Travel Insurance Review

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13 Steps to Baby-Proof a Room in Under 5 Minutes when you Travel

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Steps to Baby-Proof a Room in Under 5 Minutes when you TravelThe minute you have a child, you begin the job of protecting them from accidents and things that can harm them. Once they’re mobile, their world of exploration – and the area you have to baby-proof – grows as fast as they can crawl, walk, or run.

You know you can’t watch them every second and most parents don’t like the helicopter action of hovering over their child every minute. It’s also in a child’s nature to explore because that’s how they learn. You’ve done the necessary work to baby-proof at home, but once you leave the safety of your nest and travel, those safeguards are left behind and you need to repeat the effort at each stop along the way.

Let’s assume you’ve called ahead and asked about the hotel’s available baby equipment, including a crib or pack-and-play. If you ask, many hotels have a baby-proofing service, but just in case they don’t (or they don’t do it well), we’ll go over the risks.

What are the risks to your baby in a hotel room?

Depending on the amenities of your room, the most likely culprits are:

  • Trash cans – they’re full of germs and plastic bags
  • Sharp corners on furniture at head level
  • Electrical outlets and cords
  • Curtain or shade pulls that can strangle
  • Extra-hot water from the bathroom tap
  • Heavy objects that can be pulled down
  • Exposed fireplaces and heated radiators
  • Balcony railings (many countries don’t have the safety codes we do in America – balcony railings should be no wider than 4”)
  • All kinds of objects – coffee cups, ice tongs, bath products – within reaching level
  • The remote control – again with the germs

Supplies you need to baby-proof any room on vacation

Many parenting sites have a long list of things you should take along, including baby gates (to corral the kid), safety netting (for balconies), toilet latches, and more. And yet, much of what you need when baby-proofing any room is tape.

Choose your preferred tape – masking, painter’s, or duct – but a roll of tape will go a long way to ensuring you can control many of the risks to your baby’s exploring in a hotel room – many expert travelers prefer duct tape.

See 7 Ways Duct Tape makes a Self-reliant Traveler for details.

13 Steps to Baby-Proof your Room on Vacation

It helps to have a partner when you’re doing this because one of you can keep an eye on the kid while the other runs around and does the work, but if you don’t have someone along, put the kid temporarily in the hotel’s pack-and-play or crib. Remove any loose bedding and/or fluffy pillow material many cribs have and make sure the mattress fits snugly.

Once baby is secure, use these steps to baby-proof your condo, inn, or hotel room:

  1. Put all the trash cans up and out of reach – the shelf in the closet and the far corner of the bathroom vanity are good places to store these.
  2. Lock all the glass doors and windows and move the furniture near them away so acrobatic climbers can’t use the chair to push open the window and fall.
  3. Check the stability of the television – if you can jiggle or tip it, try to put it on the floor instead or at least push it far back out of junior’s reach.
  4. Gather up anything within reach of baby – the coffee maker, telephone, alarm clocks, pens, etc. and move them out of reach (if there’s no room, call housekeeping to come and remove them).
  5. Use your choice of tape to cover electrical sockets and tape wash rags to any sharp corners that are at head level.
  6. Tape down the access to the air conditioner too.
  7. If there are beautiful (read expensive) books on the tables, move those to a safe place to protect them from being chewed or ripped unless you want to pay for them.
  8. Tape the mini-bar and other cabinets and drawers closed, not only to prevent them from being raided but also to prevent them from unexpectedly swinging open when baby uses the handles to power their investigation.
  9. Collect all electrical cords within reach of baby and tape them firmly to the furniture.
  10. If the curtains or shades have pull cords, gather those and tape them high out of reach.
  11. If you’re not keeping the bathroom door firmly closed at all times, follow these steps in there:
    • tape the toilet lid down
    • ensure that baby can’t turn on the tap to the hot water
    • move all bath products out of reach
    • move all cords and other objects out of reach
    • tape over the lock on the door so they can’t lock themselves inside
  12. If your room has stairs and you didn’t bring a baby gate, you can stack suitcases to block their access to the stairs.
  13. Last step – get down on all fours and crawl around to see what they can see – buttons, pennies or other junk on the floor, for example – including under the furniture. If you do this with your baby, you have the perfect guide!

Of course, as a parent you know that these are just the best guidelines we can find and you’ll have to use your well-honed common sense and knowledge about your little person to be sure you’ve covered everything.

You’ll also need to keep an eye on your little one because no matter how good we are at protecting them, they often find ways to put themselves into danger that we never thought of!

#1 Reason to Travel with Your Passport on Domestic Trips

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Why you should travel with your passport on domestic tripsHave you ever lost your wallet or had it stolen from you? At one time or another, most of us have experienced either one or both of these scenarios.

Now, imagine if you were traveling and your wallet is stolen the day before you have to get on the plane for a domestic trip. You remember the question they ask you at the ticket counter and at security, don’t you?

“Your ticket and a valid form of ID, please.”

