If 2020 taught us anything, it's this: BUY THE TRIP INSURANCE! We've all heard the horror stories about $1000's lost on uninsured, canceled trips during the pandemic. Even for us travel advisors, we simply were not always able to get our client's money returned if they had declined to insure their trip. Personally, I always advise my clients to insure their trips with very, very few exceptions. However, prior to the pandemic most people opted not to insure their travel arrangements. NOW I can barely get the word insurance out of my mouth before people are sending me their credit card information to purchase it! Perhaps the silver lining to this past year is that we all learned a valuable lesson - the insurance is a fraction of your total trip cost and worth every penny!
So what does it cover and why is worth spending part of my trip budget? The short answer: it depends on what you purchase. Trip insurance isn't always a blank check to cancel whenever for any reason. That's only the case when you purchase your insurance within a few days your bookings AND purchase a CFAR policy (cancel for any reason). Generally speaking with most types of policies these are a few of things that it will cover for you:
Let's say you're on your way to the airport and there is traffic and the dominos start to fall: you to miss your flight, which causes you to miss your cruise. As the saying goes "That ship has sailed..." or basically "tough luck." You're covered!
Lost or stolen baggage. Ugh this is the WORST! You spend all that time planning your vacation outfits and in the blink of any it's gone or it's been flown to Saskatchewan instead of Miami and there's no telling when it will end up back to you. You'd be covered and have enough money to go shopping and replace your items!
You've just ordered a mojito poolside and a freak storm starts heading your way. You've got to quickly vacate the island - an added expense - or worse you have to ride out the storm and you loose money on your stay, excursions, etc You would be covered for that as well!
You're finally getting that insta-worthy shot where you hiked to the top of the volcano....and you twist your ankle. Doctor bills in a foreign country can ruin your budget with a quickness! Most insurance policies will cover you getting sick or injured, doctor's bills included!
Or you get that dreaded phone call that there has been a death or illness in your family back home. Naturally you leave right away, causing you to miss a significant portion of your trip. You can get reimbursed for flight changes and and anything you miss out on in your trip.
Planning a romantic getaway....until you break up? There are policies that will cover that too!
Aside from those basics you can add on many different types of specialty suites such as emergency evacuations or last minute travel. I always request that my clients traveling to certain destinations that are prone to political unrest purchase that emergency evacuation policy
As you can see, there's definitely a lot of value to purchasing the trip insurance - plus you AND your travel advisor will sleep so much better! It can be tricky to navigate though. Which policy do I need? Which suites need to be added on? When do I purchase that and from who? What does it cover that my regular car or health insurance does not? Do not try to go into this blind! Reach out and I can help walk you through it all and ensure you will NOT loose a dime!
If you have any questions, do feel free to contact me. Insurance can be tricky. It's a balancing act - you do not want to pay too early based on any free cancellation policies you may have, or too late if you certain types of coverage. Let me help guide you through it so you're not paying too much or not getting enough coverage for your trip.