All About Travel Insurance
A teenager recently made national headlines after her appendix burst while she was on a cruise ship.
The ailing Illinois native took an unexpected detour from her Mexican Riviera vacation when she was airlifted from the Dawn Princess and transported to USS Ronald Reagan for an at-sea appendectomy.
The story serves as a reminder that emergencies can unravel vacation plans in a flash.
And missing out on a few days at sea might be the least of your worries.
The bigger problem with unexpected vacation disasters is the cost.
A $5000 cruise vacation, for example, can easily turn into a $50,000 endeavor if you or a family member needs emergency medical attention while at sea.
Worse yet, your traditional health insurance probably won't cover these costs.
Travel insurance is designed for these types of emergencies, as well as a range of other travel-related mishaps.
Even if you don't rupture your appendix, you might get stuck in bad weather, miss a flight connection and in turn miss your cruise.
Or your bags might get lost.
Or a relative back home might get sick.
If you don't have the right insurance, any of these circumstances could cost you a pretty penny to sort out.
Types of travel insurance coverage Policies generally cover you for more than just emergency medical expenses.
Depending on the insurance provider and policy type, you can also get coverage for trip cancellation,interruption, delay or lost or delayed baggage.
Here is a rundown of the various coverage types to look for when shopping policies: * Supplier default coverage.
Supplier default coverage protects you from loss if you book a trip or tour with a travel supplier that subsequently goes out of business.
* Trip cancellation coverage.
Trip cancellation coverage is an attractive coverage feature because it allows you to take advantage of potentially lower-priced, non-refundable, prepaid travel fares.
Read the disclosures carefully though: The policy will define specific, acceptable reasons for trip cancellation.
Some policies have upgrade options that provide coverage for additional cancellation reasons, such as work-related responsibilities.
Since most trip cancellations occur within the last 48 hours before the trip date, make sure the policy allows you to cancel at any time.
* Trip interruption coverage.
Trip interruption coverage allows for a variety of circumstances that could cause you to miss a connection or head home in the middle of your vacation.
Look for a policy that kicks in if your trip is interrupted by sickness, injury, inclement weather, strike or financial default of your travel supplier.
* Medical coverage.
Covered expenses might include doctor visits, hospital charges, x-rays and ambulance services.
You'll benefit most from a travel policy that provides primary medical coverage, which means the claims don't have to be run through your regular health policy first.
If you obtain atravel policy that provides secondary coverage, you won't be reimbursed for your expenses until after your regular health insurance reviews and denies the claims.
* Medical evacuation or emergency medical transportation coverage.
If your physician determines that you need to be airlifted off the cruise ship, you'll want to have an insurance policy that's going to foot the bill.
* Concierge services/travel assistance.
When the unexpected happens, the insurance provider's concierge service will be there to rearrange your plans and get your vacation back on track.
If you miss a connection or experience some other problem that's covered by your policy, you might be required to contact the concierge service first to keep the coverage intact.
Look for a concierge service that's available by phone 24 hours a day.
* Rental car coverage.
You can buy rental car coverage from the rental car supplier or add in this coverage to a larger travel policy.
Again, you'll want primary coverage; that way, the claims won't need to go through your regular auto policy first.
Finding travel insurance Travel insurance policies are provided by travel suppliers and third-party companies.
Travel suppliers are the cruise lines, airlines, tour operators and hotel properties, etc.
Some of these suppliers might offer you an insurance policy while you are booking.
Keep in mind that these coverages are based specifically on the type of travel that supplier provides, so read the policy carefully.
Insurance provided by a cruise line operator, for example, will only insure the cruise portion of your trip.
And there might be some restrictions on when and how you can cancel; some policies may only refund you for a cancellation with traveler credits rather than cash.
Third-party policies generally offer more complete coverage than supplier policies.
You can get coverage for all segments of a trip--even if it includes two flights, a hotel stay, a tour, cruise and a rental car--under one policy.
The largest travel insurance provider in the U.
S.
is AIG Travel Guard.
Other big players include Access America, American Express, CSA Travel Protection, International Medical Group and Travelex.
As with any insurance purchase, read the policy carefully to decide if travel insurance is right for you.
The policy documents will define specific coverages and what you have to do to take advantage of those coverages.