What if your only valid form of ID was your driver’s license, which was conveniently tucked into your wallet – the same wallet that was stolen? It’s unlikely that you’re going to get on the plane today.

To have a backup source of ID

The #1 reason to travel with your passport – even for domestic trips – is to have a second (backup) form of identification.

This is true no matter whether you are coming or going:

  • On the return leg of your domestic trip, even if your first form of identification is stolen or lost, you can still get home with your passport as a backup form of identification.
  • On the outbound leg of your domestic trip, having your passport on hand as a backup form of identification can mean that you don’t lose all your trip costs.

After all, even travel insurance can’t help you if you are turned away at flight counter because you don’t have valid ID.

Yes, you read that right – travel insurance won’t pay for your delay in getting home or for cancelling your trip when you can’t board because you don’t have a valid form of identification. This is considered an error on the part of the traveler, and not their responsibility.

Worried about traveling with your passport?

Now, traveling with your passport requires a certain level of vigilance – see our 7 Passport Travel Safety Tips for details – but it is considered the ‘top dog’ when it comes to valid forms of identification and it will certainly get you on that flight.

Still worried? Consider the passport card

Don’t like the idea of carting around your very special form of U.S. identification wherever you go? We understand. Apply for the U.S. passport card as your backup and keep it separate from your driver’s license when you travel. The passport card cannot be used for international travel, so it’s only useful inside the U.S., Mexico, and the Caribbean.

New Year, New Coverage – 3 Reasons to Buy Annual Insurance

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3 Reasons to Buy Annual Travel InsuranceMany of us are looking at our list of resolutions for the new year, and if travel is on your to-do list for the coming year, it just might be time to look into your travel insurance coverage ahead of time.

Travel insurance is designed to save a traveler from expensive financial losses when unexpected things happen while you’re traveling:

  • Your passport is stolen from your backpack in Madrid, and you’ve got reservations in Paris in a few days.
  • Wandering along a beach in Costa Rica, you step on something sharp and cut your foot badly.
  • You get a phone call in the night – your mother is very ill and you have to get home quickly.

Here are 3 reasons to consider buying an annual travel insurance plan versus purchasing your travel insurance on a trip-by-trip basis.

1. Coverage for Planned Trips and Last-Minute Travel

Annual travel insurance plans cover all the trips you take during the year – those that are planned well in advance and those that happen when you snag a great last-minute travel deal.

The best part? You don’t have to remember to buy your travel insurance with each and every trip! With an annual travel insurance plan, you’ve already handled that detail and you can forget about it (until next year, of course).

2. Same Coverage, Same Hotline All Year Long

Once you’re familiar with the coverage, you have that same coverage all year long. The travel insurance policy is the same – as is the toll-free hotline you’ll need to call, so there’s a lot less keeping track of policy details and phone numbers. Make a copy of the policy and keep it on your mobile device or in your email, program the toll-free number into your phone and away you go.

3. Cost Savings for Frequent Travelers

And last, but certainly not the least important reason – travelers who purchase annual travel insurance often save substantially because annual policies are more cost effective than purchasing separate policies for each trip if you’re a frequent traveler, such as a business owner, an academic, journalist, or retiree. Families on round-the-world trips should certainly look into annual coverage as well.

Let’s look at an example

Let’s take a look at an example: our sample traveler is 43 and she lives in New York. At the start of the year, she knows she’ll be taking the following trips:

  1. A two-week vacation in Costa Rica in September
  2. A three-day yoga retreat in California in July
  3. A five-day girlfriend getaway to Mexico in June
  4. A conference trip to New York in March
  5. An unknown number of business trips to meet with clients

She’d like to have some coverage for trip interruption (in case something happens and she needs to get home quickly), as well as emergency medical and evacuation coverage for those trips outside the country (where her medical insurance won’t apply).

We ran those details through our travel insurance comparison tool and came up with 3 plans that meet her criteria:

Compare Travel Insurance Quotes

While that price tag may look scary, take a look at what her known individual trips would cost – all were quoted without trip cancellation coverage to make a fair comparison:

  1. The Costa Rica vacation: $25-$42
  2. The yoga retreat in California: $20-$38
  3. The girlfriend getaway to Mexico: $18-$30
  4. The conference in New York: $25-$41

Of course, if this traveler added trip cancellation, those individual plan prices would be higher and she might prefer to have the trip cancellation protection.

In short, she’ll be spending as much as half the cost of an annual plan by covering her known trips and she still has all those business trips to cover. Is an annual plan right for this traveler? It depends on her concerns and needs.

Is annual travel insurance the same coverage?

No, it’s not. There are important differences between annual travel insurance and single-trip coverage plans, including the following:

  • Trip cancellation is limited, but some plans include good trip interruption coverage.
  • Medical coverage is usually secondary and doesn’t apply to trips inside your home country.
  • Upgrades like coverage for pre-existing conditions are not always available (although some plans do offer it).
  • The number of medical evacuations may be limited to a certain number per year (usually 2).
  • Plus other differences.

