More than just a number in a game of figures.

When serious illness strikes a family, apart from the stress of the illness itself, another major concern can be the relationship between employee and employer, but more about that further down in this particular blog. 

On a resonant note, if the person who is ill has paid up front for airline and hotel accommodation, unless one has travel insurance in the back pocket, one tends to be goosed. 

 

Navan Travel, exceptional customer service. 

 

The latter has happened to me. My travel insurance had lapsed 2 weeks before I got sick. My next trip overseas  was not till mid December, so in my own mind, it made sense to renew just before then, any sooner and I'm renewing early, any later,  I'm abroad with no insurance cover. It never dawned on me that this insurance cover might be needed BEFORE I leave the country. I had a mental picture of needing it only when away.. the 'Travel' part of Travel Insurance, that was my mental perception. Inevitably, I had no choice but to cancel my seat in the mid December plan. 

I can't go into much detail about this now and I'll explain after the travel date why, so please DO NOT guess, comment, divulge or allude to it either here, on my social media pages or by iMessage, the latter is mirrored on a different iOS device. With no travel insurance I stood to lose a significant amount of money, in excess of €1,500. 

I won't go into the percise detail, but the Travel Agent in question was approached and simply given the facts as to why I had to cancel and could there be anything done in salvaging any part of my fully paid up amount. 

I got back a very substantial amount in a refund cheque that arrived the morning after the question was asked. 

It's business's and business people like this that need to be recognised. So in that respect, I salute Navan Travel http://www.travalue.ie/ and the principe involved, it's director, Martin Skelly. Thank You Sir. 

Just to further explain, it's not that I am 'too sick' to travel:

Let's knock that rumour on the head before it too grows legs and walks !!

Anybody on chemotherapy will have a low white blood cell count. White blood cells are a very important part to the bodies immune system. This means I am very susceptible to picking up other people's ailments and sickness. One of the easiest locations that is very generous in helping out here is commercial airline cabins. The enclosesd aircraft space that's not just highly populated but uses a recycled atmosphere, thus marking it as ideal for passing airborne infections. This is a big NO in my current world. 

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Getting back to the employer end of things, for those that don't know, I'm employed as a fraud specialist with a company called PayPal. If you are familiar with buying or selling on line, the chances are you have used their services. If you haven't yet, you probably will in the near future. 

Since this Gastro Cancer (a tumor in my stomach) decided to pay me a visit, my employer has stood shoulder to shoulder with me. Not alone do they cover and pay for my own health insurance, they cover my immediate family's too and this all happens from day 1. It's not a promotional product. 

Just this morning, I received this letter from PayPal (below):

To me, this actually means a lot and I'm not just referring to it's monetary value. It's a personal thing! 

Call it a surprise 'Thank You' if you will, but to me it's a big hand, the hand that feeds, a hand that does require the work to be done and done well, but it's also hand that's saying

 "We're here for you a Aidan and to us you are more than just a number". 

 

So when people always ask me during conversation:

 "What do you do Aidan" I always say... 

"I work for a really cool company in financial services". 

I don't think I'm wrong. 

Thanks as always for reading my blog.