Everyone loves going on a holiday to enjoy somewhere different. Whether you’re a sun seeker or culture vulture or both, the one thing it isn’t is cheap. People regularly spend their entire budget while on vacation and have no spare cash at the end of their trip away.
It’s actually logical. Why would you need extra money at the end of a block of time away? It makes no real sense, or does it? Oh, it really does and here’s why.
Spare Cash Is Required At Times
I have two words for you – flight disruption. Everyone assumes that the airlines need to take care of you when they cancel your flight on you. This is quite true, but the reality of this might surprise you.
For years, I always thought the airline had to provide a hotel and food for you if your flight was cancelled and you were flying out the following day. This misconception carried through until I was delayed for not one, but two nights by British Airways.
The same thing happened last weekend, where my flight was cancelled and I was rebooked the following day. No word on any kind of free hotel provided by the airline. Once again I found myself pulling out my credit card and then claiming when I got back home.
Don’t Expect Your Money Back Quickly, Either!
Another issue that occurs is that people expect that once they claim back their hotel and food that it will be paid out very quickly. That just isn’t the case in my experience.
The first time it happened, it took over four months before I was paid, due to the volume of claims British Airways had to get through. I expect something like that again this time, but perhaps I’ll be surprised and it will come earlier.
However, airlines work their cases one by one by the date they’re received. You will get served after everyone before you has been and that’s all there is to it. Anytime there is a weather event and lots of cancellations, it means lots of claims and a longer wait. Airlines always get to you, but there is no point at all in sending follow ups. As long as you’ve raised the case, it will be dealt with.
Overall Thoughts
So, my view is you need to have spare cash available at the end of a trip. Not only this, you need to be able to wave goodbye to that money for up to several months before you’ll see it returned to you by the airline.
This is something a lot of people don’t factor into their travel plans. Yes, 99% of the time you fly out and back and nothing unusual happens. But there is that 1% and it catches people with their pants down, so to speak.
What do you think? Do you keep extra cash available or a spare credit card for emergencies to cope with things like this? Or are you happy to wing it? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
Like planes? See my “Does anyone remember” series.
Flight reviews your thing? Mine are all indexed here.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Featured image by Wilfredor via Wikimedia Commons.
Leeds cancellations by katjung on Flickr via Wikimedia Commons.
Call me old fashioned but, but if you are traveling at the limit of your credit availability, maybe you should be staying home. Never mind flight disruption—what about sudden illness? Plan for what MIGHT go wrong, and make sure you can handle it.
Cash is nice but if I don’t plan on returning soon to the place I’m leaving I try to use up all of my local currency before departure. Having some available credit is pretty vital in case of emergencies plus I tend to carry USD1,000 or so when traveling internationally on general principle.
I was using cash more as a general term for money. I haven’t used literal cash for anything in a couple of years now, everything is done electronically. What I mean is exactly as you say – to have some available spare credit for emergency use. 100% that.