Top 4 Reasons to Buy Your Travel Insurance Online

February 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

travel insurance onlineAs travel insurance is getting a second look due to a number of recent disasters, the number of ways to purchase travel insurance has increased as well.

All those methods aside, here’s why buying your travel insurance online is still the best way to go:

1. The Internet is still the undisputed king of information.

When you research your trip, you do it online because the amount of information at your fingertips makes this a smart way to search for virtually anything. The same goes for travel insurance. Here at Travel Insurance Review, you’ll find reviews from actual travelers, comparisons of different products, and the latest news and information for travelers.

2. A comparison engine makes buying travel insurance simple

When you use a travel insurance comparison engine, you can customize your coverage for pre-existing conditions, coverage limits, and add options like rental car coverage, adventure sports coverage, coverage for your pets, and more. Plus, your travel insurance needs are put through an engine that gives you multiple providers and let’s you compare costs, coverage limits, and options all in once place.

3. You get access to all the best travel insurance companies, not just a few

One vital thing you miss when you purchase travel insurance with your airline ticket or from your travel agent is options. In most cases, an airline booking engine gives you one travel insurance provider, so you’re not even getting a useful price comparison. Most travel agencies focus on one or two travel insurance providers, not the entire spectrum, so again you’re losing out. Smarter shopping requires adequate comparison and the travel insurance comparison engine gives you just that.

4. You can see your travel coverage documents immediately and contact the assistance services representatives

Now, you can see your travel coverage documents immediately when you buy your plan with your airline ticket too, but do you read the details? It’s not likely. You’re focused on getting that ticket and you may not remember to read those documents. When you purchase your travel insurance online, you get the travel documents sent to your e-mail address. You can review them and call the assistance services representatives to ask questions and better understand your coverage or get clarification on the ‘fine print’.

 

 

Don’t be thrown off guard by a cheap travel insurance price

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

cheap travel insuranceMany people are thrown off guard by the cheap prices of travel insurance, but it’s important not to be. If you’ve done your research and selected a travel insurance plan that delivers the coverage you need and the price is reasonable, even cheap, it just means you’ve qualified for a good rate.

Travel insurance can be quite comprehensive for the price.

For example, if two travelers from Kansas, ages 32 and 36 find a great package deal on a week in Scotland for $3,000, they can have comprehensive travel insurance coverage for just $154 more. We ran these trip details through our travel insurance comparison tool and found a Travel Select plan from Travelex that includes:

  • 100% trip cancellation
  • 150% trip interruption
  • $50,000 per person primary emergency medical
  • $500,000 per person emergency medical evacuation
  • $750 per person travel delay
  • $250 per person baggage
That’s a lot of coverage for the price. And this particular plan covers terrorism, financial default, loss of employment, missed connections and more. Of course, this is just one trip example and one travel insurance example, and every trip and every traveler is different.
You can always see plan and pricing information with our travel insurance comparison tool by entering your basic trip details, and clicking go.

Our cheap travel insurance recommendations

The following are our recommendations for getting an adequate, but perhaps cheap, travel insurance plan:

  1. We recommend choosing an amount of travel medical coverage based on an assessment of your travel medical needs.
  2. We also recommend not over-spending on your travel insurance plan. See our 5 Rules for Saving Money on your Travel Insurance Plan for details.

And don’t worry if you initially purchase the wrong policy - travel insurance plans come with a review period of 10-14 days and during that time, you can make changes to your plan and even cancel it (for a small fee).

 

Travel Guard’s Unique Travel Assistance Services

January 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Travel GuardMany travel insurance plans come with travel assistance services to aid travelers in trouble, but Travel Guard plans are supported by some unique services to help travelers before and during their trips, as well as on the way back home.

Travel Assistance Before your Trip

After your Travel Guard travel insurance plan purchase, you’ll have access to the following pre-travel information through www.travelguard.com to help you prepare for your trip:

  • Local medical advisories, including outbreaks and epidemics
  • Required immunizations and recommended preventative measures
  • Up-to-the-minute travel supplier strike information
  • Worldwide public holiday information
  • Currency conversion

Travel Assistance During your Trip

Travel Guard’s travel assistance services team provides travel medical assistance, for finding emergency medical care and transportation, physician and hospital referrals, emergency prescription replacement, medical payment arrangements, shipment of medical records, and much more.

In honor of the hotel concierge services of old, Travel Guard’s one-of-a-kind Concierge services can help travelers with ground transportation, weather and ski reports, movie and theater information and tickets, local activity recommendations, tee times, restaurant referrals and reservations and more. Anything you need to make your trip more memorable or comfortable is just a phone call away.

Travel Assistance on Your Return

On your way home, Travel Guard’s assistance services can help with travel delay information and coordinating missed connections. They’ll help with emergency travel information if you are forced to get home early due to an emergency. In the worst-case, when an insured traveler has died on their trip, Travel Guard’s repatriation services can handle the coordination and arrangements to return the body home for burial. If you’ve been hospitalized on your trip, they’ll keep your family or designee well-informed and connected throughout your ordeal until you are safely transported home.

