Travel Insurance. Who needs it?

by Lee Boughan

You’ve spent months planning the perfect family vacation before the school season starts. You tell yourself- “We’re going no matter what!” That “what” suddenly becomes little Johnny running a high fever of 105 and with just days before your departure, you also get sick.

Sound familiar? It’s funny because I am guilty of just that type of mentality- the days of “oh nothing’s going to happen before we go” are totally over.

Enter, reality.

People get sick. Yes, even me. I even got sick while on vacation and needed medical care!

Hurricanes hit. Flooding occurs. Resorts get damaged.

Your lovely boss needs you to stay to help with a company merger. Or worse, you get terminated.

The story heard from a couple I met on a cruise was when his wife had an aneurysm, they had to helicopter her off the ship, imagine what that cost! And then she spent 3 weeks in the hospital in Ft. Lauderdale, not only was the hospitalization covered, but the insurance company paid all of his hotel costs to stay with her in Ft. Lauderdale until her could go home. You just never know.

All these and more are reasons to buy Travel Insurance. Gone are those days of the negative thoughts about travel insurance. For the small cost of my trip investment, the three main reasons why I buy are: peace of mind, protection against the unexpected and concern over losing my financial investment in a trip. I’m telling you for fractions of what you invest in a trip from planning to actual cost, just having peace of mind is all I need.

Check out some of the things that travel insurance will cover:

• Your baggage is lost or damaged.
• You're involved in an accident and adequate medical treatment is not available. You need medical evacuation.
• You need to cancel your trip due to illness.
• Your cruise line, airline or tour operator goes bankrupt. You need your non-refundable expenses covered and to get to your destination.
• You have a medical emergency in a foreign country.
• A terrorist incident occurs in the city where you’re planning to visit and you want to cancel your trip.
• A hurricane forces you to evacuate your resort, hotel or cruise.
• You are called for jury duty.

As a seller of travel in Florida, I have to offer everyone travel insurance. But it’s up to the traveler. I think travelers should have it. Too many bad things happen to good people at the worst-possible time.

Lee Boughan is with Cruise Planners of Apopka.