How Travel Insurance Helps You

“Travel insurance seems expensive until you need it, then it’s really cheap.”  

In most cases your travels will go without major incident. 

As travel advisors, we have first-hand knowledge of the necessary protection travel insurance provides. We strongly encourage a travel insurance policy for every trip and help our clients select the appropriate policy. Many of the important policy inclusions are time sensitive. We work with multiple travel insurance companies which allows us to recommend policies based on coverage, cost, and customizations that reflect the needs for your specific trip. 

Travel insurance can minimize the considerable financial risks of traveling: accidents, illness, missed flights, canceled tours, lost baggage, theft, terrorism, emergency evacuation and more. 

If you do have an expected illness or accident in a foreign country, the last thing you want is to not have the support or financial means to get treated and flown home. An emergency evacuation can easily cost in excess of six figures.

While it's best to have a comprehensive policy to cover reimbursement for trip cancellation, interruption, etc., -- at a minimum, you should have a policy to cover medical expenses and emergency evacuation. Without insuring your trip costs, a policy that offers coverage only for medical expenses and emergency evacuation can be surprisingly affordable. 

Travel advisors are not insurance brokers, but we can send you a policy quote to best to suit your current travel situation.

If you have travel insurance coverage through you credit card company, or an organization you belong to, take the time to verify their coverage details. Their travel insurance coverage may be secondary medical coverage which means you pay out-of-pocket and then try to get reimbursed when you get home.  Pre-existing medical conditions may not covered.

Clients often think their US based healthcare plan, or Medicare, will cover them when they are out of the country. Most will not.  If coverage is provided you will need to pay expenses out-of-pocket and then try to get reimbursed. There may also be a lower cost limit on their coverage. 

Medical facilities outside of your home country don’t know if you will make good on your promise to pay so they often demand payment up-front for services. In Mexico, for example, hospitals and doctors require payment up front before they will admit you into the hospital or see you at the doctor’s office. The price will be whatever the doctor or hospital estimates. You need an insurer who offers primary medical coverage and will step in at the onset of the medical issue to take charge of care options and guarantee of payment.

Be a good consumer. Verify coverage and stipulations to make sure you have the appropriate coverage needed for your particular situation.

This information from Allianz Global Assistance covers their top seven reasons to buy travel insurance.

1. Because you don’t want to lose all your money if you have to cancel your trip.

Even the best-planned trips sometimes have to be canceled. But many travel providers—such as tour operators, cruise lines and airlines—offer minimal or no refunds for last-minute cancellations. If this happens, can you afford to lose all the money you’ve spent on your trip? 

One of the best reasons to buy travel insurance is having the protection of trip cancellation benefits. These can reimburse you for prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs when you must cancel for a covered reason. When you get your money back, you can book your vacation for another, brighter day.

What if you need to cancel for a reason that’s not covered? If you think that’s a possibility, consider buying the “Cancel Anytime”  upgrade. Available on our most popular plans. Cancel Anytime can reimburse 80% of your lost non-refundable trip costs if you cancel your trip for almost any unforeseeable reason your plan does not already cover. That way, you can travel with confidence.

2. Because accidents can—and do—happen while traveling.

Healthy travelers often think they don’t need emergency medical insurance. The truth is, no one’s immune from illness and injury. We receive thousands of calls each year from American Allianz Travel Insurance customers who are experiencing a medical crisis during their trip, such as trauma, broken bones, heart attacks, and strokes. When you have travel insurance, you have 24/7 assistance for help in an emergency. Our team of experts can get you the help you need and may even be able to arrange payment in advance for covered emergency medical care.

3. Because your health insurance probably won’t work overseas.

If you get seriously sick or hurt in another country, don’t expect your health insurance card to help. “Many foreign medical facilities and providers require cash payment up front and do not accept U.S. insurance plans. Medicare does not provide coverage outside of the United States,” the U.S. Department of State warns. When you have travel insurance with emergency medical and dental benefits, it can pay for losses due to covered medical and dental emergencies that occur during your trip.

4. Because medical evacuations can be really expensive.

If you get seriously sick or badly hurt while traveling overseas, and you need to be taken via helicopter to the nearest high-quality hospital, the cost can be enormous. In some parts of the world, a medical evacuation can potentially cost six figures—and that doesn’t even include the expense of getting you home again.

Travel insurance with emergency medical transportation benefits can pay for you to be transported to the nearest appropriate facility if you suffer a covered illness or injury during your trip and our medical assistance team determines that the local medical facilities are unable to provide appropriate treatment. It can also pay for specialized transportation to bring you home, once your condition is stable.

5. Because travel delays are inevitable.

Airlines’ on-time stats rise and fall from year to year, but on average, around 18% of domestic flights are delayed.3 That’s not even counting the flights that are canceled! That’s why you need travel insurance with travel delay benefits, which can reimburse you for additional accommodation, meals or travel expenses and lost prepaid expenses due to a covered departure delay. You’ll be much happier if you have insurance that can reimburse you for your airport lunch or unexpected extra night in the hotel.

6. Because a missing bag can ruin your trip.

In a recent survey, more than half of travelers said an airline had lost their luggage in the past. Just 34% of them ever got their missing bags back, and 72% said they’d lost an irreplaceable item.

When your suitcase goes AWOL, travel insurance can save the day. Baggage delay benefits can reimburse you for the reasonable additional purchase of essential items during your trip if your baggage is delayed or misdirected by a common carrier for 24 hours or more. Baggage delay benefits can reimburse you for the actual price, actual cash value, repair or replacement of your lost/damaged items—whichever is less—based on the limits in your insurance policy’s letter of confirmation. Just remember: The best place for truly irreplaceable items is in your carry-on luggage, or at home.

7. Because sometimes, even expert travelers need a little help. 

One of the best reasons to buy travel insurance is the peace-of-mind you get from knowing help’s just a phone call away. When you face a crisis while traveling—a medical emergency, a lost passport, a stolen wallet, a natural disaster, etc.—you can always have 24 hour assistance. Our U.S.-based team of travel experts will do everything in their power to take care of you and help make things right.