Travellers take note! It’s time you add a few new essentials to your checklist as you pack masks, sanitisers and disinfectants among a few other safety and hygiene must-haves for your travel. This new travel checklist will help you plan safe, seamless and most importantly, ambiguity-free travel in these uncertain times.

As coronavirus cases see a new spike in the country, MakeMyTrip has released a checklist of travel products and solutions that Travellers should consider even as they exercise more caution while taking up their journey. With a promise to make end-to-end travel safe, contactless and secure, the company has introduced a slew of tech-integrated solutions to help travellers prioritize safety at all times.

Lock airfares as you firm up your air travel: Staying watchful of the ongoing uncertainty and planning your air travel accordingly is the best that you can do as you firm up your travel dates. But given the evolving scenarios, one cannot worry least about the change in airfares –leaving many to think whether they should wait and consequently risk fare hike, or book the ticket right away. So, here’s what flyers can do as they finalize their travel.

Lock fares and reserve their seats without paying for the actual price of the ticket upfront. With this flyers can also secure themselves against any price hike as they can purchase the ticket at the same locked-in price later. The service allows customers to lock airfares for one, three or seven days for a nominal fee – that later gets adjusted into the full price of the ticket at the time of the final purchase. Here’s a quick and easy resolve to buy time and the same money on your air tickets!

Finding an answer for the quintessential question –‘What if’ the unforeseen happens a few days before the trip?: 2020 was a year of disappointment for travel lovers and having waited long enough for that holiday, you would not want anything to jinx it. But having a Plan B or C is important in these times? So, while you prepare for that much-awaited summer holiday with your loved ones, take out a few minutes to opt for a Corona Protection Plan.

Bookable on MakeMyTrip, the plan allows a traveller to cancel the holiday 72 hours prior to the travel date, in case she or her co-travellers tests positive. The booking amount is converted into a Holiday Gift Card for the full value with a validity of one year to ensure you make up for the lost time. So, it’s time you press a shift+alt+delete on ‘What If’ from your holiday plans!

COVID travel insurance a must to protect you or your loved ones: It is always wise to prepare for any uncertainty than being sorry later. Yes, it sounds harsh but as unforgiving the virus is, it’s always advisable to take some preventive measures beforehand. MakeMyTrip recently rolled out an option for COVID-19 insurance to secure travellers against any risk of infection during the trip.

The option provides coverage of INR 2 lacs (per customer) along with other benefits such as zero restrictions on room rent, consumables, post-hospitalization diagnostics etc. The insurance also covers hospitalization for 16 days post-travel in case of infection as it usually takes 14-15 days for the virus to surface.

You need not worry about lugging your baggage to the airport: Travelling with baggage can be pretty exhausting, especially in times like now when safety and hygiene are non-negotiable. In a bid to make flying safe, convenient and hassle-free, MakeMyTrip has introduced a ‘door-to-door’ baggage transfer service for its customers.

The new offering allows travellers to book an end-to-end baggage transfer service from the departing address to the destination address. While the service has been designed and developed with an aim to make baggage handling easy for all travellers, it is especially targeted at customers who may check-in with bulk luggage or needs assistance otherwise at the airport –for instance, people moving cities, senior citizens among others.

Sanitiser, check on the app. Mask, check on the app. Your driver-partner can now start the cab: To ensure that the driver-partner and the rider have worn their masks properly, MakeMyTrip has ensured that the app available on the driver partner’s phone has a pre-installed AI-powered feature for ‘Optical Recognition’. Through this tech-proprietary tool, the driver-partner can only start the trip after proper mask usage is detected via a selfie.

It also has optical character recognition technology to ensure the presence of sanitisers in the cabs. So, while you run your checks for sanitiser and masks while boarding a cab, this feature by MakeMyTrip ensures that there is no scope for comprising on the safety of its travellers or the driver-partner.

So, this summer, as you make travel plans with a promise to never let your guard down against the virus, ensure that you have ticked a few or all these travel solutions from your checklist. These solutions from MakeMyTrip will ensure that your travel is more safe, easy, flexible, stress-free and most importantly, memorable. Stay safe while you continue to explore the gift of travel!