Saudi Tourism Authority launches beta version of Sara AI: A virtual travel companion

With a large sensor, 23mm focal length and small form factor, the X100VI is a powerful tool for street photography on your travels. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. In one of our projects, Section Tracker, developed for trekking enthusiasts, we employed AI to streamline user journeys by integrating real-time route tracking and section management. Such advanced AI-driven features can greatly improve user engagement and satisfaction by providing instant and customized information directly to the app user. The adoption of tech in high-end hotels, like apps, e-concierges and digital keys, has been on the rise.

We found image quality to be reasonable for a camera with a 1/2.3-inch sensor, with nice, rich colors – although there was a tendency to overexpose and blow out highlights. An equivalent zoom range of mm is fair, plus the inclusion of 4K video and raw shooting enhance flexibility. Yes, some travel insurance policies help pay medical expenses if your dog or cat is injured or becomes ill while traveling with you. We like USI’s Diamond plan for its variety of top-level benefits, although its pricing is higher than the other top travel insurance policies for seniors. John Hancock is highly regarded for its customer service and comprehensive coverage options. Their policies are particularly strong in medical and emergency services, which adds an extra layer of security for travelers.

Should you buy travel insurance from the tour operator or airline?

We also like the policy’s excellent medical evacuation coverage and travel delay benefits that apply after only a 3-hour wait. Many of the best travel insurance companies offer CFAR as an add-on benefit. It costs extra, but it may be worth the peace of mind if you want the most flexibility for making a trip cancellation claim. Travel insurance for seniors typically excludes coverage for pre-existing conditions, but you can get pre-existing conditions covered with a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver.

SARA’s backstory is thoughtfully woven into her design, reflecting Saudi’s authentic heritage. She is portrayed as a young Saudi national, embodying the spirit of hospitality and curiosity that defines Saudi culture. Passionate about her homeland, she has explored every corner, from the ancient ruins of AlUla to the vibrant markets of Jeddah. This narrative gives SARA a unique personality that visitors can trust on their journey through Saudi. Utilizing the latest advancements in Generative AI, SARA will embody Saudi’s future-forward approach to tourism.

Senior travelers may have more medical issues than younger travelers, so superior medical coverage is a must. It provides assistance and financial support for returning home in case of death while traveling abroad. Verify the coverage limits and any exclusions related to repatriation to ensure you’re adequately protected. We picked Seven Corners’ Trip Protection Choice as the top scoring plan for seniors because it has the lowest average price among top-rated policies and has an all-around exceptional package of benefits. We also like its optional add-on coverage choices, which include sports equipment rental coverage, event ticket coverage and rental car coverage.

And for the hotels, they offer another benefit – time to focus on more hands-on service. Michael Leidinger, senior vice president and chief information officer at Hilton, says that the hotel group first began offering digital keys in 2015. About 76 per cent of their properties currently offer digital keys and the company hopes to reach 100 per cent of properties in two years. Hilton is also experimenting with the use of an AI chatbot to be deployed on their apps.

Best Travel Insurance Plans Of 2024

If you add more expenses to your trip as you book more portions of your itinerary, you’re allotted another time period to add these costs to your CFAR coverage. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. The deadline for adding CFAR will depend on the travel insurance company, and not all companies offer it. Being eligible to buy CFAR is one of the advantages of buying travel insurance right after you book a trip. We like Tin Leg’s Gold plan because it has generous levels of medical benefits for a very good price, making it a front-runner if you want a CFAR plan with high medical and evacuation coverage. We like the Trip Protection Basic plan because it provides top-notch CFAR reimbursement at the lowest price among the travel insurance companies we evaluated.

Nationwide’s variety of plans allows tailoring coverage to different budgets. As someone who’s traveled on a tight budget before, Nationwide’s competitive rates were very appealing. Kayak Chief Scientist Matthias Keller earlier this year discussed several other ways that the company is using AI. And Kayak has a connection with Microsoft Copilot, allowing users of the Bing search engine users to get real-time flight information from Kayak within AI-generated results. That includes a hotel-facing tool to help properties write responses to inquiries from travelers, which he said has led to an increase in response rate.

Lauren Scott is an experienced journalist and freelance photographer based in Bath, UK. When travels get tough, you need a camera that can keep up – which is where the rugged TG-7 comes into its own, with a hardcore build and simple interface. The content does not provide tax, legal or investment advice or opinion regarding the suitability, value or profitability of any particular security, portfolio or investment strategy. Neither this website nor our affiliates shall be liable for any errors or inaccuracies in the content, or for any actions taken by you in reliance thereon. You expressly agree that your use of the information within this article is at your sole risk. She has a history and diverse interests, fostering a genuine human connection that appeals to users.

You can read more about our editorial guidelines and the methodology for the ratings below. But notable features include three detailed plans plus a Pack N’ Go plan for last-minute travelers who do not need cancellation benefits. Despite their more compact proportions, many of the best mirrorless travel cameras can also match or outclass DSLR cameras when it comes to image quality, as well as autofocus abilities and video features.

