Regardless of how you feel about the Trump administration’s desire to restrict visitors from muslim countries, it is reshaping the international travel environment. Any country he restricts will also consider imposing similar travel bans for US citizens. Other countries could follow suit. We have already had one customer who has booked a cruise that stops at ports in the Middle East and are worried that the cruise could be cancelled if these countries impose similar travel restrictions. There have been some other shifts in traditional US foreign relations that could affect your travels. If you are traveling either to or through a country that you are concerned will experience terrorist events or travel restrictions, it’s not difficult to protect yourself and your travel investment, but there are specific features you need to look for in your travel insurance.
[quote float=”left”]Failure to get the proper travel visas is not a covered reason for cancellation for any travel insurance plan on the market, even if they are imposed after you purchase your insurance coverage.[/quote]
Failure to get the proper visas to travel is unfortunately not a covered reason for cancellation of a trip under any travel insurance product available on the market. If in the last minute, before you depart, a foreign government imposes a travel restriction, travel ban, or requires a visa for US citizens, you may have to cancel your trip and your costs would not be covered by your travel insurance. The only travel insurance provision that can cover you in this circumstance is Cancel for Any Reason. This provision is available in all of TripInsurance.com’s Best travel insurance policies, and generally pays 75% of your cancellation penalties if you have to cancel for an uncovered reason. This would include failure to get the necessary travel visas, or just changing your mind and not wanting to take the trip. We recommend this feature for anyone traveling to the Middle East, even if there are no travel restrictions in place for their destination. Any Middle East country could impose a sympathetic travel restriction or impose additional visa requirements at the last minute. In addition, should war break out in the region, it may not affect your destination, but you may not want to fly into the middle of that kind of unrest. Cancel for any reason coverage allows you to change your mind, or covers you in the event a war prevents you from traveling.
Many travel insurance policies offer cancelation coverage for terrorist incidents that occur in a city that is listed as one of your destinations within 30 days of your travel date. Check your policy’s language to see if there are conditions. Some policies must be purchased within 14 days of your initial deposit and others have a period in which the incident must have occurred. Civil unrest and riots are not necessarily considered terrorist events. It is a very good idea to check the State Departments travel warnings to see if your trip will be affected.
If you want the ability to cancel a trip because you are no longer comfortable traveling to a certain area, purchase a policy with Cancel For Any Reason coverage. These policies are more expensive than other policies, but allow you to have complete control over whether or not you travel.
