Best Holiday Season Travel Insurance plans with Free Coverage for Kids

December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

travel insurance with free kid coverageAs the Christmas holidays approach, we thought it would be useful to gather a list of the travel insurance providers and package plans that provide coverage for children at no additional cost when traveling with a covered adult.

A package plan is full-coverage travel insurance, which means it’s not focused on medical or evacuation coverage, for example. It’s also specific to a certain amount of time, so this is the most likely coverage for families traveling during the holidays. See the complete information regarding package plans for a better understanding of what makes package plans unique.

The following companies and their package plans include coverage for children at no additional cost as long as the child is traveling with a covered adult and included in the plan when you enroll.

Access America

Travelex

Travel Insured International

Travel Guard

5 Tips for Easy Family Travel this Holiday Season

November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

family travel insuranceIf you haven’t checked a calendar lately, it’s time to sneak a peek at what days the Christmas holiday fall on this year and make plans.

In particular, we recommend:

  1. Shop early, wrap your presents and ship them ahead. You know you can’t get a wrapped present through security anymore, so save time and baggage fees (and wrapping paper) by shipping everything ahead. Heck, while you’re at it, ship the extra diapers, gear, clothing, movies, favorite cereal and anything else you’ll need while on your visit.
  2. Start looking for airline fares yesterday. With Christmas Eve and Christmas on a Saturday-Sunday combo, there will be a mass stampede for the weekend flights with a Monday or Tuesday return. See the Airline Fees Guide 2011 to calculate the extra fees you could be paying.
  3. Check in at home (if you can). We recently read that some airlines won’t let you check in at home if you have indicated you will be traveling with an infant in your lap. If you can check in at home, you’ll save yourself one line at the airport.
  4. Pack light. We can’t stress this enough. If you followed step 1, you’re already ahead of the game, but packing light can save your back, your shoulders, and your patience. Plus, it’s loads cheaper than paying more bag fees. See our post on learning to pack light.
  5. Bring snacks and a water bottle. Airports are getting better about having healthy options, but by and large the food that is available is less than healthy. Plus, you’ll pay exorbitant markup for the snacks. You’ll have to fill the water bottle after you get through security, of course, but most vendors are happy to do that with a purchase of your morning coffee or tea for example.
Of course, look into travel insurance for your trip too in case you need:
See our 3 Best Family Travel Insurance plan recommendations (including coverage for kids free!), or get a quote based on your own travel needs.

Will Travel Insurance pay if my kid’s school break is cancelled?

November 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

school break cancellationsAs we head into the winter season, some schools are already predicting they may have to cancel breaks because of snow days. When school is canceled due to severe weather, that time has to be made up somehow, and schools typically make up those days by extending the school year through breaks.

If you are thinking about upcoming travel plans, how do you protect your travel investment if school breaks you counted on are canceled? If the school year is extended, you’ve got a couple of options:

  • cancel or reschedule your trip (if you can)
  • take the kids out of school and go anyway
Depending on your student’s position in school and what events are planned for those extension days, taking them out may not be an option (especially if they are graduating soon).

Take a look at our explanation of schedule conflict coverage, which is a covered reason (in some plans) for trip cancellation. That’s the travel insurance protection that reimburses you for your pre-paid trip costs in the event you have to cancel for a covered reason.

On that page, we describe the types of schedule conflicts that are sometimes covered by travel insurance companies. There are a few plans that provide coverage for trip cancellation in the event of a school-year extension, and we’ve listed those for you as well.

Note that school extensions due to extracurricular or athletic events are not covered.

 

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.

Hey Parents! Taking the kids on vacation doesn’t have to cost so much

August 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Kids are freeHere at Travel Insurance Review, we’ve got kids too and we know how expensive they can be (cute and funny, sure, but not cheap). So, we took a little time to round up the travel insurance plans that include coverage for kids at no extra charge.

A couple of plans from Travelexprovide coverage for kids at no additional cost:

The Worldwide Trip Protector plan from Travel Insured International also covers kids for free.

The Classic plan from Access America covers kids under 18 at no additional cost.

Multiple plans from Travel Guard include coverage for kids at no additional cost:

Can you recover your vacation dollars if your boss revokes your leave?

August 17, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Lost vacation dollarsIn some cases, you can recover vacation dollars when you or your traveling companion’s or a traveling family member’s vacation approval or written military leave is revoked. This type of coverage is included in the trip cancellation benefits of some travel insurance plans.

Let’s take a look at an example from the Gold plan from Travel Guard. The language looks like this:

“j) the Insured or Traveling Companion is required to work
during his/her scheduled Trip. He/she must provide proof of
requirement to work, such as a notarized statement signed
by an officer of his/her employer; In the situation of self employment,
proof of self-employment and a notarized
statement confirming that the Insured is unable to travel due
to his or her job obligations will be required;”

Notice that at least some proof is required, but then you’d expect that if you have to make a claim.

You may find help in the optional coverages

In some cases, however, you’ll find this coverage in the ‘cancel for any reason’ or ‘cancel for work reasons’ coverage, which is typically an optional rider.

In the description of coverage for Worldwide Trip Protector Gold from Travel Insured International, for example, we found coverage for this type of event under the optional ‘cancel for work reasons’ coverage. The language reads like this:

“You or Your Traveling Companion are required to work during the scheduled Trip. You or Your Traveling Companion must demonstrate proof of requirement to work, such as a notarized statement signed by an officer of Your or Your Traveling Companion’s employer;”

Almost always available for revoked military leave

In most travel insurance plans, you’ll find that coverage for trip cancellation includes being called into active military service or to provide aid in the event of a natural disaster. The language (in this case, from the Travel Insurance Services Elite plan) looks like this:

“(g) the Insured or a Traveling Companion being called into active military service to provide aid or relief in the event of a Natural Disaster;”

What’s the catch?

Make sure that you read the description of the plan to ensure that this type of coverage is available – and if it’s only available in the optional rider, make sure that rider is on your plan. The catch? Make sure that your trip costs fit within the maximum trip amount. For example, if your trip costs are $4,500, be sure that the trip cancellation maximum covers up to that amount. You don’t want to have a situation where the maximum trip cancellation amount is $2,000 because if you have to cancel, that’s the maximum you’ll receive back.

« Older Posts