Why Travel Insurance is a Must
Are you on the fence about purchasing travel insurance for your next getaway? Do you know what is covered under your current health insurance plan? Out of country coverage? No one likes to think of bad things happening before or during their vacation, however, what if something does?
Here are several things that you may not have known that purchasing travel insurance may cover. Keep in mind that different companies and vendors offer a variety of coverage. Please check with your travel agent to review the coverage that is the best for you.
If you need to cancel your trip for any reason. What if someone gets sick in your party or back at home? Your work has decided to not allow you the time off? You get deployed? You have an emergency at the last minute? Your pet gets sick. There are a variety of reasons why you may no longer be able to travel at that time. Some companies even offer “cancel for any reason” coverage.
Your flight gets cancelled. You are delayed or your flight gets cancelled and its impossible to make it to your port in time to sail out on your cruise, you could have coverage for that. You may even get delayed making it home from your destination as well.
You get sick/injured while on vacation. There are a wide variety of reasons why this coverage can be beneficial for you. Your personal medical coverage may not accept a claim while you are on a ship (since most are foreign-flagged ships) or while you are abroad, leaving you with the full bill.
You need to be medically evacuated due to an emergency. This can get very expensive. If you need medical care, which requires you to be medically evacuated due to not having adequate medical care, (ambulance, medically staffed flights, airlifted from ships, etc.). Expenses can easily reach into the tens of thousands. If you happen to pass away while away from home, it can also be very expensive for your family to transport you home.
Your passport is lost or stolen. If you are traveling and realize that your wallet and passport have been stolen, some vendors offer emergency cash and assistance with replacing your passport.
Your baggage is lost or delayed. This is one of the smaller concerns for some but when you arrive in a foreign area with nothing but what is on your back, it can be a scary thing. Coverage can help with getting you the essentials if your bag is delayed. If your bag is lost, stolen or damaged, you can be reimbursed for your personal belongings.
Weather damages your destination. You are getting ready to travel to the Caribbean and a hurricane has damaged the area in which you were about to travel, insurance can help with the cancellation of the trip. If you are in an area that is being evacuated due to weather, insurance can assist with that and reimburse you for the lost vacation time.
Terrorism coverage. There is coverage if you happen to have a trip planned and an act of terrorism has recently occurred that makes you change your mind about traveling there.
The vendor going out of business. If you are getting ready to head out on your dream trip, only to discover that the resort has gone out of business and is shut down.
24-7 assistance. Having to abort your trip for one of the above reasons, most insurance companies have a 24/7 phone assistance worldwide should you need them (especially if you are in an area with a language barrier). They can help with things such as: locating medical facilities, organizing transportation to medical facilities, dealing with transportation issues (cancelled flights, lost baggage), or visa/passport assistance . It’s nice to know that you have someone who you can call at any time should an emergency arise.
There are hundreds of reasons why you may have to cancel your trip, seek medical attention or even may have to return home early. Having assurance that you can be reimbursed for the expenses you’ve incurred due to incidents unforeseen is only when you have purchased travel insurance. It also give you a great peace of mind when traveling that you have assistance at your fingertips.
Sheena Moberg is an independent contractor for Fairytale Adventures Travel Agency. Sheena specializes in family vacations to Disney, Universal, Cruises, and Sandals. You can reach Sheena at Sheena@Fairytaleadv.com or on her Facbook page Sheena Moberg- Destination Specialist.
