Tommy has over 15 years experience within the insurance industry, and his primary focus is helping travellers find the right cover for their medical conditions.
Planning a holiday involves more decisions than most people expect. Long before you set foot on the plane, you've already chosen your destination, packed (and repacked) your suitcase, and spent a suspicious amount of time looking at Google Maps Street View of your hotel. Then the airport itself arrives — and with it, a whole new set of choices.
Some of these decisions spark genuine debate, while others have been argued over in households for decades with no clear winner. But there's one travel decision that doesn't need to be difficult at all — more on that shortly.
The "Five Hours Early" Traveller vs The Last-Minute Runner
You know both types. You might be one of them.
The early arriver is already at the gate with a coffee, a newspaper, and a calm that only comes from knowing — for an absolute fact — that they are not going to miss this flight. They've checked in online. They've checked in again just to be sure. Their bag has been within arm's reach since 6 am.
The last-minute runner, meanwhile, is somewhere on the motorway at T-minus 45 minutes, absolutely convinced they'll make it. And often, they do. The system, somehow, rewards their confidence.
Most couples contain one of each. This is, in fact, what keeps relationships interesting.
READ MORE: Our Guide to Stress-Free Airport Check-in
Window Seat vs Aisle Seat
A deeply personal question, and one that reveals quite a lot about a person.
Window seat people want the view. They want to watch the ground fall away on take-off, identify landmarks through the clouds, and have somewhere to rest their head on long-haul flights. They accept that accessing the overhead locker requires asking two people to shuffle awkwardly into the aisle.
Aisle seat people value freedom. They can stand up when they like. They can stretch. They can make their way to the bathroom without performing a kind of crouched, apologetic crab-walk past sleeping strangers.
And then there's the middle seat. Nobody is choosing the middle seat. The middle seat is simply what happens to you.
Airport Coffee vs Airport Pint
For many travellers, the moment you pass through security marks a kind of psychological shift. You're officially on holiday — or at least, you're close enough to start pretending.
This is where the debate begins. The coffee drinkers arrive at the airport, order something hot, and settle in with a book or a podcast. The pint drinkers have decided that 7:45 am is a perfectly acceptable time for a lager. They’ll tell you "it's after five somewhere" or "time zones don't exist in an airport". And honestly? It’s a good argument.
Then there are those who manage both, which is perhaps the most ambitious approach of all.
Pack Light vs Pack Everything "Just in Case"
The minimalist packs one carry-on bag for a fortnight in Greece and somehow looks perfectly put-together throughout. They know which items are multi-purpose. They've done a test pack. They have a system.
The over-packer has also done a test pack. It did not help. They started with just a carry-on bag, which has been upgraded to a full-size suitcase and a carry-on. Their to pack list now also contains three "just in case" jumpers, shoes for four different occasions, a travel umbrella, a full-size bottle of conditioner (purchased despite knowing full well they won't be bringing it home with them), and a full size first aid kit, with a selection of pain killers, plasters and anti-septic creams, so comprehensive it could cover several fellow passengers if needed.
Both approaches work. The minimalist will tell you theirs works better. The over-packer will point out that they have sun cream, and now everyone does.
READ MORE: How to Pack Your Suitcase Like a Pro
Printed Documents vs Phone Only
Some travellers arrive with a folder. A physical folder, with printed boarding passes, hotel confirmations, car hire details, and — in the most prepared cases — a printed itinerary organised by day. It sounds excessive. It is also, when a phone battery dies at check-in, an act of genius.
Others rely entirely on their phones. Everything is in an app. The boarding pass is in the Apple Wallet. The hotel confirmation is in an email from eight months ago, which will definitely be findable when the time comes.
Both approaches seem foolproof, until they're not. The physical-folder traveller is often the one you see frantically emptying their carry-on to find a passport that’s escaped the folder's safety.
Meanwhile, the phone-only traveller is the one holding up the queue, knowing their phone has just faded to black, with no charge. You can spot them by the look of pure panic creeping across their face.
One Travel Decision That Shouldn't Be Difficult at All
Here's the thing. Most of the decisions above come down to personal preference. There's no universally correct answer to the window-versus-aisle debate. Whether you arrive at the airport at dawn or sprint through departures at the last possible moment is, ultimately, your call.
But travel insurance? That one really is straightforward — even if it doesn't always feel that way.
Trips abroad can go wrong in ways that are difficult to predict. A medical emergency overseas can result in significant costs, since the NHS does not cover you when you're travelling abroad. A family illness before departure can mean having to cancel plans at short notice. Delays, lost luggage, and unexpected disruptions happen to careful, organised travellers just as often as anyone else.
READ MORE: Travel Insurance Types and Benefits
Travel insurance doesn't prevent these things from happening. What it does is make sure that if something does go wrong, you're not left managing the financial impact on top of everything else.
The key is getting cover in place early. When you buy travel insurance soon after booking your trip, your cancellation cover typically begins straight away — meaning you're protected from the moment you pay, not just once you're at the airport. If circumstances change before you even pack a bag, you're already covered.
READ MORE: When Should I Buy Travel Insurance?
The Holiday You've Planned Deserves the Right Protection
Some airport debates will never be resolved. The window seat versus aisle seat argument has been running for decades and will continue long after this article. The 5 am arrivals and the last-minute sprinters will never fully understand each other, and that's fine.
But sorting your travel insurance doesn't need to be a difficult decision — it just needs to be made. The right policy means that if something unexpected happens, you can focus on getting the help you need rather than worrying about what it might cost.
Ready to compare? Search and compare travel insurance quotes at Medical Travel Compared — including policies designed for people with pre-existing medical conditions. It takes just a few minutes, and it's one less thing to think about when you're trying to decide whether to go for the coffee or the pint.