insurance

Peace Of Mind

Let's face it -- travel can be stressful and there are risks. Travel insurance (1) protects you from losing all (or part of) your major vacation investment due to cancelations and interruptions, and (2) from enormous foreign medical costs that can quickly exceed your normal medical insurance coverage.

Some Major Reasons For Getting Travel Insurance

1. Trip Cancellation Penalties - Almost all travel providers (cruise lines, tour operators, resorts, etc.) have hefty cancellation fees - no matter why you cancel. Depending on when you cancel, you could lose everything you've paid.

2.   Foreign Medical Costs - Does your medical insurance cover foreign medical treatment, and if so, how much? Foreign medical costs can quickly exceed normal limits, especially for emergency medical evacuation and repatriation (getting you home).

3.   Lost Or Stolen Luggage, Passports, Wallet, Medicine, Etc. - Any of these would cause great stress and cost you valuable time. One call to your travel insurance provider hotline gets you the emergency help (and cash) you need.

4.   Natural Disasters, Terrorism, Provider Bankruptcy, Flight Cancelations - You have no control over incidents like these, yet you may still have to pay for the very trip they ruined.

Even if you don't need it, travel insurance gives you comfort and peace of mind. If you do need it, it's a lifesaver!

When You Might Not Need It

You might consider not getting travel insurance, if there are no cancellaton fees, or if cancelation fees are minimal, or your total trip cost is small. You also might not need it if you have very high foreign medical coverages. Please check with your medical insurance provider.

Even with no cancellation fees, consider buying a "post-departure" plan that covers everything a regular plan covers except non-refundable cancellation fees. The cost is far less.

Always Consider, "What if..."

What if...you've made final payment on a $4,000 cruise, but 3 weeks before you leave, you are injured and have to cancel. With no insurance, you will probably lose 50% ($2,000) of your payments. If you cancel 1 week before you leave, you will probably lose 100% of everything you've paid.

What if...you're driving in Italy (or anywhere else in the world), and you're invovled in an accident, requiring medical evacuation. Medical expenses total $200,000 and you discover your medicare or health insurance doesn't pay for expenses overseas...and the hospital will not release you until you pay.

What if...you arrive at your destination to discover a terror incident is taking place and you want to go back home, or...your resort is destroyed by a hurricane, or...your travel supplier didn't pay the bills and left you stranded.

What if...you get there but your luggage doesn't, or...you miss the last connecting flight of the day, or...you fall for a fast "petty crime" scam and suddenly you have no wallet, cash, credit cards or passport...what now?

Most likely, and hopefully, none of this will happen to you -- but one out of every six travelers with travel insurance has a situation that requires them to file a claim.

In all these cases, if you have travel insurance, you simply call a 24 hour emergency assistance line and immediate help is on the way to save your vacation.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Even with travel insurance that includes cancellation coverage, it still only covers cancellations due to "covered reasons," such as injury, sickness, death, travel supplier bankruptcy, and other reasons specified in the policy. You can buy cancellation coverage "for any reason," but expect to pay more, and get paid for only most of your non-refundabales.