Tuesday 7 April 2015

Making Travel Easier

Our Public Affairs team at the Trust are looking at how people with cystic fibrosis are affected when travelling and in particularly when getting travel insurance to go abroad. Lynsey Beswick, Public Affairs Officer for England, talks more about our work and how CF affects people like her. 

It’s Easter holidays and a time when many people will taken the opportunity to dig out their passport and air those beach towels in preparation for a holiday break. Most people take for granted the ease with which they jump on a plane and fly to far away shores.

However, for many people with cystic fibrosis, myself included, this is not always the case. Finding travel insurance can be a daunting task: insurance cover can be hard to find, the questions are not always relevant and quotes can be ridiculously expensive. 

Then there are the additional costs to consider. Most airlines require a fit to fly test and will charge for oxygen during flights. With numerous medications, travelling light is not an option and extra baggage is required incurring additional charges. 

The Cystic Fibrosis Trust is on a mission to reduce these barriers and make it easier for people with cystic fibrosis and their families to travel. 

We believe it is wrong that it can take hours to find appropriate travel insurance and people with cystic fibrosis often have no choice but premiums that cost hundreds of pounds. As a result many people are forced to travel without insurance or even stay at home. 

The Trust aims to ensure that the industry must have a better understanding of the condition. We have been working with travel insurance companies to help develop a new model of risk specifically for cystic fibrosis, but we need your help to make sure we get it right. 

 If you have cystic fibrosis or are a parent of a child with CF, we are keen to hear from you. Please help us by sharing your experience of travel insurance through our short online survey

Over the coming months we will also be challenging the airlines and improving the information we provide to make it easier for you to travel. We firmly believe that everyone deserves a holiday, especially people with cystic fibrosis and their families.

If you would like to be further involved with our travel campaign, as well as completing our survey you can also contact me directly at lynsey.beswick@cysticfibrosis.org.uk.

1 comment:

  1. Really great work of your team! I have also gotten some awesome tips that are helpful.
    guys trips

    ReplyDelete