|
| |
Travel Insurance
 |
LEFT: If you can't afford
to lose what you've paid for a European trip, spend a little more on
travel insurance. |
When our
youngest son was three years old, he punctured his cheek with a stick in Seyðisfjörður,
Iceland less than an hour before our ship, the M/f Norröna,
sailed for the Faroe Islands and Denmark. We managed to get him patched up
before the ship's departure, but it was a close call--and if we'd missed that
crowded once-a-week ferry, there's no telling when we might have been able to
book passage for ourselves and the Danish rental car that we'd left in the
Faroes--or how many thousands of dollars we'd have lost through changes in our
travel plans.
On another trip, our daughter came down with a horrible stomach and
intestinal virus several hours before our scheduled return from Denmark to
England. There was no way she could have made the 45-minute drive from Ribe to
the Danish port of Esbjerg without vomiting all over the interior of our rented
Volvo. Fortunately, a local clinic was able to control her symptoms in time for
us to catch our Scandinavian Seaways ferry, but it was a close call.
More recently, in 2006, I was hospitalized in Rome for 18 days. (See
article.) If I'd been in a place where I couldn't have received adequate
medical care, the cost of air evacuation might have been in the tens of
thousands of dollars.
Our family has had other near misses over the years, and our experiences have taught
me one thing: If you can't afford a last-minute change of plans, travel
insurance is a worthwhile investment.
What insurance covers
Travel policies typically include any or all of the following coverages:
- Trip cancellation and interruption. If an emergency occurs right
before or during your trip, this coverage will pay for losses from
non-refundable airline tickets, cruise and tour deposits, etc.
- Trip delays. If you miss a flight, get sick in transit, etc., the
insurance company pays your extra hotel and travel expenses.
- Medical expenses. When you're hit with a hospital, doctor, or
dental bill overseas, the insurance company will pay instead of making you
pay cash and seek reimbursement from your medical insurer back home.
- Emergency medical transportation. If you have a coronary or break
your neck on the North Cape of Norway, the insurance company will pay for
ambulances, medevac flights, etc. In many cases, it will also pay for your
flight home. (I signed up with
MedJetAssist after my scary experience in Italy.)
- Lost or damaged baggage. The insurance company pays the actual
value of your missing bags or items (unlike airlines, which have limited
liability). In most cases, the company will also pay for "essential
items" (such as underwear and toiletries) purchased while waiting for
delayed baggage to arrive.
Also, some--but not all--policies cover:
- Default by a travel provider. If your travel agent, tour packager,
or airline goes bankrupt and you can't get your money back, the insurance
company will provide a refund.
- Terrorism or civil unrest. If you're unable or afraid to visit a
country where bombing, rioting, etc. has occurred, the insurer will refund the
cost of your trip cancellation. Note: At least one company has stopped issuing
such coverage in the wake of the September, 2001 attacks on New York and
Washington, D.C., so check policy terms before you buy. For more information, see my article on
"Travel Insurance Revisited: Terrorism
and Supplier Default."
Continued
on page 2
4 Sept 2005
| |
|
|
Our most popular subtopics:
Our travel blogs:
|
|
|
Durant
& Cheryl Imboden's
