Travel Insurance Review

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Summer is Peak Season for Lightning Strikes

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Peak season for lightning strikesWhile hurricanes, tornadoes, and flooding have lately dominated the natural disaster scene, it’s important to remember that summer is peak lightning season. According to the National Weather Service, there were 29 deaths due to lightning strikes in 2010 but an average of 55 people are killed each year by lightning, prompting the slogan:

“When thunder roars, go indoors.”

Lightning is a long-studied and barely understood natural phenomenon. It can travel horizontally many miles away from a thunderstorm and even strike the ground out of a clear blue sky.

People who are struck by lightning suffer a number of injuries from severe burns to violent muscle contractions to difficulty breathing. Many injuries turn into long-term problems such as memory loss, sleep disorders, chronic dizziness and fatigue, and more.

When attending outdoor activities, from the golf course to family reunions, be sure some level of shelter is nearby to duck under (even a hard-topped car will do).  If you’re traveling in an unfamiliar area, check the weather conditions before you head out.

See these NOAA resources for more information about lightning safety:

Here is a complete list of lightning safety resources.

Vacation Tip: Keep your cell phone charged

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Cell phone charging stationIf you’re headed on a trip soon, don’t forget to pack your phone charger (in your carry-on, not your checked luggage), but what if you are heading into the woods or on a long backcountry trek?

With cell phones and smart phones reaching nearly universal rates, the problem of keeping all these devices charged has reached record proportions. Some airports have set up phone charging stations (now with locking devices in some locations) to help travelers keep their devices charged, but once a traveler gets away from civilization, things get harder.

In fact, the near ubiquity of mobile devices keeps operators at ranger stations in places like New Hampshire’s White Mountains and Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park just as busy answering calls for directions, weather reports, and blister treatment as they are for true emergencies.

Keeping your cell phone charged in places like these have always nvolved expensive and often ineffective gear, but a new device introduced by TES NewEnergy Co. directly converts heat into electrical energy. In brief, while you are cooking your dinner on the trail, you can also charge your phone. Called the Pan Charger, this stew-pot lets you recharge USB-enabled devices while you cook using a built-in thermoelectric heat exchanger to send a trickle of juice through the USB cable in its handle.

Is that foreign airline safe?

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Foreign airline safetySure, here in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, we have guidelines and oversight that ensures our airlines meet minimum international standards for safe flying, extended pilot training, and mechanical maintenance. What about other parts of the world, however?

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over 20% of the foreign civil aviation authorities evaluated by the FAA fail to adequately oversee the airlines in their countries and those airlines don’t meet minimum international safety standards.

Within the European Union, the member states have assembled a list of airlines banned from flying because they were found unsafe. While these airlines are banned from operating in EU airspace, consumers may still travel on them in other countries and countries aren’t going to stop their citizens from flying on them. Unfortunately, the FAA publishes no similar list for American citizens.

Fatal airline accidents are relatively rare in the U.S., which can lull U.S. travelers into thinking travel is just as safe everywhere. Unfortunately, however, airline accidents are much more common abroad. According to planecrashinfo.com’s accident database , 14 airline passenger plane crashes have occurred between January and July already this year, most in third-world countries.

If you’re traveling in a country where you have doubts about the local air safety, check whether your travel insurance plan has adequate limits for medical care, make sure your plan has evacuation and repatriation coverage, consider Flight Accident and/or AD&D coverage, just in case the worst happens.

Have a safe and healthy summer trip

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Travel medicalMany travelers worry about losing their luggage or their passport while traveling, and while these are definitely bothersome events, they pale in comparison to someone in your party getting injured or becoming very ill on your trip. No matter what your destination is this summer, take a few minutes and review your current coverage and understand its limits.

Most health insurance plans do not extend beyond our U.S. borders, and even if you aren’t traveling outside the U.S., you could find the out-of-network costs very prohibitive depending on how ill or hurt you are. Even relatively mild injuries or illnesses can costs thousands of dollars in the U.S. and if you are traveling outside your health insurance network, those costs will be passed on to you.

If you are traveling outside the U.S., you can pretty much guarantee you won’t have medical coverage, so you’ll be footing the bill yourself. If you’re traveling to a remote or exotic location and pick up an unfriendly parasite or virus, you could be in serious trouble without travel health insurance. In the worst of cases, if you or someone traveling with you is badly injured or dies and must be evacuated out of a remote location, those costs could run into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Don’t assume your credit card’s travel protection covers medical needs either. We haven’t (yet) found a credit card that covers medical care – although they’ll raise your limit if you need to charge your care to your card. Travel protection on most credit cards is quite limited.

