If you are a frequent traveler, is highly probable you know the importance of getting travel insurance. But truth is there is still a lot of ignorance regarding what it covers and why is so important?
Travel Insurance is important because protects you and your family when unforseen events occur after you have booked and paid in full your trip. It will help in case your need to cancel your family vacation for personal reasons or circumstances on the part of the agency you purchase it (airline, cruise line or tour operator).
There is a good variety of coverages, some even cover pre-existing conditions. You can purchase one per trip or just get an annual insurance package. Here are some reasons for you to buy a Travel Insurance:
- Your flight has been cancelled.
- Your bags are lost and you have your medications in it. You need to have an emergency prescription filled.
- Your passport and wallet are stolen, and you need emergency cash and a replacement passport.
- You are involved in an accident and adequate medical treatment is not available, you need medical evacuation.
- You need to cancel your trip due to illness.
- Your cruise line, airline or tour operator goes bankrupt. You need your non-refundable expenses covered and to get to your destination.
- You have an emergency on a foreign country.
- A terrorist incident occurs in the city you're planning to visit and you want to cancel your trip. (Do you remember what happened last January in Egypt?)
- A hurricane forces you to evacuate your resort, hotel or cruise. (Hurricane Irene)
Smart travelers buy Travel Insurance, and if you don't buy it, more than your trip could be ruined. I rather prefer to have a 100% peace of mind than a 100% loss of my vacation investment. Having a family of 5, having a Family Vacation is considered by me an investment. There are agencies (Vendors that offer insurance and only the adults pay the premium, as Disneyland in Southern California. They offer travel insurance but you only pay for the adults and it covers your entire travel party(which means kids don't pay and are covered if the adults are).
If we look at the recent news events caused by Hurricane Irene; I can tell that unfortunately not all cruise lines act the same way. Let's compare Carnival Cruises vs. Royal Caribbean, both cruise lines were force to depart early on August 23, 2011 from San Juan, PR due to the proximity of Hurricane Irene. Carnival Cruise Line contacted good portion of its passangers and offered 2 nights hotel plus airfare to meet the cruise in other port, while Royal Caribbean leaved them stranded with no compansation at all. Although they had short time to notify thousands of passangers, the cruise line stood up an offered a "solution", but not in every case this happens, and in top of that if you didn't have a travel insurance this could cause the loss of your investment and your vacation for sure.
Please if you are planning a vacation, which I consider an investment, take into consideration planning also what Travel Insurance you will use. Ask your Travel Specialist about which one best suits your needs and even to explain you in detail what are the coverages. Doing this could guarantee you peace of mind and highly probable you'll enjoy your family vacation to the fullest.
News: Courtesy of MSNBC.com and Cruise Critic
Leila Reyes
Family Vacation Specialist
817-554-3346
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