These days, the blog-o-sphere is filled with “savings tips” articles filled with nifty ideas on how to save on airfare, hotel costs, meals, and just about every other aspect of travel. When you consider how many of these articles must be out there, the sum total of thought that’s gone into them seems quite amazing.
But that “just about” is significant, too. One subject nearly all the “tips” blogs fail to mention is what the right travel insurance can save you.
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First, from a cost/risk standpoint, travel insurance is an absolute necessity for anyone traveling outside the U.S.
A comprehensive policy is usually just a small percentage of your total trip cost. According to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association (UStiA), it typically runs about 4% to 8% the total trip cost. But, if anything happens that causes you to cancel or interrupt your trip or miss a key travel connection—that’s anything from a personal or family health issue to a flight delay, to lost baggage, to a natural disaster—you are covered. You can recoup all or most of your non-refundable trip costs—costs that can sometimes come to many thousands of dollars.
You might feel that the chances of having to cancel or interrupt a trip, missing a key connection, losing baggage, or having an medical emergency are fairly remote. But, the UStiA also says that about 1 in every 6 persons who takes out a policy winds up filing a claim. Today, that comes to about 4 million U.S. travelers each year.
For an expensive trip, travel insurance can often cost some money. But, consider the downside. Having a medical emergency while traveling in many parts of the world and having to be evacuated back the to U.S. by air typically costs between $200,000 and $250,000. And, if you aren’t covered, you have to pay everything. So, if you ever do have an issue before or during a trip that’s covered by travel insurance, you will likely save much more than the amount you paid for the insurance.
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Second, you can save an enormous amount on travel insurance coverage simply by shopping around for the best deal.
Yes, the amounts different insurance providers charge for essentially the same coverage can vary widely.
This is largely due to mark-ups these providers and other middlemen in the delivery channel can—and often do—take.
Typically, travel agents and travel suppliers such as airlines and cruise companies will charge the most for coverage. Often, too, their coverage is not the best out there. They usually offer a limited amount of choice among policies. Also, their policies come with some “hidden risks.” One, for example, is if the travel supplier goes bankrupt, something that happens from time to time. If this occurs, a person buying insurance from that supplier is out both the cost of the trip and the cost of the insurance.
Generally, the online comparison sites offer more plans to choose from, better rates, and better coverage. They will cover you, for example, if a travel supplier goes bankrupt. But, because many of these sites must also pay off middlemen in their sales channels, their rates may vary widely, too.
To offer customers the lowest possible costs, TripInsurance.com has negotiated exclusive agreements with top travel insurance carriers such as American Modern, BCS, Nationwide, Old Republic, and U.S. Fire that enable us to bypass the middlemen. The result is a savings of 40% or more over comparable coverage from other suppliers.
That “or more” is a significant detail, too. One couple we recently worked with saved nearly 70%–more than $700–on the cost another supplier would have charged them for comparable coverage.
For more information on how you can save, first, by getting travel insurance and, second, by choosing the right provider, just call one of our licensed insurance professionals at 1-877-219-8169 or email us at support@tripinsurance.com. You are under no obligation to buy from us. Our goal is to help people travel with confidence knowing that they’ve made the insurance decision that’s best for them.
