I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the years, you’d think I’d learn, but I have had to learn slowly and gradually, plus with the help of Raquel. So I’m hoping you can learn from my mistakes and tips I’ve had along the way from 15 years of travel blogging.
1) Accidentally Putting Valuables In Checked Luggage
There are a few reasons why this is risky. Firstly, have you seen the way they throw your suitcase on and off the plane? Especially if you go with easyJet, who dented my suitcase severely on my last trip. I like to keep anything that might break in my rucksack or whatever bag I’m bringing on the plane, as I’m in complete control and can be delicate with the handling.
Of course, if you do put anything valuable in your checked luggage, just make sure it is wrapped in towels or tops. But the next big point is that your checked luggage might not reach your destination, whereas you’re pretty much certain the bag you take on the plane will!
I’ve spoken to so many people who have had their bags go missing and they put their valuables in them. Sure, clothes you can pop to a market and pick up something to wear, it’s not the end of the world, just a nuisance and often solved within a couple of days. But what about passport, wallet, bank cards, cash, cameras, a laptop if you need to work, even medication!
It should be remembered that airlines won’t always compensate you for anything valuable or fragile that is broken in your checked luggage.
2) Photo Your Valuables
This might sound bizarre, but every time I’m looking for my suitcase as it goes along the conveyor belt, I realise I couldn’t describe it to someone if I tried, let alone to an insurance company or the airline staff.
If your possessions do go missing, you need to be able to give detailed descriptions, if you have something valuable then your life could be a lot easier by simply having a photo of what they look like backed up to the cloud. This takes five seconds and I wouldn’t bother with everything. If you’re about to pack and have everything laid on the bed, you could take a photo of it all, so then you don’t forget anything you’ve packed.
Before I visited Pisa recently I took snaps of everything laid out on the bed, including my suitcase, electronics etc. Nothing happened, so maybe I was being unnecessarily paranoid, but when it does happen, I know I’ll be eternally grateful to my earlier prepared self.
3) Assuming Your Belongings Are Automatically Insured
I’ve spoken to a few people who haven’t got travel insurance as they presumed their personal contents insurance covers their belongings. However, I’d always recommend checking this before flying, as from my experience, I couldn’t really find many insurers that covered your ‘contents’ when you took them abroad, it was more for house burglaries or fires.
A travel insurance policy can cover your baggage, items you pack, plus helping you in case the flight cancels or you have a medical emergency. This article explains that accidental damage isn’t always included as standard and you might need this as an add-on.
Also, you need to think about what the insurer will ask for if you need to make a claim, so as boring as it is at the time, when you purchase something expensive, save the receipt somewhere or ask for a digital copy to be emailed over. You could always take a photo of the receipt so it’s saved to the Cloud, this might only be useful if you make a folder as otherwise it will probably be lost to the abyss.
4) Not Mixing Key Valuables Into Your Partner’s Bags
Raquel lost a bag on a holiday which contained her diabetes medicine. Normally I pack some extra medication in my bag even though she normally tells me not to bother. The one time I don’t is when it went missing.
In the end, she had to spend £70 when she normally gets it for free. It wasn’t the end of the world, but it did cause a lot of stress, it meant we had to find somewhere we could source it while abroad rather than sightseeing and it cost money. Since then, I make sure to pack some of her extra medication in my bag so we’re doubly covered.
ABTA is also great for offering advice on what to do when your luggage is delayed, including reporting it to the airport and letting them know where your hotel is so hopefully it does turn up and they can deliver it directly.
It might not be medication for you, it could be something else you couldn’t live without. For example, what if one person gets pickpocketed. It could be worth you both having ways to pay on your phone and both have bank cards, even if you have a shared account, just make sure you both have access.
This extends to travelling with mates, it’s not just about couples, I’ve carried extra valuables for my mates as a precaution. This was even more so the case when my mate was getting married and I was the best man, the last thing I wanted was for him to realise he forgot something valuable.