So it’s important that you carefully review the description of coverage to be 100% confident in your travel insurance purchase.

4 Differences Between Trip Cancellation and ‘Cancel for any reason’

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Differences Between Trip Cancellation and ‘Cancel for any reason’Trip cancellation coverage reimburses a traveler 100% of their insured, pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs when an unforeseen event causes them to cancel an insured trip.

What gives travelers pause – and the reason ‘Cancel for any reason’ was created – is that they sometimes have to cancel their trip for a reason that’s not covered by their insurance plan.

‘Cancel for any reason’ is usually a separate benefit and sold as an optional upgrade to trip cancellation coverage. ‘Cancel for any reason’ or ‘CFAR’ is considered a fail-safe by travelers who worry that special circumstances will force them to cancel their trip for a reason that is not covered by trip cancellation coverage.

Just like standard trip cancellation coverage, ‘CFAR’ covers pre-paid trip costs and non-refundable trip payments made before the trip begins when a traveler has to cancel their trip, but there are significant differences between standard trip cancellation and ‘CFAR’ coverage.

Why Two Cancellation Options?

Many travelers make the mistake of buying their travel insurance and reading the words ‘trip cancellation’ and thinking they are covered no matter what. This isn’t true, and it’s a source of great frustration when a traveler cancels their trip, thinking that they’re covered, and finds out that the reason they cancelled their trip is not covered after all.

Hint: a careful review of your travel insurance plan document during the review period will ensure that you are not surprised like this.

Let’s review the differences between trip cancellation and ‘cancel for any reason’ coverage.

1. Early Purchase Requirements Apply to ‘CFAR’

With nearly all travel insurance plans, access to ‘Cancel for any reason’ coverage requires that the traveler purchase the plan within a certain number of days (and in some cases – hours!) after making their initial trip deposit.

Even if you don’t have all your travel plans secured yet, it’s OK to make the travel insurance purchase in time to meet the early purchase requirement and then adjust the policy to include other pre-paid trip costs later.

Just don’t forget to add those trip costs to your plan (even if it increases your premium a little) because only those costs you’ve insured are subject to reimbursement later.

2. Cancellation Timing is Critical

With standard trip cancellation, a traveler is typically covered right up until their scheduled departure. If you have a travel insurance plan and a covered reason for trip cancellation is traffic accidents on the way to your departure, you can be reimbursed for your insured trip expenses even if you have an accident on the way to the airport.

‘Cancel for any reason’ coverage requires a traveler to cancel the trip not less than a number of days or hours prior to the originally scheduled departure. The number of hours varies from plan to plan, but many have a 2-day, or 48-hour, cancellation requirement.

3. Reimbursement Amounts Vary

The coverage amounts with ‘Cancel for any reason’ vary from 50-100% depending on the plan you purchase. In all cases, trip cancellation covers 100% of a traveler’s pre-paid and non-refundable trip costs as long as the traveler cancels for a covered reason.

With ‘CFAR’, however, many plans limit the reimbursed amount – some delivering as little as 50% of a traveler’s trip costs. See a full list of plans with reimbursement amounts and more.

4. Cancellation Penalties Apply to ‘CFAR’

With some plans, the coverage amount is subject to cancellation penalties. A cancellation penalty is the amount the travel supplier will not refund you if you have to cancel.

For example, you may have reserved a hotel room that allows you to cancel up to 24 hours before arrival with the penalty of one night’s stay. The cancellation penalty determines the percentage that travel insurance will reimburse minus the amount refunded by the travel supplier – if any.

See a review and an example of cancellation penalties.

Where Trip Cancellation and ‘CFAR’ are Alike

  • Just like standard trip cancellation, a traveler must insure 100% of their pre-paid travel costs, i.e., everything that is subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions by the travel supplier.
  • Just like with standard trip cancellation, any amounts that are refunded by the travel supplier are deducted from the amount that will be refunded by the travel insurance plan.
  • Just like standard trip cancellation, a traveler must insure all – that is 100% – of their pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs or risk invalidating their coverage or not getting the complete reimbursement amount they expected.

Should you extend your travel insurance plan and pay the extra premium to include ‘Cancel for any reason’? See this topic to decide:

Is ‘Cancel for any reason’ worth it?

For more information, see a full review of trip cancellation benefits in our coverage guide, as well as a full review of ‘Cancel for any reason’ benefits.

6 Steps to Minimize TSA Sticky Fingers

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Steps to Minimize TSA Sticky FingersIt is not surprising that the act of stripping down and spreading out your belongings in multiple bins, then sending them through the scanner while you are distracted with the full-body scanner or the pat-down means no traveler can keep an eye on all their stuff. Some would (and do) say “Of course this scenario leads to thievery – it’s bound to happen!”.

