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Volcano Travel Insurance Coverage

Volcano Travel Insurance Coverage
For US & Canadian Residents

Are you wondering what your options are to getting Travel Insurance that covers you in the wake of the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland?

The Travelex Select, Travelex Max, Travelex Insured and TravelSafe plans can cover you for unexpected travel problems related to the Iceland Volcano.

But, the only way to be sure that you won’t lose money by being forced to cancel your trip due to the Iceland volcano, is if you have a “Cancel For Any Reason / Change Your Mind” plan.

For example, if your airline indefinitely cancels its flights, you can cancel your trip at least 48 hours before departure & get up to 80% of your money back with a “Cancel For Any Reason” plan.

Want a frank and refreshingly honest explanation of the Iceland Volcano & Travel Insurance coverage? Read Steve Dasseos’s post from his Wall Street Journal recommended blog:

The Skinny on the Iceland Volcano and Travel Insurance

We (Steve, Deanna, Becky & Mary) completely sympathize with the predicament many people are in because they didn’t get trip cancellation insurance before their long-planned upcoming trip to Europe.

By the way, if you are booking a trip since April 14th, you may be eligible for a “Cancel For Any Reason plan” to cover you. Keep in mind that it’s “Cancel For Any Reason” and not “Interrupt For Any Reason”.

There are two distinct groups of people who are calling us about the volcano under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Iceland:

People who were ill-advised weeks or months ago that “you can just wait until your final payment to buy insurance”. Thankfully, they are completely understanding.
People who seem to have been too cheap and who would’ve never have bought travel insurance, but now they want it because they don’t want to lose any money.

Steve Vents His Spleen

I like the first group

I am truly sorry about their dilemma. But, I’d rather have people like that call us every day because they are willing to understand how travel insurance works or doesn’t work. Here’s an example from Paula in Boston on 4/21/10:

Hi. I booked an Exploritas program in Nice, France for 5/4 – 5/17/10 a while ago. I didn’t insure it at that time. I have arranged the airfare (Boston-Heathrow-Nice and back) with frequent flyer miles. The trip is worth about $5000.

Please don’t laugh too hard, but is there any way to insure this trip at all? I have the option of buying an air ticket (Boston-CDG-Nice and return…a route slightly further from the volcano) but am not sure that would make any difference for insurance purposes. Paula

Just yesterday (4/21/10), three people bought trip insurance from me because I told them the truth that they were not covered for anything related to the Iceland volcano. They all appreciated my honesty and willingness to not sell them a policy with the likeliness that there claim will be denied. They did have other reasons to buy that were covered, too.

I don’t like the second group

That second group are the ones that are the hardest to deal with because they can’t take “No” for an answer. They are in the same group that calls us in the winter because there’s a blizzard headed their way and now they want coverage.

Their attitude seems to be “I want someone else to pay for my mistake”. I personally have to be careful not to sound happy when I tell them they won’t be covered – it’s like buying fire insurance when your house is already on fire.

As much as I want to say, “I’m sorry you were too cheap to buy insurance before this happened”, I don’t say it because I’m a nice guy.

And, if you are reading this and I’m talking about you, don’t beg me to sell you a plan that will cover you because you are promising me that “you & everyone you know will always buy all your travel insurance plans from us”. If I had a dollar for every time … .

I almost forgot, but if you are a lazy travel agent who wants me to fix the wrong insurance advice you gave to your client, don’t call me either. I don’t believe you when you tell me “you & all your clients will buy all your travel insurance plans from us”.

It’s no secret that I feel travel agents should not be selling travel insurance. Specialize in selling travel and let the Trained Professional Travel Insurance Experts sell Travel Insurance. I promise I will never sell travel.

I hope this makes sense. If not, call us at 1-888-407-3854 and we’ll help you figure it all out. By the way, if you don’t appreciate my (Steve) directness, that’s too bad. My mission isn’t to please everyone. I’d rather tell you the truth.

Related Links:

Cancel For Any Reason Travel Insurance Plans

The “Cancel For Any Reason” is just that – cancelling your entire trip. It’s not “Delay For Any Reason” nor “Interrupt For Any Reason”.

Read Steve’s helpful Blog post called “Cancel Your Plane Ticket Or Pay The Change Fee?” to learn how to correctly cancel your plane ticket so your Cancel For Any Reason coverage reimburses you for your airfare.

You’ll find “Cancel For Any Reason” Travel Insurance Plans from CSA Freestyle Luxe, Global Alert Preferred & Preferred Plus, Travelex Max, Travel Guard Gold, Travel Guard Platinum, Travel Insured and TravelSafe.

