Africa Travel » Travel Agent

El Cid Vacation Clubs

admin — Thu, 13 May 2010 21:32:45 +0000

If you are like us and are in connected charge for a de-stressing from all your distress, accede accepting an El Cid Vacations Clubs (ECVC) membership appropriate away. I am abiding you accept heard of vacation club memberships and time-sharing and the like. But how do these things absolutely work? And what are the advantages of accepting memberships to these clubs if you can just book a hotel through your travel agent anyway?

Let me activate by adage that getting a affiliate of the ECVC will baptize you to a assertive amount of credibility every year. The amount of credibility you are accustomed will depend on the associates amalgamation you choose. You can use these credibility for your next vacation as the club lets you use them for your accommodations, either in a auberge or their resort condominiums, even tickets, cruise packages, car rentals and their “Experiential Vacation” packages.

Do not anguish about getting clumsy to use up your credibility that you are accustomed for the year. They are communicable for the next year. Also, should you acquisition yourself abbreviate of credibility for this year, you can as well hire credibility so that you can get the vacation amalgamation you want.

By acceptable a affiliate of our vacation club, you are given advanced reservation priority to any El Cid Resort in the world. You will as well be accustomed centralized admission to best Wyndham Resorts by advantage of their barter affairs with the club. You are automatically enrolled in RCI (a worldwide exchange company) giving you the advantage to use any of the 4000 affiliated resorts. There are as well assorted added resorts about the apple wherein ECVC has barter programs with, including Cruise and Experiential Vacations which cover Golf Clinics, Safaris and abounding more.

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Affordable Travel Insurance

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:03:06 +0000

With this you can make your trips safer. If you are setting out for your trip and planning to do a lot, then ensure your future plans with travel insurance. It will give you coverage necessary to deal with unforeseen situations that may occur while you travel. This is certainly useful, but not all of travelers have enough money to afford it.

With affordable travel insurance, you can spend your money with care, as it is affordable even to those with tight budget. It is available for a lower rate, but the coverage is not the same in some cases. For this reason, it is essential that you carefully look through the coverage offered by a package. Generally, this type of insurance doesn’t cover your whole travel costs; it covers only a part of it. However it is still better than nothing.

Approximately, you can get affordable insurance for about 3 per cent of the cost of your trip. In comparison with paying 5 per cent of the cost for traditional travel insurance. If you are purchasing your travel package online or if you are consulting with a travel agent you will find better prices for it than if you seek for it by yourself.

Affordable travel insurance doesn’t essentially mean that the quality is lower and is not similar to traditional travel policies. Travel agencies realize that most individuals do not look at it as a need. They have also worked out that if they offer it at an affordable cost than their rivalry it can be a key feature for some individuals to make their choice in favor of them.

When purchasing affordable insurance, remember to compare prices. As well as this, make comparison of the coverage offered by several companies. It is important to get clear information about everything you are interested in; if you do not understand even a single issue then you can ask any question to the insurer that comes into your mind.

Certainly you never know when an unforeseen occasion, like illness or some other health problems, will cause you to call off your travel plans. And that can really get a thing of disappointment without having travel insurance, as it makes everything easier. In this case the insurer will help you to postpone it or will give you a compensation for it. Even though if you can just manage to pay for affordable insurance, you will get a partly reimbursement and you can use that money on the purpose of rearranging your travel plans.

By: David Hunter

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The Pros And Cons Of Travel Insurance

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 22:35:25 +0000

The prospect of travelling abroad on holiday is an exciting one. We all look forward to a trip overseas, to experiencing new cultures, new food, new sights and talking to people loudly but slowly, while gesturing wildly as we try to find our way to the nearest public loo. But its not all fun and games, there are some serious aspects that have to be considered before we leave for that holiday of a lifetime. One of the most important questions is whether or not we should buy travel insurance and the answer to that is a resounding yes. To not buy travel insurance would be like a fire-fighter walking into a burning building without his or her fireproof overall, hat and oxygen, in other words, not well prepared. The question that naturally follows on the first is: what kind of travel insurance should I get? That answer is not as simple as the first and depends on where you’re going, what you will be doing and your general health.

