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Five Reasons to Buy Travel Insurance Soon After Booking Your Trip
Bernard Olschewski • Dec 27, 2023
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Travel with Confidence: Why Buying Travel Insurance Should Be Your Top Priority
Booking a trip is no small feat. You may need to buy flights, rent a car, secure a hotel, make reservations for meals, find activities and more. With so much to do, it’s understandable why purchasing travel insurance can fall down – or even off – your agenda. But buying travel insurance as early as possible can make your life easier down the line.
Here are our top five reasons for buying travel insurance soon after booking your trip.
1. You can save money
Several factors affect the cost of travel insurance, including your age, trip cost, destination and trip length. But in addition to considering what you purchase, insurance providers also care about when you purchase. In fact, travel insurance is often cheapest when you purchase within 21 days of making your first trip deposit. Since insurance policies typically run between 4 – 8% of your trip’s overall cost, even a relatively small discount can mean big savings.
Tip: Shop around before deciding on a policy. Instead of simply rushing into a purchase, spend some time comparing plans, prices and benefits to figure out which policy works best for you.
2. You can maximize your coverage
A common misconception about travel insurance is that it only kicks in once you set foot at your destination. In reality, travel insurance goes into effect the day after you purchase it – known in the industry as the “effective date.” By purchasing your policy soon after booking your trip, you can maximize the coverage it provides.
For example, if you suffered a serious injury in April that hadn’t fully healed by your trip in June, you may still be eligible to cancel if you purchased travel insurance before the injury occurred. Whether traveling solo, with family or friends, purchasing travel insurance well in advance can give you financial security in case the unthinkable happens before or during your trip.
3. You can secure valuable upgrades
With a wide variety of travel insurance on the market, every traveler should be able to find a policy that fits their needs and budget. But whether you want baseline coverage or a complete package, booking travel insurance early will give you the most flexibility.
Indeed, early birds also have access to time-sensitive upgrades like Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR), Interruption For Any Reason (IFAR) and pre-existing medical condition waivers, all of which are discussed in more detail below.
Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR)
While standard trip cancellation insurance can reimburse you for prepaid and nonrefundable expenses in the event you need to cancel your trip, it must be for an eligible reason listed in your policy, like a serious medical incident, death in the family or extreme weather.
However, some travel insurance companies offer travelers the ability to add “Cancel For Any Reason” (CFAR) coverage to their standard policy. CFAR offers partial reimbursement for a canceled trip (50-75% of prepaid and nonrefundable expenses), as long as you have insured 100% of your trip costs and cancel within a certain number of days before the trip (usually 48 hours).
It’s important to note that CFAR coverage usually has to be purchased within 1-21 days of your first trip payment. If you wait too long, you won’t be able to add CFAR to your policy and could risk losing your nonrefundable deposits if you have to cancel your trip.
It is also worth noting that any refundable expenses will not yield reimbursement. For example, using travel miles or receiving vouchers disqualifies you from receiving monetary compensation. As a result, you can’t financially benefit from CFAR insurance. It is meant as an ultra-flexible but last resort travel insurance only.
Interruption For Any Reason (IFAR)
Trip Interruption For Any Reason (IFAR) coverage is an additional benefit for travelers who have bought trip interruption coverage. By purchasing an IFAR add-on, you have the ability to file a claim for reimbursement no matter the reason your trip was interrupted. For example, if you are unhappy with your destination or even get homesick, IFAR can help you pay for a last-minute flight home and recoup a portion of the prepaid and nonrefundable expenses left on the table.
Like CFAR, IFAR must be purchased within 21 days of your initial trip deposit, and 100% of your trip must be insured to file a successful claim and receive reimbursement. Plus, it typically takes 48 hours for the coverage to start, so you can’t throw in the towel immediately.
IFAR is most often used by travelers taking extended trips. However, it’s important for all travelers to ensure that their trip is long enough to meet the 48-hour requirement before purchasing IFAR coverage.
