Insurance companies warn Norwegians: “Plan ahead these Easter holidays”

Despite the pandemic being almost non-existent in Norway nowadays, several insurance companies have warned Norwegians that this is not always the case when traveling abroad. Get to the airport early, they warn, to avoid any mishaps these Easter holidays.

Always plan ahead when traveling abroad

With Norwegians’ travel appetite almost back to pre-pandemic levels – both Tui and Apollo report full planes southward bound this Easter – insurance companies have warned Norwegians that traveling is still not as smooth as it once was.

Andreas Bibow Handeland, Communications Director at If and European Travel Insurance, spoke of some of the unpreparedness of some customers when traveling from Norway abroad. He told NTB that the company receives “around 4,500 telephone calls to us every month, and many of these are about cancellations of travel as a result of the corona.”

He also noted that people calculate too little time to arrive at the airport – people often arrive at the airport an hour or so before the flight and assume things will be fine. Some customers, he said, “are not prepared for things not going as fast at the airport as they are used to, partly because everyone has to present documentation and possibly a corona passport.”

His advice for Norwegians traveling abroad these Easter holidays is simple: make good time. Hadeland explained that “if you calculate a good enough time according to the recommendations, the insurance company helps in the event of a delay, but if you have put in too little time yourself, you can not count on receiving compensation.”

There are still some countries with pandemic restrictions

Travel activity for Norwegians is almost back to pre-pandemic levels, according to Bjarne Rysstad, Communications Manager at Gjensidige Insurance Company. Rysstad said that the increase in travel activity is seen “especially in our injury statistics where there has been an increase in claims reports of over 80% since last year. Now it was unusually low last year, but it still gives an indication that we are now at a completely different level.”

Rysstad reminded all those traveling from Norway to “familiarize themselves with travel advice and local rules” which can be done on Reopen Europa or the UDI’s “Travel Ready” app.

Many countries that are popular with Norwegians still have some form of pandemic-related restrictions. In Thailand, there is still a mandatory 24-hour quarantine in a hotel room for all travelers regardless of departure country or vaccination status. Italy and Spain both require an electronic entry form and have a negative corona test or a valid corona passport. Sweden and Denmark have a similar situation to Norway with limited restrictions but many other European countries still require the wearing of face masks.

Rysstad noted that most travelers are more informed now than throughout the pandemic but it is always smart to have all the valid paperwork and to calculate extra time when going to the airport.

Source : © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayTravel

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