Travel Insurance Review

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Don’t like going it alone? Tips for Working with a Travel Agency

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Travel agency tipsIn 2011, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) received over 7,000 complaints nation-wide regarding travel agencies. Many travelers still prefer to work with a travel agent rather than making their travel arrangements on their own using Internet resources, but choosing the wrong agent or agency can lead to disappointment.

  1. Do your own research. A personal referral always carries more weight. Ask your family members, friends, and business partners who they use and go to bbb.org to see how they rate.
  2. Use an agency you already know. If the company you work for uses an agency for their business travel and you like how they take care of you on business trips, ask if they are willing to help you with personal trips and vacations as well.

Interviewing a travel agency or travel agent

When you think you’ve got a travel agency you like, you’ll want to interview them. Here are some things to ask them:

  1. Ask whether they provide trip details in writing and ask to see an example. Does it include the details you need to contact the travel agent, the airline, car rental companies, hotels, etc.? If not, you may not have the information you need if a worst-case scenario occurs.
  2. Ask how they help travelers in an emergency – what they can and cannot do. Travelers stranded in natural disasters, accidents, and medical emergencies can call their travel insurance assistance services for help and even evacuations (depending on the plan). Be sure your travel agent can do at least the same.
  3. Ask about their trip cancellation and refund policies and review them carefully. Travel insurance lets a traveler cancel their trips for covered reasons, so be sure you know what the covered reasons are with your travel agent.
  4. Ask if they provide pre-trip vaccination, currency, passport, and weather information. See our post on a family who was turned away at the border for a 3-month passport validity requirement their travel agent should have warned them about.
  5. Ask if they are travel insurance agents and which travel insurance companies they represent. (You can also review travel insurance companies here too.)

After choosing a travel agency or travel agent

It’s important to remember that your travel agent isn’t taking the trip – you are – and if things go badly your travel agent may be able to help but you’ll still be the one doing the suffering. You, and your family, that is so it’s important to remember a few steps to protect yourself.

  1. Pay with a credit card. If things go wrong, you’ll have some financial protection and you may have some (but not a lot) travel protection with your credit card as well.
  2. Verify and print your vacation details, trip insurance details, and reservation details to take with you. See our recommendations for what to take with you on your trip.

If you’re a traveler who prefers not to do all the research and make your own travel plans, then working with a travel agent may be a good idea. Just be sure you understand what you’re getting for your money.

5 Tips for Avoiding Flight Delays and How Travel Delay Insurance can Help

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travel delay coverageFlight delays occur for a variety of reasons and they can be a real pain depending on how important it is that you get where you are going on time. While travel delay coverage with your travel insurance plan can provide some comfort if a delay over a certain number of hours (depending on the plan) occurs, avoiding the flight delay is, of course, the best scenario.

According to travel experts, here are the best recommendations for avoiding flight delays:

  1. Early is better. When booking your flight, remember that the early flights are less subject to the ripple effect that can occur when flights in another region of the country are delayed, thus causing delays in other areas as the day goes on. Just like at the doctor’s office – book the first flight and you’re more likely to get out on time.
  2. Know the stats. Some airports have more traffic than others and are more susceptible to delays simply due to the volume. The U.S. Department of Transportation publishes monthly air travel consumer reports that include statistics on flight delays – by carrier, by airport, and by scheduled time. For example, see the Air Travel Consumer Reports for 2011. Even more detailed information is available on the Bureau of Transportation Statistics website at https://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/.
  3. Check the weather. If there’s a problem with weather, your flight could be delayed and knowing ahead gives you the time to make alternative plans or choose other options. Check the airline’s website to find out if the departure time of your flight is compromised. Posting flight delays on their websites is now required by law. Calling ahead is the least effective strategy because the airline simply doesn’t want to be on the hook for telling you not to show up on time.
  4. Know the airline’s policies. Each airline has their own policies about what they can and will do for delayed passengers and contrary to popular belief, the airlines are not required to compensate passengers for real or perceived damages when flights are delayed.
  5. Sign up for mobile notifications. Most airlines and booking sites offer automated flight status notifications that can be sent to your phone.

Because travel delays come in a variety of shapes and sizes, having travel delay protection can help you with reimbursement for unexpected meal and lodging expenses as well as a few extras: some plans even reimburse you for transportation costs and movie rentals! See our review of travel delay coverage and which policies deliver this protection.

Helping Business Owners Protect their Traveling Employees

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business travel insuranceBusiness owners and employees are increasingly aware that western businesses are often targets of attacks rather than the U.S. government. As companies grow and expand their businesses into global markets, their employees face the risk of working in remote and politically sensitive areas around the world.

Businesses that fail to address the situation and protect their employees may be facing the loss of employees as they choose to take safer positions with less risky travel requirements.

Businesses can, however, protect their employees with travel insurance protection that provides for the specific risks business travelers face, including:

See our complete business travel insurance tutorial to understand the risks and determine what coverage you and your employees need before their next trip.