There are some things that your travel insurance will not cover. It is important that you ask a lot of questions of the people from whom you are buying your insurance and that you read the fine print. Remember that you do not have to buy your travel insurance from your travel agent; no matter how much pressure they put on you. You can shop around until you find someone who provides you with a service that meets your needs.

Some of the things that you won’t be covered for include:

1) bad weather, just because your holiday was ruined due to rain or heavy winds or dust storms does not mean that you are entitled to an insurance pay out. Weather constitutes one of the risks that you take when you choose the dates and destination of your holiday.

2) If you change your mind insurance companies don’t reimburse you either. Insurance companies don’t feel that being fickle natured is a sufficient reason for them to make a payment.

3) War, although apparently some policies have an “Acts of Terrorism” clause, which will reimburse you if you miss or are delayed in getting to your origination or destination due to acts of terrorism. Isn’t that comforting, “Sorry you were held up at gunpoint for 5 days and nearly blown up by a nuclear bomb, don’t worry, we’ll fully reimburse you for your late flight.” At least some people still care, right?

4) You won’t be covered for nervous or psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, neurosis, psychosis etc. They never cover the crazy people, if you’re nuts you’re on your own. Except that in the case of travel insurance they also don’t cover

5) Pre-existing medical conditions, unless you have been symptom free for an unspecified period of time. These are known as the cons of travel insurance, they are not good things. The act of terrorism thing pretty much summed it up.

The pros of travel insurance, and there are several of those in case you were starting to get depressed about the whole issue include:

1) being covered for lost or delayed luggage. This means that if they lose your luggage, which is a bummer and sucks because you probably packed all your favourite things and even bought new things for the trip, they will reimburse you and you can go out and buy a lot of new stuff to replace everything that you lost. It’s a brand new wardrobe.

2) You are covered for lost and stolen belongings, although there may be some limits on cash and individual item, this is where it pays to read your fine print.

3) In the case of unforeseen medical emergencies you’ll be covered for hospital and medical treatment, which, when that emergency occurs, will be a huge relief.

4) Holiday cancellation for valid reasons such as you being too sick to travel or a family death. No fickle mind changing. Cover for delays on departure, usually only if they’re more than 12 hours, and usually not for delays en route. Read your fine print.

5) If you have to cut your holiday short due to an unforeseen medical emergency or something similar, some policies may pay out.

6) If you are going to be taking part in dangerous activities like skiing or diving then you should take out specialist coverage in order to be covered and then there should be no problem if you need to be paid out.

7) Most insurance policies have a 24-hour help line that provides legal and medical assistance.

If you’re unsure of which company to go with or which policy to go for, ask yourself the following questions:

1) what’s the level of cover for the different types of claims?

2) What’s the policy excess for different types of claims?

3) What’re the policy exclusions?

4) Are you covered for hazardous pursuits?

5) Are you covered if you cancel your holiday and under what circumstances?

6) Does the medical cover include the costs of transporting you back to your home country?

7) In the US, medical bills are higher, is the level of medical cover sufficient for travelling there?

What’re your personal possessions and cash covered up to? Do you need to cover expensive items like video cameras separately?

9) Do they have a 24-hour help line?

Travel insurance is vital if you’re going to travel anywhere abroad. Anything could happen at any time and it is always better to be prepared for any emergency than to be caught short. Include travel insurance as part of your travel budget and don’t begrudge it. It could just save your life.

By: Sandy Cosser

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Should I Purchase Travel Insurance?

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:27:59 +0000

To purchase or not to purchase travel insurance, that is the question. If you have done some research or talked to a travel agent, you might have been told that insurance is absolutely necessary. After all, you have put a lot of money into airfare and booking your hotel. But does that mean you need to spend more on insurance?

Travel insurance was created to make sure your money is refunded should something go wrong at the last second. This includes many circumstances that would prevent you from traveling, like illness or a flight being canceled due to inclimate weather. If your plans are put on hold, at least you will get your money back. But there are ways this insurance can help you while you are on vacation as well.

