InsureMyTrip Blog

With Thanksgiving, and thus the kickoff to the official holiday travel season, just a month away, it’s a good time to review the top travel insurance coverage options available to those celebrating the long weekend away from home.  Thanksgiving travel is a relatively unique event in the grand scheme of holiday comings and goings; with most people making their turkey day festivities only a weekend affair, there’s a greater chance of major congestion, long lines, and frustrating mishaps crammed into one short time period.  However, because it’s also a family-centered holiday for most of us, traveling over the Thanksgiving weekend also brings with it some fairly high stakes as far as the emotional importance of getting from here to there in a safe and timely fashion.

Although conventional travel insurance wisdom usually says that people who are planning a quick, domestic trip may not really need to purchase a travel insurance policy, the exception to that rule happens to be Thanksgiving.  With jam-packed airports and train stations nearly guaranteed, the chances that something inconvenient will happen while you’re traveling for Thanksgiving are far greater than they would be for almost any other weekend getaway.  If you’re making plans to celebrate outside the comfort of your own home this year, you may want to consider the following coverage options to give you a bit more peace of mind while you’re navigating those crowded terminals.

1. Travel Delay.  Delays may be the most likely form of turkey-travel annoyance, so it’s smart to be prepared in advance.  With a travel insurance policy that covers you for travel delays, you can take advantage of benefits like reimbursement for incidental expenses (food, lodgings, etc) you may incur while waiting for your plane or train to actually depart.  Travel delay coverage is also generally part of a broader Package Plan, which may offer you assistance with rebooking if needed, as well as reimbursement for any fees associated with changing your travel plans to get to the Thanksgiving table on time.  Be sure to read your policy carefully; most of the time, you’ll only be eligible to receive benefits for travel delay if the delay stretches out for a defined period of time (typically, it’s 5 hours or more, but it varies by plan and provider).  Still, in the crowded landscape of the Thanksgiving weekend, a five-hour delay is perfectly possible.

2. Cancellation.  If, for some reason, your delay stretches out to become no longer a delay, but a severe headache, you may be able to take advantage of the cancellation benefits offered by your travel insurance policy.  Again, the terms vary by plan, but in most cases, delays lasting more than 24 hours make you eligible to cancel your trip and file a claim to receive reimbursement for all your pre-paid, non-refundable expenses.  So if your flight is supposed to take off at noon on Wednesday, but you end up being told that you’re not getting out until 2 p.m. on Thursday, you may be able to cancel your flight and call an in-town friend who’d be happy to pull up another chair at the feast table instead.

3. Baggage Delay.  There are few things more frustrating, particularly on a short trip, than getting to your destination on time — without your luggage.  While many of us probably plan to simply streamline our belongings to what fits into a carry-on, the reality is that all too often, crowded flights require last-minute bag checks that you probably didn’t anticipate.  One of the benefits offered by a travel insurance Package Plan is for baggage delay, giving you the opportunity to replace necessary belongings that don’t accompany you as planned, then file a claim for reimbursement with your travel insurance company.

4. CFAR.  Cancel for Any Reason coverage, otherwise known as CFAR, is a benefit we tend to talk about in almost every situation due to its flexibility.  It’s definitely worth a look for Thanksgiving travelers, because any number of last-minute scenarios may overtake a weekend trip — even one that involves Grandma’s pumpkin pie.  If your pet becomes too ill to be left at home, or you suddenly become obligated to show up at work the day after the holiday, or if your travel plans were going to take you to Minneapolis just as a huge band of snow starts to work its way across the Midwest, CFAR can provide you with the ability to back out of your trip and recoup your pre-paid, non-refundable expenses.  Just be forewarned that in order to exercise your CFAR benefits, you would have to cancel your plans and notify all your travel suppliers at least 48 hours in advance of your scheduled departure.  There are also some specific eligibility requirements to purchase a CFAR policy, so make sure you read the terms of any plan carefully before buying.

These coverage options, along with the many other benefits offered by travel insurance, can help take some of the aggravation out of a busy and often chaotic Thanksgiving travel scene.  On behalf of InsureMyTrip, I wish every one of our travelers a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend, no matter where you intend to spend it.

Today is one of those anniversaries Americans are likely to observe, in one somber way or another, for some time to come.  It was seven years ago that Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast and caused catastrophic damage with long-term impacts — some of which are still being felt even many years after the storm’s actual occurrence.

It may be that some people, and some areas of the country, have not fully recovered from Katrina’s fallout; however, with this tragedy as with so many others, the bright spot is that much was learned.  Even in the travel insurance industry, the idea that people need and deserve to be protected in whatever way possible from the devastation of a storm like Katrina became crystal-clear seven years ago.  Today, we have many of the benefits that are available to travelers during hurricane season largely because of the wake-up call that Katrina provided to our industry.