Do this, and as a business owner, you just might save yourself and your employees a whole lot of headaches.

Top 10 Senior Travel Safety Tips

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top 10 senior travel safety tipsWhile all travelers will benefit from reviewing and implementing these travel safety tips, seniors have a few extra concerns. They have to make sure pre-existing medical conditions are well managed before and during their trip. They have to take enough regular medication to last their entire trip. They also have to be aware of their own physical limits while traveling.

Senior Travel Safety Tips Before a Trip

1. Research the area you’ll be visiting, including State Department alerts and warnings, local weather, language and culture. Buy a guide book and read it before you go. If you have an e-reader, put the guide book on that device because you can take it with you without adding any extra weight.

2. Check your passport to be sure you have adequate time before it expires. Many countries have 3 to 6-month passport validity requirements that can catch a traveler with a valid-but-due-to-expire passport off guard.

3. Consider seeing your doctor before you travel to make sure you have copies of your current prescriptions in case your medication is lost or stolen and you have to get replacements. You’ll also want to check whether you have enough medicine for the duration of your trip. Remember to pack your prescriptions in your carry-on bag in case your checked luggage goes missing.

4. If you’ll be traveling overseas, make 2 copies of your passport page and see our credit card protection tips in case your card is lost or stolen.

5. Get proper travel insurance for your trip and be aware of the need for pre-existing condition coverage as well as evacuation/repatriation coverage. See our tutorial on Senior Travel Insurance for full details.

6. Prepare a personal travel medical portfolio and know how to find medical care on the road and in a hurry.

Senior Travel Safety Tips During a Trip

7. Be aware of your personal limits, get plenty of rest and remember to drink plenty of fresh clean water throughout yoru trip. A day or two to recover from jet lag is not unusual, so take it easy for the first couple of days after you arrive.

8. Avoid the risk of food poisoning by making sure that the food you eat is cooked properly, vegetables and fruits are peeled, and diary products are pasteurized.

9. Avoid pickpockets while you’re traveling and don’t flash a lot of money or expensive jewelry on your trip. When traveling on public transportation, stay awake and alert and avoid overly crowded buses as those are excellent spots for pickpockets.

10. Be aware of the risks of heart disease, obesity, and sitting for long periods of time – these are known risk factors for developing blood clots, so it’s important to avoid alcohol, drink plenty of water, and stand, stretch and move around regularly during your trip. Set your watch (a cell phone will work as well if it will remind you even in ‘airplane mode’) to remind you every hour that it’s time to move about a bit.

 

Worst-case Travel Scenario: a Bomb Goes Off in the Street

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street bombingAs reports of a bomb blast in Bangkok circulated last week, travelers are reminded that they should think carefully about what to do should a bomb go off where they are traveling.

What should you do if a bomb goes off in the street where you are walking?

Although you may be tempted to remain and render assistance, the experts advise immediately leaving the area where a bomb has exploded for two reasons:

  1. Unless you are a medically trained expert, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to offer the injured much assistance, and
  2. there is always the chance of a secondary explosion timed to cause additional damage and wreck rescue operations.

It’s a horrible scenario, but it’s been proven true over and over again. Terrorists will time their bombings to hit once and then hit again to cause additional damage.  Leave the heroics to the local authorities and get as far away from the scene as possible, returning to your place of lodging where you can monitor the news and let folks know your condition and whereabouts.

While there is little to no value in over-worrying, it is worth your life to stay aware, pay attention to the security levels at public places where tourists are likely to congregate. If you must travel to places where the risk of terrorism is high, register your trip details with the free U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. When you sign up, you’ll automatically receive the most current information about the country to which you will be traveling and you’ll receive updates and warnings. Plus, the government will be better able to assist you in the event of an emergency.

Who cares for Fido and Frisky if your Return is Delayed?

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Travel GuardMany people board their pets when they travel, but what happens if your return trip is delayed because you are unexpectedly hospitalized? Will you have enough money to cover the added cost of additional boarding fees?

If you board your pet or pets while taking a trip, Travel Guard’s Travel Rite plan includes a benefit just for pet-lovers: additional boarding fees can be covered up to $25.00 per day (up to $200 maximum) if your return trip is delayed due to your hospitalization.

That means, if you end up in a hospital in Rome with a broken ankle, you’ll have the coverage you need to help with the additional pet boarding fees when you get back home. It’s a great feature for travelers board their pets.

See a full review of Travel Guard’s Travel Rite plan for additional information.

 

This is only a brief description of the coverage(s) available.

The Policy will contain reductions, limitations, exclusions and termination provisions. Insurance is 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 and the District of Columbia. NAIC No. 19445. Coverage may not be available in all states.

Considering Spring Break in Mexico? Maybe not this year

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spring break mexicoThe U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning – not a travel alert – regarding the ongoing and dangerous security situation in Mexico, which has begun spreading into resort and tourist areas. If you’ve been considering a Spring Break vacation in Mexico this year, we suggest you reconsider.

