Have you switched on the television recently? It’s almost impossible to make it through the day without seeing an advert for a price comparison website. Perhaps that explains why more and more people are using them…

Recent statistics suggest that around 45% of people now begin their search for travel insurance on a price comparison website. 17% of those then go on to purchase their policy through one of these ‘web aggregators’.

So do these price comparison websites actually save you money? Can they really help you search out the best policy? Let’s take a look.

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Everyone dreams of their perfect holiday. But sometimes it’s hard to know where to start to make sure your getaway is the memorable and enjoyable break it should be. In this guest post, renowned luxury travel blogger Ana Silva O’Reilly from mrsoaroundtheworld.com reveals her top travel tips for hassle-free holidays. As she explains, sometimes preparing the best getaways means beginning the planning long before your plane is due to start thundering down the runway.

When it comes to travelling, I seriously do not consider myself to be a risk taker. I like my holidays. I like them a lot – and I will pretty much do everything I can to ensure I make the most of them.

Being organised could be one of my best personality traits. I say “could be” as sometimes it doesn’t work brilliantly – but more about that later!

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A lost or stolen passport on holiday can really make you panic. But try to stay calm. Follow these steps and you’ll be able to get back safe and sound, wherever you are.

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Welcome to the World Travel Insurance review: a monthly look at our average customer rating and a summary of some of the feedback we have received.

Whenever a customer takes out a new policy with us, we ask them to rate their overall experience of our service out of 10 – 10 being the best. Feedback was received from almost 100 people for the month of January. The average rating was just above nine out of 10. That’s the third month in a row we’ve scored above nine!

As well as asking for a rating of our service, we encourage comments and ask our customers if there’s anything they think we could do better. We’ve received some fantastic ideas since November and have already begun putting some of them into practice. For example, we’re currently creating a database that enables quotes to be saved online. We’re adding more medical conditions to our online screening process too.

Here’s an update on the latest developments from World First’s Managing Partner, Martin Rothwell.

“Some of the areas we are working on are taking time to develop, but they are well underway. We have also made a commitment to improving other areas of the business, not just online. All of our customer services team are taking part in a new style of customer service training which includes life coaching, mentoring and personal development.

“We really care about our customers and our employees and the way in which our customer services team interacts with our customers is paramount. I am confident that our investment in training and personal development will help us grow and maintain our high feedback scores.”

Want to have your say on our service? Take our customer survey now. Alternatively, you can email Martin Rothwell on martin@world-first.co.uk.

This month’s travel writing competition was another close one to call. But then again we didn’t expect anything else.  Since we launched My World First back in November we’ve been wowed by the writing you’ve sent us. There’s no shortage of material either, which touches every base from fiercely descriptive accounts of your favourite destinations to hilarious anecdotes of travelling troubles and holiday horrors.

Last month, Amy Waring tied our stomachs in knots with a turbulent account of her first flight (in a thunderstorm), before Louise Morrish battled seasickness with the rest of her family on their first visit to France. Meanwhile, David Ross was on top of the world when he cruised around the summit of Everest in a light aircraft, while Lauren Armstrong fell from the heavens in New Zealand on her first skydive.

Love was in the air too. Well, sort of. Jennifer Guertin offered a hilarious account of her Las Vegas wedding and Barnaby Davies got friendly – very friendly – with one of the local ladies during his first trip to Brazil. We were also given a hefty sprinkling of culture as Susan Johnson met an explosion of colour when she visited Beijing for the time during the Chinese New Year celebrations, while Mandy Huggins fell in love with the timeless city of Istanbul.

Thank you to everyone who entered. It’s testament to the standard of writing that the judges had no unanimous favourite. But the votes have been counted and we have a winner! And bagging herself a Kindle this month is Julia Hammond from Rayleigh in Essex. You can read Julia’s entry below. We’ll publish the runner-up next week.

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Today is Valentine’s Day: a whole day devoted to the celebration of love and romance. But when the pressure to impress is on, sometimes a little inspiration can go a long way. Step forward, Cupid! This winged legend of love has been filling hearts with desire since the days of Greek mythology.

As travel insurers, we’re fully aware that people’s jobs can take them all over the world. But don’t think you’ll catch Cupid at an airport. He can fly! Just as well too, because we’re willing to bet that he’d probably have a few issues getting his arrows through security as hand luggage. And have you ever seen Cupid with a suitcase? Exactly.

Here are some of the most likely places to find him.

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If you’re living with a medical condition then you’ll know how important it is to find good travel insurance before jetting off on holiday. But sometimes that’s easier said than done. In this post, we’ll show you how we’re shunning industry norms in favour of a fairer service. And we’ll explain how our newly expanded insurance thresholds make insuring a medical condition quick, easy and affordable.

Travelling with a medical condition? We can help.

When it comes to the trip of a lifetime, nothing should hold you back. That includes travel insurance. But if you’re living with a medical condition, you might have found that getting good travel insurance can be difficult. Some insurers add huge mark-ups to their premiums, while others might simply turn you away. We’re different.

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The current violence in the streets of Greece is well documented. But where do you stand with your travel insurance if you are caught up in the unrest? What if you are due to be flying out to Greece in the coming days? Here’s the latest advice.

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Most travellers know the importance of declaring serious medical conditions when taking out a travel insurance policy. But as travel insurance specialists, we’re often asked whether minor conditions need to be declared too. Questions about eczema in particular come up a lot. Many travellers are extremely surprised when they hear elsewhere that they should declare it.

So should you declare eczema? Is it really necessary? Here’s our advice, which is worth keeping in mind for other minor medical conditions too.

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The snow caused a flurry of travel chaos across the UK at the weekend. Icy driving conditions caused dozens of traffic accidents and there were problems at Heathrow Airport too, despite reports that their snow contingency plans had worked better than in recent years.

>> Snow-fly zone: What to do if extreme weather disrupts your flight plans

Heathrow have invested £30 million in new snow-clearing machinery since last year’s freeze. But the airport was still only running around 58% of scheduled flights as normal, resulting in disruptions and diversions for thousands of travellers.

Last year we wrote a blog post about what your rights are regarding compensation if the snow disrupts your travel plans. It was one of our highest read posts ever. The information and advice we give in that post still applies now. So take a look and make sure you know where stand when snow strikes.

>> Snow-fly zone: What to do if extreme weather disrupts your flight plans