Travel Insurance Review

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7 Mistakes Travelers Make when Buying Travel Insurance

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7 Mistakes Travelers Make when Buying Travel InsuranceTravelers who get in a bad spot on a trip, and then make a claim with their travel insurance company, often feel like they’ve been cheated when their claim is denied.

More often than not, however, they’ve made a mistake when purchasing their travel insurance.

These are the most common mistakes made by travelers when buying their travel insurance.

1. Buying ‘travel insurance’ with your ticket

Lately it seems that everyone is getting in on the trip protection game, and for a traveler, it seems like the easy choice: buy your airline ticket and for just a few dollars more, you’ve got trip cancellation insurance.

Our comment board is full of complaints about these types of plans. The problem is that the coverage is very narrowly defined and almost never delivers the protection a traveler wants and needs.

See that link to buy Travel Insurance now? Don’t click it!

2. Assuming your Credit Card has the Coverage you need

This is a common mistake, travelers avoid purchasing travel insurance because they believe they already have it with their credit card. While the advertising may look similar, the travel protections offered with your credit card agreement simply don’t measure up to the level of protection offered by a true travel insurance plan from a reputable travel insurance company.

See Credit Card travel protection vs. Travel Insurance for more information.

3. Forgetting about recent illnesses

If you have seen a doctor for an illness or injury within the look-back period, that’s going to be considered a pre-existing medical condition. If you encounter a problem related to that condition and you don’t have the pre-existing medical condition waiver, your trip insurance could be invalid.

See our review of Pre-existing medical condition coverage to determine whether you need this waiver.

4. Ignoring the Exclusions

Every insurance plan has exclusions, but the exclusions in your travel insurance plan can leave you in a bad spot. Travel insurance companies have to limit the coverage to limit their liability.

We recently encountered a father who was angry because his daughter’s trip interruption wasn’t covered. His daughter had abandoned her trip because her best friend committed suicide. Neither suicide nor best friends are included in the covered reasons for trip interruption, and reading the policy description is essential if you are to understand the plan.

See What Travel Insurance Does Not Cover for more details.

5. Neglecting the covered reasons for trip cancellation

Many people assume ‘trip cancellation’ means for any reason at all, and that’s just not true. For example, you can’t cancel your trip because you just lost your job if that’s not a covered reason listed in your policy (many policies do cover this).

All travel insurance plans provide a clear list of covered reasons for trip cancellation. If your reason isn’t on the list, your cancellation won’t be covered.

6. Failing to purchase the plan in time

While you can buy travel insurance right up until the day before you leave, nearly all plans require that you purchase your plan with a certain number of days from making your initial trip payment to have coverage for a number of travel risks, like pre-existing medical conditions and hurricanes, for example.

Buying your travel insurance as soon as possible is the best way to avoid common problems travelers encounter. See When should I buy my travel insurance? for additional information.

7. Providing incorrect trip details

When you receive your trip insurance documents in e-mail, stop and verify you’ve provided the correct information, such as your travel start and return dates, the traveler’s ages, your target destination, your total trip cost, etc. If anything is wrong here, it can invalidate your travel insurance plan.

The solution?

Every travel insurance plan comes with a free review period and in that timeframe, you can change or cancel your policy (for a minimal fee). Luckily all travel insurance policies – even those you purchase from the airline – have a free review period in which you can make changes and even cancel your policy.

Related topics

Making changes to your policy
Canceling your policy

7.4-Magnitude Earthquake Jolts Oaxaca, Mexico

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USGS Earthquake Location MapYesterday, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck southern Mexico, destroying homes, and sending at least 11 people to the hospital. Pieces of buildings crumbled and fell as far away as Mexico City – approximately 200 miles from the quake’s epicenter. The epicenter is not being reported as about 15 miiles east of Ometepec, Guerrero.

Guerrero residents are reporting they felt aftershocks for hours after the initial quake, and news reports now indicate that many residents slept out of doors for fear of their houses collapsing.  Officials are reporting hundreds of homes have been destroyed and many more severely damaged, but the numbers are likely to increase as assessments roll in.

Travelers in the resort city of Acapulco, located about 100 miles from the quake’s epicenter, reported feeling the earth shake and many ran into the streets and out of buildings. Telephone service and electricity were interrupted.

See the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Quake Hazards Program report for the Magnitude 7.4 Earthquake in Oaxaca, Mexico.

Why didn’t Travel Insurance Cover my Daughter’s Trip Interruption?

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Why didn’t Travel Insurance Cover my Daughter’s Trip Interruption?We recently had a comment submitted from an angry father, and we thought it important to address his concerns about travel insurance.

