The recent cancellations of hundreds of Southwest Airlines’ flights after a hole tore in the roof of a Southwest Boeing 737, forcing an emergency landing last Friday underscores where travel insurance can help in these situations.

Travel insurance cannot cover the flight cancellations, because it’s the responsibility of the airline to honor their contract with each ticket holder and get them to their destinations.  Each airline handles situations like this differently.

While some airlines have agreements with other major carriers, Southwest does not. This means that a Southwest ticket cannot be endorsed over to another carrier who can get a traveler to their destination.  It remains to be seen whether Southwest will issue refunds to travelers whose flights were canceled.

You can read the latest update from Southwest that explains their position.

How Travel Insurance can help

All that aside, how can travel insurance help customers who are stuck in similar situations?

If a traveler purchased travel insurance prior to these recent cancellations, then that traveler may have coverage (depending on their policy) for travel delays and perhaps ‘cancel for any reason’ if they decided to simply scrap their travel plans and wait for another time.

In all cases, travelers with travel insurance would have the support of their travel insurance assistance services who could explain their options and perhaps make alternative travel arrangements.

 

After the recent earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, the damage caused to a nuclear reactor plant is causing concern for travelers to Japan. While it’s important to note that radiation poisoning concerns to travelers as of this writing are limited, travelers with plans for future travel in Japan need to understand that fear of radiation poisoning isn’t a covered reason for trip cancellation if your plan doesn’t have the ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage.

Trip cancellation coverage provides coverage for a defined set of covered reasons and those reasons vary from travel insurance plan to travel insurance plan. In no case, however, is a concern or worry about an event that hasn’t yet happened covered under trip cancellation coverage.

If events in Japan change and nuclear contamination occurs, then coverage options may change. For example, if a hotel is shut down due to radiation concerns, then your travel insurance protection may kick in because the destination is rendered uninhabitable.

‘Cancel for any reason’ coverage, however lets travelers cancel their insured travel plans for any reason – including fears over radiation poisoning. See how much ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage is provided by each each company at Travel Insurance Review.

 

The days of low fuel prices are long gone and as fuel and oil prices continue to rise and plummet over global unrest, travelers of all types: families, honeymooners, seniors, volunteers, even business travelers are becoming increasingly aware that they have to protect their travel investment.

Some of the ways travel insurance can protect travel costs against these global shifts include:

• Travel delay coverage, which provides reimbursement for unexpected travel expenses that occur when your trip’s departure or return is delayed for a covered reason, such as airport closures due to earthquakes or civil unrest.
• Missed connection coverage, which provides reimbursement for unexpected travel expenses that occur when you’ve missed a flight connection and have to pay additional airline change fees, purchase new tickets or lose a day of pre-paid travel for a covered reason.
• Trip cancellation coverage, which provides reimbursement for pre-paid, non refundable travel expenses when you have to cancel your trip for a covered reason.
• Trip interruption coverage, which provides reimbursement for the unused trip costs and additional travel expenses if you have to end your trip and return home – whether you return to complete your trip or not.

The coverage provided by each travel plan varies, so it’s important to do your research. Compare plan coverage and benefits using the reviews here and a comparison engine (see How to Compare Quotes with a Travel Insurance Comparison Site).

 

Travel Insurance Review extends deepest sympathies to everyone who lost loved ones or is otherwise affected by the recent disasters in Japan.

A s a result of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant worries, many travelers are scrambling to figure out whether their travel insurance plans provide coverage for current and future travel. Travel insurance companies consider the earthquake and tsunami to be natural disasters and will provide benefits to the extent natural disasters are covered in their policies. You can read the insurance provider position statements here.

For travelers already traveling

As of Friday, March 11, 2011, the tsunami is no longer considered an unforeseen event; therefore, insured travelers in affected areas may be eligible for trip cancellation, trip interruption, and trip delay benefits as well as emergency medical and medical evacuation coverage depending on their travel insurance plans. Some travel plans provide coverage for non medical evacuations when government-issued warnings are in place.

For travelers with future travel plans

Travelers who have purchased travel to Tokyo prior to the earthquake and have not yet departed may have valid reasons to request trip cancellation benefits, but travel that is scheduled to take place later in the year may not be covered once the travel advisory is lifted. For those who purchased ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage, it’s important to cancel within the number of hours prior to your scheduled departure in order for coverage to be effective.

As always, refer to the specific terms and conditions of the policy you purchased to understand coverage terms and exclusions.

 

If you, like many Americans, are one of those headed to Japan to help, be sure to take along travel medical insurance.

Now, the travel insurance comparison site, InsureMyTrip.com has joined with travel medical insurance provider, HCC Medical Insurance Services (HCCMIS) to launch a special program for U.S. volunteers headed to Japan to help with the relief effort.  This initiative provides medical and evacuation coverage at a 20% discounted rate for the HCCMIS Atlas International Plan.

“By working together with HCCMIS, we are able to provide critical coverage most affordably, and protect those traveling to Japan to assist in relief efforts or to locate loved ones,” explains Jim Grace, President and CEO of InsureMyTrip.com.

Read the full press release, which includes instructions to redeem this offer.

As the season for Spring Break travel is upon us, it’s important to note that a number of popular Spring Break destinations may not be the safest places to travel – for families or for students traveling on their own away from their families.

• Mexico – Cancun, Acapulco, Mazatlan are all highly popular Spring Break destinations, but each comes with a number of travel warnings including situations of violence and crime.
• Jamaica – While the two international airports in Jamaica have had regular reports of violence, many of the popular resort areas are considered safe as long as spring-breakers remain on resort property.
• South Padre Island – Even on U.S. soil, popular Spring Break destinations come with some danger. Mexican gangs competing for control of drug trafficking routes have been in the news for many years, and with the border so close, many spring-breakers are tempted to wander near the border to enjoy cheaper alcohol and the lack of drinking age enforcement.

It is important that U.S. students who are traveling to these locations understand three things:

• U.S. laws will not protect them outside the borders
• Crimes against U.S. tourists often go unpunished in foreign countries
• Law enforcement in other countries is often understaffed

How can travel insurance help Spring Break travelers?

Families and students traveling alone need to be aware of the dangers of their intended destination and purchase travel insurance protection that will provide coverage in the event something happens.

1. Parents traveling with children can purchase a travel insurance plan with medical evacuation coverage that provides for the return of minor children if the parent or parents are hospitalized.
2. Students traveling alone can purchase emergency medical coverage to provide coverage for necessary medical treatment and transportation.
3. Many policies provide trip interruption coverage as well, so if the traveler is a victim of assault, they can abandon their trip and return home early while recovering their unused travel costs.

Important note: if any loss is incurred as a result of intoxication or participation in an illegal act, then the coverage is considered null and void.