Pack Your Bags With Travel Insurance Included

By: Jon Caldwell

Mostly, people choose airplane travel because it's faster. But to those who wanted to try a cruise travel, you might want to try to purchase Cruise insurance. Traveling via the sea isn't as cozy as you have dreamed, there are people who gets seasick or injured while on board a ship. And purchasing cruise insurance will be of big help to you, most specially if you bring with you your whole family. Conditions such as traveler's diarrhea, a sprained ankle, a broken hip, a stroke, a heart attack or something even more serious may occur during the travel and the help you will get from the on board doctor or nurse might not be enough to help you. Before boarding a cruise ship, purchase insurance either online or through a travel agent near you.

This insurance type will reimburse you if the cruise line or tour operator goes out of business. It would also provide coverage if you have to cancel the trip due to sickness, a death in the family or another calamity listed in the policy. In addition, if you or an immediate family member becomes seriously ill or is injured during the trip most policies would reimburse you for the unused portion of the vacation. The cost is generally 5% to 7% of the price of the vacation, so as an example a $5,000 trip would cost roughly $250 to $350 to insure. Trip cancellation is very different from a Cancellation Waiver that many cruise and tour operators offer. Waivers are relatively inexpensive, costing approximately $40 to $60. They provide coverage if you have to cancel the trip, but they have many restrictions. They must be purchased when you book the trip and will usually not cover you immediately before departure (the time period most people cancel) or after the trip has begun. Most importantly, waivers are not insurance. Cancellation Waivers are not regulated by the state department of insurance, so if your tour or cruise operator gets into financial difficulty, you may not be able to collect anything at all.

This would provide coverage if your personal belongings are suddenly lost, stolen or damaged during the trip. To insure $1,000 worth of personal belongings for a week, it would cost about $50 per year. Before purchasing this type of coverage, find out how much insurance the airline or trip operator will provide for your belongings. Also, it may help if you check your homeowners or renters policy. It usually provides coverage for off-premises theft. So, if your luggage is stolen, your insurer will pay to replace for it, less the deductible. If you are traveling with expensive electronic equipment like personal laptop, jewelry or sporting gear, it might be more cost-effective to purchase a floater or endorsement to your homeowners or renters policy. Then the cost to insure a $1,000 ring would be between $10 and $40 per annum. This will provide full coverage for the lost item, anywhere you go, usually for one year.

This will provide insurance and medical assistance for travelers. It will cover for you if you had to be airlifted off a mountain due to a skiing or hiking accident, or if you had to stay for a prolonged period of time in a foreign hospital. It will also provide coverage if you got seriously sick or was injured and needed to be flown directly to your home. Also, some commercial airlines require very sick passengers to travel on a stretcher with an accompanying doctor or nurse. This means that you might have to purchase 10 or more seats on a plane that will give you a possible cost of over $10,000. Before purchasing this type of coverage, check with your own health insurance carrier. Find out what type of coverage you have when traveling abroad and if there are any limitations. Also, ask if the policy will pay to fly you home or to a country with first-rate medical care.

Travel Insurance
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