A number of U.S. citizens have been the victim of growing violence in a number of areas of Mexico, including being murdered, caught in gun battles, kidnapped, carjacked, and robbed on the highway.

The rising number of kidnappings and disappearances have caught the attention of the media as both locals and expats are also targets. In some cases, local Mexican police officers have been implicated in these crimes.

If you do choose to travel to Mexico this Spring Break season, see the U.S. State Department’s state-by-state assessment (scroll down to see this portion) to understand the risks you are facing. Be sure to have travel insurance that includes travel medical coverage and medical evacuation in case you are injured and need to return home.

Review our Travel Safety Tips for information on finding travel medical care in a hurry and the top 12 hotel safety tips (among others).

Remember, your standard trip cancellation coverage will not let you cancel your trip simply because you got nervous and changed your mind. If you book your travel to Mexico and media reports make you nervous, you’ll need ‘cancel for any reason’ protection if you are to get 50-100% of your pre-paid travel costs back.

Turned Away at the Border for a 3-month Passport Validity Requirement

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passport validity requirementsWe recently read about this travel disaster: A Canadian couple with two children landed in Costa Rica only to be put immediately on a return flight because their presumably valid passports were due to expire in less than three months, which made the passports invalid according to Costa Rican laws. 

A staggeringly long list of people should have informed the travelers of the problem, including their own travel agent and the airline representatives who let the family travel from Syracuse to Chicago before boarding their flight to Costa Rica.  The airline this family flew – United – reportedly faces a hefty fine from the Costa Rican government for bringing passengers with invalid documents into the country, but that won’t help this family recover their expenses.

Travel insurance can’t help them recover their pre-paid travel costs or the unexpected costs they had to pay either. Even though their passports were valid, it’s the responsibility of the travelers to know the passport rules of the country they are visiting.

Many countries have similar passport validity requirements on foreign passports. In fact, in some countries the requirement can be as high as six months. Visitors to some countries (Canada and Australia included) are only required to have a passport that is valid for the duration of their stay.

Entry requirements for each country can usually be found with a search on the Internet.

Injured Snowboarder Needs Close to $80,000 for Medical Evacuation

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Injured snowboarder Sara Baker Emergency Medical EvacuationSara Baker, a young woman from the UK, recently broke her back snowboarding in Canada.

Baker lost control in Whistler resort and needed immediate surgery to repair crushed vertebrae and a nearly severed spine. Rescuers had to land on a glacier to rescue her. According to current media reports, she has a good chance of walking again but she’s facing months of rehabilitation.

Baker thought she had annual travel insurance, but unfortunately her policy had recently expired. It’s an easy mistake to make.

Now, her family and friends are trying to raise the funds necessary to get her home in a specially adapted air ambulance – at a reported cost of £50,000 (close to $80,000).

Here at Travel Insurance Review, we hate hearing stories like this because the tragedy of a travel accident is horrifying enough without adding a financial burden that can take years – even decades – to recover from as this American couple traveling in Costa Rica recently discovered.

It’s vital for citizens of all countries to have travel insurance and be sure it’s valid before traveling.  Emergency medical evacuation coverage provides for medically necessary evacuations to a medical facility, medically equipped flights home, and even the repatriation of mortal remains. With many travel insurance plans, this coverage will also pay to have a friend or family member brought to your bedside if you are hospitalized a certain number of days (usually 7).

Read all about emergency evacuation and repatriation coverage, including a list of plans and policy limits.

Worst-case Travel Scenario: Deathly Ill on a Cruise Ship

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cruise ship norovirus outbreakIn the last few weeks, a number of cruise ships have been re-routed and delayed due to outbreaks of norovirus. Norovirus, often called the ‘cruise ship virus’, is a nasty stomach virus that spreads like crazy in close quarters. It causes vomiting and diarrhea and it’s extremely contagious; you can be infected by coming in contact with just a few particles. It’s also very hard to stop and those who’ve had it can be contagious for up to 72 hours after their symptoms stop. Of course, because the person feels better, they get back to having fun and continue the spread of the virus around the ship.

Avoiding Norovirus

There is no medical intervention that prevents the spread of the virus – it’s all about strict hygiene efforts. Unfortunately, alcohol-based hand sanitizers aren’t very effective at stopping the spread of norovirus, so you must wash your hands after touching any surface that may be infected. Vigorous hand washing with plenty of soap and water will take the virus off your hands.

Cruise ship cleaning teams know that keeping all surfaces very clean is also important. That means washing doorknobs, handrails, and faucet handles, but don’t forget computer keyboards, remote controls and cell phones as well.

Some passengers recommend putting the remote in a plastic bag to avoid touching it.

Recovering from Norovirus

If you are stricken with the virus, the first rule of thumb is to drink plenty of fluids because the dehydration caused by norovirus can cause more serious symptoms. Some people are treated with IV fluids if they cannot keep them down. In some cases, anti-nausea medications can help with the symptoms as well.