InsureMyTrip Blog

Debra, Customer Care Traveling during the winter holiday season can be exciting, but also frustrating. Most of our Package Policies cover a travel delay and/or a missed connection due to common carrier, such as an airline.

For example: You are scheduled to fly out of Boston with a connection in Colorado. Your plane from Boston leaves on time, but when you get to the Colorado airport all flights out are delayed due to inclement weather.
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Becky, Insurance Analyst

An article posted on the BBC site today is titled “Travel chaos after Majorca bomb”.  As a result of a terrorist car bombing on the Spanish island of Majorca, airports and ports have been closed.   People who are on the island cannot get off, and anyone with plans to fly in now must make alternate arrangements.  Situations like this highlight one of the many reasons why travel insurance is so beneficial.  Nearly all package and travel medical plans on our site offer some protection for terrorism.  What does this mean for you exactly? (more…)

Becky, Insurance Analyst

Imagine this.  You’ve finally departed for that two-week vacation you have been planning for months.  It’s two weeks away from work, and you are looking forward to some relaxation and some fun.  But then something unexpected happens.  On the plane ride you are seated near someone who is coughing, and obviously ill.  You arrive at your destination and learn you are being quarantined.  It could happen.  Just this week the State Department alerted Americans that China is imposing a seven-day quarantine on passengers arriving with a fever or flu-like symptoms in order to prevent the spread of swine flu.  (more…)

Becky, Insurance Analyst

If you’re like many travelers concerned with Swine Flu (or the H1N1 virus), you have been keeping close attention to any and all news relating to the Swine Flu outbreak.  So you have heard that the World Health Organization has raised Swine Flu to a level 6 alert, meaning H1N1 is officially a pandemic.  Just what exactly does this mean with regards to your travel insurance? Well that depends on the the travel insurance provider that you have purchased a plan through.  The majority of providers on our site make no exclusions for pandemics, so the coverages remain intact, and the fact that Swine Flu is now a pandemic should not be of any concern to you if you purchased one of these provider’s plans.

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Melissa, Operations Analyst

Many people own timeshares and other people rent timeshares through either a rental agency or directly from the timeshare owner. Recently, we have been asked if this expense can be covered by travel insurance.  I have created 3 cases below which will hopefully help you if you are involved in a rented or owned timeshare property.

Are you renting a timeshare from a Realtor or website which specializes in timeshare rentals?

If so, you may want to cover the cost of the rental in case you are unable to travel. These types of rental agencies will give you a receipt and will have rules related to cancellation fees and penalties. If the cost of the timeshare rental is prepaid, non-refundable, you can insure the cost associated with this. Remember to include your airfare and additional prepaid non-refundable travel expenses so that if you are unable to travel for a covered reason (of course), you will be able to recover the entire cost of your trip.

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Alexia and Becky, Insurance Analysts

At this point travelers have found that their basic travel insurance plans will not cover canceling a trip due to fear of contracting swine flu.  The only way that someone can cancel their trip because they simply don’t want to travel right now is if they have a plan with Cancel For Any Reason coverage.

Cancel For Any Reason comes included in some plans, and is offered as an optional add on with other plans.  It costs more to get a plan with Cancel For Any Reason coverage, so you should decide if the higher cost will be worth it for you.  Travelers who have plans with Cancel For Any Reason coverage can decide not to travel and receive a percentage of their non-refundable trip cost back.  Make sure you check out all plans with Cancel For Any Reason, because the percentage of your trip cost that you will get back varies from 50% up to 100%.

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Vikki, Public Relations

Working in the travel insurance world as I do, you’d think I’d have a pretty good understanding of all things travel insurance. Actually, I guess I know more than I realize, but sometimes I’m slow to fully appreciate some of the neatest things about these products. For instance, coverage for natural disasters.

Over the past few weeks we’ve seen folks snowed in and flooded out in the Midwest, Mt. Redoubt erupting in Alaska, and of course that devasting earthquake in Italy. I know that for people with planned trips to these areas there are a number of covered reasons for cancelling them such as:

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Chris, Business Development

Peter Greenberg is one of my favorite travel writers, and he recently posted a blog that included his “top 10 situations in which travel insurance can come in handy” (www.petergreenberg.com). Since I respect his opinion (and of course since he’s writing about travel insurance) I wanted to share his thoughts. So here’s his list:

1. Your flight has been canceled.
2. Your bags are lost and your medication is in them. You need to have an emergency prescription filled.
3. Your passport and wallet are stolen, and you need emergency cash and a replacement passport.
4. You’re involved in an accident, and adequate medical treatment is not available.
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Becky, Insurance Analyst

Mexican drug cartels are engaged in a violent conflict with Mexican Security services, and the situation has lead to some unpredictable conditions in the country.  The situation has prompted the U.S. State Department to issue a travel advisory warning Americans with plans to travel in Mexico to be extra careful. Knowing how the situation will be handled under your travel insurance policy is a must for ensuring a smooth, worry-free trip.

Many of the package plans on our site offer some protection for political and civil unrest. You should read your policy carefully to find out which benefits you will have in the event of political and civil unrest. Political and civil unrest is generally not a covered reason to cancel a trip. There are many plans on our site that offer the Cancel For Any Reason benefit, either as part of the plan, or as an optional add-on. You should expect to pay a little more for this benefit, but it can be well worth it if you think you may want to cancel your trip due to possibly unsafe conditions in Mexico.

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John, Customer Care Manager

We’re excited to announce a new Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) plan that is exclusive to our website: the Travel Accident Plan (TAP).  This plan has many features that traditional AD&D plans do not which include:

• Guaranteed coverage up to $1 million
• No salary requirements
• Can be purchased up until the day before departure
• No underwriting!

The plans are extremely affordable and also offer extra protection for medical evacuation, hazardous sports and activities, and war risk which can be purchased for an additional premium.

You can get a quote by clicking here or by calling 1-800-487-4722 to speak with one of our licensed customer service representatives.

(Note: Read more about AD&D in the post A peek inside Flight Accident Coverage.)