Carry that bag or check it? Decide with the Airline Fees Guide 2011

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BaggageWith the relatively high prices for flights, it’s important to keep an eye on the extra charges tacked on by the airlines. In the last few years, the cost of air travel has risen significantly and airlines have begun adding fees for everything from checked luggage to blankets and pillows to a can of soda.

Of course, thrifty travelers are taking matters into their own hands: bringing their own blanket and airline pillow, snagging sodas and snacks in the airline terminal (thanks to a significant improvement in the availability of tasty and healthy airport food), and packing their bags with impressive skill to avoid the checked luggage fees entirely.

In fact, we ran across this video that demonstrates excellent packing abilities!

Knowing what you’ll pay for your airline travel – not just at the ticket counter, but all the way to your destination – is important. So we’ve put together the Airline Fees Guide 2011. This new resource shows you exactly what airlines are charging for:

  • Baggage fees – including first, second and additional bags, overweight bags, large bags and more.
  • Reservation fees – including making a reservation over the phone or in person, requesting a particular seat, and perks like priority boarding, leg room, and change fees.
  • In-flight fees – including the cost of a soda or alcohol, the cost to borrow a standard-issue blanket, and the fees for bringing pets or sending unaccompanied minors.

See the Airline Fees Guide 2011 before you purchase your next airline ticket.

New iPhone Travel App from the U.S. State Department

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Smart Traveler iPhone appThe U.S. State Department recently released a Smart Traveler application for the iPhone, iPad, and the iPod Touch. Released on June 14, 2011, the Smart Traveler application is at version 1 and requires iOS 4.0 or later. The app is free, but roaming charges may apply depending on your phone service provider.

The Smart Traveler app gives travelers easy access to updated official travel information, travel alerts, health warnings, maps to U.S. embassy locations, and more.

Early reviews are positive about the application’s ability to help travelers, but one commenter also remarked: “… not only for travelers but for people that are interested in learning about different countries. Packed filled with a lot of useful information! Great job!” – Rudy Suarez.

Given the limits of the State Department’s role in a crisis, the app delivers useful information on political upheaval and natural disasters as well. The app also allows travelers to enroll in the U.S. government’s free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, which ensures they will receive consular help and updates in the case of an emergency in the country the traveler has indicated they will be in on certain dates.

Going on a business trip? Check your benefits first.

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Business travel needn't be dangerousSome American businesses with employees who travel often provide travel insurance that covers evacuations and medical care for their employees, but most don’t. The majority of Americans who travel for business simply don’t think about it.

The average medical evacuation from China to the U.S. runs as high as $180,000. Without travel insurance coverage to pay that bill, will your employer chip in to ship you home? If not, will your family have to spread that across multiple credit cards or get an emergency second mortgage to get you home?

Business travelers who travel regularly to other countries need to understand their employee benefits and their medical coverage. If a sudden crippling illness happens while you are in Spain or Argentina, can you get the medical care you need? If not, can they transport you back home where you can? Who will pay for those expenses?

Frequent business travelers have affordable options to keep themselves and their families safe while they travel – even if the company won’t foot the bill.

  • If your medical coverage extends outside the U.S., consider rounding out your coverage with Medical Evacuation Insurance.
  • If your medical coverage does not extend outside the U.S., consider adding an annual Travel Medical Insurance plan to your insurance portfolio.
  • If you just want international travel accident protection and simple term life benefits, take a look at the Travel Accident Insurance plans that are available.

Did you get scalped for that campsite?

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Campsite at YosemiteA recent report on various Craigslist sites listing dozens of campsites at popular national parks has alerted the media and campers to a new problem: campsite scalping.

One very popular national park, Yosemite, has found their campsites – which are reserved in advance for $20 per night through the contracted park reservation system – are being sold for up to $100 or $150 per night from vendors on Craig’s list.

What’s more, campsites aren’t the only thing being resold. Permits for climbing Half Done, which are issued by the park for free are also being sold for profit online.

How is this possible?

It comes down to supply and demand, of course. A quick search (at the time of this writing) of the Reserve America website, which handles Yosemite reservations, found many areas still closed due to heavy snow pack, and the areas that were open for a 4-night stay in August were already limited to yurts and RV sites (no campsites).

There are 900 campsites available in Yosemite, but the park is a highly popular summer destination, and the summer camping season is in full swing.

While the park system prohibits the reselling of any park reservation, there simply isn’t the time or resources to implement the necessary oversight any time soon.