Why You Need an Annual Travel Insurance Plan

You want it for all your travels

If you travel at least 2-3 times a year, you can save money with an annual plan instead of purchasing a plan per trip

First of all, why do you need travel insurance?

You might be thinking that once you buy any form of a travel product or service that you’re all set and if anything goes wrong it’ll be automatically covered, right? Wrong.

Let’s look at what is covered without “extra” travel insurance.

Airfare: Airlines all have what is called a “contract of carriage” built in to their airline tickets they sell. There is no industry standard, however, each will outline what their coverage is for lost or delayed baggage, being bumped off a flight, and so on. When you buy that ticket you are automatically bound by those fine-print rules.

Car Rental: The first thing you might want to check is your own auto insurance policy. Often you may have coverage when renting a car and therefore purchasing car rental insurance may not be necessary. It is also not mandatory that you buy insurance from a car rental agency in order to rent the car. There are 4 types of insurance coverage that a car rental company will offer; Collision Damage Waiver (or Loss Damage Waiver) if you have this type of comprehensive coverage you may already be covered. Liability insurance covers medical and damages caused by you to another car and people. Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) is optional and pays medical coverage when in an accident. Personal effects coverage is for theft of your items stolen from inside a rental car.

It should also be noted that credit card companies offer rental car insurance as part of their service to you but again, check the fine-print on the limits, amounts and coverages.

Hotels: Here are some key items to look for when booking a hotel room.

• What is the cancellation policy?
•  What are the time cut-offs?
• What is the charge?
• What is the check-in policy?
• What types of rooms are offered in case the room you requested is unavailable?
• What happens if the hotel is overbooked when you check in?
• Worse is, what if when you check in you find that the hotel is not to your liking? What if you have paid in advance for more than 1 night and want to go elsewhere? Will they refund your money, or will they accommodate you at another property? Usually they will try and solve the problem but if not, you could be out a lot of money if you terminate your reservation with them due to unforeseen problems.
  
  

Will travel insurance cover an instance like that? No. But if you have a valid reason to leave the premises such as a medical emergency, having a “cancel for any reason” travel insurance plan will come in handy.

Tour Operators: The USTOA is the United States Tour Operators Association and was founded in 1972. USTOA has a $1 million traveler assistance policy to cover when a tour operator goes out of business, bankrupt or otherwise ceases operations. In the past, this has left travelers stranded and out-of-pocket putting them in a very stressful situation. Note that not all tour operators in the U.S. are members of the USTOA. This only applies to those companies that are in good standing membership with the USTOA. There is no extra charge for this type of extreme coverage. But if you decide on your own to cancel a travel trip provided by a tour operator then its best to have trip cancellation travel insurance purchased before hand to cover your expenses for the unforeseen change.

Resorts: Often times when you book an all-inclusive resort you are getting a great price as long as you book it in advance. Once its paid for and something comes up to alter your plans are you covered? It depends on the resort of course and the fine-print in your paid contract with them but if you have declined their insurance you could be left in the lurch and out of a lot of money. If the circumstances to change your stay were say, weather-related, like a hurricane, then you would be covered. Otherwise this is another example of needing to buy the “extra” protection of travel trip cancellation insurance. The peace-of-mind is worth it and the cost minimal compared to the cost without.

Cruises: Like a lot of other travel products, travel insurance can be offered separately by the cruise line. Sometimes this is a good idea if you only travel once-a-year on a cruise and want travel insurance protection specific to the cruise travel dates. But what if you decide to go on another cruise later in the same year? Would purchasing a separate policy again, exclusive to those travel dates be worth it? Or is it better to have an annual travel insurance plan in place already to cover you. You never know when that really great deal or travel special will come up offering you another chance to go see a place or experience a travel destination like never before.
Now you can see why it would benefit you to add travel insurance every time you travel. But if you travel a lot this cost can add up and you might eventually feel it’s not worth it if it’s unused thinking that your lucky to have not had to use it. But think again. There are always unknown factors that crop up in life whether health events, work-related events, worldwide events, anything can and will happen.

This is why you should consider purchasing an annual travel insurance plan to cover as many trips you take in a 1-year period.
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There are several companies that specialize in travel trip insurance but to save you the time searching it out yourself, I’ve provided you with a link to a company that compares 120 companies for you. It’s easy and less time-consuming than reading through each company individually. Click on the button below.

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So you can have peace-of-mind and relax to enjoy your travel vacation.
Afterall that is a good feeling!

Me lose money on travel? Not when I'm covered for the unexpected