Due to injuries – bad luck for someone else – we often have last minute cancellations. These injuries have gotten me thinking about Travel Insurance. As a prior actuary, I have generally been in favor of only buying insurance for expenses that one cannot afford to bear should calamity hit. Health insurance and emergency evacuation insurance fit into this category and, in our opinion, are essentials for anyone who travels. However, I had felt that while losing the actual trip cost would feel bad, it would be bearable for most. After all, you were already prepared to pay for the tour. Recently, my opinions have shifted on whether you should insure the full tour cost. I now feel that you should insure for the cost of a tour. If calamity hits, it really sucks to be out the cost of the tour, whether it’s affordable or not. Who needs to add to your misery?!!!

My opinion about getting your travel insurance from a credit card has also shifted. Many of our customers who have had to make credit card claims have had to fight with the credit card companies to get the refunds that they are legitimately entitled to. Who needs that?!!!

So what do we recommend? If you just go on one trip a year, we recommend insuring just the trip. If you go on multiple trips or long weekends, we recommend that you get an annual policy. An annual policy will cover all of your travel. We at Adventures in Tandem purchase the AllTrips Premier Plan with Allianz Global Assistance. The policy covers all travel that is more than 100 miles from home. The limits for emergency evacuation insurance are $500,000 and medical insurance is $50,000.

Then the question becomes, how much trip interruption/trip cancellation insurance to get. The more cancellation coverage you require, the higher the premiums. For a 65 year old couple, the total premium ranges from about $500 for $2000 of trip cancellation coverage to $1,500 for $15,000 of coverage. You can also buy $5,000 or $10,000 of coverage. It may make sense to look at your trips for the year and pick a trip cancellation number equal to the most expensive trip, including airfare.

If you have a preexisting condition, be sure to look into the specific rules of any policy that you are considering. Under the Allianz Plan, you will still have coverage even with a preexisting condition if you buy the policy before you purchase your trip or no more than 14 days after you purchase.

Please contact us if you have any questions about travel insurance.

-Caren Bianco