Sorting out your travel cover can be a complicated, if necessary, business. But there are surprisingly simple ways you can avoid over-spending.

Fighting against the demands of bills and surprise expenses, you've managed to salvage money for the long-awaited family holiday or faraway escape - congratulations! But the last thing you want is to spend that money on insurance.

Don't worry, there are not only surprising ways to save on effective insurance, but also means to do it simply and without hassle.

How many times will you travel?

The key to finding effective yet cheap travel cover is in understanding exactly what will best suit your needs - money is wasted if your insurance doesn't match your holiday. One of the key considerations in this regard is the amount of times you will head off on holiday (or business), as this can have a significant impact on which plan you choose. For example, those who go on a one-off vacation will need a different form of cover to those who jet set across the seas several times a year. Getting this right, and identifying the best budget plans delivered by the most authoritative enterprises, will go a long way towards saving your cash for tanning lotion, ski rental, or massages.

How old are you (and your children)?

The nature of travel cover is that must match a wide variety of potential circumstances. It does this in several ways. Most significantly, it assesses risk by narrowing down plans to suit various scenarios and contexts. A context of primary consideration, when it comes to the costing of insurance, is your age. Whether you are travelling with children, as a couple, or with older relatives will all have a distinct impact on how much you will need to pay. Therefore, if you want effective cover, you need to know just who will be hopping onto that bus, plane or train and how old they are - then you can find the best bargains for families, singles, couples, children, or whatever you need.

How specific are your travel locations?

No one wants to go off on holiday harangued by the spectre of all that could go wrong. This goes directly against the purpose of a vacation - namely peace of mind. But the world is not a constant and neither, unfortunately, are its risks. Hence travel cover varies in order to recognise this. Insurance to cover places known for political trouble, for example, will attract different rates than lush getaways in secure high profile resorts. Knowing your destination and the nature of its risks will arm you with valuable information in the hunt for cheap, reliable and simple cover.

Why are you travelling?

People go on trips for many reasons. Some look for luxury, others the rougher paths, some travel for business and others for pleasure. You may think this would have little impact on your travel cover, but it will - for very pertinent reasons. Different ventures introduce different ranges of risk for insurers, hence they will calculate different rates depending on your reasons for travel. This is why simple online checks for offers that consider the purposes of your travel are vital if you want to save money.