My Travel Nightmare: Didn’t Get What I Paid For

When we talk about traveling, the first associations that the most of the people have are long, sandy beaches, sunshine, clear mountain air with unspoiled greenery or a capital city full of interesting sites. For many people, a travel represents a synonym for freedom, for new experiences, for adrenaline, for socializing and entertainment, for the things that we always look forward to, regardless of whether we travel once a year or whether traveling is a part of our lifestyle. With your passport in your hand and your suitcases packed a new adventure is guaranteed!

However, each rule has its exceptions. Newspaper articles, travel portals and forums are full of the most extraordinary experiences of travelers, that are not necessarily positive. Some of them are so exceptionally bad that they almost seem impossible and are listed in ‘believe it or not’ section. Besides the possible bad memories, the most common trauma usually comes from the situation on a bank account.

Travel insurance — a reliable guardian of your budget

In most cases, the damage could have been prevented very easily — by purchasing a travel insurance policy. Going on a business trip or traveling to a tourist destination without a travel insurance, implies a certain risk. Things go very easy the way we didn’t plan.

That’s what statistics say. All the unpredictable situations, such as a sudden illness that requires expensive medical procedures, a theft or a loss of personal documents and luggage, cancellation of the journey in the last moment … you can easily prevent all of those things by simply purchasing a policy of travel insurance and going on a trip in peace afterwards.

Of course, you need to be careful and choose wisely a reliable insurance policy, so that you would really get what they say you’re paying for. Reading the text written in a small font in a contract is mandatory, so that you wouldn’t become the person described in columns, in newspapers or on an internet portal telling all about your journey that has turned out to be a nightmare.

On the other hand, there are certain cases that cannot be fixed even by the best and the most expensive travel insurance policies, such as possible failures of the travel organizers, of the travel agencies or hotels. Take a look at some of the most interesting occurrences that the people taking part in won’t probably ever forget. If nothing else, you will be more careful when planning your next trip.

A trip — an adventure or a horror story

Most of the stories in which the journey turned into a nightmare are about how tourists were deceived by false pictures of accommodation that they booked through some of the famous websites. The problem becomes even more serious if they have optimistically traveled to some of the “less developed” countries where one cannot get adequate legal protection.

Lately, the Airbnb website is increasingly popular. It offers tourists a slightly different offer from similar sites. It’s a more advanced version of the “Couch-surfing” that connect travelers with people who want to share their space and to socialize. Here, you can rent a house, an apartment, a boat or a tree house. But still, the experiences are divided and there are more and more of those that have got low recommendations. One of the most interesting cases are the tourists who booked a villa apartment in Puerto Rico, at a great location. Or at least they thought so until they got a modest little room, without a bathroom, and the shower was situated in the backyard, behind a curtain. They paid a significant sum of money which they never got back.

It often happens that the things you get in the end are not even close to the things you thought you paid for. All of the sudden, all the included excursions are out of the offer, the travel program is completely different, and the accommodation is nothing like the one from the luxurious images on the flyers.

The only way to avoid becoming one of those people who experienced such unpleasant occurrences is to be well organized and to inform yourself about every detail. Tourist forums are a true mine of useful information that should be trusted more than the websites of the most popular tourist organizations.