For example, the Destination Made Uninhabitable benefit is a key asset we try to encourage travelers to investigate during hurricane season.  It wasn’t widely available before 2005, but now it’s much more accessible, and provides travelers with the ability to change their plans if their destination (including their hotel or accommodations) is rendered unfit for their habitation by a hurricane.  Even more to the point, for those who have survived Katrina and other devastating storms, is the coverage that is now available should your primary residence be made uninhabitable.  In other words, if it’s your home, not your vacation spot, that’s been severely damaged by the storm, most travel insurance policies will now recognize that as a covered reason for cancelling your trip.

Of course, part of what many of us learned during Katrina — and have thought of at least once or twice during every ensuing hurricane season — is that it’s vital to everyone’s safety and peace of mind to practice smart preparation and to play it safe, whenever possible.  So even before anything catastrophic actually takes place, travel insurance still provides two safety nets to you in the interest of being prepared: Cancel for any Reason coverage and Cancellation due to Hurricane Warning benefits.  Cancel for Any Reason is a widely available and quite useful travel insurance benefit that allows travelers to cancel their plans — during hurricane season, or any other time of year — based on their own preferences and their personal comfort level, rather than having to adhere to the insurance company’s list of covered reasons for cancellation.  Cancellation due to Hurricane Warning is a lesser-known coverage that some companies are now offering, much to the benefit of hurricane season travelers.  Its goal is to give travelers the peace of mind that they could cancel their plans should NOAA issue a hurricane warning that would impact their trip.

While it’s important to bear in mind that any kind of travel insurance coverage for a named storm must be purchased well in advance of the storm’s formation, we’re hopeful that the innovations in coverage that have occurred since Katrina’s fateful landfall 7 years ago can provide increased security and peace of mind to travelers whose plans may be impacted by unpredictable weather events.  Our thoughts today are with all those impacted by Katrina and all other catastrophic storms, and particularly with our friends on the Gulf Coast who may be weathering Hurricane Isaac and its effects.  We encourage anyone who has questions about hurricanes and  travel insurance coverage to call us at 800-487-4722.

Travel isn’t always meticulously planned.  While many of us like to take the scrupulous approach of scheduling things months in advance, making sure each hotel is booked, each flight secured, each detail firmly in place well ahead of our anticipated departure, there’s no denying that some trips just don’t work that way.  Sometimes travel opportunities sneak up on us quite unexpectedly — whether from sheer spontaneity or something more serious that requires us to make hasty arrangements — and just because the planning phase has to be shortened considerably, doesn’t mean that travelers should be any less proactive about buying a travel insurance policy to cover them in the event something goes awry.  We’re fond of reminding travelers to purchase their travel insurance immediately after making their first trip deposit, so they’ll have access to all the potential benefits and options available.  But what happens if the initial trip deposit and the trip itself go practically hand-in-hand?

If you’re in a time crunch and need travel insurance quickly, here are some tips to help you make an informed, though snappy, decision:

Don’t worry about fancy benefits. While Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) policies are extremely popular with many travelers, for good reason, they’re probably not where you want to focus your search if you’re about to depart.  CFAR is intended to help you out if you choose to cancel your trip for any reason that’s not stated as being covered on your travel insurance policy.  However, if you’re putting together a last-minute itinerary, chances are you won’t be changing your mind.  Also, since CFAR policies require you to cancel — and notify all of your travel suppliers of your decision — a minimum of two days prior to your departure, last-minute travelers may not have time on their sides.

Do keep up with the news.  If you’re planning to depart quickly, you should scan the news and weather for any events that may disrupt your trip.  It’s likely that anything you find will not be covered by your travel insurance policy; since travel insurance is only for unforeseen events, any hurricane threats, possible airline strikes, or other threats to your travel experience that are already being discussed in the media will more often than not be considered “known perils” and won’t be covered.  Obviously, if you’re determined to travel, you should still purchase a travel insurance policy to protect you against any and all other disruptions, but it’s best to enter into your travel insurance purchase having a realistic expectation about what benefits are truly available to you.

Take advantage of time-sensitive benefits.  The good news about being in a hurry is that, since you’ll be purchasing your travel insurance soon after you’ve made your first payment on the trip, you’ll probably be eligible for some very helpful benefits that aren’t offered to travelers who wait.  Items like pre-existing conditions waivers offer valuable coverage, but are only available if you buy travel insurance within 10-30 days of your initial trip payment.  That’s good news for last-minute travelers.

Use resources wisely.  While it’s our goal to make it easy for travelers to buy their travel insurance from us online, we also offer personalized Customer Care assistance 365 days a year.  If you’re stumped, it may help you come to a more timely decision if you contact our licensed experts via phone or live chat.  You might also find that our Ratings and Reviews forum is a good resource to help you narrow down your options, so you can check “travel insurance” off your to-do list and get on with your last-minute trip.