And don't wait too long to start shopping around, because some policies must be purchased within a certain number of days after you book your trip.
The ailing Illinois native took an unexpected detour from her Mexican Riviera vacation when she was airlifted from the Dawn Princess and transported to USS Ronald Reagan for an at-sea appendectomy.
The story serves as a reminder that emergencies can unravel vacation plans in a flash.
And missing out on a few days at sea might be the least of your worries.
The bigger problem with unexpected vacation disasters is the cost.
A $5000 cruise vacation, for example, can easily turn into a $50,000 endeavor if you or a family member needs emergency medical attention while at sea.
Worse yet, your traditional health insurance probably won't cover these costs.
Travel insurance is designed for these types of emergencies, as well as a range of other travel-related mishaps.
Even if you don't rupture your appendix, you might get stuck in bad weather, miss a flight connection and in turn miss your cruise.
Or your bags might get lost.
Or a relative back home might get sick.
If you don't have the right insurance, any of these circumstances could cost you a pretty penny to sort out.
Types of travel insurance coverage Policies generally cover you for more than just emergency medical expenses.
Depending on the insurance provider and policy type, you can also get coverage for trip cancellation,interruption, delay or lost or delayed baggage.
Here is a rundown of the various coverage types to look for when shopping policies: * Supplier default coverage.
Supplier default coverage protects you from loss if you book a trip or tour with a travel supplier that subsequently goes out of business.
* Trip cancellation coverage.
Trip cancellation coverage is an attractive coverage feature because it allows you to take advantage of potentially lower-priced, non-refundable, prepaid travel fares.
Read the disclosures carefully though: The policy will define specific, acceptable reasons for trip cancellation.
Some policies have upgrade options that provide coverage for additional cancellation reasons, such as work-related responsibilities.
Since most trip cancellations occur within the last 48 hours before the trip date, make sure the policy allows you to cancel at any time.
* Trip interruption coverage.
Trip interruption coverage allows for a variety of circumstances that could cause you to miss a connection or head home in the middle of your vacation.
Look for a policy that kicks in if your trip is interrupted by sickness, injury, inclement weather, strike or financial default of your travel supplier.
* Medical coverage.
Covered expenses might include doctor visits, hospital charges, x-rays and ambulance services.
You'll benefit most from a travel policy that provides primary medical coverage, which means the claims don't have to be run through your regular health policy first.
If you obtain atravel policy that provides secondary coverage, you won't be reimbursed for your expenses until after your regular health insurance reviews and denies the claims.
* Medical evacuation or emergency medical transportation coverage.
If your physician determines that you need to be airlifted off the cruise ship, you'll want to have an insurance policy that's going to foot the bill.
* Concierge services/travel assistance.
When the unexpected happens, the insurance provider's concierge service will be there to rearrange your plans and get your vacation back on track.
If you miss a connection or experience some other problem that's covered by your policy, you might be required to contact the concierge service first to keep the coverage intact.
Look for a concierge service that's available by phone 24 hours a day.
* Rental car coverage.
You can buy rental car coverage from the rental car supplier or add in this coverage to a larger travel policy.
Again, you'll want primary coverage; that way, the claims won't need to go through your regular auto policy first.
Finding travel insurance Travel insurance policies are provided by travel suppliers and third-party companies.
Travel suppliers are the cruise lines, airlines, tour operators and hotel properties, etc.
Some of these suppliers might offer you an insurance policy while you are booking.
Keep in mind that these coverages are based specifically on the type of travel that supplier provides, so read the policy carefully.
Insurance provided by a cruise line operator, for example, will only insure the cruise portion of your trip.
And there might be some restrictions on when and how you can cancel; some policies may only refund you for a cancellation with traveler credits rather than cash.
Third-party policies generally offer more complete coverage than supplier policies.
You can get coverage for all segments of a trip--even if it includes two flights, a hotel stay, a tour, cruise and a rental car--under one policy.
The largest travel insurance provider in the U.
S.
is AIG Travel Guard.
Other big players include Access America, American Express, CSA Travel Protection, International Medical Group and Travelex.
As with any insurance purchase, read the policy carefully to decide if travel insurance is right for you.
The policy documents will define specific coverages and what you have to do to take advantage of those coverages.
And don't wait too long to start shopping around, because some policies must be purchased within a certain number of days after you book your trip.
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