visit their website and get a quick quote and to see what cover they can provide.

If you’ve found this article useful, you may like some of our other insurance pages:

Gap Year Insurance FAQs

Gap Year Travel insurance is snow joke

Gap year insurance warning

Could this be the first safety film to grab your attention? Virgin Atlantic has launched a new in-flight safety movie which will go live from 1st March.

It’s not to everyone’s taste but it is refreshing to see this new approach to in-flight safety.

Choosing a safety movie format over the dull and dreary in-cabin instructions is definitely a forward step and hopefully more airlines will review how they impart this very important safety information.

No doubt there’ll be more watchers as the plane taxis for to take off. However, the main problem with the safety instructions is that frequent flyers believe that they already know everything. I expect the number of second/third time viewers will drop off. Never-the-less, well done to Virgin (and producers Art and Graft) for, once again, being so creative.

Take a look at the preview of  the Virgin safety movie below and decide for yourself.

If you want to find out more about buying flights, types of tickets and other useful info on planning a working holiday check out our Flights page.