7 Most Useful Travel Survival Tips for the New Year

January 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

travel survival tipsWhether you are traveling to a remote location or simply walking around a new and unfamiliar city, there are risks.  The following are the top 7 useful travel survival tips culled from the experts.

  1. Carry less to show you have less to steal than others around you. A single small backpack (wear it on your front in crowded areas) means you are more agile and have your hands free. If you don’t look like you have anything useful to steal, thieves will move on to better targets.
  2. Similar to number 1: dress to fit in, not to impress. Flashing expensive clothing, cameras, jewelry or luggage is a sure way to draw attention to yourself – unwanted attention. The kind of attention that identifies you as a target for thieves.
  3. Avoid high-risk areas. When you get to a new place, you’ll want a map. Visit an official tourist office to get a map and ask the person on duty to highlight the areas you should avoid. If you can, try to verify those highlights with the clerk at your hotel too (just in case the person at the tourist office is less than honest).
  4. Don’t require the use of your phone in remote areas. Where coverage may be limited, your phone’s battery will drain much quicker. If your phone dies or breaks, you’ll want alternative means of getting around and finding what you need to find (think paper maps and hand-written notes).
  5. Don’t panic in an emergency. If your plane has to make an emergency landing, or you encounter a civil riot, or you leave something important in a taxi, panicking is only going to make things work. Understand what ‘brace for impact’ means, stay away from civil demonstrations because as peaceful as they look at the start, they can quickly become violent, and take your time exiting a taxi.
  6. Tell someone where you’re going. If you’re going off the grid for a time, let a friend or family member back home know where you’re going (as specifically as possible) and when you plan to return. Also, let them know who to contact if they don’t hear from you when they are supposed to. National parks usually have a ranger station where it’s useful to check in and out, for example. Friendly innkeepers are usually happy to note when you are expected to return and call for help if you don’t return when you should.
  7. Be prepared. Take the time to think about and research the risks for your destination and be prepared. The risks you face can be as simple as loss of power in your hotel on a short weekend trip to New York City. See our tips for what should be in your travel emergency travel kit. For a remote adventure, see our list of essential travel products for off-the-grid trips.

Of course, we also recommend you think carefully about and purchase travel insurance for your trip. If you’re not sure what you need, see our Travel Insurance 101.

What does ‘brace for impact’ really mean?

December 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

brace positionIn the case of US Airways Flight 1549, now known as the “Miracle on the Hudson”, Captain Chelsey Sullenberger and his crew managed to avert disaster by affecting a water landing; however, one outcome of that event was the fact that many passengers were ill equipped to handle an air emergency. Even though we are briefed before each flight on the emergency procedures, the passengers did not know what to do when the captain announced “Brace for impact.”

So, most passengers understand that in the event of an emergency, we are to leave our belongings behind so we can move quickly to safety, use the floor lighting to find the nearest exit, and when using the emergency chute, we go down feet first and move out of the way as quickly as possible when we get to the bottom.

Given the relative safety of air flights, what we haven’t heard in some time is “Brace for impact.”

The brace position is described as:

  1. Placing your feet flat on the floor.
  2. Tuck your arms and elbows close to your sides.
  3. Bend forward, over your thighs, as tightly as possible.
  4. Tucking your head on or as close as possible to, the surface you are most likely to strike when slammed forward. That is, the seat in front of you or the bulkhead, depending on your position in the plane.
The reason for this position is that it is intended to deliver maximum protection as the risk of head trauma is significantly reduced during the crash in this position. Less head trauma means more conscious passengers, which is also critical for quick evacuation.
Passengers on the January 15th, 2009 flight 1549 had no warning of the impending impact except the pilot’s command, supported by flight attendant commands to brace, keep their heads down, and stay down. All 155 people on board survived with no life-threatening injuries.

