We hear our fair share of travel insurance horror stories. Yet sometimes the worst examples aren’t from happy-go-lucky holidaymakers who ignore the importance of travel insurance, but from those who thought they had adequate cover only to be caught out when they tried to claim. If you have a travel insurance deal bolted onto a banking package, there’s a chance you could be next.

Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen…

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2013 has whirred into action, time for everyone to catch up.

With the Christmas comedown from festive indulgences finally wearing off, we look ahead to a fresh new year of travel. Here are some of our staff’s holiday ambitions for 2013. Leave a comment and share yours too. They say going public is the best way to stick to your resolutions! (more…)

It’s the start of a new year and most travel blogs are busily sharing their predictions for 2013. But what lies beyond 2013? What does the future of travel look like? Here are some technological innovations that could bring a little sci-fi chic to your future getaways, as predicted by tech gurus Popular Mechanics. (more…)

Fan of the written word? Last month we kicked off our brand new travel writing competition. It’s called My World First and it runs from month to month. We’ve had some solid entries for December’s competition so far. But we’re still looking for a few more. So hurry! Get your entry in before 11.59pm on Saturday 31st December and you’ll be in the running to win a shiny new Kindle.

So what are we looking for? Well, we’d hate to restrict your creative freedom. You’re pretty much free to write about any of your travel experiences, whether they’re good, bad or ugly. All we ask is that your travel tale formed some kind of first for you (My World First – get it?). Do that and your good to go. What are you waiting for?

>> Find out how to enter.

To spark your inspiration here’s the piece that was runner-up in last month’s competition, written by Cameron Morice from Reading.

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Welcome to another World First Wander, a regular rundown of the travel blogosphere’s best new posts – as spotted by our social media man, Tristan Rothwell. It’s a super speedy way to stay on top of the latest and greatest stories in the travel world. So grab a coffee, get comfy and get reading.

Take it away, Tristan!

Greetings travellers!

It’s time for another World First Wander – your one stop shop for what’s hot in the world of travel. There have been some great travel posts and articles appearing across the internet recently and I wanted to share a few of my favourites with you.

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Last month we launched our brand new travel writing competition, My World First. We had no idea it would receive such a positive response and we are absolutely thrilled with the entries that were sent in. A huge thank you to everyone who took part. But who was the winner?

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Christmas in the UK isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Top of some people’s Christmas list is heading to one of Europe’s most fantastically festive cities and soaking up the yuletide spirit of starry-skied, mulled wine scented outdoor Christmas markets. Others crave a chance to escape from the cold, commercialised Christmas of the UK while taking it easy somewhere nice and hot for a week or so.

If you’re one of the thousands of Britons jetting off this Christmas, you’ll have probably started a mental checklist of things to remember. After all, forgetting the presents would be a nightmare! But forgetting the travel insurance could be even worse. Here’s why.

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This Wednesday (30th November), thousands of UK Border Agency (UKBA) staff will be absent from the UK’s ports and airports as part of a nationwide public sector strike. With 60,000 travellers passing through immigration each day at Heathrow alone, it’s hard to overstate the scale of disruption that looks set to be caused. What happens if you are affected? Can you seek compensation? What’s covered by your travel insurance?

Here’s some help and advice.

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At World First we take the medical benefits of our travel insurance very seriously. Every single one of our customers receives £5 million worth of cover for medical costs. That covers treatment, replacing medication and repatriation to the UK if you need to be treated here.

You might think £5 million sounds like a lot.

It is. But we don’t want to risk our customers getting caught out. The cost of foreign medical care can very rapidly get out of control. Way out of control. And if you haven’t got travel insurance cover, you’ll have to find a way to pay the costs yourself. Not having a policy is not an excuse.

Take a look at this short viral from the Foreign Office. Could you afford to lose out in the same position?

To see what other policy benefits you get with World First, or to get a quick online quote visit www.world-first.co.uk.

Want to comment on this post? Got something to say? Get in touch.

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We’ve had some really amazing entries for this month’s My World First competition. There have been tales of camel kissing, AK47s, communist countries, ice hotels, the Amazon, a kiss from Olly Murs, stolen underwear and a fling with a diving instructor. And that’s just the start! The best news is that there’s still time to enter and give yourself the chance of winning a Kindle.

As you might have guessed, the theme for our travel writing competition is world firsts. Get it? We want to hear about your first-time travel experiences. It could be anything you like. And judging by the entries we’ve already had, it probably will be! If it’s a first in your world then it’s one of your world firsts. Tell us about it. This blog post explains the rules and reveals just how easy it is to enter.

The winner of this month’s competition will receive a Kindle – or the equivalent value in Waterstone’s vouchers if they prefer. Viveca Koh won a Kindle in a previous World First competition and sent us this amazing photograph of her and her new toy at the ECVB powerstation in Belgium.

You can take a look at more of Viveca’s photography using these links:

Viveca Koh Photography

Viveca Koh Blog

Follow the hashtag #myworldfirst on Twitter. This month’s competition ends at 23:59 on 30th November.

Written by Tristan Rothwell

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