1 in 4 Fell Victim to Flight Delays of Over 2 Hours in 2018

With flight delays and cancellations having been a major bug-bear for holiday-goers in 2018, recent findings suggest that Irish people are finding themselves spending significant lengths of time stuck in airports across the globe.

According to a recent survey undertaken by AA Travel Insurance, over a quarter of Irish people had a flight delays by more than 2 hours in 2018 alone. Of the over 4,000 respondents to the survey, 18.97% stated that they had experienced a flight delay of over 2 hours on a single occasion. Meanwhile, a further 6.15% of respondents stated that they had experienced multiple flight delays of greater than 2 hours within the past year.

The survey also found that over 7% of us were forced to cancel a holiday at the last-minute in 2018, with 1.12% of those surveyed admitting to doing so on multiple occasions.

“Delays flights are a major inconvenience for many people travelling abroad and can easily put you in the awkward position of having to re-book connecting flights or amend accommodation bookings as a result of events outside of your control. However, in the grand scheme of things, it’s a relatively minor inconvenience in comparison to having to actually cancel your holiday because of personal or work-related issues,” Conor Faughnan, AA Director of Consumer Affairs stated. “Depending on how close to your departure date the issues arise, you could well be left on the hook for the costs of your flights and potentially the full cost of your accommodation depending on the hotel’s policy.

“When you think of how quickly that bill could add up, it only highlights how important having travel insurance in place is. Travel Insurance will provide you with cover if, for example, you are forced to cancel or curtail your trip due to illness, injury or the death of a close relative or travelling companion, which can help reduce the stress associated with having to cancel a holiday at the last minute.”

While the majority of Irish people appear to see the benefit of travel insurance, the AA’s survey found that 15% of people travelled abroad on at least one occasion without cover in place during the past 12 months. 8.62% of those surveyed stated that they went on holiday without travel insurance in place on one occasion in the past year, with a further 7.16% doing so on multiple occasions.

“Travel insurance is one of the cheapest forms of insurance available and, if you have an annual policy in place, actually becomes better value the more you travel abroad so going abroad without it is a significant risk,” Faughnan added. “For a small fee you can be covered for many of the nightmare holiday scenarios such as missed departure, holiday cancellation, emergency medical expenses, even the costs of replacing a stolen passport – all of which can come with significant additional financial burden and potentially ruin a holiday.”

Image Credit: xlibber. Used under CC licence.