Here are some common trip cancellation reasons that aren’t normally covered by Travel insurance, yet are covered by a Cancel For Any Reason Plans. Any of these events (and a lot more) are covered by a Cancel For Any Reason Plan:

You want to cancel your trip because you don’t feel safe. For example, Swine Flu or something else is everywhere and you’re afraid to go to Wal-Mart. If this happens, you probably won’t want to go on your trip.
Along these lines, Civil Unrest and War aren’t covered. If these things are happening at your destination, you probably won’t want to go on your trip, either
You just don’t feel right about leaving. Maybe you “just have a feeling” it’s not a good time to go on your trip. Ever had that “feeling” and you were glad you listened to it? I have:
I was very close to my Paternal Grandparents. On August 29, 1997 I had a strong feeling I should, without delay, visit my Grandma who lived 200 miles away. I left immediately and had the best visit I ever had with her! Exactly 2 weeks later she died in her sleep. I was privileged to give the eulogy at her funeral.
You change your mind and don’t want to go on your trip
You get a new job and your boss won’t let you have the time off
Your adult children are idiots and their melodramas might cause you to cancel your trip
Your child or grandchild’s team which is normally in last place is now in the State Championship Finals
Your already approved vacation comes at a bad time and you know it would be better if you didn’t take your trip
Even though you and your significant other are “madly in love”, you still want to have a way out (maybe that plants a seed of discord?). More on this below.

Here Are The Purchase Deadlines:

The CSA Freestyle Luxe deadline is no later than 24 hours after your initial trip payment
The Travel Guard Gold’s & Platinum’s deadline is no later than 14 days after the date you made your initial trip payment
The Global Alert Preferred & Preferred Plus plans’ deadline is no later than 15 days after the date you made your initial trip payment
The Travel Insured WTP and TravelSafe Classic plans’ deadlines are no later than 21 days after the date you made your initial trip payment
The Travelex Max and Travel Insured Gold plans’ deadlines are no later than 30 days after the date you made your initial trip payment

All plans require:

You insure 100% of your expected prepaid trip costs that would be non-refundable if you got hit by a cement truck on the day you were leaving for your trip and had to cancel at the last minute;
You also insure within 14 – 30 days (depending on the plan) of the payment for those arrangements including the cost of any subsequent arrangements (or any other subsequent arrangements not made through your travel agent) added to your Trip; and
You are not disabled from travel at the time you pay your premium and
You cancel your Trip more than two days (Global Alert, Travelex Max & TravelSafe) or fortyeight hours (CSA, Travel Guard & Travel Insured) prior to Your Scheduled Departure Date.
Tip: 48 hours does not equal 2 calendar days. Click here to see why not.

Important: There will be no coverage available under the Optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit, if purchased if you insure an amount less than your total prepaid trip costs that are subject to any “scheduled penalty” on your Departure Date.

This is handy to know: I use the term “scheduled penalty” below. A “scheduled penalty” is the total amount of money you’d lose at the time you cancel your trip. Cruises & Tours typically have a penalty schedule. And if you have a non-refundable airline ticket the entire cost will be the penalty because technically you can’t get any of your money back if you cancel your trip.

The CSA Freestyle Luxe and TravelSafe plans reimburse you different amounts depending on the “scheduled penalty” in effect at the time you cancel your trip.

For example, a family of four is taking a cruise costing $5,000 total ($2,000 for non-refundable airline tickets & $3,000 for the cruise). If you change your mind and cancel you trip before your final payment, your penalty is $2,000 (the non-refundable airline tickets). $2,000 divided by $5,000 is 40%. Therefore, the CSA Freestyle Luxe will refund you 90% of the $2,000 and TravelSafe will refund you 85% of the $2,000.

Here’s a big drawback (besides the price & you don’t get a 100% refund) in the “Cancel For Any Reason” coverage:
(“Cancel For Work Reason” has the same drawback)

A trip cancellation claim that is paid under the “Cancel For Any Reason” coverage means that any benefit you would get from any covered reason is lost. For example:

2 people (significant others) are sharing a cabin on a cruise
Even though they are “madly in love” they still get “Cancel For Any Reason” coverage (maybe that plants a seed of discord?)
They have a falling out and one of them cancels their trip using their “Cancel For Any Reason” benefit
The other person does not receive the benefit (as in getting any money from the claim) of the additional cost incurred during the Covered Trip as a result of a change in the per person occupancy rate (single supplement).