According to the TSA’s own blog, written by Bob Burns, 381 TSA workers were fired for theft between May 1st 2003 and September 2012. Some of the TSA criminals who were caught spent years swiping personal property from the very same public they are supposed to protect and selling it to pad their wallets.

Mr. Burns’ limited attempt to repair the public perception of the TSA as a bunch of criminals well deserving of the title, “thousands standing around’ resulted in even more anger from the public to the tune of 114 sizzling comments.

These days, it’s hard to say which group the American public hates more right now: Congress or the TSA, both of whom were created to protect us. In an effort to be fair, there was also a story this year of a TSA agent reuniting a pile of cash with it’s rightful owner.

The truth is that many travelers have a lot on their minds when they’re going through security – one of the most pressing being ‘Am I going to get through security in time to make my flight?’ The following are 6 steps to minimize the risk of losing your belongings to the TSA agents.

1. Don’t put anything of much value in your checked luggage

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – checked luggage is just for the stuff you can afford to lose. If it’s important, carry it with you and don’t lose sight of it (yeah, we know that’s hard while going through security). This means iPads, laptops, cameras, jewelry, etc. go in your carry-on or on your body when you travel.

2. Get organized before you leave the house

The lighter you pack, the easier this is, but when you’re packing for a trip, spread all your stuff out on the bed like it would look on the conveyor belt and weed out anything that’s unnecessary and could trigger the alarm.

Put those items that must be pulled out of your carry-on and dropped in a bin easily accessible – as in the outside pockets of your bag.

3. Make a list and keep it in your pocket

Paper IS still one of those things that can go through the scanners with you, so use an index card or sticky note to make a list of the items you will be dropping into the plastic bins and verify you have all of those before you leave the security area.

You could put this list on one of your electronics, but those have to go in the bins. Of course, if it didn’t show up on the other side, then you’d certainly know you had a problem. It’s your call.

A standard traveler list would look something like this:

  • Wallet
  • Keys
  • Passport
  • Shoes
  • Jacket
  • Cell phone
  • Laptop
  • iPad
  • Jewelry

Once you get through the scanner, you can more easily count off what you dropped into the bins and if something is missing, address the issue right away.

4. Empty your pockets into something else

If you put your belt, heavy jewelry, phone, and whatever else that’s rattling around in your pocket into a separate bag – a zippered plastic bag works great here – while you’re standing in line, then it’s a little safer than rattling around loose in a bin. This is particularly important with smaller electronics and jewelry – you know, those small things that are easy to pocket and re-sell? It’s also easier to grab and start running if you’re short on time.

5. Remember kindergarten and use the buddy system

If you’re traveling with someone – or can make a quick friend in line – you can buddy up and watch each other’s stuff while the other is going through the scanner and vice versa.

Make a point of this in line and it could catch on, which would also work to keep the TSA agents aware that you’re keep an eye on them.

6. Take your time and check your list

It’s almost impossible not to feel rushed at the security checkpoints, but it is OK to slow down a bit, pay attention to where you’re putting what and double-check you have everything before you leave. Is wallet in the bin or in your backpack? for example. Where is your iPod and your cell phone?

Once you get on the other side, whip out your list and give it a quick scan while you’re putting on your shoes again.

Got everything? Good, you’re cleared for go.

The Essential Volunteer Trip Packing List

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Essential Volunteer Trip Packing ListAround 15 years ago, at the same time that trips abroad became easier and less expensive and educated Americans began seeking unique and unusual travel experiences, volunteering became a regular part of the national conversation.

Today, around one in three Americans volunteer and most of the growth in volunteer tourism, or voluntourism, has been with short-term commitments defined as a volunteer vacation. For many volunteer travelers, the realization that they get to see the world and experience a closer connection with the local food, music, culture means a lot.

You’re Not in New York for the Weekend

If you’re doing volunteer work, it’s important to focus your packing on what you’ll be doing. Many packing lists you’ll find on the web do not account for the fact that you could be getting very messy and dirty.

A volunteer trip is not a care-free holiday. You must be reasonably self-reliant, able to clean your clothes yourself, able to stay healthy, and have enough variety in your bag to do many different kinds of tasks.

Many short-term volunteers carry an extra bag with supplies or gifts to donate to the people where they are headed. Depending on where you are going and for what reason, this particular step can ensure a lot of good will.

Bring what you need and only what you need

Traveling with as little as possible is great, but it’s essential to have what you need when you get there too. After all, most countries do not have a big-box-sells-everything-cheap store on every corner.

Ask lots of questions before you leave, so you’ll know.

  1. Are there laundry facilities nearby?
  2. Do I need towels, bedding, sleeping bag, mosquito netting, etc.?
  3. If I’m doing outdoor work, do I need work gloves, tools, etc.?
  4. Will I be able to recharge my camera, phone, laptop, etc.?

These are critical factors that determine what you put into your bag.

