Latest news with #bankholidays
The Sun
20-05-2025
- The Sun
The little-known risk of extreme day trips to Europe that could leave you thousands out of pocket
EXTREME day trips are the latest travel trend, in a bid to save money on hotels. But the 'money-saving' travel trend could actually end up leaving you out of pocket. 2 According to Saga Travel Insurance, there are some hidden risks to 'extreme day trips'. One of the biggest concerns is that if trip doesn't has an overnight stay or lasts less than 24 hours, many travel insurance policies won't provide cover. Michelle Cooper, director of Travel Insurance at Saga, said: "We're seeing more people embrace extreme day trips: short, high-intensity trips where you fly out and back in the same day, especially around bank holidays. "But what many don't realise is not all travel insurance policies provide cover for trips under 24 hours or those without an overnight stay. " Travellers should take caution, as it's an easy detail to overlook and even whirlwind getaways come with risk - like flight delays, cancellations or medical emergencies. "In some cases, however, Saga may offer cover for independently booked flights or excursions if your extreme day trip is impacted. "Regardless, we always recommend checking your policy carefully before booking this kind of trip and being aware of the risk." If you are caught in a situation where you need medical attention, but have no travel insurance, you could be left out of pocket by having to pay emergency medical bills. This could be hundreds of pounds, if not thousands. Brits are also slow to purchase their travel insurance. Around 16 per cent of British holidaymakers don't buy travel insurance for holidays abroad at all and up to 40 per cent buy a last-minute policy - risking being out of pocket and without a holiday. Only a third of holidaymakers buy travel insurance at the right time according to Michelle. Michelle said: "You'll never know how important travel insurance is unless you need to make a claim. "This could be before you go, if your trip must be cancelled because of an unexpected event, while you're away, if you're taken ill, or have an accident and need medical treatment, or even when you get back, if your baggage gets lost." According to Michelle, the best time to buy your travel insurance is right after you've booked a holiday. Michelle continued: "Protecting your plans in the run-up to your holiday is just as important as when you're there. 'We recommend getting a policy that includes cancellation cover so you're protected if you can't go due to illness or there's an unexpected turn of events, like your accommodation cancels your booking." She also warned that some providers might not let you make a claim in the first 24 or 48 hours of taking out a policy. So if you need to make a claim on the first couple of days of your holiday, but only bought it the day before you travel - you wouldn't be covered. For the five per cent who purchase travel insurance during their holiday, Michelle said: "It still might not be too late once you've arrived at your destination. "Some providers sell 'post-departure insurance', but this could come at a premium and with certain limitations. "It won't cover you for anything that might have gone wrong already, but it may prove valuable later in your trip." She also reminded that it is important to declare pre-existing medical conditions. One woman took 13 trips abroad last year for less than £3,000 and didn't use a single day of annual leave. Plus, a mother left kids at home and went to Africa for the DAY for £51 – it was cheaper than a spa and was the ultimate self-care birthday treat. 2
The Guardian
11-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Our bank holidays could do with zhuzhing up – we need a get-your-shit-together day!
I'm not being deliberately contrarian – I am a person of peace – but I've decided bank holidays are rubbish. They are on my mind because May is peak season for them, but also because handsome and intelligent President Trump (listen, my son is moving to the US this summer and it would be nice to visit occasionally) has recently announced two new public holidays. Not that he wants anyone to take time off for them, of course. Inspired by this blue-sky stable genius thinking, I think we should do something radically better with ours. Because the current Monday bank holiday system is unfit for purpose. The last one was, I think we can agree, dismal: pewter-skied and joyless, fit only for a trudge around B&Q and an abandoned barbecue followed by a listless sofa double-screening. The problem, on top of unpredictable weather, is the absence of surprise and spontaneity. We know when bank holidays are, so we 'spend' them pre-emptively, imagining how much fun we will have and how many cool projects we'll smash through. Reality inevitably disappoints, with inertia-induced self-loathing, rain, familial irritations and nagging Fomo. But what if you didn't know when bank holidays were coming? Imagine the thrill of one announced at 7.30am on the day itself – a nicer use, perhaps, for that emergency alert they have put on our phones. It would be the adult equivalent of the teacher rolling out the TV on the trolley when you were expecting double maths. This presents some logistical challenges (for a start, we can't leave something this important to government: I suggest a citizen assembly, jury service style, to thrash out whether sporting triumphs or the first swift merit one). But wouldn't it be worth the organisational effort for the national morale boost? Here are five days off I think should be sprung on us, ad hoc. Low-stakes news-drama day Occasionally, the news cycle makes it impossible to work, but in a fun, not deeply traumatic way (think Wagatha Christie, that day when almost everyone in Boris Johnson's cabinet resigned, or the Oscar Slap) and the state should submit to the inevitable and grant us a day off. How you celebrate – convene a debate coven, go deep into subreddits or fulminate about the coarsening of public discourse – is up to you. Technical note: if no LSNDD has been declared in the two months preceding the Oscars, we get to watch the coverage live without worrying about work the next day. Spring/summer/autumn/winter day Each season brings at least one glorious day when work feels unnatural and unjust. Golden autumnal ones, soundtracked by the rustle of kicked-up leaves. Snow! The first spring day when it is warm enough to sit out without a coat, watching everything unfurl. Heatwave day, for languorously lizarding (before everything smells like bins and the office AC becomes appealing). With Met Office assistance, the citizen assembly could grant us one perfect day each season to become our happiest, most basic animal selves. Get-your-shit-together day We need a number of these annually: one for general life admin, one for pre-summer physical maintenance (imagine the public transport pain and personal shame we would all be spared) and one before each of the major gift-giving festivities. This would be genuinely life-changing for me, a person perpetually ambushed by the passage of time. National treasure mourning day I think I speak for the entire nation in saying that if Bob Mortimer, Kathy Burke or Judi Dench go before us, we will want a state-sanctioned downing of tools. A friend banned me from mentioning the other name we're all thinking of ('You'll jinx him!') but we'll need to be with loved ones when the time comes. Stop all the clocks, mute all the Slacks. Vibe's-off day The emergency alert on your phone sounds with a message to turn on the TV. A lectern is dragged into Downing Street and Keir Starmer emerges, face grave as a tombstone. 'This morning the citizen assembly has alerted me: we have had a rough night, none of our clothes look good, and we are, as a nation, 'not feeling it'. I must give the British people a very simple instruction: you must stay at home, jammies on.' Yes, there would be shades of Covid, but hopefully in a healing way. Let's make it happen. Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist
