Covid-19 And Your Travel Protection
We currently live in a new age, not just for travel, but for anything and everything. Honestly, can anyone today think of any aspect of life that has not been affected by the Coronavirus?
But when it comes to travel insurance, not much has actually changed, except understanding how it works and using it correctly, is now more important than ever. We suggest you read this blog and take heed, it might save you some real headaches later.
How To Protect Current Travel Plans
Let us say you already have a vacation planned, coming up in the near future, which might be affected by Covid-19 interruptions. You already have travel insurance, but it does not include a cancel for any reason clause.
Although you likely may not be able to use your policy to get any cash back now, the travel vendor most likely will give you a choice of cash back or a voucher for the cost of the travel, or some combination thereof. If you accept the cash out offer, more than likely your insurance carrier will issue you a voucher to use the insurance money for a future vacation.
Before accepting either, we advise you to read my blog: Before You Cancel Your Coronavirus Affected Travel, Read This First.
If you have a carrier like Travel Guard, one of the more popular brands, you most likely will be given a choice with your policy. You can change the date of the existing policy to a new travel reservation or you can get a voucher from them to be applied to future travel.
Either way you can call your insurance company yourself or you can make date changes online, with or without the aid of a travel agent. Even if the departure date of your travel has passed, you should still be able to affect policy modifications.
How To Modify Your Insurance Policy
First pull up your present insurance policy and then go to the insurance carrier’s website. Here the most common:
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Travel Guard – Travel Guard Help Center
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Allianz Global Assistance – Contact Allianz
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Travelex – Contact Travelex
Go to the page to modify your plan. Find the tab to modify your travel dates. Fill in the information as required, including your contact information, it will be used to inform you of any changes made.
When you request changes to your insurance policy, you will probably have to enter your credit card information again, but if there is no increase in cost to the modified policy, the price of the insurance should stay the same and there should be no additional charges. If the price is lower you will not be refunding any money.
When you fill in the policy modification form, online, you can put in a note saying for them to go ahead and make the changes. Let them know, if for some reason, there are any extra charges, to contact you prior to charging your card. Otherwise tell them to go ahead and make the change without further authorization from you.
The carrier will later send you an email, normally within a a few days to a couple weeks, confirming the changes.
Read Ted’s Blog: BEFORE YOU CANCEL YOUR CORONAVIRUS AFFECTED TRAVEL, READ THIS FIRST!
Future Travel Plans
When purchasing insurance for future travel, I strongly recommend paying extra for the “cancel for any reason clause” upgrade. If you are using Travel Guard, it will allow you to cash out, up to 75% of the money you paid for your travel. Although it is a relatively costly upgrade, we do recommend it for peace of mind. This clause will allow you to get money back, no matter what the situation that affects your travel, including a pandemic.
Although we don’t advise doing so, if you do purchase travel insurance directly from the travel vendor, and they cancel your cruise due to Covid-19 or similar reasons, not all vendors will refund this money back to you. If anything it would be applied as a future cruise credit that can not be applied to travel protection coverage on your revised travel.
The main downside of this is that it can only be used for that one travel vendor. You cannot apply it to another line. Also, the cancel for any reason clause with the cruise line, normally gives no cash back, but merely a one time use credit voucher, applicable only to the same travel company.
Where And How To Purchase Your Travel Insurance
Again, we consider travel vendor offered insurance to be a last resort, it is relatively overpriced, restrictive and woefully inadequate, even for the smallest claim. Going directly to the insurance provider, may not give you the best value, or enough choices you need for your specific application. Online travel insurance companies may not give you the best options either and may influence you to purchase the coverage that most benefits them.
For more information, to help you with this, please read my blog: Travel Woes, Ted’s Treatise On How To Buy Travel Insurance.
Where possible, we strongly suggest you reach out to a seasoned travel adviser that specializes in travel insurance, someone with the knowledge and experience to steer you in the right direction. Realize that there should be no charge for their services.
With over ten thousand successful travel arrangements under our belt, you can be assured that we here at Cruisin’ With Ted will be more than qualified to offer you valuable advice and affordable travel protection options. Contact Ted at 954-290-8626 for assistance, or click here for a free travel Insurance quote.
