Since we’re doing a lot of research for our upcoming trip, I’m reminded of all the little things that need to get done:
Insurance. Many credit cards provide some travel insurance including trip cancellation, trip interruption, medical. Be aware, most of the time credit card insurance lasts only 15 days, so you will need to buy an extension if you are traveling for longer.
If your trip gets cancelled before hand, that’s where trip cancellation insurance is used. Trip cancellation usually won’t cover you for the following:
a) For an illness or injury if you cancel before seeing a doctor.
b) If you don’t itemize and have receipts and documentation explaining the reason for the cancellation (such as a tour operator or airline going bankrupt.) Make sure to keep all receipts, and correspondence, we keep ours in an email folder as well as paper copies in a binder.
c) If you purchased the cancellation insurance after a major weather event was announced. If you’re going to be traveling somewhere and you hear they may have a hurricane, you can purchase trip cancellation after the announcement but don’t expect it to be honoured.
d) You didn’t read the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. For instance a divorce or legal separation may be honoured by the insurance company but a breakup probably isn’t. Also, the death of a pet, despite being a part of your family is not covered. Check the policy to see about family deaths. Immediate family is usually a covered reason for a cancellation but cousins, aunts and uncles may not be.
Trip interruption insurance covers you if you have to cut your trip short. It will usually cover fees that were paid and are non-refundable as well as the cost of your return trip home. Trip cancellation may be denied, though if you are injured doing something high risk (skydiving, scuba diving, bungee jumping etc.), or if you injure yourself while under the influence, or if you deviate from your travel plans (for instance you say you are going to one country but then add another country on the spur of the moment). Again, read the terms and conditions!
Travel medical insurance is important. Medical costs can quickly escalate so having proper medical insurance is really important. Make sure, when buying the policy, you tell them about ANY medical condition or change in medication that has occurred in the last, (usually) 90 days. Failing to do that is a reason for denying your claim, even if the change was for the positive. For instance, a decrease in medication is a good thing but not declaring that change allows the insurance company to deny your claim. I recently saw a story of a man who had a heart attack at the airport on his way home. The insurance company denied his claim because he forgot to tell them about an improvement in a condition. He is now on the hook for over $600,000.
Unless it is an emergency, most procedures or treatments need to be preauthorized. We carry the policy number and contact number of the insurance company on our phones as well as on a piece of paper in our wallets, so we don’t have to go looking for the information should we need it.
Also, buy your travel insurance earlier not later. If you book your travel, don’t put it on a credit card that offers travel protection and then decide to wait before you buy your travel insurance, you will probably be out of luck if you injure yourself before the trip but also before you bought your insurance.
Whatever insurance you get, make sure you read the terms and conditions. Denials can be for very simple things. When renting a car, usually only one person can drive the car, an extra driver is an extra charge by the rental company. If a person is driving the car who was not declared to the rental company and an accident occurs, travel insurance may deny your medical claim or trip interruption claim because you did not abide by the policies of the rental car company.
Speaking of car rentals.
As I mentioned, usually rental companies make you pay for a second driver. They may also limit what you can do with car. For instance, you may not be able to leave the country or even the local province/state/territory. There are often restrictions regarding crossing large bodies of water. While it may be OK to take a 60 minute ferry, you may be restricted from taking a 24 hour ferry. Again, check the terms and conditions. You may have to speak to an agent rather than just booking online to be on the safe side.
Another thing to be aware of is rental car insurance. Sometimes you can use your personal car insurance for a rental car. The risk with doing this though is that often the rental companies will deal with you and demand payment from you and not your insurance company and you will have pursue reimbursement from your insurer.
Well, in advance of leaving on your trip, check the entrance requirements for the countries you are going to. Do you need a visa? Can you get it at the airport, or do you have to apply at a consulate in your home country? Do you need vaccines?
Here’s a link to a website that can help you out with visa information. It’s an interactive map.
https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/travel/international-travel-requirements-map.htm
and here’s a link to vaccination requirements for each country.
https://www.traveldocs.com/travel-services/by-country-vaccination-requirements
Until next time.
What a complicated issue.
You both are so good at this and I am impressed.
I know I was always so relieved to set foot in Canada again.Fortunately we never had a problem while out of the country.