It’s an optional upgrade you buy when you purchase a standard travel insurance policy. Prepaid trip expenses that you can’t be reimbursed for are considered non-refundable costs. Examples can include prepaid tours, excursions, spa days, event tickets, hotel rooms and airfare.

How does regular travel insurance differ from CFAR travel insurance?

To make the cut, a policy needs to have scored at least three out of five points in two thirds of the features we compare (see ‘Policy score’ for more). We’ve listed which policies include or offer winters sports cover, and rate that cover, in our guide to the best ski insurance. You can get travel insurance if you’re pregnant, especially if your trip is less than 28 weeks into your pregnancy. While it’s possible to purchase insurance even up to the day of your travel, you’ll miss out on this cancellation cover and won’t necessarily save money. But cover offered as an add-on to your trip is unlikely to be tailored to your needs and could be more expensive. When you buy your holiday, whether that’s through a traditional package provider or a budget airline, you’re likely to be offered insurance at the same time.

That makes it a solid choice at a competitive price, although medical expense limits are lower than those of top competitors. The Atlas Journey Explore plan was the second-cheapest CFAR policy among those we analyzed and provides solid coverage across the board. Policies offering a “cancel for any reason” upgrade with 75% reimbursement for canceled trips were awarded the most points.

You can generally only get this waiver within 14 to 21 days of making your initial trip deposit and only if you insure the full nonrefundable costs for your trip. The average cost of senior travel insurance is $420 per trip, based on our analysis of rates for the best travel insurance policies for seniors. Your exact cost for travel insurance will generally depend on the travelers’ ages, length of trip and trip cost. We recommend seniors take a look at Generali’s Premium plan for its good prices, excellent trip interruption insurance and superior medical evacuation benefits.

Best ‘Cancel For Any Reason’ Travel Insurance Of 2024

Points were awarded for a required waiting period of 6 hours or less for travel delay insurance to kick in. Personalized attention and modifiable coverage make USI Affinity a top resource. Its Agentforce platform is meant to help OpenTable agents automate certain customer service requests.

We’ve also written comprehensive reviews of the best 24 insurers overall – just click on the links in the table to read them. Please note that the information in this article is for information purposes only and does not constitute advice. Please refer to the particular terms and conditions of an insurer before committing to any financial products.

If the camera’s raw files are supported by Adobe Camera Raw, we’ll also process some test images to see how we can push areas like shadow recovery. And we’ll also test its ISO performance across the whole range to get a sense of the levels we’d be happy to push the camera to. To start with, we look at the camera’s design, handling and controls to get a sense of how suitable it is for life on the road, and any particular features that might be particularly useful for globe-trotters. When we take it out on a shoot, we’ll use it both handheld and on a tripod to get a sense of where its strengths lie, and test its startup speed. Other key improvements over the X100V include more detailed 6K video and Fujifilm’s best-ever autofocus that includes advanced subject detection for photo and video.

Interchangeable lens cameras like the OM System OM-5 can similarly offer the flexibility of both worlds, but only if you’re happy to travel with extra barrels in your backpack. We’ve tested them all out in the real world, to check factors such as handling, image stabilization and image quality. The idea of this guide is to give you an in-depth summary of our findings, to help make it easier for you to choose your ideal travel camera. If compact size is your number one criteria, it’s also worth checking out our best compact cameras guide. Not all travel insurance policies offer CFAR, so be sure to check the list of optional benefits before deciding which policy is best for you. For example, you can find plans that offer $500,000 per person for medical expenses and $1 million per person for emergency medical evacuation.

Roughly a quarter of claims made on single-trip and annual European policies were declined in 2022 (the latest stats available). ‘According to claims data published by industry regulator the Financial Conduct Authority, travel insurers are some of the least likely to pay out. Finally, travel chatbots check what protection your holiday provider offers, because if something goes wrong, you might need to seek compensation from it first before your insurer will accept your claim. If you do buy add-on insurance, make sure it covers any medical conditions that you have.

For example, if you’re leaving tomorrow and you want to cancel the trip today, you probably won’t be able to make a CFAR claim. We recommend the Travel Select plan for families—children under age 17 accompanied by an adult covered by the policy are covered at no extra charge. Medicare generally does not cover your health care when you’re traveling outside of the U.S. That means if you get sick or injured while vacationing in another country, you usually won’t be covered. For example, if your plane tickets are fully refundable, don’t pay to insure those.

However, if you book a last-minute trip leaving in a week, the risk of you having to cancel is low so CFAR might not be worth the investment. I find AIG’s comprehensive coverage provides much-needed security when I’m exploring abroad. With strong financial backing behind them, I can travel with confidence knowing they will cover urgent medical flights or cancellations should unexpected issues arise. In all my trips to France, the peace of mind from their coverage has allowed me to fully immerse myself in the culture without worry. You can customize the Travel Guard Deluxe policy to your needs and budget with optional pet, wedding, security, baggage, medical, adventures sports and travel inconvenience upgrades.