His daughter was on a college graduation trip (congratulations to the daughter!) when she received word that her best friend committed suicide. The daughter cancelled the remainder of her trip (that’s the definition of a trip interruption) and bought a one-way emergency ticket to get home for the funeral.

First, our sincere condolences. The death of someone so young is heartbreaking, and we wish both families our deepest sympathies. We also understand that this father is deeply hurt by his daughter’s grief and loss. Again, your deepest sympathies for your struggle.

Why the Travel Insurance Claim was Denied

The daughter’s travel insurance claim was denied for several reasons: first, suicide is not considered a covered death, and friends are not covered either.

But neither of these reasons is surprising to anyone.

Unfortunately, this father and daughter made several mistakes:

  1. They purchased the trip plan while buying the airline ticket.
  2. They (apparently) didn’t read and understand the travel insurance policy.

Do Not Buy your Travel Insurance While Buying your Airline Ticket

We’ve been warning consumers for a long while now that buying your travel insurance from a travel supplier is a bad idea: See that link to buy Travel Insurance now? Don’t click it! Travel suppliers are in the business of making money and so they’ve contracted for generic travel policies that may or may not cover your travel situation.

In this particular case, however, no travel plan would have covered the daughter’s trip interruption because no insurance plan covers suicide. In all travel insurance policies, you’ll find text similar to the following in the list of exclusions:

Benefits are not payable for any loss due to, arising or
resulting from:
1. suicide, attempted suicide or any intentionally self-inflicted
injury while sane or insane

Travel Insurance Doesn’t Provide Coverage for Best Friends, Former Roommates, Long-time Neighbors, etc.

While many friends can seem as close as family members, it’s true that travel insurance doesn’t provide benefits for a best friends’ death either.

In a travel insurance plan’s description of coverage, you’ll find that trip interruption (and trip cancellation) coverage pays if you are prevented from continuing your trip due to:

Death involving You or Your Traveling Companion or Your or Your Traveling Companion’s Business Partner or Your Family Member;

If you further read the definition of “Family Member”, you’ll typically find text that reads something like this:

“Family Member” means any of the following who resides in
the United States, Canada, or Mexico: Your or Your Traveling
Companion’s: legal spouse (or common-law spouse where
legal), legal guardian, son or daughter (adopted, foster, step
or in-law), brother or sister (includes step or in-law), parent
(includes step or in-law), grandparent (includes in-law),
grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew, Domestic Partner,
an employed caregiver who lives with You, or a person for
whom You are the primary caregiver with whom You have
lived for 12 continuous months prior to the effective date of
Your Plan, whether or not they travel with You.

Disclaimer: These definitions are taken from the Vacation Classic travel insurance plan from TravelSafe. This is not the company, nor the plan, purchased by the father and daughter whose story we used in this post. We chose a random plan in order to demonstrate the wording in a typical travel insurance plan. Every travel insurance policy reads slightly differently, so it’s important to review your policy carefully to fully understand it.

In conclusion, we acknowledge and feel deeply for the father and daughter in this story, but we include their story here to inform other consumers. A travel insurance plan is just like any other insurance plan: it comes with exclusions and limits. Every travel insurance plan – even those sold as part of an airline ticket purchase – comes with a free look period that you can use to review the plan, understand the coverage and the exclusions and make changes or even cancel.

Related topics

Passenger Protection laws ban ‘opt-out’ travel insurance sales.

Travel Insurance Finally Getting a Second Look?

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travel insurance gets a second lookIn the past, most travelers simply never considered travel insurance unless they were taking a very expensive trip. These days, however, travel insurance is finally getting a second look due to:

From impossible-to-predict disasters to natural disasters to medical emergencies and tragic accidents, travelers who don’t have travel insurance bemoan the fact and wish they’d purchased it. The travel industry has seen a healthy share of changes and developments in the last decade, but big, dramatic stories like the ones listed above are getting people to think about travel insurance.

Then, news of another airline consolidation or bankruptcy happens and travelers find themselves vying for the few remaining seats available on the last routes profitable to airlines and, well, you get the idea.

Rough Economy = Strict Cancellation Rules

In a rough economy, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts, and tour operators have all tightened and published their cancellation policies, and many are quite restrictive, leaving travelers with stiff penalties and loads of unexpected out-of-pocket expenses if something happens.  Hey, they gotta make money somehow, right?

Just Getting Started?

If you are just beginning to realize what travel insurance can do for you, start with our Travel Insurance 101 guide for a good understanding of how it works, what ‘gotchas’ to avoid, and how to make the right travel insurance purchase without spending a lot of extra money.