The Absolute Essentials

The following are absolute essentials you must pack:

  • Small daypack to carry items to and from the site and on excursions
  • Any medicines you need, plus the items we recommend all travelers have in their Travel Medical Kit
  • A re-usable water bottle (you can refill as you go)
  • A English-to-X language dictionary or translation app (excellent for helping with communication)
  • Small flashlight and batteries (you may have to move about in the dark and where electricity is not reliable)
  • Toiletries like toothpaste, shampoo/conditioner, razors, etc.
  • Sunglasses and a hat
  • Laundry detergent (put the powder in a zippered plastic bag and double-bag it)

Of course, depending on your trip, you may want to bring items like binoculars, portable music players, sports equipment, and more, but think carefully about it because every pound matters when you’re carrying it up an unfamiliar road in the dark!

The Clothing Essentials

When it comes to your clothing, choose sturdy, hard-working items that can be easily layered – we know you can figure out the basic stuff, but add these to the pile:

  • a light rain-proof jacket for unpredictable weather
  • flip-flops for strange shower scenarios
  • durable work shoes
  • one semi-formal outfit in case of special circumstances
  • a bathing suit, if appropriate for your location and the culture

Bring Donations, If Appropriate

Many volunteer programs request that volunteers bring items that cannot be easily purchased in the country where you’ll be volunteering. Sometimes this is as simple as fun items for the kids to play with.

If there’s a need, your program will tell you and you can pack accordingly. If no need is specifically made clear, then tailor what you bring based on the type of work you’ll be doing and who you’ll be working with.

  • Building a school in a community with lots of kids? Bring art supplies, markers, coloring books, and things kids will enjoy and may not have on hand.
  • Helping animals abandoned in a disaster? Think chew toys, old blankets, and training aids.
  • Working with other volunteers from around the globe? Consider a board game or cards – it’s a great way to connect and learn about each other.
  • Helping to teach young children? Teaching supplies like pens, pencils, notebooks, and backpacks are a great way to help.

Check your travel insurance

When we took a look recently at some of the volunteer travel opportunities available – and there are many – we noticed that not all of them included travel insurance information with their program. In addition, some offered a one-size-fits-all travel plan that would not meet the needs of travelers with pre-existing medical conditions, like asthma or diabetes, or allow the traveler to enjoy adventurous sports on their trip.

Therefore, we strongly recommend those considering a volunteer trip to carefully examine the travel insurance coverage (if available) and purchase travel insurance for their trip if it’s not included. Type a few trip details into our compare quotes form and get quotes from many companies.

Protect your Travel documents, Credit Cards, Passports, and more

Read these articles for ways to protect your travel documents, your credit cards, and your passport when you travel on a volunteer trip or vacation.

 

4 Travel Risks We Should All Consider – At Least Once

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Travel Risks We Should All Consider - At Least OnceTraveling anywhere has its ups and downs, but if you can set aside your expectations and throw caution to the wind, you just might enjoy an experience you never knew was possible. After all, the more you travel, the better you get at it.

For many travelers, the best travel plan gives them a basic idea of where they’re going and what they want to do and see with the flexibility to adapt to changes that occur on their trip. So, this post is for all those travelers who want to expand how they travel and try traveling a little differently.

The following are 4 travel risks that we should all consider at one point or another in our lives. Sound crazy? Well, it is – a little, but how many of us have become extreme travel planners who don’t allow for the day to take us where it will?

There are two sides to each of these risks: one that can be considered good and other that can be considered not-so-good. It all just depends on your perspective and how you like to travel.

1. Travel without a plan

Sometimes, it’s best to let life take you where it wants you to go. While many travelers rely heavily on their trip plans, others see them as a hindrance to real experiences.

Taking off on a whim and without a plan gives a traveler immense flexibility – since nothing is pre-booked you can change your plans as you like. You may miss out on the deals that you could have gotten if you’d planned ahead, but with a little luck you could snag an unexpected deal you wouldn’t have had a chance at otherwise.

Plus, if you hear about something you just have to see or do, you can do it because you aren’t expected to be anywhere else just now.

2. Trust in the kindness of strangers

Think about this: travelers who stay in the prescribed tourist zones are isolating themselves to the exact areas where the highest proportion of scam artists, pickpockets, and petty thieves operate on a daily basis.

Those dodgy characters are operating at a distinct advantage – they know the area well: the through alleys and side streets, where the security and lighting is less than adequate at night, and more. This is their playground and you’re on the visiting team.

Get out of the tourist zones and trust your instincts about people and you’re far more likely to find some great ‘regular’ people who are happy to tell you their favorite restaurant or special thing to see. They may even become a fabulous friend.

3. Go somewhere ‘dangerous’

Super cautious travelers may let the travel warnings and alerts scare them away from seeing some really great places. Kenya is a natural wonder and the Nairobi National Park in East Africa offers some of the best opportunities to view and photograph big game. The flipside is the fact that the political climate is uneasy and rates of violent crime are high.

