As you get ready to fly to visit family for Thanksgiving, consider buying travel insurance to cover your trip and expenses. Most people think of travel insurance when they are traveling abroad and need medical coverage, or want to cover their investment in future trip expenses that are subject to cancellation penalties. Few people consider the advantages of the insurance for that family trip for Thanksgiving. You can buy the insurance up until the day before you depart and when your trip cost is generally just your airfare, the cost of the insurance is very reasonable. Here are the top reasons to consider travel insurance coverage.
Non-refundable domestic airfare can be covered by your travel insurance. Should you have to cancel for a covered reason, or if you purchase Cancel for Any Reason coverage and just change your mind because you don’t want to deal with the family this year and choose not to go, your travel insurance will cover the cost of the tickets.
Weather delays are not uncommon and not the responsibility of the airline. If you get stuck in a transit airport, you could be sleeping in the airport, or you could get a room in a nearby hotel and your travel insurance will cover the expense due to a travel delay of over 5-8 hours. Missed connection coverage comes with all plans. Should a travel delay of over 3 hours cause you to miss your connecting flight, the travel insurance will cover the extra cost to take a different airline’s flight if that is what you need to get to your destination.
Lost luggage is a reality in this season. 4.1 million bags were mishandled by the airlines in 2014. For every 135 bags checked, airlines generally lose one of the bags. So think about the odds – there are generally 220 passengers on your plane, and probably 75-150 bags checked. This means one of those bags may be lost or damaged, or just delayed. If you have my luck, it will probably be your bag with all your underwear for the weekend. Travel insurance will cover the cost to buy your necessities while the airline tracks down your bag. If they have lost the bag permanently, the airline will barely pay you enough to cover the cost of a new suitcase, let alone a third of your winter wardrobe. Travel insurance coverage will supplement what the airline pays you to make sure you can replace your lost belongings.
Travel with confidence this season. When the airline tells you that weather delays will force you to spend the night in Chicago on the way to see the family, smile and check into a nice hotel, and get a nice meal. Enjoy the night and consider it a side vacation on the way to visiting the family. Your travel insurance can cover up to $200 a night per person, so check out the travel delay benefit when you buy the plan. You only need to insure the airline tickets if you are staying with family and don’t have any other expenses. Third party travel insurance provides much better coverage than you will get from the airline at a very reasonable price. Get a quote on travel insurance for Thanksgiving and see just how inexpensive it is to travel with confidence.