3 Steps to Purchasing the Right Travel Insurance Plan

November 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

purchasing the right travel insurancePurchasing the right travel insurance plan depends on a number of factors:

  • What kind of traveler you are – business travelers have different needs from vacationers.
  • Who you are traveling with – family travelers have different needs than singles.
  • Where you are traveling – travel to a remote island with limited medical care is different than heading to a big city.
  • What you plan to do on your trip – scuba divers have different travel insurance needs than retirees.
The key to purchasing the right travel insurance plan is gaining an understanding of travel insurance. The following steps will help you narrow down the options and purchase the right plan for you and the trip you are taking:
  1. Know WHEN to purchase your policy. Sure, a traveler can purchase a quick travel insurance plan right before they leave, but in choosing to wait you miss out on important coverage including: pre-existing medical conditions, ‘cancel for any reason’, ‘cancel for work reasons’, financial default, hurricanes, and work conflicts. Purchasing your policy soon after making your initial trip payment (10-14 days is required by most plans) means you’ll have access to these time-limited coverages. Read more here: When should I buy my travel insurance?
  2. Know what coverage you NEED in your plan. To best understand what coverage you need, you’ll need to think about: a) the risks, b) the exclusions in the plan, and c) your comfort level. If you’re planning to ski the back country in Switzerland, for example, you’ll need to check your plan to see if it covers that sport. If it’s excluded, you’ll have to look into adding an adventure sports option and perhaps increase the medical coverage limits to meet your comfort level. If you have been to the doctor to treat any illness or injury during the plan’s look-back period, consider whether it’s necessary to have a policy that provides coverage for pre-existing medical and purchase it within the required number of days after making your first trip payment (see step 1). Read more here: What travel insurance doesn’t cover.
  3. Know what coverage you can LEAVE OUT. Not everyone needs ‘Cancel for any reason’ coverage, for example, because the covered reasons for trip cancellation are quite broad. Of course, we recommend you carefully review the plan you choose and think about the circumstances you could encounter before your trip, but if the risks are covered by the policy, there’s no need to add the extra coverage. Read more here: When travel insurance is not necessary.
Once you’ve completed this analysis, use our travel insurance comparison tool to filter the options quickly.

Recent Survey indicates more U.S. travelers are finding value in Travel Insurance

September 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
U.S. travelers and travel insuranceA recent study presented by the U.S. Travel Insurance Association (UStiA) found that Americans spent almost $1.8 billion on all types of travel insurance and travel assistance services in 2010, a number that is up from $1.6 billion in 2008 and $1.3 billion in 2006.The survey also reported that almost 27 million people were traveling with single trip or annual coverage from UStiA member companies, and that a vast majority of those plans are package plans that include trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage.

While sales of travel medical and medevac plans are also growing, policies that incorporate trip cancellation and trip interruption benefits continue to be the most popular plans and account for over 90% of all total travel insurance plans sold in the U.S.  – and for good reason.

The covered reasons for trip cancellation have expanded to include coverage for revoked leave, having to work, and job loss – all of which are likely events in the tough economy Americans have experienced for the last decade.  Knowing that they can cancel their trip for a covered reason and be refunded their pre-paid trip costs has given travelers a great deal of security.

Trip interruption benefits typically include the covered reasons stated in trip cancellation benefits, so (depending on the plan) coverage for terrorism, financial default, and serious illnesses or injuries back home and for the traveler are all covered reasons for abandoning the trip and receiving reimbursement for their unused trip costs. Again, that’s simply comfort of mind.

Travel Insurance is not just for exotic vacations

April 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One traveler recently found her Vail, Colorado trip with family significantly derailed due to a scratched cornea. A trip to the emergency room and she was required to lie quietly and rest with a patch over her injured eye. Luckily, she purchased travel insurance and her trip to the ER didn’t cost her a bundle.

A growing number of families are looking at travel differently these days. Given the recent economy, many families have had to eliminate travel in favor of ‘staycations’ at home. Sharply rising gas prices have done little to ease the pain or allow people to substitute road trips for vacations involving air travel.

Even if you are traveling in the U.S. and have a health plan, you’re likely traveling out of your health insurance network area. So even a minor injury or illness can run a small fortune in costs you weren’t planning to spend on your vacation.

