Everyone is always looking for ways to get cheap travel insurance for their holidays abroad, but many people miss the most obvious way to make big savings – annual travel insurance. Buying an annual policy rather than numerous single trip policies is normally much more cost effective and convenient, and it often brings numerous other benefits as well.

Of course, annual travel insurance isn't for everyone – those who only go on one or two smaller trips each year, or people with very specific, high end travel insurance requirements may benefit more from some carefully chosen single trip policies. The trick is to find the right kind of insurance for your needs.

Here are some of the pros and cons of annual travel insurance…

It saves you money

There are often significant discounts to be made with annual travel insurance. If you add up the cost of every piece of travel insurance you buy each year and compare it to the cost of annual policy, more often than not you'll be surprised at just how great a saving you can make.

It is highly convenient

Once you've bought your annual travel insurance, it is one less thing to do every time you go on holiday. Not only does this save you plenty of hassle, it also allows you to be much more spontaneous with your holiday plans. If you suddenly decide to go on a romantic weekend away, there's no need to mess about booking travel insurance at the last minute – you can just up and go.

There are often bonus features

To encourage people to buy annual travel insurance, many insurance providers throw in numerous bonus features and extra pieces of cover. These can range from free children's insurance and extended sports cover to comprehensive business trip insurance; it is well worth your while to shop around and see just who will offer you the best extras on your annual travel insurance. In particular, look out for deals for families and couples – the savings can be even more impressive when you buy group travel insurance.

It is not always the best deal

You don't have to travel especially often for your annual travel insurance to pay for itself, but if you are just making one or two small trips each year, hunting out some cheap single trip insurance each time may be the most cost effective way of buying your holiday insurance.

It may not suit very specific insurance requirements

If you have exceptional or unusual insurance requirements, such as for extreme sports, pre-existing medical conditions or if you are over the age of 65, annual travel insurance may be difficult to come by or be exorbitantly expensive. Don't write off annual travel insurance completely in this case – some specialist and budget providers can still offer good deals, but the chances are that you may have to rely on single trip insurance instead.

The next time you are thinking of buying travel insurance; don't just buy the cheapest single trip policy that you find. Shop around, take a look at the annual travel insurance that is on offer, and try and find the deal that is best suited to you.