Getting Insurance for the Summer Travel Season
With the commencement of the summer travel season, a lot of travelers are thinking about protecting themselves, their family, and their vacation investment. For anyone planning a trip that involves a sizable financial outlay, travel insurance would be a good idea. What it can cover include missed flights, bungled connections, and illness. This can be used as a safeguard for financial loss should any trips be cancelled or should there be any delays or interruptions that have to be dealt with.
What are included when it comes to varying travel policies are accident, sickness, baggage loss and flight insurance, and financial protection in the event of trip interruption and delay. The best policies also come with medical evacuation, a feature rarely offered by conventional health insurance plans. The reason why it includes such an expense is because one or more airplanes or helicopters are used to retrieve the sick traveler.
The most likely occurrence in this case is trip cancellation because of illness, accident, or weather. Another possible scenario involves trip interruption wherein a traveler must cut short a trip to go home. The cost of travel insurance varies but figure around 5 to 7 percent of the trip cost per person. In this case, for a $3,000 per person trip, an additional $150 or $210 may be included.
You may be shopping for travel insurance policies and if so then do consider looking for one with a 24 hour hot line providing international access as this is essential for medical emergencies. Do consider checking the US State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC before you travel abroad. They can provide you with information on crime, medical care, drug supplies, and on areas prone to natural disasters and political instability.
With regard to experiencing robberies abroad, most US Embassies and Consulates maintain 24 hour operators or answering services to assist Americans in difficulty. They could be of great help when it comes to dealing with local police, expediting the replacement of a stolen passport, canceling stolen credit cards, and assisting with language problems. Here, it will also be possible for them to direct travelers to the right source for replacing airline tickets, provide a list of English speaking lawyers, and instruct travelers on getting money transferred.
What they can provide you for lost passports is temporary identification. Normally, a passport could be replaced within 24 hours but this has since changed due to security reasons. Americans who lose their passports while abroad will be issued new passports with computer generated digital photographs.
Separate from the passport, travelers should consider packing a notarized copy of a birth certificate, a copy of the information pages of the passport, and two passport size photos. You can expect this to speed things up if the actual passport is stolen. What the State Department advises travelers to pack include photocopies of credit cards, airline tickets, and drivers’ licenses and a second set of photocopies should be left behind with a friend or family member.
If you need to file claims when you get home, you should have a copy of the police report. Should a traveler be exposed to political instability abroad, he should immediately consult with the nearest US Embassy or Consulate for advice. In this case, tips and advice when it comes to foreign travel concerning street safety, driving, and terrorism can be obtained from the State Department’s publication. In this case, you can read about it at the State Department’s Web site or order a copy from the State Department.
More expert travel Insurance information is located at travel insurance comparison.Further education on the subject of travel Insurance can be found at downunder travel insurance.
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