Travel Insurance Review

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Booking a trip this fall? Here’s why you should have travel insurance

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Traveler waving goodbye with travel insurance for the trip

As colder weather approaches in the northern hemisphere, airlines are hoping to fill their planes with leisure travelers seeking sunny getaways and time with family. Over the past few weeks, many airlines have been expanding their schedules and adding domestic routes, expecting a surge in holiday travel.

International travel is approaching pre-pandemic levels. Optimism rose with the recent news that many borders will be fully open to vaccinated travelers in November.

Overall, travel sentiment appears to be cautiously optimistic. For the first time since the start of COVID, travel insurance sales have surpassed pre-pandemic numbers. Travel insurance companies have adapted some plans to include special coverage for COVID. Policies can include coverage should you get COVID before you travel or even while you are on your trip.

Travel insurance is best purchase at the time you start booking your trip because you’ll have the opportunity for the widest range of benefits for travel mishaps, like these:

Trip cut short? Trip interruption cover is the answer

Some of the most common reasons that trips get cut short, sending you suddenly back home, are:

  1. The traveler is injured
  2. The traveler is suddenly ill
  3. A death occurs in the family

If you have to end a trip early, here’s how trip interruption coverage can help:

  • Reimbursement for unused, pre-paid and non-refundable trip expenses (like that special anniversary dinner at a vineyard).
  • Reimbursement for unexpected costs to get home quickly (think airfare change fees, for example).

Sick while traveling? Travel medical cover is your safety net

If you get sick while traveling – domestically or internationally – the cost of medical treatment is likely to be high and certainly unexpected. Even if you have health insurance and are traveling in the states, your coverage may not extend to where you are traveling. Health insurance plans almost never cover you while traveling abroad.

Travel medical coverage is your safety net. Since the rise of COVID, travel insurance companies have adapted some plans to include coverage for COVID-related hospitalization and medical expenses. 

Bonus: Included with travel medical coverage is the added benefit of medical evacuation. This is helpful if you need to be airlifted to a place where you can receive medical treatment.

Test positive before leaving? Cancel for any reason to the rescue

Even if you’re vaccinated, you could test positive for COVID. Many domestic and all international locations require a negative COVID test result as part of the entry requirements. If you test positive before you leave, and have to cancel your trip, you can reclaim a portion of your pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs with cancel for any reason coverage. 

Cancel for any reason can be handy in other situations completely beyond your control, like:

  • Borders at your intended destination close
  • Injury or illness of you or a traveling companion
  • Infection rates at your intended destination rise beyond your comfort level

Even if the place you’re visiting doesn’t require travel insurance, you could be glad you bought it. Just like any insurance plan, you only wish you had it when you really need it.

Other interesting news

Business class anyone? Here’s why super business mini suites may be the new future of flying.

Vaccine mandates – could there be a vaccination mandate for domestic air travel soon?

Read this if you have AAdvantage – the Points Guy is worried about devaluation.

Worried about lost bags? See which airline is most likely to lose or damage your luggage.

Check your carbon footprint – Google flights will now show you the environmental impact of flights.

What you need to know for fall and holiday trip planning

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Fall and holiday trip planning with a journal, tickets, and passports.

Summer is over and we’re officially in the travel shoulder season, so you might be wondering how to plan your fall and holiday trips.

Labor Day travel data is typically a good indicator of how busy the fall and holiday travel seasons will be. Overall, more people are getting on planes. Fewer than 4.2 million people passed through security on Labor Day weekend last year. This year, the TSA reported 9.2 million people shuffled through security checkpoints over the five-day Labor Day weekend. 

So, what does all of this mean for planning fall and holiday trips? Here’s what you need to know.

EU travel just got harder for Americans

Last week’s announcement from the European Union removing the US from its safe travel list caused confusion and worry about fall and holiday travel planning. This week’s news that the UK’s ‘traffic light’ travel system could be scrapped by October is giving American travelers a case of travel whiplash.

In the meantime, some EU countries got busy modifying their entry requirements:

  • The Netherlands now requires a 10-day quarantine for all US travelers (vaccinated or not)
  • Italy added the negative COVID test requirement (previously vaccinated travelers did not need the test)
  • Spain now requires either proof of full vaccination, a negative test, or proof of recovery from COVID (previously neither the test or vaccination were required)
  • Denmark banned unvaccinated Americans over the weekend (previously those with a negative test or proof of recovery were allowed in)

Belgium’s rules took a weird turn. US travelers are added to their red list, which says travelers have a high risk of infection. At the same time it whitelisted the US, so non-essential travel to Belgium is still allowed.

Other EU countries made no changes at all. Perhaps they’re waiting for October? There is also the lingering question of which European countries will accept mixed vaccine doses. 

Fall travel to Europe also just got cheaper

After a brief period of high travel demand, searches and bookings recently hit a plateau and started to fall, according to travel data company, Hopper. To keep travelers coming during the slower fall travel season, airfares are expected to drop below 2019 levels. 

Tip: The latest news from the travel deals company, TravelZoo, appears to confirm this expectation.some roundtrip flights between the US and Europe now cost less than $300 (basic economy).