If you carefully examine this policy wording, you’ll see what I mean: (italics mine)

“The Company will reimburse You, up to the maximum shown on the Confirmation of Coverage for Trip Cancellation, for the additional cost incurred during the Covered Trip as a result of a change in the per person occupancy rate for prepaid travel arrangements if a person booked to share accommodations with You has his/her Covered Trip delayed, canceled, or interrupted for a covered reason and You do not cancel.”

The reason the traveler still going on the trip doesn’t get their single supplement costs paid in a claim is because the “Cancel For Any Reason” coverage allows a person to cancel for a not-covered reason.

Here’s how much these plans reimburse you if you use the “Cancel For Any Reason” benefit:

Click here for CSA’s Detailed Description Page
Cancellation Penalties	Maximum payable under the policy
Plan Name	CSA Freestyle Luxe
Scheduled Penalty: 0-25%	100% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 26-50%	90% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 51-75%	80% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 76-100%	70% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
The Deadline to Get the CFAR Benefit	No later than 24 hours after your initial trip payment
Who Can Get This Plan?	US & Canadian Residents

Click here for Global Alert Preferred’s Detailed Description
Cancellation Penalties	Maximum payable under the policy
Plan Name	Global Alert Preferred
Scheduled Penalty: 0-25%	100% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 26-50%	85% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 51-100%	75% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
The Deadline to Get the CFAR Benefit	No later than 15 days after your initial trip payment
Who Can Get This Plan?	US Residents

Click here for Global Alert Preferred Plus’s Detailed Description
Cancellation Penalties	Maximum payable under the policy
Plan Name	Global Alert Preferred
Scheduled Penalty: 0-25%	100% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 26-50%	95% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 51-100%	90% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
The Deadline to Get the CFAR Benefit	No later than 15 days after your initial trip payment
Who Can Get This Plan?	US Residents

Click here for Travelex Max’s Detailed Description
Plan Name	Travelex Max
Any Penalty Amount	75% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
The Deadline to Get the CFAR Benefit	No later than 30 days after your initial trip payment
Who Can Get This Plan?	US Residents Only

Click here for Travel Guard’s Detailed Description
Plan Name	Travel Guard Gold plan	Travel Guard Platinum plan
Any Penalty Amount	50% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation	75% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
The Deadline to Get the CFAR Benefit	No later than 14 days after your initial trip payment
Who Can Get This Plan?	US Residents Only except New York & Washington State residents

Click here for Travel Insured’s Detailed Description
Plan Name	Travel Insured Worldwide Trip Protector Plan	Travel Insured Worldwide Trip Protector Gold Plan
Any Penalty Amount	75% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
The Deadline to Get the CFAR Benefit	No later than 21 days after your initial trip payment	No later than 30 days after your initial trip payment
Who Can Get This Plan?	US Residents Only except Washington State residents

Click here for TravelSafe Classic’s Detailed Description
Plan Name	TravelSafe Vacation Classic
Scheduled Penalty: 0-25%	100% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 26-50%	85% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
Scheduled Penalty: 51-100%	75% of the scheduled penalty at the time of trip cancellation
The Deadline to Get the CFAR Benefit	No later than 21 days after your initial trip payment
Who Can Get This Plan?	US & Canadian Residents

Here’s How Much Extra the
Optional “Cancel For Any Reason” Benefit Costs:

Plan Name	Add this to the policy premium for the total cost including the optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit
CSA Freestyle Luxe	Add 50% (or multiply it by 1.5) to each CSA Freestyle Luxe Plan per person premium to get the cost including the optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit
Global Alert Preferred	The Global Alert Preferred plan’s optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit prices are in the price table (about a 50% markup on the base cost).
Global Alert Preferred Plus	The Global Alert Preferred Plus plan includes the Cancel For Any Reason Benefit. The cost is the same as the Preferred plan plus a daily per person cost of $2.50 – $7.50 depending on the the traveler(s) age(s)
Travelex Max	Add 50% (or multiply it by 1.5) to the Travelex Max premium to get the cost including the optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit
Travel Guard Gold	Add 40% (or multiply it by 1.4) to the Gold per person premium to get the cost including the optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit
Travel Guard Platinum	Add 40% (or multiply it by 1.4) to the Platinum per person premium to get the cost including the optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit
Travel Insured WTP & Gold	Add 50% (or multiply it by 1.5) to each Travel Insured Worldwide Trip Protector Plan or Gold Plan per person premium to get the cost including the optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit
TravelSafe Classic Insurance	Add 50% (or multiply it by 1.5) to the TravelSafe Classic Insurance plan per person premium to get the cost including the optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit

Questions? Call Steve, Deanna, Becky or Mary toll free at 1-888-407-3854.

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