Travel is about leaving your normal life behind and embracing something new, and it’s important to remember that danger comes in all types and sizes: street violence is very different from perilous weather conditions after all. And many would argue there is no part of the world that’s not worth visiting for some reason.

Do a little research to know your risks. Buy your travel insurance, use your money belt, backup your travel documents and travel medical portfolio and get going.

4. Eat and drink locally

Regional dishes created by local chefs typically feature fresh ingredients that give a traveler excellent exposure to the local flavors. Even back home, you just can’t beat a local dish prepared by someone who is familiar with the regional flavors and knows how to make them taste really great. Think about it: local people like to eat well too.

If you’re eating in a hurry, choose the food truck with a long line of business-clad folks – this is usually a good sign that the food is delicious, quick, and safe. If you’d prefer a restaurant, start walking around the time that most people are gathering for a meal and follow those that seem to know the area well – if the restaurant they visit is packed, it’s probably a good meal.

Avoid anything obviously raw or not fresh, of course, and make sure your travel medical kit is properly stocked and enjoy a great global flavor.

Bonus! Eating and drinking the local stuff is also a great way to keep trip expenses low.

6 Tips to Make Travel Less Stressful

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Tips to Make Travel Smoother and Less StressfulDuring just the first four days of Hurricane Sandy, over 20,000 flights were cancelled according to the Chicago Tribune, and the super storm continued to disrupt travel around the world for hundreds of thousands of people scheduled to fly to or through the East Coast of the U.S.

Of course, natural disasters aren’t the only thing that can derail your travel plans and cause serious stress.

Many things can make a business or vacation trip far more stressful than it should be:

  • Traffic accidents that tie up highways and turn them into parking lots
  • Sudden illnesses like food poisoning, the flu, strep throat and more
  • Work status changes such as a layoff or a promotion that requires you to work
  • The loss or theft of your passport, credit cards, driver’s license, and more

While there’s no real way to prepare for everything that can go wrong, travelers can implement a number of things to make their travel smoother and less stressful even when things do go wrong.

1. Book your travel early

Setting your travel plans as early as possible – even if they’re loose at first, they’ll solidify later – gives you the best option for finding better deals. Just like booking the first appointment of the day at the doctor’s office – set your alarm and take the first flight out in the morning because those are less likely to be delayed.

Booking your travel early and purchasing your travel insurance soon after gives you access to a few time-sensitive coverages, like pre-existing condition coverage and ‘cancel for any reason’, as well as the longest amount of coverage time for trip cancellations.

2. Give yourself plenty of extra time

As airports expand, more parking spaces are needed and those spaces are farther and farther from the check-in counter. They’re also the cheapest parking, so they often fill up quickly and many have less-than-frequent transport services between the airport and the parking lot.

Yet, just one unpredicted travel problem can cause your trip to be delayed to the point that you miss your flight or miss a connection.

Leaving for the airport early may mean that you spend a little time in the airport – if all goes well – but you’re less likely to be in a bad spot if something unpredictable happens. Remember, the airport personnel like to take time off during the holidays too!

Plus, the side benefit of arriving and getting through security early is that you’ll have time to relax after that friendly security pat-down we’re all so fond of and pick up a snack for the flight since the airlines stopped soothing us with treats.

3. Pack smart and prepare for a worst-case scenario

While the airlines ask for your ID when you surrender your bags, it’s not typical for someone to be on the other side matching bags to the owners. Recent media reports indicate that thefts from baggage carousels, as well as by the TSA and baggage handlers, is far more common than expected. Even worse? Thieves don’t seem to care which luggage they snatch because thefts now range from designer luggage all the way to the proletariat basic black.

See Packing Smart: Best Tips from Travel Experts for more smart-packing methods and learn why most savvy travelers now take a picture of the contents of their luggage.

Some packing tips you may not have thought of are the following:

  1. If you’re traveling with someone, put one complete outfit (underwear too!) in the other person’s bag. If one bag is lost you’ll still have a change of clothes.
  2. Alternatively, if you’re traveling solo, put a complete change of clothes in your carry-on. See the packing cubes at Magellan’s for a way to do this neatly.
  3. Put a complete copy of your travel itinerary in each bag – including contact information for where you’re staying. This helps the airline know where to bring your bag when they find it (if they read it, of course).

4. Get digital – for you and for the kids

Before you leave home, make sure you have securely saved all important travel documents and your itinerary and that you have plenty of digital entertainment for the kids.

If your passport is stolen after you arrive, you’ll have a copy of the pages you need to get it replaced before it’s too late to make your flights home. See the 4 Best Backup Methods for your Travel Documents for more details.

If your travel is delayed for a really long time, the familiarity of a favorite book, or show, or video game can prevent a kids melt-down. While no parent wants to rely regularly on digital parenting, there’s never a better (or more forgivable) time than when you’re traveling to loosen the reins a bit and let the kids zone out.

Just be sure to pack earphones that fit them, backup batteries, chargers and adapters for your chargers if you’re going abroad.

