Family Travel Insurance, and Other Tips For Travelling With Children

Planning a family holiday, especially one with small children, is never easy. Regardless of how old the underage members of the group may be, there is always a certain degree of planning and organising that goes far beyond what is required for trips with adults.

Oftentimes, these preparations also go above and beyond simply contracting family travel insurance; in fact, while this should be at the forefront of the list for any responsible parent, it is often neglected due to the sheer volume of other things guardians have to contend with before departure. Fortunately for these harried parents, an increasing number of sources both on and offline are seeking to make their life easier through the sharing of tips for stress-free travels with children.

That is precisely the point of this article, in which we will cull some of the main pieces of advice provided by both specialists and parents and seek to share them with our readers who may be about to take off on a holiday with their children. Hopefully, the hints contained herein will help ensure that their holiday goes off with minimal hitches.

As noted above, buying a family travel insurance policy should be one of the first things to be taken care of prior to travelling with children, almost on a par with ensuring all their shots are up-to-date. Contracting some form of policy is essential to ensure your little ones are protected in case something goes wrong. A family travel insurance policy offers potentially better rates and perks than four or five individual policies – not to mention being cheaper and much less of a hassle! This option should therefore be considered and dealt with early, at the risk of leaving for your holiday uninsured!

As far as the trip itself goes, the most important thing is to keep the children entertained, to diminish the risk of tantrums and grumpiness. Toddlers and very small children are usually appeased with a bit of exploring; make sure to account for a few trips up and down the aisles at the airport – arriving an extra hour or two in advance certainly won’t hurt! For older children, a colouring book, a novel, or an electronic device with games or apps are good time-wasters, both en route and while waiting at the airport or train station.

It is also important to keep a watchful eye on your children’s own preparations – while they may want to pack their bags on their own, it is important that a parent or guardian is there to steer them in the right direction and ‘trim the fat’. When packing, also make sure to look into the type of weather you will be experiencing on your trip. The last thing you want is to pack beach shorts and flip-flops and then discover the weather at your location is rainy. Remember, the more sources you consult in this regard the better – it never hurts to be sure!

As you can see, then, it is quite possible to cut back on stress levels when travelling with children – as long as you purchase a good family travel insurance policy and you are willing to put a bit of work in to planning, there is no reason why everything should not go smoothly.

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Insuremore. We provide low cost travel cover and offer a range of policies including annual, multi-trip, single-trip and family travel insurance. For all your travel cover needs, Insuremore can help you in the quickest and most cost-efficient way.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.