You have saved and planned and you’re ready to book your trip and look forward to getting away.  You know what they say about “the best laid plans”.  Travel insurance can protect your investment in several ways:

1.  Because you don’t want to lose all your money if you have to cancel your trip  Even the best-planned trips sometimes have to be canceled. But many travel providers — especially tour operators, cruise lines and airlines — offer minimal or no refunds for last-minute cancellations. If this happens, can you afford to lose all the money you’ve spent on your trip? 

   One of the best reasons to buy travel insurance is to have the protection of trip cancellation benefits. These can reimburse you for prepaid, non-refundable trip costs when you must cancel for a covered reason. When you get your money back, you can book your vacation for another, brighter day.

2.  Because Accidents can – and do – happen when traveling Sometimes you or your traveling companions can experience a medical crisis during their trip, such as trauma, broken bones, heart attacks, and strokes. When you have travel insurance, you can call your insurance carrier for help in an emergency. Sometimes payment in advance for covered emergency medical care and be arranged.

3. Because your health insurance probably won’t work overseas.  If you get seriously sick or hurt in another country, don’t expect your health insurance card to help. “Foreign medical facilities and providers require cash payment upfront and do not accept U.S. insurance plans. Medicare does not provide coverage outside of the United States,” the U.S. State Department warns. When you have travel insurance with emergency medical and dental plans, it can pay for losses due to covered medical and dental emergencies that occur during your trip.

4. Because medical evacuations can be very expensive.  If you get seriously sick or badly hurt while traveling overseas, and you need to be taken via helicopter to the nearest high-quality hospital, the cost can be enormous. In some parts of the world, a medical evacuation can potentially cost six figures — and that doesn’t even include the cost of getting you home again.

   Travel insurance with emergency medical transportation plans can pay for you to be transported to the nearest appropriate facility if you suffer a covered illness or injury during your trip and our medical assistance team determines that the local medical facilities are unable to provide appropriate treatment. It can also pay for specialized transportation to bring you home, once your condition is stable.

5.  Because it isn’t unusual for your flight to be late.  That’s why you need travel insurance with travel delay benefits which can reimburse you for additional accommodation, meals or travel expenses and lost prepaid expenses due to a covered departure delay. You’ll be much happier if you have insurance that can reimburse you for your airport lunch or unexpected extra night in the hotel.
6. Because a missing bag can ruin your trip.  

   Now the good news is that airlines are getting better at keeping track of baggage, even as passenger numbers increase. The bad news is that some bags — around 7 percent — are never reunited with their owners.⁴

   When your suitcase goes AWOL, travel insurance can save the day. Baggage delay benefits can reimburse you for the reasonable additional purchase of essential items during your trip if your baggage is delayed or misdirected by a common carrier for 24 hours or more. Baggage loss/damage benefits can reimburse you for the actual price, actual cash value, repair or replacement of your lost/damaged items — whichever is less — based on the limits in your insurance policy’s letter of confirmation.

7.  PEACE OF MIND  One of the best reasons to buy travel insurance is the peace of mind you get from knowing help’s just a phone call away. When you face a crisis while traveling — a medical emergency, a lost passport, a stolen wallet, a natural disaster, etc. — you know that someone has your back.

Hopefully, you won’t encounter any of the problems above, but knowing you have insurance allows you to feel confident if any situations listed above were to occur. 

Have more questions? Want to know more? Call Nancy at (314) 644-8691 for all your travel needs. She is a trusted, certified, and experienced travel agent who can help plan the trip of your dreams!