Trust us, one long layover in New York City and we’ll make a travel insurance believer out of you. Don’t let that happen.

5 Things No Traveler Should Board an Airplane Without

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no traveler should fly withoutAir travel is no longer as fun as it once was and as the airlines have gotten stingier and stingier, travelers have had to find ways to be comfortable while traveling and still get everything through security.

The following are 5 absolute essentials no traveler should board an airplane without:

  1. Essential medications – things to keep in your carry-on include all essential prescription medications. If you are separated from your bags for a significant amount of time, have what you need to stay healthy. This is especially true for people with diabetes and those who experience sudden attacks of asthma, for example.
  2. Personal care items – nasal sprays, spare contact lenses, your own toothbrush and toothpaste can all make you feel more comfortable even if you are on a flight for a very long time. Think about what will keep you comfortable on a long layover and stick those in your carry-on.
  3. A little food – in the past, the airlines were much more generous with food and drinks, but as they’ve tightened their belts, it leaves passengers responsible for their snack needs. These days, it’s super easy to get pre-packaged snacks or stick a piece of fruit in your bag.
  4. A water bottle – empty it before security and fill it up after you get through. This way, you’ll stay hydrated on the flight even if the flight attendants can’t get to serving drinks.
  5. Your credit card – cold hard cash no longer gets the respect it deserves. Everyone wants plastic. If you’re at 35,000 feet and just have to get something to drink or see how that movie turns out, you’ll need your plastic.

Of course, last – but not least – is your brand of entertainment. Flight time is forced down time, so bring what you need to get through – music, games, e-readers, magazines, whatever. For some people, flight time is nap time, and they may want to bring eye shades, a light blanket, noise-canceling headphones, even a sleep aid.

Considering Kid Safety on a Cruise

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kid safety on a cruiseAccording to current research over 1 million kids now cruise the high seas every year. While the reality is that many cruise lines have come a long way in implementing kid-safety measures with an always expanding array of amenities and services to guard their safety and help parents keep track of them, it’s important for parents to carefully consider their kids’ safety on a cruise as well.

1. One of the most important things you can do with your kids is to attend the safety drill and keep the tone serious. Then, back up that drill with practice of your own to be sure the kid can find their muster station on their own (there’s no need to return to the cabin if there’s no time because there are life jackets at the kids’ clubs, muster stations, and in the lifeboats).

2. Another thing you can do with your kids, especially those that are older and will be away from you at times, is remind them about ‘stranger danger’. Molestation and rape are not uncommon on cruise ships – for adults and for children. The risk is no greater (and no less) than if they were in their neighborhood, school, or playground.

3. Another important thing to do with those who are tween or teen-age is make sure they can find their way back to the cabin. Hey, these ships are floating cities, so spend some time figuring out how best to get around the ship so they can find their cabin, and you, when they need to.

4. The last thing that’s important to do with your kids is make sure they follow the ship’s posted rules (if the sign says no swimming, then no swimming) and wash their hands as often as possible (to avoid norovirus).

It’s difficult to think of the awful stuff that can happen when you’re trying to relax and have fun, but these reminders can make an emergency situation easier for your kid to handle.

Why doesn’t the Travel Insurance Company ask Medical Questions Before They Sell Me a Policy?

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travel insurance questionsWe’ve encountered a few variations of this question over the years in our comments: “Why doesn’t the travel insurance company ask pertinent medical questions before they sell me a policy?”

As a consumer, you have a right to purchase insurance of all kinds. It’s your responsibility to have the insurance you need to cover your situation. For example, your homeowners’ insurance provider doesn’t ask if a tree appears about to fall on your house. It’s your responsibility – as the homeowner – to get the right home insurance to protect your home and your belongings.

How Consumers Make these Travel Insurance Mistakes

The primary mistake travel insurance consumers make is failing to read their policy.

What happens is that most travel insurance consumers purchase a plan that has ‘trip cancellation’ and they think that it means cancelling a trip for any reason, at any time, and getting a full refund – no matter what.

Travel insurance is no different than other insurance products in that is has limitations and exclusions. Remember all the folks with flooded homes who moaned about their homeowners’ insurance failing them? Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flooding that occurs from outside the home. It was a surprise to all those homeowners, but not to anyone who had read their policies.

The next mistake travel insurance consumers make is failing to purchase the right coverage.

If you know you have a pre-existing medical condition, or if you’ve been to the doctor to be treated for a condition, then it’s your responsibility to be honest with the travel insurance company about the situation and purchase the coverage you may need on your trip.