Generative AI models analyze vast datasets to identify patterns and deliver content that resonates with users. For instance, a generative AI can develop day-by-day itineraries that include popular attractions, dining options, and travel tips based on the traveler’s preferences. Such customizations not only enrich the user experience but also increase engagement by helping users discover places and activities they might not have considered. Just know deductibles may be higher or payout limits lower than other insurers charging more. At the same time, the Connecticut-based metasearch engine also launched a tool called PriceCheck. It’s a price comparison tool that allows travelers to upload a screenshot of a flight itinerary, which Kayak then checks against many different sites to determine if there is a better price available.

Joe Cronin is the president of International Citizens Insurance, a subsidiary of International Citizens Group Inc. He is responsible for all aspects of International Citizens Insurance operations, including strategy, marketing and sales. Having lived and traveled throughout the world, his vast experience is now available to visitors researching global insurance plans for all situations. Cronin has lived in or traveled to every corner of the globe, including Moscow, Tokyo, Mexico City, Sydney, London, Argentina and Athens. He believes that an essential benefit of international travel is how it brings different cultures together.

The platform handles routine tasks like reservation changes and loyalty point redemptions, meant to help agents focus on more complex situations. Agoda CEO Omri Morgenshtern has said in the past that he’s skeptical about the use of generative AI in trip-planning tools. “Initial testing shows meaningful improvements in topic detection in Booking.com’s customer help center as well as customer service agent case summarization. Booking.com is still early in this journey and sees meaningful opportunities in improving customer service and driving greater efficiency by leveraging AI in the future,” Fogel said. Booking.com released the first version of its AI trip planner in June 2023, which Fogel said has had millions of interactions with customers that are leading to new applications of generative AI.

It has the second lowest average cost for seniors among the policies we looked at. If you want a bargain and aren’t concerned about very low coverage amounts for some core benefits, the GoReady Pandemic Plus plan is worth checking out. Their policies usually have generous medical benefits and provide rescue flights. I heard it’s not always easy to get money back for claims, too, so do your homework.

Collectively, our team of reviewers has amassed over a hundred years of camera experience and testing in the real world, covering all of the latest and greatest cameras in the last 20 years. Which style is best for you will depend on how you like to travel, what you like to shoot and how much gear you’re willing to cart around. You also get 24fps shooting, cracking 4K video quality and handling to rival a DSLR. The high price – if your budget is tighter, don’t forget about this camera’s predecessor, the RX10 III.

• Additionally, the Travel Guard Preferred plan includes benefits if (under certain conditions) you must start your trip earlier than planned, a feature not found in all policies.
• Pregnancy is not considered a pre-existing medical condition so you shouldn’t have to tell your insurer or pay more.
• If you leave buying your insurance until the last minute, you won’t benefit from this protection, even if some providers might make it slightly cheaper.
• I would make sure your policy offers a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver, which removes coverage exclusions for conditions you already have.
• Standard travel insurance will cover emergency medical care, but ask insurers if antenatal care after premature births will be covered, or cancellation due to pregnancy-related complications.

Unlike basic AI chatbots, SARA provides a life-like interactive experience that is ahead of any existing technologies and solutions. She responds with intent and contextual understanding, with the ability to remember and learn from previous questions. AI in travel planning is evolving rapidly, with trends like VR and ChatGPT AR offering virtual tours to preview destinations, enhancing booking confidence. Advanced AI chatbots now provide round-the-clock support, handling complex queries and automating bookings. Predictive analytics also plays a growing role, anticipating traveler preferences and suggesting tailored options proactively.

If you want an affordable CFAR plan and aren’t concerned about very low coverage amounts for some core benefits, we recommend checking out the GoReady Pandemic Plus plan. Available upgrades include extra coverage for pets traveling with you, medical expenses and more. Seven Corners offers comprehensive coverage options that cater effectively to adventurers and frequent travelers, making it a strong contender for those seeking robust medical and evacuation coverage. Additionally, the Travel Guard Preferred plan includes benefits if (under certain conditions) you must start your trip earlier than planned, a feature not found in all policies.

Drawing from our Section Tracker app, we implemented features that provide trekking enthusiasts with real-time tracking and scheduling for different trail segments. This automation in a travel context offers similar convenience, ChatGPT App making it easier for travelers to manage and adjust their itineraries without manual input. Artificial Intelligence is making travel more accessible and personalized by using algorithms to analyze vast amounts of data.

Booking.com is testing a chatbot to help new clients, starting with short-term rentals, answer questions during the onboarding process and accelerate sign-ups. With some providers (for example where the cover is included with a holiday or a bank account), you may need to contact the insurer separately to have the conditions added. If you’re uncertain about what needs to be declared, it’s best to contact the insurer. Many insurers still offer cover for trips after that point, but check with them before buying, and bear in mind airlines may request extra details such as a letter from your doctor. Our Best Buy endorsement primarily means the policy offers comprehensive levels of cover as written (you’ll see a more detailed explanation as to what we mean by this below).