Half of all Kiwi travellers faced travel disruption in 2023, with air travel responsible most of the time.

The Future of Travel report by Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI) revealed that 53 per cent of International travellers experienced cancellations, extreme weather events, and illness during their travels in 2023.

The most common issue was related to air travel. Almost one-third (30 per cent) of all international travellers faced flight delays and cancellations or lost luggage.

One doesn’t need to look hard to find stories of such struggles, from being stuck on a plane for five hours or waiting months for an airline refund, to flying around to world to rescue lost luggage or airline booking mistakes.

Weather was a less common issue, impacting 12 per cent of travellers, followed by illness, which disrupted 10 per cent.

Southern Cross Travel Insurance CEO Jo McCauley said it was a “fairly similar story” for domestic travellers.

Overall, 42 per cent of domestic travellers faced disruption and most issues were plane-related.

“Among all domestic travellers in the past 12 months, 21 per cent of cases have been airline related: lost luggage, flight delays or cancellations,” she said. This was followed by Covid, which impacted 11 per cent of travellers.

McCauley said this data aligned with SCTI’s claims. Most international travel claims were for ‘changes to journey’ followed by ‘medical and evacuation’ and ‘baggage and personal items’.

However, when comparing the claims by value (aka how much the person claimed), medical and evacuation were number one, closely followed by ‘changes to journey’.

This is likely because medical care or evacuation costs can be extremely high in a foreign country or an emergency.

In April 2023, a Kiwi visiting the US racked up a $1.3 million medical bill after they sustained a head injury during their trip and required emergency medical care. Since the traveller had travel insurance, their costs were paid by Southern Cross Travel Insurance.

However, they would have been left to pay the entire bill if they were partaking in a common travel pastime or particular activity that often voids travel insurance.

McCauley said 90 per cent of surveyed travellers said they purchased travel insurance for travel in 2023.

Commissioned by SCTI and conducted by YouGov in January 2024, The Future of Travel study asked 1023 Kiwis aged 18 years and older about their travel experiences and attitudes.