Travel Insurance: Do You Dare Leave Home Without It?
Ever thought about what it would cost to get you airlifted home in case of an emergency?
Domestic air medical evacuation will average $10,000 to $20,000, and Internationally, the cost can exceed $75,000.
Granted few travel injuries or accidents require an emergency trip home. However, what if your costly cruise has to be cancelled because of a death or illness in the family or your traveling companion gets sick before you leave or even while you're mid-trip?
You really have to have Travel Insurance to cover these kind of possibilities.
Travel supplier bankruptcies, hurricanes and the increasing costs of travel are driving alert consumers to purchase travel insurance big time. But buying travel insurance from a travel agent or a cruise line or any other travel supplier is a bit like having the fox watch the chickens.
If a tour operator or cruise line goes bankrupt , and it does happen (remember Regency Cruises and United Airlines?) you’re often not covered since the travel supplier no longer exists.
While most vacations go as planned, kids do get sick, accidents happen and emergencies do occur and as a result, throw travel plans and money out the window.
Additionally, since much travel is inter-generational including grandparents, maybe even great grandparents on Medicare, they will not have coverage outside the United States.
The U.S. Travel Insurance Association is an industry watchdog and strongly advises buying from a third party supplier. USTIA are pretty helpful in figuring out what to buy and from whom.
For example, I found that insuremytrip.com did the research I needed, and came up with per diem cost and coverage options from several companies I could chose from.
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