Tag Archives: Trip

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Travel Insurance Eases the Burden of Canceling a Trip

Prevent a Financial Disaster

When you shell out a lot of money for a vacation, whether it’s for a packaged tour, cruise or individual travel, one of the most important things you can do is purchase trip cancellation insurance. This is a habit I’ve developed over the last few years and it’s been worth every penny.

Case in point: last October, I was prepared to go on my dream trip to Egypt. I’d spent more than $900 on a plane ticket from New York to Cairo and I’d made reservations at two different — and not inexpensive — hotels. And then it happened. A few days before my trip, I became too ill to travel.

With a doctor’s note, the airline would have allowed me to re-use my ticket between the same two airports within six months, after paying a penalty and any difference in the airfare on the new dates I would travel, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be well enough — or able to take the time off to travel again that soon.

Canceling the trip was difficult emotionally, as I’d looked forward to visiting Egypt for years. But financially, the pain was lessened, as I had purchased trip cancellation insurance on the airfare and was able to obtain a full refund.

If I’d included the hotel costs in the insurance I purchased I would have been even better off. I canceled one of the hotel reservations with no problems. The other hotel charged me one night’s stay because their cancellation policy called for a week’s notice — but I could live with that.

This advice isn’t just for seniors or those who tend to get sick easily. Even if you’re in perfect health, you never know if you might have to cancel or cut your vacation short because of the illness of a family member.

So where do you purchase travel insurance, and how do you find the best quotes? My favorite place to go is InsureMyTrip.com. This website offers a free comparison of quotes from top U.S. insurance providers on the best travel insurance for your needs, listing nearly 50 policies from 14 companies. I’ve used this site several times and have found it easy to navigate, and friendly help was available by phone when I had questions.

If you are booking travel through a tour company, they usually offer travel insurance that you can purchase directly from them when you book your trip. This is a good option. They may give you a week or two after you book your trip to decide if you want the insurance, but ask to be certain.

You could also Google “travel insurance” if you want to check out a variety of sites.

The travel insurance I purchased for my Cairo trip helped ease the pain of canceling my dream vacation. With my airfare refunded, I will be able to plan another trip to Cairo — at a time when I’m healthy and able to travel.

Trip

Family Camping Trip

Camping trips are an excellent tradition and many families go on them on a yearly basis. Getting away from it all and into the woods will allow you to bond with those closest to you and spend some quality, distraction-free, time together. Here are five things to think about if you are intent on planning such a trip.

First of all you need to consider who you go with. Now obviously it will be your family, but you need to decide whether you should invite your extended family as this might make your trip a bit too big. After all, who wants to organise a camping trip for 22 people? If this is your first stab at it, it might be best to start small and gradually build up as you become more adept at planning. You also need to take into account the age and ability of your family: you don’t want to go on a week-long adventure trip with a one year old or force older relatives to hike mile upon mile.

Next up is your destination: look for somewhere around you that has convenient camping sites, good road-access and interesting things to see and do. National parks are always a good bet as they have plenty of facilities and are always stunning. If you are in America consider Yosemite National Park, for Canadians check out Algonquin Park while British people should definitely head to the Lake District. No matter where you live, you should be able to find somewhere which fits the bill.

The weather is incredibly important for all outdoor pursuits, especially if you are planning on being out for a while. With this in mind you need to plan your trip during warm, dry times – it’s also worth checking short and long-term forecasts as you may encounter weather which will force you to cancel your trip. In Britain consult the MET, while Canadians and Americans can check local weather stations. Activities make these trips worthwhile, so you will need to thoroughly plan what you intend to do each day – as a starting point consult local listings to see what is on offer. Be sure to put in some time for active pursuits like canoeing, hiking and swimming and above all ensure that everyone can find something that they enjoy.

Finally, you need to spend a significant amount of time sorting out the logistics of your family camping trip. This kind of trip needs to be very well organised, after all you don’t want to drive hours and find that you’ve forgotten all your food. Also take a look at your sleeping needs, decide between big 6 man tents and smaller pop tents suited for two people. Also make sure you have everything you need to access local water supplies, as you may need to bring along material to purify the water. Take some time with these arrangements as a poorly arranged trip will be no fun at all.

If you follow these five steps you should have no problem organising an amazing family camping trip – so get out and enjoy this wonderful pursuit with your partner, parents, kids, cousins and anyone else you can convince to come along.

Trip

Travel Insurance Eases the Burden of Canceling a Trip

Prevent a Financial Disaster

When you shell out a lot of money for a vacation, whether it’s for a packaged tour, cruise or individual travel, one of the most important things you can do is purchase trip cancellation insurance. This is a habit I’ve developed over the last few years and it’s been worth every penny.

Case in point: last October, I was prepared to go on my dream trip to Egypt. I’d spent more than $900 on a plane ticket from New York to Cairo and I’d made reservations at two different — and not inexpensive — hotels. And then it happened. A few days before my trip, I became too ill to travel.

With a doctor’s note, the airline would have allowed me to re-use my ticket between the same two airports within six months, after paying a penalty and any difference in the airfare on the new dates I would travel, but I wasn’t sure if I’d be well enough — or able to take the time off to travel again that soon.

Canceling the trip was difficult emotionally, as I’d looked forward to visiting Egypt for years. But financially, the pain was lessened, as I had purchased trip cancellation insurance on the airfare and was able to obtain a full refund.

If I’d included the hotel costs in the insurance I purchased I would have been even better off. I canceled one of the hotel reservations with no problems. The other hotel charged me one night’s stay because their cancellation policy called for a week’s notice — but I could live with that.

This advice isn’t just for seniors or those who tend to get sick easily. Even if you’re in perfect health, you never know if you might have to cancel or cut your vacation short because of the illness of a family member.

So where do you purchase travel insurance, and how do you find the best quotes? My favorite place to go is InsureMyTrip.com. This website offers a free comparison of quotes from top U.S. insurance providers on the best travel insurance for your needs, listing nearly 50 policies from 14 companies. I’ve used this site several times and have found it easy to navigate, and friendly help was available by phone when I had questions.

If you are booking travel through a tour company, they usually offer travel insurance that you can purchase directly from them when you book your trip. This is a good option. They may give you a week or two after you book your trip to decide if you want the insurance, but ask to be certain.

You could also Google “travel insurance” if you want to check out a variety of sites.

The travel insurance I purchased for my Cairo trip helped ease the pain of canceling my dream vacation. With my airfare refunded, I will be able to plan another trip to Cairo — at a time when I’m healthy and able to travel.