Timing is Everything--Especially With Travel Insurance
Every time someone buys a flight, hotel room, or rental car the salesman will always ask them if they want travel insurance. This is because without insurance you can lose out on your money and your travel plans. However, many people don't choose to buy this protection when they know that it won't help them much in the end. What many people don't understand is that with proper timing you can have coverage at every stage of your trip--even before you've left for vacation! Let's look at how to get the best possible coverage and timings for your peace of mind.
Timing is everything--especially with Travel Insurance....
When you are booking a flight, hotel, or rental car it is standard for the salesmen to ask everyone if they want travel insurance (unless you specifically tell them not to, this usually isn't pushed that hard). I know that many people don't buy this insurance because they can't really see how it will help them. The airline might get stuck with your plane ticket, but you'll still have to pay for a new one. If your rental car gets stolen you'll have to replace that too...but you'll have to pay for it either way. The hotel...well, again you'll have to pay for the room anyway.
Yes, these things can cost a lot of money (and that's exactly why travel insurance exists), but if you ask yourself the question: "What happens if I get stuck with the bill?", then it suddenly makes sense why this service is important.
Let's say that you buy a $2000 plane ticket, and while in flight your plane crashes and everyone is killed (this doesn't happen too often...). That plane ticket is now worthless because you are never going to be able to use it (you'll have to buy a new one). The airline will have to get out of paying for your flight, because they can't give you their product...and this is exactly what you bought insurance for. The same goes for rental cars and hotels. If you are stuck with these fees (even if they aren't as much as the plane ticket) then you need travel insurance.
Even if everything works out fine on your vacation, travel insurance can still provide some peace of mind in knowing that everything will be covered in case something does go wrong. Chances are nothing bad will happen to you, but imagine if you did have a problem. Well, the best way to make sure that you can handle it is to get travel insurance. Remember, this stuff covers everything from illness and car accidents to cancellations and lost luggage--and more!
So what's the best way to insure against all of these problems? The trick is in timing! When you buy a plane ticket or hotel room the travel insurance that they push on you is usually pretty good. The thing is that it might not be the right kind of insurance for your trip. You might not need coverage for the whole trip, or what you do need might be covered in a different way.
This is where timing comes in. If you wait to buy your travel insurance until after you have already bought your plane ticket then you can be sure that it will be exactly what you need. There are many good travel insurance policies that let you book flights and hotels through them (so that they will pay for the lost ticket), but this is only if they are separate from other things like baggage and cancellation protection. If you already have luggage insurance then you might not care about your bag as much as you would have if it had been stolen.
Just because you buy travel insurance and then something bad happens, does not mean that you will get canceled out of your trip. It just means that they will try their best to get money back from what they have already spent on your trip. If the airline doesn't have money to give back they might take it off of later flights or future tickets (but only if all of this is in the contract). So if you are able to get a refund for part of the ticket before buying travel insurance and then cancel your trip, then that money would be given to you anyway...and it won't count as a cancellation.
Of course finding the right deadline for buying travel insurance can be hard, but something should be said about why you shouldn't wait...
Let me tell you why you should not wait to get travel insurance...
Now that you know what coverage you need and how to buy it, the next thing is to make sure that it will work out for your trip. Hopefully this article has helped clarify some of your questions. I get asked about shopping for travel insurance all of the time, but most people don't understand many of the details that go into doing this correctly. I do think that after reading this article they'll have a better understanding of how all of this works.
If you would like to ask me any other questions then be sure to leave them in the comments and I will get back to you with the answers. Each question will be answered here. This information is available on all travel insurance websites, but I've tried to make it as simple as possible for you in an article. Let me know if there's anything else that you'd like to know and I'll try my best to answer!
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Article Sources: http://www.travelinsurance4mommyblog. com/travel-insurance-tips-from-a-realtor/
http://www.creditcards.com/creditcard_news/10689510434/article.html?pageNumber=1
http://www.travelinsurance4mommyblog.com/?p=677
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/worldwide/27cnd-wwo
Conclusion
So there you have it. You now know how to buy travel insurance and how it works. You know what kind of coverage you need and why, and when to buy it. Now that you have the knowledge, I think that it's probably time to start thinking about your next trip!
Remember, if you want more information about any of this then leave a comment! I'll answer all of them here so I can keep up with them all...and so you don't miss out on anything. If you want more advice, tips, or other helpful information then just let me know in the comments section below!
To your success....