Travel Insurance, It’s a Spiritual Thing
Published November 26, 2011 | 
Travel Insurance is the last thing many of us think about before a vacation. You feel relief once the trip is paid for. Then you start saving the “spending money.” By the time, you decide where to go, when to go, where to stay, which flight or cruise to take, you just don’t remember “travel insurance” and this could be a huge mistake for all of us.
We invest in a trip to far away places, we carefully purchase new clothes, sun glasses, new luggage, new underwear, and other accessories only to leave ourselves wide open for disaster and lost of money if any of the following events were to occur: Tour company operator decides that she needs a tummy tuck, at your expense, or the tour company disappears, or the Airline goes bankrupt or on strike, or the hurricane of the century, named after your ex-wife, makes a left turn and heads straight for your travel destination, or a part of California falls into the ocean due to an earthquake and this action upsets the rest of the oceans in the world, extreme flight delays, illness during the vacation because you drank the water, and the BIG one, terrorist attack, not to mention if you loose your passport, or worst, the ocean rises up and claims the beach front where you are staying.
All jokes aside, you can purchase travel insurance for protection against trip cancellation, trip interruption, missed connections, airline ticket coverage, medical expense, emergency medical transportation, baggage, baggage delay, accidental death and have 24 hour travel assistance service available to you from any where in the world.
The “Real” Reasons to purchase Travel Insurance
OK, enough of the negative. I’m sure you get the point. However, there is a more important reason to purchase Travel Insurance; It protects your assets back home if something were to happen during your trip.
Example: What about senior citizens who have waited their entire life to travel only to find out that Medicare will NOT cover anyone outside the United States! Can you image spending a sizable amount of your retirement income to pay medical bills in a foreign country? There are Major Medical Polices for travelers (including seniors) who are going abroad for at least 6 months and require more permanent insurance. These plans provide comprehensive medical protection including emergency medical treatment, wellness care and optional prescription drug coverage.
Example: People who had travel insurance had an entirely different experience when Emily (Hurricane) hit the Mexican Yucatan in July of 2005. First, everyone called and went to the airport trying to catch a flight out. At some point, there were no more flights out, there were only buses moving thousands of tourist inland away from the storm. Those with Travel Insurance were not concern with “cost” (I am sure it was enough just to worry about your life) realizing that they would be reimbursed through their Policy. Those without Insurance needed to be concerned with the cost of accommodations and food until Emily got a better attitude. For sure, many of the tourist without travel insurance had to spend a portion of their upcoming monthly budget before making it back home safely. (I wonder what happen to those who had reached their limit on the credit cards) We won’t go into what happen to the tourist that were staying in small hotels when Katrina hit town!
Another example of the “real” reasons to purchase Travel Insurance, you are skiing in the Alps, you are dogging the moguls (or they are dogging you) and you slip in the turn. No real problem, but you have to be airlifted to the nearest hospital to have x-rays taken. The cost of the airlift? Who pays? You do, if you don’t have the proper (travel) medical insurance or accident insurance. (Will paying for a helicopter ride to a hospital upset your monthly budget back home?)
And what about the classic example? You leave your money pouch with your credit cards and your Travelers Checks in the cab on the way back to your hotel. It happens all the time. No insurance, No reimbursement.
Important Information:
Please note, this is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: With the majority of the Travel Insurance companies, you MUST apply for the default, terrorism insurance and pre-existing insurance WITHIN 10 days of the initial booking of your trip. Bottom line, you can’t wait until your destination is on the US State Department’s Travel Warning List to purchase Insurance.
The less you have to worry about on vacations, the safer you will be. When traveling outside of the US, a good deal of your attention must be given to reviewing your surroundings. Always be aware of your surroundings.
Enough of the examples. If you protect yourself and your investment, you probably won’t need the Insurance Its’ almost like the Insurance Companies put an invisible “umbrella of protection” around us, just so they won’t have to pay or is that our prayers keeping us safe?
Travel Insurance – All One Needs to Know
Published November 26, 2011 |
Travel insurance might well be the last thing on the minds of most travellers when they are planning for their vacations. Factors like cheap airline tickets from UK, sightseeing schedules at the destination and baggage management are perhaps the ones that seem to be most important to the vacationers. However, a thoroughly planned holiday can turn out to the biggest disaster if and when any unpleasant situation arises. At that point, travel insurance may seem like the most important thing in the world!
An apt travel insurance plan is perhaps the best way to ensure that you have a lot of fun on your tour abroad. Some money spend on a comprehensive insurance plan will save the traveller a lot of jitters and hassles in case any unpleasant incident does indeed rock his vacations. Britons put in a lot of effort to get their hands on cheap airline tickets; they must to show the same kind of enthusiasm while looking for a travel insurance policy.
While finalising on a travel insurance plan, it is a must that tourists shop around and speak to different insurance agents. Policies can vary a lot and the travellers must choose the one that suits their holiday plans the most. One should be extra careful while reading insurance policy documents. Some policies might not offer coverage for certain adventurous activities that are risky and unsafe. Therefore, adventurers must be particularly careful while opting for an insurance plan.