5. Park smart and prepare for a worst-case scenario

In the rush to get parked and catch the transportation to the airport, it’s easy to forget to remember where you parked it. Snap a quick photo of the sign on the row where you parked your car so you’ll remember it when you get back.

One of the worst-case scenarios is returning to find your car won’t start or it’s been damaged or broken into. Park your car nose out so that if you return to find the battery has died or it has to be towed away, it’s easier to access the battery and/or hook it up to a tow truck.

6. Protect your health before and during your trip

Being sick while away from home is one of the most stressful things that can happen to a traveler. These days, planes are so overcrowded that germs are allowed free reign to test even the strongest immune systems.

Plan ahead for travel by:

  1. Getting plenty of sleep before your trip
  2. Making sure your vaccinations are up to date
  3. Preparing a personal medical portfolio
  4. Packing and carrying a travel medical kit
  5. Knowing how to prevent common illnesses like norovirus
  6. Understanding how to travel safely with medications

Going Skiing or Snowboarding? Check your Travel Insurance

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Cover your head and your bum with travel medical It’s getting close to ski season in many parts of the U.S. and Canada. About this time every year, travelers start asking what they should remember when they buy travel insurance for a ski trip.

So, what do you need to think about when it comes to insuring this season’s skiing, snowboarding, and even dog-sledding trips?

Cover your head and your bum with travel medical

If you’re traveling abroad, or your health insurance network range doesn’t extend to where you’re traveling, you’ll want to have travel medical coverage in case of an accident.

Most health insurance plans in the U.S. do not extend their coverage outside the U.S. borders – that means a ski accident just over the border in Canada could cost you a fortune.

If you can’t afford a big medical bill because a skiing accident sent someone to a hospital outside his or her health insurance network, a travel medical plan will act as secondary coverage inside the U.S. and as primary coverage outside the U.S. For example, if you’re traveling from Oklahoma to Colorado and your son has a skiing accident that sends him to the emergency room, your health insurance plan would pick up the expenses at the out-of-network rates and your travel medical plan would pick up the rest (up to the policy limit).

See our full review on travel medical insurance for more information.

Get evacuation and repatriation if you’re traveling abroad

If you’re traveling abroad for your ski trip, you’ll want to have a travel insurance plan with emergency evacuation and repatriation coverage. This benefit pays for medically necessary evacuations to a medical facility where you can receive treatment if no medical facility nearby can appropriately accommodate your injuries. It also pays for the recovery of an insured traveler’s body should that person die while on a trip.

Neither of these is a pleasant thought, but when you consider that serious injuries such as paralysis, head injuries, etc., occur at the rate of about 43 per year (according to the National Ski Areas Association) and deaths occur at the rate of about 40 per year, it’s coverage worth having unless you want your family to have to fork over as much as $80,000 or more to get your injured body to a qualified medical center.

It’s important to note that evacuation and repatriation coverage is not useful unless you’re traveling outside your home country because these coverages do not apply within your home country.

See our full review of evacuation and repatriation coverage for more information.

Cover your pre-paid travel costs with trip cancellation

When you’re planning a ski vacation, you may reserve a lodge, plus ski passes, ski equipment, and more. All of those pre-paid non-refundable trip expenses are costs that you may want to insure if something happens to cause you to have to cancel your trip.

Most vacation rentals these days have cancellation policies that look something like this:

If you have to cancel your reservation, we will gladly refund your payment minus a small administration fee with at least 60 days’ notice. If you must make a last-minute cancellation, and we cannot fill your reservation with another guest, you will forfeit your entire payment.

Cancellation policies are standard procedure for inns, bed and breakfasts, vacation homes, condos, and even many hotels.

The pre-paid expenses for a ski trip for a Miami family of four heading to Colorado for a week of skiing could run as high as $3,500. You can usually cancel your car rental and wait to buy your ski passes when you arrive, but the reality remains: that’s a lot of money to lose if someone gets sick, for example. Running the basic trip details through our travel insurance comparison tool, you can see at least two plans are available to cover this trip for less than $100.

Ski Snowboard Travel Insurance Comparison

 

Cover your travel delays and trip interruptions

Two other coverages are useful for ski trips: travel delay coverage and trip interruption coverage, and we’ll explain why you might want with your travel insurance plan now:

  • Travel delay come in many forms (especially in winter months): weather delays, road closings, flight operation delays, and more. This benefit reimburses the traveler for unexpected expenses if your trip is delayed for a covered reason. See the full review of travel delay coverage for more detail.
  • Trip interruptions are those unexpected events that cause a traveler to abandon their trip and return home to handle an emergency. The benefit reimburses a traveler for their unused trip costs and often provides additional money for unexpected return airfare – in some cases, it will also bring you back so you can enjoy what’s left of your trip. See the full review of trip interruption coverage for more detail.

These two coverages are great when unexpected things happen after you’ve left home.