4. You can get coverage for pre-existing medical conditions
Standard travel insurance policies exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions, which include injuries, illnesses, diseases or other types of medical conditions that existed before the travel insurance’s effective date. As a result, if you receive treatment for them during your trip – whether a hospital stay, medicine, lab work or imaging – it will not be reimbursed by standard travel medical insurance.
The exception to this rule is if a traveler purchases a policy that includes pre-existing condition coverage and obtains a “pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver.” Most providers only allow you to get this waiver within 14-21 days of your initial trip payment and only after insuring 100% of the nonrefundable costs. In addition, your condition must have remained stable for 60-180 days before your travel insurance plan’s effective date – a so-called “look-back” period.
While there are numerous hoops to jump through in order to secure a pre-existing condition exclusion waiver, starting the process early will make it as smooth as possible.
5. You can make updates to the policy
While it’s great to lock in your travel insurance policy as early as possible, don’t worry if you need to amend it later. It is more common than you think for travelers to change their vacation plans, but whether you’re extending a trip or shuffling the itinerary, any edits can affect the travel insurance you already purchased.
Fortunately, most travel insurance companies let you change your policy information up to 24 hours before departure. You can update trip dates, costs, destinations, the number of travelers and even spelling mistakes like names or birth-dates for covered participants.
However, any changes to your travel insurance policy should be completed as quickly as possible. Look for confirmation in writing, whether you place a phone call to customer service, use an online website or the travel insurance company’s app.
Most importantly, make sure that the cost of your trip is accurate and that any changes are documented before you depart. The total trip cost affects any claims or payouts. If your trip cost increases, your premium will increase.
If you need to cancel your travel insurance policy, you’ll have between 10-15 days to do so from the time of purchase without incurring a penalty. Use this “free look period” to carefully review your policy and ensure it provides the necessary coverage.
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While it is not something people like to think about, injuries, accidents, and illnesses can and do happen when traveling. As stressful as it might be to consider what unfortunate events may happen while you are away from home, it helps to have travel insurance coverage in case you require a medical evacuation during your trip.
Bahamas COVID 19 Travel Requirements The Bahamas has changed requirements for entry into the country and travel between the islands effective on Friday, August 6, with rules that apply to both cruise passengers and travelers arriving by air. All fully vaccinated travelers and children ages two to 11 years old must test negative for COVID-19 no more than five days prior to arrival. This same rule applies to unvaccinated individuals 12 years and older. Cruise passengers must still apply for a Bahamas Travel Health Visa and follow the rules for entry into the island nation. Both vaccinated and unvaccinated cruise passengers must also test negative for COVID-19 within five days of entry into the country. To travel between the islands in the Bahamas, like Grand Bahama, Nassau, Bimini, Exuma and others, fully vaccinated individuals and children from two to 11 must also test negative within five days of travel. This is the same for unvaccinated individuals age 12 and older. These rules are for all travelers who apply for a Bahamas Travel Health Visa beginning Friday, August 6. Those who have already applied and obtained their Bahamas Travel Health Visa will not have to adhere to these new entry requirements. Cruising returned to the Bahamas in late June, after sixteen months of halted sailings due to the pandemic. Back in May , the islands had allowed vaccinated travelers to enter without having to test negative for COVID-19. It is possible that the restrictions are tightening once again to help prevent the spread of the Delta variant.
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Read travel requirements to the Bahamas
Smart cruisers never leave shore without cruise travel insurance. Because sometimes things can go wrong on your cruise vacation, an affordable cruise insurance plan can help make things right. Cruise insurance can cover also evacuations and emergency medical care.
Cruise travel insurance includes many benefits such as lost or delayed baggage, trip delay coverage, trip interruption coverage and more. Affordable travel plans for every type of cruise vacation.
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Bernard Olschewski cell phone 443-839-6351
Founder & Owner ULV bernard@myULV.net