Travel Insurance Coverage
There are a number of travel insurance plans that travellers buying flight tickets from UK can opt for. A standard travel insurance plan generally includes the following coverage.
Emergency Medical Treatment
This part of the insurance plan covers emergency medical treatment at hospitals. Prior authorization from the insurer is required if the medical bill is expected to go beyond the fixed amount specified in the plan.
Medical Assistance & Evacuation
Medical assistance mainly deals with the transportation of the injured to the hospital. It covers costs of road or air ambulance. Sea rescue is also covered if the provision is there in the policy. Medical evacuation covers costs incurred while transporting the patient from one medical facility to another if the patient cannot be treated locally.
Cancellation, Curtailment & Trip Interruption
This aspect of the plan covers financial losses that a passenger can recover through other means. Non-refundable deposits and transportation costs are covered in case a traveller needs to cancel or cut short his trip to return home urgently.
Personal Belongings
This clause of travel insurance covers the personal possessions of the traveller. Normally, there is an overall maximum limit for such claims as well as limits for individual type of property.
Travellers who are all ready with their flight tickets from UK can also modify plans as per their wish.
Travel Insurance: 5 Important Features To Be Aware Of
Published November 26, 2011 |
Life is often a balance between good and bad, positive and negative, yin and yang, glass half full/glass half empty – whichever way you choose to look at it. When caught up in the excitement of planning your next trip or holiday the last thing on your mind may be the possibility that something could go wrong – and it can be easy to forget about travel insurance. Positive thinking is definitely a good thing – and in the majority of cases everything will go to plan, but you just never know.
There is no question that everyone should have travel insurance, and the cost should be incorporated into your holiday budget. However, before you press the ‘Buy’ button when purchasing a policy online, always look beyond the quote to see whether it suits your needs and covers all your planned activities. For the relatively small cost of travel insurance you could potentially get quite a lot for your money.
Travel insurance may not cover every single eventuality that could occur, but it certainly covers most of the common – and often costly – travel-related problems. There is a lot more to it than can be covered here, but to get you started here are five important reasons why you should have insurance:
1. Cancellation and Curtailment A typical policy will include Cancellation and Curtailment. Cancellation means cancelling before your trip begins. Curtailment means cutting short your trip. This provides for you and your travelling companion if a covered event occurs, such as:
Illness, injury or death of you, your companion, a close relative or business associate, or the person with whom you plan to stay Being made redundant Being called for jury service Being posted overseas (armed forces) or called for duty if you work for an essential service (fire, nursing, ambulance, police, etc.) A Foreign Office (or other government) advisory against travel to a certain part of the world (as long as this was not in effect at the time you booked the travel) Failing a university (or equivalent) exam and having to re-sit
2. Scheduled Airline Failure We live in uncertain times, unfortunately, so why not have this cover in place – just in case. This is especially important for travellers who like to put together their own trips or holidays by booking flights and accommodation separately, the so-called DIY holiday. (A package holiday should include protection against airline failure if booked through a bonded company).
3. Medical Expenses and Hospital Benefit In most cases travel will go smoothly, but medical emergencies are usually beyond our control. For example, traveller’s tummy often strikes no matter how much care is taken with eating and drinking. Taking ice in a drink in some parts of the world could be all it takes to pick up a nasty gastrointestinal bug.
A comprehensive travel insurance policy should include Emergency Medical Repatriation. This may be something you have never heard of, but it is certainly something to be aware of. If you are just taking a short trip to a neighbouring country you may think there is no need to worry. However, if you should be involved in a serious accident or become very ill or even fatally injured in any part of the world it may be necessary to transport you home by air ambulance with a medical escort. Additional seats may have to be purchased on a flight to accommodate a stretcher. Imagine the cost if you did not have insurance. Also, contrary to popular belief, your embassy does not pay these costs!
4. Catastrophe Insurance for natural catastrophes is a matter of concern for many travellers these days. Policies may vary in what they do or do not cover, and insurance may not cover any and all types of catastrophes. However, if a catastrophe should occur (such as earthquake, hurricane, flood, fire) insurance may cover additional travel and accommodation expenses to either continue your trip or return home.
5. Personal Effects and Luggage This is probably the issue that most people think of when they hear the term travel insurance. Having your luggage lost, stolen or damaged may not be the worst thing that could happen when travelling, but it could certainly cause inconvenience and disrupt your relaxing holiday.
Imagine the cost of having to go out shopping to replace all the items you had so carefully chosen to purchase and pack for your trip. Travel insurance provides reimbursement for these costs up to a certain amount, depending on the policy. Remember that it is important to keep all receipts!
This article is a general guide only, intended to point out some important features. Policies vary from company to company, so always check to see what is or is not included.
Be wary of ‘free travel insurance’ included with offers or promotions, or a very cheap quote on a comparison site. Always check the levels of cover (especially medical) as well as the Excess (also known as Deductible – the amount you pay towards a claim). Cuts are often made somewhere to be able to provide such a cheap quote.
Thinking positively is a good thing in most areas of life, but when it comes to travel it may be best to err on the side of caution. Why not change your thinking slightly and hope for the best – but be prepared for the worst!