Cover your ski equipment and gear

This coverage can be a little confusing for some travelers. Skiing equipment nearly always has to be checked in with the airline – it’s simply too big to fit anywhere else but the hold of the aircraft. Many travelers are aware that the airline coverage for lost, damaged, or destroyed bags is limited and they have strong limits on their liability even if the gear inside the bag is expensive.

This is why professional photographers check their clothes and carry their cameras!

Travel insurance also places a per-item maximum on lost items, so if you’re taking your skis and ski equipment along with you, and you want coverage if it’s lost, stolen, or destroyed, you’ll need to look into a sports equipment rider, which will increase your travel insurance premium a bit.

A few travel insurance companies provide up to $2,500 in sports equipment coverage, but most give an insured traveler $300-$500. See our review of sports equipment coverage, including a list of companies that provide it and how much they’re willing to pay for your ski equipment.

Wear a helmet or don’t wear a helmet?

Recently, a British travel insurance firm – Essential Travel – started requiring skiers to wear a helmet on the slopes or face having their policy invalidated. So far, U.S. travel insurance companies have not pushed the same requirement, but it’s important to note that the following are always excluded from travel insurance plans without special coverage:

  • heli-skiing
  • extreme skiing
  • skiing outside marked trails
  • skiing while under the influence of drugs or alcohol*

* This last one is just plain excluded from all plans.

3 Risks of Taking Your Child’s Friend on a Trip

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Risks of Taking Your Child’s Friend on a TripThere are many reasons families consider taking their child’s friend on a family vacation:

  • The two kids hang out all the time at each other’s houses anyway
  • Either of the children may be the only child in a family
  • The siblings’ ages may be so widely spread as to limit playing together
  • The parents may simply want their child to have the companionship

Of course, there are lots of things to consider when taking another person’s kid on a family trip that may not be apparent when the children are in their own normal routines, such as different eating habits, different rules and lifestyles, and the cost related to paying for another person to come along.

Given that all those issues are ironed out, there are still 3 risks you may not have considered when offering to take another person’s kid on your trip.

1. You may not know their complete medical history

You may have known that child since he or she was born, but you may not know their medical history as well as you think you do. For example, in an emergency, can you easily rattle off the following for your own child and for your child’s friend:

  • Their allergies and any reactions to medications in the past
  • What prescriptions they are taking or have taken
  • Any surgeries or illnesses they’ve had
  • The status of their immunizations

It’s scary enough when your kid – the one you know so well – gets sick while away from home, but what if their friend is the one who gets sick? If you don’t know their complete medical history (and how could you, really?) and they need to visit a medical facility or emergency room, how are you to handle it in the safest manner possible?

Family experts recommend that you should have the following items for any friends that are coming along in case of an emergency while on a trip:

  1. Medical insurance card (although this may not be helpful if you’re headed overseas)
  2. Name, address, and phone number of the child’s regular doctor back home
  3. Complete list of allergies, medical conditions, and prescriptions
  4. A letter of permission signed by the parent indicating you are allowed to travel with the child including the parent’s contact information
  5. A backup contact person in case you cannot contact the parents
  6. A limited power of attorney (more on this later)
Note: these items are also necessary for your own kids if they’re traveling with their aunts and uncles or their grandparents.

2. Travel Insurance plans only protect family members

Travel insurance plans only cover immediate family members, so it’s likely that the other child will have to have their own plan instead of being on the same plan as your own.

That means you’ll have to coordinate with the other child’s parents to get the proper information into the travel plan document and coordinate the purchase of that travel insurance plan so it’s purchased soon after your initial trip deposit in order to take advantage of travel insurance coverage that requires early purchase, including:

It will be important that you and the other child’s parent coordinate the coverage to ensure that it matches your own. For example, you don’t want to have a situation where your family has protection for travel delays caused by hurricanes, but the other kid does not. You could be facing unexpected and expensive financial losses for just one person in your group.

3. Liability, liability, liability

Until a child becomes a legal adult, their decision-making power is vested in their parents. When you take another person’s child on vacation with you, you are putting yourself in a situation where you could be held liable for your actions, or the actions of others. When a child travels away from their parents, it’s necessary to give another person the legal ability to act on the child’s behalf in the absence of the child’s parents.

For example, if a medical emergency occurs while traveling, and the parent of the child cannot be contacted, is the non parent allowed to authorize medical treatment for the child? If the medical treatment is given improperly or their condition gets worse, that situation could give rise to your own liability because you authorized the treatment.

It’s important to recognize that most hospitals and doctors will not treat a child beyond essential life-threatening measures without the written consent from the child’s parents – thus, a limited power of attorney can be a valuable tool to prevent liability from occurring.

Of course, accidents and injuries may be the most frightening concern, but those aren’t the only things that could go wrong on a vacation. Just as with your own children, your child’s friend could be kidnapped or get lost. They could break the law and be arrested.

There are a number of good reasons to take your child’s friend on vacation, but it’s important to take the necessary precautions to be sure you can protect that child as well as protecting yourself from liability.