Imagine budgeting for your international trip to the minutest of details. Flight tickets, visa, passport, and hotel reservations. But on the day of the trip, the airline loses your baggage and you miss the connecting flight. While this isn’t an unheard-of situation, not everyone may be prepared for the consequences.
Saving for an international trip is just 50% of the work done. Over and above the basic costs, you may need to prepare for additional expenses such as flight delays, medical emergencies, and loss of baggage. That is where planning could come in handy. From insurance and emergency funds to forex cards, there is a list of financial decisions taken prior to the trip that might be useful.
Travel insurance is mandatory in the Schengen Area member countries (European Union), so you may not have to buy additional travel cover. However, for other travel destinations such as the UK, United States, and South East Asia, it could be beneficial to buy a separate travel cover with add-ons.
Extreme market volatility globally might impact the exchange rate in the destination country. Standard Chartered’s market insights could be a tool to get a glimpse into all such changes that impact your travel budget.
Exchange rate fluctuations between the Indian Rupee and the host country’s currency could make your trip budget go haywire. So it might be a good idea to set aside funds for local emergencies depending on the cost of living in the destination. For instance, the daily costs for a tourist in Switzerland could be higher than in Paris due to the mountainous terrain, and pricier food and transportation.
When planning an international trip, here are three essential products to consider:
Travel visas require individuals to show proof of sufficient funds for the entire duration of the trip. The visa is approved only after the submission of the relevant bank account statements to this effect. However, the immigration authorities typically expect travellers to carry additional cash to take care of emergencies. Apart from insurance, mutual funds are another source to accumulate adequate funds for travel. This could be advantageous, especially for travel to cities with a significantly higher cost of living such as Zurich, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tel Aviv.
Standard Chartered SC Invest could help you identify appropriate MFs to start a travel corpus. Open-ended MFs could be an option to consider because you can redeem the units whenever required.
A trip budgeted and designed in advance could be better than making a rushed plan at the last minute. Here, you could keep track of the changes in the visa fees and local expenses that could occur in the destination to bypass sudden tweaks to your travel budget.
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