Travel Assistance in Case of Identity Theft*

Several of Travel Guard’s comprehensive travel insurance plans also provide access to personal security assistance in case your identity is compromised while traveling. Their services include:

  • Ordering and reviewing credit reports on the behalf of the traveler.
  • Investigating financial accounts where theft is suspected.
  • Interacting with law enforcement to prosecute the thieves.
  • Reviewing account activity to identify later suspicious activities.

The insurance products available through Travel Guard are underwritten by National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., a Pennsylvania insurance company, with its principal place of business at 175 Water Street, New York, NY 10038. It is currently authorized to transact business in all states
* Not available to the residents of New York State.

5 Traveler Types who should buy Annual Travel Insurance

January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

annual travel insuranceSome time ago, we wrote about when it makes sense to purchase an annual travel insurance plan, but what types of travelers need annual travel insurance? Annual travel insurance is, very specifically, travel insurance that covers all of the trips a traveler will take over the course of a year. It means that the traveler doesn’t have to get individual coverage for each of their trips because they will have the same coverage all year long.

So, who needs annual travel insurance?

  1. Frequent business or academic travelers – if you travel several times a year for business meetings, academic conferences, and more
  2. Entrepreneurs and business owners – if you often have to travel last-minute with little to no time to accommodate the advance purchase requirements of your travel insurance coverage
  3. Retirees – if you’re active and healthy and traveling the world as part of your retirement dream, then an annual plan means not having to purchase multiple individual plans
  4. Families on round-the-world trips – if you are taking a year off and traveling around the world with your kids, you’ll want the travel medical coverage that ensures you won’t face a high medical bill if anyone gets sick or injured
  5. Journalists and media professionals – if you have overseas assignments that regularly put you in harm’s way, having the right travel medical coverage and evacuation coverage can be a great comfort

The key benefit to having an annual travel insurance plan is that a traveler has the same worldwide coverage for a full 12 months, but it’s also economical to purchase travel insurance on an annual basis if you take many trips each year.

The key difference? Little to no cancellation coverage is included in an annual travel insurance plan.

Read all about the differences and benefits of having an annual travel insurance plan, including what annual trip insurance costs and which companies offer annual travel insurance.

Measles Update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

January 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

CDCThe CDC recently issued a travel notice regarding measles transmission. While the measles is effectively eradicated in the U.S. through solid vaccination protocols, it is still common in many parts of the world.  Travelers who have not been vaccinated are at risk of getting the disease and spreading it to family members and others who are not up-to-date with their vaccinations.

Currently, France and Europe have reported more than 14,000 cases from January through June 2011 and more than 26,000 cases have been reported from 40 countries across Europe, including Spain, Serbia, Romania, Macedonia, and Turkey.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has reported over 120,000 measles cases and over 1,500 deaths due to measles since the start of 2011.

Travelers to Europe, Africa, and Asia have been the reported sources of measles case imported into the U.S. While the specific disease hot spots may shift, all travelers should protect themselves by being adequately vaccinated. The only vaccines available in the United States are the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) and the measles-mumps-rubella-varicella (MMRV) vaccines. MMR has been used safely and effectively since the 1970s.

The first dose of the vaccine for measles is generally recommended at age 12–15 months in the United States; however, children traveling outside the U.S. are recommended to get the vaccine as early as 6 months.

Review the complete travel notice regarding measles from the CDC.

U.S. State Department Travel Warning for Syria

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

travel.state.govThe U.S. State Department issued a replacement travel warning due to ongoing security concerns in Syria. The Department has decided to further reduce the number of staff present in the U.S. Embassy in Damascus and has ordered a number of employees to depart Syria immediately.

Further, the Department has recommended that U.S. citizens currently in Syria depart and citizens currently outside Syria avoid travel to that country. Further reductions in U.S. Embassy staff means that all services are by pre-arranged appointment only and their ability to aid a U.S. citizen in an emergency is very limited.

Since Marcy 2011, public demonstrations have been violently suppressed by Syrian security forces and there have be thousands of deaths, injuries and detentions. Because demonstrations, and violent government reaction as a result, can occur with little or no warning, U.S. citizens are warned to stay away from areas of demonstration and to exercise caution when moving about the country.

With several countries, including the United States, calling upon the current Syrian president to leave office, tensions between the countries are high. Detained U.S. citizens may find themselves subjected to allegations of incitement or espionage, and Syrian authorities are known for failing to notify the U.S. Embassy of the arrest of one of their citizens until after many days or weeks. There have been numerous credible reports of torture in Syrian prisons.

U.S. citizens are urged to stay current with media coverage and be aware of their surroundings at all time. In addition, they are requested to keep in contact with their family as coverage can cause their loved ones to be concerned. U.S. citizens traveling outside their home country are urged to enroll in the Department of State’s  Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive the latest travel updates and information.

The U.S. Embassy in Damascus can be reached at all hours at 963-11-3391-4444; their fax number is 963-11-3391-3999.  The  U.S. Embassy Damascus, includes consular information and the most recent messages to U.S. citizens in Damascus.

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