When taking travel tours abroad, check and see if your normal health insurance will cover you in a foreign country. Often, plans either do not cover you, or are just not accepted abroad. Should this be the case for you, then invest in travel insurance. This way, you are sure to be covered if you need medical attention while on vacation.

Unfortunately, travelers these days need to be aware of terrorism when they travel abroad. Should terrorist activity occur where you are about to vacation, your airline is not necessarily required to refund the cost of your ticket. However, if you have travel insurance, you will be covered.

Flight cancellation is another eventuality covered by travel insurance. Any number of things could prevent you from leaving the ground. You might have scheduled your vacation during the worst snow storm in twenty years, or maybe you airline just goes out of business. Travel insurance protects the money you have invested in your ticket. Perhaps circumstances in your life prevent you from taking advantage of vacation deals. Should somebody in your family die or become ill, you can cancel your plans without penalty. Whatever may happen to prevent you from leaving, you are covered.

If you loose your luggage, you will also be covered by travel insurance. Usually, the baggage is returned by the airline; though, sometimes, it is simply misplaced and never found. Or, your luggage might be returned with items missing. Travel insurance gives you the money to replace anything that can’t be found so you can enjoy your trip as planned.

When deciding on a specific insurance company, it is a good idea to research your options before choosing. Different plans work best for specific vacations. Perhaps you are not buying a plane ticket, but taking a cruise. If you travel often for business or pleasure, you can even purchase a policy that covers you for extended periods of time. These plans save you the hassle of buying a policy for each individual trip. Ask questions before you make a final decision to be sure that you are getting all the coverage you need. You wouldn’t want to insure yourself, only to find that your particular vacation disaster is not covered under your policy.

By: Jerry A. Blackburn

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Kenya Tanzania Uganda Tour operators & Travel Agents

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:45:43 +0000

Selecting a tour agent or safari operator in Kenya Uganda Tanzania out of the many is very difficult let alone where to travel and which travel package is budget friendly luckily you can profit from specialized information of previous Africa safari travelers and the feedback they have given. By using the procedure below you can select the best safari company and tour agency for your travel needs in East Africa.

The knowledge by travelers through African safari trip reports, safari articles, forums, blogs as well as Kenya tourism board, Tanzania safari board, Uganda safari association helps narrow the vast number of Africa safari companies and travel agents to a list of dependable tour operators in Africa.

Selecting A Trustworthy Safari Company and Tour Operator

Thinking of a Kenya Tanzania Uganda Zanzibar Safari, these guiding principles should assist travelers judge a genuine travel agent or con travel

Travelers should know that the Tour operator and travel agent have different roles in planning an African safari; however both have an influence in the success of your planning your safari in Africa.

If you have chosen a safari itinerary from a travel agent that you have dealt with and trust, always ask the travel agent who the safari ground handler operator is for the tour. This is because most travel agencies in Africa don’t operate safari vehicles of their own and only sell tickets.

Both the safari operator and travel agent should have a good reputation, come highly recommended and have driver guides with fine character

Ask the travel agent or tour operator for details of one or two of their previous travelers and ask the travelers directly what are their thoughts of the said tour operator or travel agents.

Do their recommendations march up? Safari association membership isn’t a fool-proof gauge of finding top safari companies us most tour and safari association membership is based on annual subscription as opposed to merits.

What are their payment policies? Genuine Safari companies operate on a 30% deposit and balance on arrival. Genuine Africa travel agents and tour operators should be open with their cancellation policy. Travel agents and the safari operators should be superb, not only during the email correspondences and planning stages of your safari, but also during the tour

Do the tour operators or travel agents members of staff come highly qualified? Do they run an actual office with a physical address? As it is with the increase in tourism, there are many tour operators who only have a website with no offices and only operate from cyber cafes

Well maintained safari vehicles are important as well is the number of travelers reserved per vehicle. Ideally each passenger should have a window seat and a normal safari vehicle is licensed to carry between seven to eight. Emergency equipment should be kept on the vehicle, for example a fire extinguisher and spare wheels

By: Esther Muthoni

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