Should I Purchase Travel Insurance?

We believe that your upcoming trip is a significant investment which you should protect by purchasing travel insurance. We have researched many travel insurance options, and we recommend the Deluxe and Preferred Plans from Travel Guard International which offers a variety of benefits. 

This plan provides insurance if you have to cancel your vacation for medical reasons, death in the family, and a variety of unforeseen circumstances such as severe weather, strikes, etc. It also now includes a Cancel for Work Reasons (including job loss) in the base plan and primary medical and EMT coverages. Most plans cover children 17 and under are at no additional cost! You can also purchase Cancel For Any Reason Plans (CFAR) which are the only ones that would have covered you with the COVID 19 pandemic.

Why Buy Travel Insurance? There are hundreds of circumstances that could cause you to cancel your trip, return home early or force you to seek emergency medical treatment while traveling.

Here’s a few things that have happened to our clients:

1. It’s Christmas time. Their flight from their home to St. Thomas was delayed so they missed their connection. Their airline could not get them to their destination until two days later, and they missed two days of their yacht charter. They were reimbursed for these two missed days.
2. A client came down with an illness and could not travel. They had to cancel their trip. The insurance covered their trip costs.
3. A client’s father passed away unexpectedly while he was on charter, and he had to return home on the fourth day of the charter. The insurance covered the unused vacation days as well as assisted with getting he and his family home.
4. A tropical storm threatened the travel destination, and the yacht was unable to leave the dock. Insurance reimbursed the client for he cost of the charter and airline tickets. 

Other things that insurance can offer is emergency medical evacuation, coverage for lost or stolen luggage, and medical assistance.

When Should You Purchase Travel Insurance?: You can purchase travel insurance any time prior to your departure, but there are significant benefits to purchasing it within 15 days of your initial trip deposit including coverage for pre-existing medical conditions and financial default.

How Much Does Travel Insurance Cost? The cost of travel insurance is based on the value of the trip and the age of the traveler. Typically, the cost is five to seven percent of the trip cost. If you have children under 17 in your party, they are covered for free which can bring the cost down to 2-3% of the trip cost.

WHAT Has COVID 19 Taught Us About Travel Insurance?

The most important thing is that it does not cover unforeseen events like a pandemic – this is listed in the very small print. It does, however, cover you if you or someone in your charter party contracts COVID 19 and cannot travel. If you purchased the policy before March 11 which is the date that the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, it “could” cover you if you are subject to quarantine. After that, no dice.

Despite not covering a pandemic, we have seen so many unforeseen events that cause clients to cancel, and we do not want to see you lose your money. Contact us for a travel insurance quote.