Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is a special class of insurance intended to cover unexpected medical expenses and financial losses incurred while traveling.

There are companies that provide assurance that you will not be financially hurt in the event of a medical emergency or trip cancellations due to weather phenomenon like the volcanic ash that has been causing delays and problems for flights all over the world. Insurance coverage will protect you from hurricane delays as long as the tickets were purchased before the hurricane is named.http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/travel/20prac.html?ref=travel

Additional protection is available against airline strikes as well. As long as the strike was not common knowledge before you purchased the tickets.http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/travel/20prac.html?ref=travel

There are more than one company that provides travelers coverage and that is where research comes in to play. You will want to make sure the possibilities are taken into consideration and you are not finding yourself falling between the insurance cracks.

• Student Travel

• Business Travel

• Leisure Travel

• Adventure Travel

• Cruise Travel

• International Travel

Medical Coverage

When looking for travel insurance, there are some coverages that are very basic and clear to understand. Those would be coverages like medical expenses which will cover any illness or emergency room visit or doctor's care while on a trip. Many times the coverage is for an individual trip which can be from one day up to one year. This is especially important for people that are on United States Medicare as it will not pay if the covered person is out of the country. Therefore it is important for the out of country traveler to have coverage.http://www.travelinsure.com/why/internationalmedical.asp The most basic plans typically cover emergency medical expenses as well as emergency medical evacuation and repatriation. These policies typically provide accidental death and dismemberment. These can start with rates of about $3.00 a day for individual coverage.http://www.travelinsure.com/what/imedhigh.asp

Trip Cancellation Insurance

Making the plans for a trip can become expensive when you pay for deposits and prepaying cruise lines and airlines for travel transportation. Many parts of the trip have been paid for in advance and cancellation policies will protect all of your investment. If you have a flight canceled and you are forced to stay overnight then you will have unexpected charges and these can be covered by having the correct policy in place to protect you.The cancellations have to be for covered reasons but it is protection that will provide up to 150% of the charges that are incurred due to the interruption.http://www.travelinsure.com/why/tripcancellation.asp There are additional coverages that can be added to the policy that will offset meal and hotel expenses in the event of a trip interruption.

Separate Add-on policies may be purchased in some cases as an additional coverage to their policy. Some examples of these coverages are:

Pre-existing medical conditions such as asthma or diabetes.

Sports with an element of risk such as skiing or scuba-diving vacation trips.

Travel to high risk countries or countries that have problems due to war or natural disasters or acts of terrorism.

• The first Flight Insurance Policy was purchased May 6, 1919 in Atlantic City, New Jersey at 9:00 am by President W. Wilson of Washington DC.http://www.quotewright.com/weblog/2008/02/27/the-first-flight-accident-policy-who-bought-it-and-when/