The travel insurance plan’s description of coverage details the list of limitations and exclusions and that is your agreement with the travel insurance company. Typical medically related exclusions include items like the following (these are copied from the current version of Worldwide Trip Protector Gold from Travel Insured International):

1) Pre-Existing Conditions, as defined in the Definitions section (except Emergency Evacuation and Repatriation of Remains), unless the policy is purchased within 30 days of the initial Trip deposit. The booking for the Trip must be the first and only booking for this travel period and destination, You are not disabled from travel at the time You pay the premium, and You must purchase this policy for the full non-refundable cost of Your Trip;
2) Suicide, attempted suicide or any intentionally self-inflicted Injury while sane or insane (in Missouri, sane only) committed by You, Traveling Companion, or Family Member whether insured or not;
3) War, invasion, acts of foreign enemies, hostilities between nations (whether declared or not), civil war (does not apply to Cancel for Work Reasons coverage);
4) Participation in any military maneuver or training exercise (does not apply to Cancel for Work Reasons coverage);
5) Piloting or learning to pilot or acting as a member of the crew of any aircraft;
6) Mental or emotional disorders, unless hospitalized;
7) Participation as a professional in athletics;
8) Being under the influence of drugs or intoxicants, unless prescribed by a Physician;
9) Commission or the attempt to commit a criminal act by You, Traveling Companion or Family Member whether insured or not;
10) Participating in bodily contact sports; skydiving; hang gliding; parachuting; any race, bungee cord jumping;
speed contest; spelunking or caving; (Does not apply while on Your Trip if You purchase Sports Coverage);
11) Participating in extreme skiing or mountaineering (mountaineering below 15,000 feet is covered while on Your Trip if You purchase Sports Coverage);
12) Dental treatment except as a result of Accidental Injury to sound natural teeth;
13) Pregnancy and childbirth (except for Complications of Pregnancy or as specifically provided under Part A);
14) Traveling for the purpose of securing medical treatment.

In addition, there may be coverage-specific exclusions like the following:

The following limitation applies to Trip Cancellation: All cancellations must be reported directly to the Travel Supplier within 72 hours of the event causing the need to cancel, unless the event prevents it, and then as soon as is reasonably possible. If the cancellation is not reported within the specified 72-hour period, the Company will not pay for additional charges which would not have been incurred had You notified the Travel Supplier in the specified period. If the event prevents You from reporting the cancellation, the 72-hour notice requirement does not apply; however, You must, if requested, provide proof that said event prevented You from reporting the cancellation within the specified period.

The travel insurance companies have done their part by making their policy available to you and, even better, giving you a free look period to review it, ask questions, and make changes or cancel your policy.

Now you have to do your part and read the policy to know that you’ve purchased what you need to cover your trip.

Related topics

7 Things that Confuse Travelers about Travel Insurance

4 Steps to 100% confidence in your travel insurance plan

Grandparents, are you taking the grandkids on vacation?

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Grandparents and grandkids on vacationThese days, the world of traveling families is very different. Working parents don’t always have the time or money to take their kids on vacations and, in some cases, grandparents are stepping in to fill that role.

We decided it was time to look into the plans that are best suited for grandparents taking their grandchildren on vacation. We wanted a package plan in order to have the full range of benefits that grandparents and grandkids need. The following are the essentials:

Travel Insurance Package Plans for Grandparents

When we thought about what grandparents might want in a travel insurance plan for a trip with the grandkids, we determined that covering the kids for free would help offset the cost (especially since the price of insurance will already be affected by the age of the grandparents). Also, we wanted the option to purchase a pre-existing condition waiver with the plan.

In searching around we came up with the following plans that meet these criteria:

Now, grandparents you can start with researching those plans, or you can also use our compare travel insurance tool to get price quotes.

Travel Insurance Price Quote Example

To get an idea of the costs, we decided to run sample vacation details through our travel insurance comparison engine and see what the costs for travel insurance would be. We used these trip details:

  • Spring break trip to Costa Rica
  • One week of travel March 18-25
  • No trip cancellation, but we wanted trip interruption in case they had to get back home quickly
  • Pre-existing condition waiver available
  • 4 travelers from Kansas, ages: 78, 76, 14, and 12

Using the trip details listed above, we found many plans to fit the needs of these travelers:

grandparents vacation with grandkid travel insurance comparison

Each plan, of course, has varying degrees of coverage, so it’s important to review them carefully before choosing. After you choose, remember that you have a free review period in which to study the plan, ask questions, and make changes.

It’s important to remember that to get the pre-existing condition waiver, you have to purchase the trip insurance within a certain number of days of making your initial trip deposit. See our pre-existing condition coverage review to fully understand how that works.

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