Questions regarding Travel Insurance? We are right here…

I love what I do. I get to help clients celebrate life through travel. Looking back on our lives, it is often the times spent traveling that have memories locked in our hearts and heads. How you enjoyed coffee at that sidewalk cafe in Paris, the dehydrated worm you ate in Zimbabwe, the best cocktail and the dancing that followed, that day you hugged Spongebob and rode the ET ride at Universal Studios 300 times. Oh my gosh, great memories!

My job is to help you with your travel experience. I want you to have the most amazing time. I love the excitement of my clients when the have their vacation booked and are counting down the days until departure. Unfortunately, there are times when we travel that we have some difficult days. A cancelled flight, a twisted ankle on the cobblestone street, a kidney stone, or worse; the death of a loved one that means you need to come home early, or cancel the trip altogether. As bad as those are on their own, these things might mean you have to lose money, or add more money to a trip that you thought was paid in full. No one wants that. Everyone swears they are traveling, that they have waited forever for this trip and “nothing would make me cancel!” Until something does.

In the last month alone, I have had client trip delay and cancellations (some without insurance) for: a parent with cancer; very sick with chemo, an infant child that needed surgery, a broken back, a positive COVID test before travel, a cancelled flight causing the clients to lose the first 2 days of a group cruise.

That is why with every travel reservation from us you will also receive an option for travel insurance. This is not a required purchase, but I must give you the option. At Krafty Travel, Jodi and I hold a limited lines insurance license. This means we can offer travel insurance and give information about the benefit amounts listed on the policies. From there we are required to direct you to the insurance provider, as we are unable to interpret the language or guarantee claim payment.

Not all policies are created equal, but generally, the travel insurance we offer will help you in 3 main areas; pre-travel cancellation, during travel issues and emergency medical while you are traveling.

Pre-travel Cancellation, Trip Delay and Trip Interruption: Travel insurance can help cover your investment. How much does your trip cost? Are you comfortable losing that amount of money? This trip likely was not a small amount of money for you. What we want to help you do is cover the potential loss of the funds you paid for your travel.

Where it helps even more is protecting the unknown costs.

During Travel Issues: How much will it cost to buy a new air ticket on the day of travel? Who knows. Not a small number, I am guessing. Did the airline lose your bags? Perhaps you’ d like to brush your teeth or change your underwear. Travel insurance can help cover the purchase of items you need. Did your connecting flight cancel and the next flight isn’t until tomorrow? Insurance can help cover lodging and meals while your trip is delayed.

Emergency Medical, Medical Evacuation and Repatriation: How much will it cost to take care of your medical expenses in a foreign country? A lot, and in most cases, payment is required up front in order to receive care. That is not extortion. That is how the medical system works in many countries. You can’t count on your U.S. insurance policy covering you when you leave the United States. The time to find out is before you travel, not when you actually need help.

How much will it cost if the worst happens? Emergency medical evacuation and repatriation is astronomically high. These are numbers that can ruin a person or family. The worst has already happened, and now you have debt for a very long time.

Pre-Existing Medical Conditions: When you should buy travel insurance is important too. The best coverage typically is if you were to purchase the policy at the time of your initial trip deposit. Depending on where you purchase the policy, a pre-existing medical condition benefit may expire shortly after your trip deposit. A company we regularly use for insurance is Arch RoamRight. If you purchase insurance within the first 21 days of your trip deposit your policy will include coverage for pre-existing medical conditions. It is important to know that this means not just your pre-existing medical conditions, but the conditions of any person for which you are cancelling your trip. Perhaps a parent or grandparent has cancer, and you are canceling because you are afraid they may pass while you are traveling. That parent’s pre-existing medical condition will come into play, and you will want to have purchased the policy in the correct time frame. Again, not all insurance providers are the same. Make sure you ask.

Standard cancellation versus Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR): Most travel insurance policies provide benefit for trip cancellation for covered reasons, and there are many covered reasons. If you review the benefit list, I think, in general you will feel confident with that coverage. Before 2020, most of our client’s cancellations were for covered reasons. During COVI.., ah, hem, that period of time which shall not be named… your reasons for cancellation changed. Even when we were allowed to travel again, many people cancelled trips because they weren’t comfortable with the idea of traveling. That is where Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) comes in. If you want to have total flexibility, you are going to need CFAR included in your policy. Know that it will cost quite a bit more, and perhaps not cover the full amount of loss, but for some, that is good enough.

If you just deposited on a trip, here are a couple items to add to your to do list:

Check with your homeowners or medical insurance provider about coverage in the the destination where you will be traveling.

Check with your credit card regarding any insurance benefits.

You may have some coverage with both of these options, but they will likely be very limited. Plus, I personally believe that having an insurance company dedicated to handling your issues while traveling is way better than one that doesn’t specialize in travel.

Travel insurance premiums are generally based on your per person trip cost and your age. If you buy travel protection through your package tour operator, sometimes it will just be based on trip costs. These tour operator policies have some limits, and while cost may be lower, so will your insurance benefits. I like to use the tour operator policies if they have a good CFAR benefit and reasonable cost. Most other times I will quote you a third party insurance company like Arch RoamRight. Your overall insurance benefit is much better in my opinion. In looking at your trip costs as a whole, you will find that insurance is really a small portion.

No one wants to spend more money when they just deposited on the trip of their dreams. I get it. You have to decide on your level of comfort. We buy insurance for all kinds of things to help us cover the unknowns, many times without ever making a claim. It might help to mentally factor insurance into your trip budget from the beginning.

Reach out to us if you would like an insurance quote or help with the benefits. If you recently booked travel with us, this will happen automatically. We will require that you accept or decline the purchase of insurance with your travel reservation acceptance.

Travel insurance isn’t a fun topic, but if you want to discuss, just like ET said, “I’ll be right here.”