According to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association (USTIA), more than 120 million people insured themselves against travel-related losses last year. This number is up a whopping 35% over past years. It’s easy to see why as family budgets get tighter, jobs are scarce, and the cost of just about everything is rising. Travel insurance isn’t free, but it’s helped a number of travelers defray what would otherwise be very high and unexpected expenses resulting from a wide variety of sticky and uncomfortable situations.

 

Where is a cheap place to travel in Eastern Europe?

May 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

cheap-travel-eastern-europeTraveling cheaply means different things to different people. Are you the type that doesn’t mind hitchhiking, staying in a tent at a campsite, or sharing snores and bathrooms with strangers at a youth hostel? Or maybe you are the type that, at the very least, needs a private room and bath, comfortable bed and fresh linens daily. No matter your travel style, there are good deals to be found in Eastern European countries and endless culture and scenery to explore.

Tim Leffel, the author of The World’s Cheapest Destinations and a world-class traveler himself, says travel to Eastern Europe isn’t what it used to be. “When I researched the revised edition of my book The World’s Cheapest Destinations, I found the picture in Eastern Europe to be far different than when I researched the first edition in 2002. Prague is getting as expensive as Western Europe, Budapest is coming on strong, and Romania’s tourism business is increasing by leaps and bounds. Several macroeconomic factors are at play here. The euro is way up against foreign currencies, especially the dollar. As Eastern European countries have aligned with the EU, they have become much pricier in dollar terms. Also, the proliferation of budget flights within Europe has resulted in a huge influx of visitors from the western half of the continent.”

So with the falling value of the U.S. dollar and the surge in popularity, Prague, Budapest and Krakow are now out of the cheap range, so the further east you go the more inexpensive it gets. Places like Slovenia, Estonia, Albania, and Romania offer some of the best travel values in Eastern Europe.

Slovenia, once part of the Roman Empire, is steeped in history. The country offers a wide variety of scenery with the Alpine in the northwest, Mediterranean in the southwest and Dianric in the southeast. The capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, offers a look at Baroque and Art Nouveau influences in art and architecture. There is the wine making region in the hills around Maribor to see and Triglav National Park with its mountains, lakes and rivers which flow out the Adriatic and Black Sea.

Estonia is trying to get their fair share of travelers with a very informative website, VisitEstonia.com. The country is in the Schengen area, so their borders are open to the rest of Europe. Americans can enter Estonia visa-free. However, accessible Estonia may be, don’t try to learn the language, visitors say it is a nightmare to get a handle on, but luckily most individuals in tourism speak good English. Tallinn is the medieval capital and the European Capital of Culture. Estonia on the Baltic Sea has over 1500 islands to check out and you can see how Estonians used to live before the modern age. Medieval castles, untouched natural areas and sleepy fishing villages are all waiting to be discovered.

Albania, located in the middle of the Mediterranean, borders the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. A few of the top destinations in the country are Butrint, Gjirokastra, Berati and Antigonea. In many places, throughout the country, cultural and natural heritage abound. Visit the many archeological parks, museums, religious monuments or get out in nature and explore the seashore or hike in the mountain regions.

Snagov, Romania, known for its “vampire” heritage and famous ruler Vlad III the Impaler, offers beautiful mountain scenery, ancient medieval castles and lovely villages, also, hiking opportunities abound. If you are a vampire fan, you can even visit the tomb of Vlad III. Although, prices in some parts of Romania have risen recently, there are some areas such as Snagov that are still reasonably cheap to visit.

Make a point to visit these historical and culturally vibrant countries before the U.S. dollar flips and makes them yet another expensive vacation spot. Right now is the perfect time to see a part of the world you might never have considered, but would add greatly to your love and knowledge of other cultures and countries.

To go along with your inexpensive travel abroad it is advisable that you pick up some cheap travel insurance that will cover you in case something goes wrong. Many types of travel insurance policies and travel insurance packages are available according to your needs and will give you peace of mind when traveling so far from home.

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