Perhaps it’s time to consider train travel

Long haul flights are endurance events that are hard on the body. If you’re not currently a fan, or just tired of trying to figure out the rules, it may be time to look at trains instead. 

America has never had the luxury of lots of trains, lagging far behind Europe and Asia in routes and speed. Then came COVID, and more travelers than ever shifted their travel plans to trains where they can skip the dreaded middle seat and backed up security lines. A recent article schowcased the stories of US tourists who only travel by train.

Last spring, Amtrak’s ridership was up 86% over the same period in 2020 and it’s now reporting 65% of pre-pandemic ridership levels. Amtrak is also investing in high-frequency and long distance routes as part of a 3-year, $28 million refurbishment project that includes upscaling food and beverages, seating, lounges, and business centers to luxury levels.

Tip: The latest from Amtrak shows they’re willing to compete with the airlines by offering new travel packages for visiting coastal cities and national parks. 

Other interesting news

Can we get a global set of COVID rules already? Cries across the globe continue for a common set of rules recognizing vaccines and removing the need to quarantine travelers.

More arrests in Hawaii – Police on Maui island arrested a Rhode Island visitor for violating the state’s safe travel rules.

Solo travel for women – Take a look at the latest recommendations for women traveling on their own from AARP.

Caribbean resorts get creative – Luring travelers with offers of free travel insurance.

Can you really save by booking hotels last-minute? According to the travel nerd at Nerd Wallet, you can! By as much as 13-22%

Will the latest EU travel ban wreck your fall travel plans?

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American flag and passport animation

The big travel news this week is the removal of six nations, including the United States, from the European Union’s safe travel list. This impacts non-essential travel to the Schengen Agreement member-nations including Italy, France, and Spain.

It’s important to note that the restrictions recommended on Monday are not yet mandatory. Further, the European Council is leaving it up to individual member countries to impose or ignore their recommendations.

The delta variant that is currently sweeping through the US, causing dangerous surges in infection rates, hospitalizations, and deaths, is what prompted the EU to rethink welcoming American tourists.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new EU travel ban.

US-EU Summer Travel Timeline

Between the dates below, many US travelers took the opportunity to cash in on long-held rewards, mileage awards, and credit card points to snap up travel deals to Europe.

  1. June 18, 2021 – the EU lifted the travel ban against American tourists (the US does not reciprocate)
  2. August 30, 2021 – the EU recommended restrictions on US travelers as the delta variant spreads

EU Summer Travel Rules

Travelers had to be fully vaccinated with one of the vaccines approved in the EU. Alternatively, they could avoid mandatory quarantine by showing a recent negative COVID-19 test.

One extra wrinkle was the fact that individual EU countries could mandate their own restrictions on unvaccinated travelers (restrictions didn’t apply to fully vaccinated travelers).

While the list of requirements to get into Europe over the summer was daunting and confusing, not everyone had a hard time getting into Europe this summer.

Can you plan a trip to Europe now?

Pandemic travel planning is tricky and the EU’s latest announcement is still a recommendation, not a full-out travel ban. Essentially, travel to the EU would only technically be banned for vacations and other leisure trips IF they decide to ban all non-essential travel, even with a quarantine.

It is still possible for Americans to fly to Europe despite the US no longer being on the EU safe travel list. Where it could get complicated is this: each EU bloc nation has the freedom to set its own entry requirements for non-citizens.

If you haven’t already booked a trip, the best advice (at least for now) is to wait and see how your desired European destination reacts to this new travel recommendation. It may also be wise to plan to visit only one or two countries at most to make navigating the possibility of changing requirements easier to follow and avoid a potential quarantine.

What if you already have a trip booked?

If you have fall or winter travel planned for Europe, it’s important to remember that the new recommendations are not likely to affect fully vaccinated Americans.

Here’s what to do if you’re concerned about your upcoming trip:

  1. Start with consulting the official tourism or government website for the country or countries you want to visit. Then, watch that site closely for changes to entry requirements. Hint: the US State Department maintains a country page with the most relevant information for Americans.
  2. Check your airlines’s website for information on cancellation or changes. Fortunately, most domestic airlines have waived change fees for non-basic tickets (those are the premium economy, business, and first class tickets). If your ticket is one of the non-basic classes, you should be able to cancel and receive a credit.
  3. Don’t panic yet. Countries are constantly modifying their reopening guidelines based on COVID-19 data, which changes all the time. The EU remains open for now, and this week’s news has not yet been translated into all-out bans that could ruin a vacation.
  4. Plan on getting a vaccine booster. Croatia was the first to set a maximum validity period on international travelers’ inoculation statuses, and Austria followed suit this week. Both countries have set a nine-month limit on the acceptability of a visitor’s vaccination certificate.

Other interesting news

Travel wallet upgrade – Here’s a combination passport and vaccination card holder, perfect for fall travel.

Good news – Iceland is the only country with zero covid deaths since May.

In hotel news – some hotels are now requiring vaccine proof for staff AND all guests at check-in.

Need to cancel a trip? Here’s how to do it like a pro.