Why You Need Travel Insurance Coverage

Why Everyone Should Have Travel Insurance Coverage 

Pet Lovers – Ensure Your Travel Insurance Coverage Includes Your Beloved Pets Too!

My family and I love to travel. Being a travel writer usually means you have a bit (or a lot in my case) of the wanderlust in your blood and want to share those experiences. Fortunately, my family understands and both my husband and daughter each have varying degrees of wanderlust themselves. Being able to travel is one of the most enriching experiences anyone can ever have and I can’t recommend it enough. If you can travel, do, but remember, along with enjoying the sites and experiencing the local culture and cuisine, part of travelling also means being prepared for the unexpected. One of those preparations is ensuring we have travel protection coverage EVERY time we travel.

Apollo loves to travel with us. He jumps in the car even if we’re not going anywhere.

We received compensation for this article but as always all opinions are 100% our own.

While you might not be able to prepare for every little bump in the road, when you have good travel protection coverage you know you have help for the important things if the need arises. We may all think it won’t happen to us but if you’re travelling abroad and you or a family member has a medical emergency you don’t want to be worried about how to pay for medical services. You just want to know that you or your family member are being taken care of. It happens and it has happened to a family member of mine. Thank goodness we had travel protection.

Barring medical emergencies, we’ve all heard stories of lost luggage, or having to cancel a trip and losing out on all of the money spent because of either a) not having any travel protection or b) inadequate travel protection.

What should you look for in a travel protection plan? Here are a few tips I’m going to share as to what we look for and why:

1. What’s your tolerance for how much money you would lose if you had to unexpectedly cancel a trip?
2. Do you have a pet? Would you need pet boarding if an emergency happened and you’re delayed getting home to your pet?
3. Do you or your family members have health/medical concerns that you may want to ensure are covered just in case?
4. Can you afford a large medical bill if someone is hospitalized?
5. How much would it cost to replace items in your luggage if it was lost?

Those are just a few of the things we consider when selecting our travel protection plan. As pet owners with a fairly new fur member to our family, we also have to put more consideration into trip cancellation. Our rescue dog Apollo, who is now nine months old, has some separation anxiety. He doesn’t like to be left alone at home for an hour let alone an entire day. We’re working on this with him and so far we’ve been lucky that he can travel with us. However, we possibly have a trip coming up this summer that he will not be able to go with us. What if we book that trip and find out that Apollo is still not adapting to being left alone?

Do we lose out on all the money we’ve paid for the trip? Go on the trip anyways and traumatize Apollo? He’s the first of our fur family to have separation anxiety. Our other dogs in the past didn’t have that issue and I always wondered if they had a Secret Life of Pets scenario going on when we went away without them. Now with Apollo, we have to consider even more our options for travel protection coverage and what might be covered in regards to trip cancellation and pet boarding fees.Fortunately, we all have options and with travel protection benefits like the ones offered by the AXA Platinum plan it meets all of our potential needs.

Here are just some of the benefits of the AXA Platinum plan:

• Up to the trip cost maximum for a trip cancellation due to a covered unforeseen event such as illness or inclement weather.
• Up to 75% of the non-refundable trip cost for cancel for any reason. This is an optional benefit, which may cover things such as school being scheduled to start at the same time you had a trip planned or Apollo not adapting to being left alone.
• Up to 150% of the trip cost maximum for a trip interruption due to a covered unforeseen event.
• Up to $250,000 for medical expenses. AXA is a global brand and has the capability to set up direct billing with international hospitals.
• $1,000,000 emergency medical evacuation/ repatriation. If you or a family member is not receiving the adequate level of care, this benefit provides coverage for expenses to evacuate you to a hospital with a higher level of care or repatriate you back to the USA.
• Up to $300 per day ($1,250 max) per traveler for additional expenses you incur during a trip delay (12 hours).
• $25 per day (up to 5 days) if you are delayed and incur a pet boarding fee
• Up to $600 per traveler for baggage delay (12 hours) if you arrive at your destination but your luggage does not.
• Up to $3,000 if your luggage is lost or stolen during your trip.

On top of that, AXA can also assist with finding pet-friendly hotel accommodations (that would make Apollo very happy), boarding facilities and travel home for pets. I am very impressed with how they have thought of our fur family and two-legged family members too.

If you’re on a road trip, they also have vehicle return services. In the event that you need to be medically repatriated or evacuated to your home, they will help coordinate all arrangements needed for the return of your unattended vehicle.

How about just helping with your travel arrangements like accommodations, entertainment and more? AXA can help with that too. So on top of covering you for those unexpected emergencies, they can also help you have a fantastic vacation!

CONCIERGE SERVICES
Concierge services designed to fulfill various leisure and entertainment requests as well as travel related services. Call AXAs concierge services prior to departing for advice on planning your trip or for any last minute recommendations or reservations while you are away.

• Restaurant and hotel referrals and reservations
• Transportation information and referrals (rental car and limousine)
• Luxury rental information and arrangements (houseboats, villas, charter planes)
• Entertainment information and ticketing (opera, ballet, theater, concerts, sporting events and museums)
• Golf course information and referrals and tee times
• And More!

Have you ever been on vacation and had to deal with identity theft? It’s a nightmare! AXA also has Identify Theft Services.

If you suddenly find yourself missing your identification, credit or debit cards, or other important personal or financial documents, while traveling they can provide an Identity Theft solution.

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This service provides:

• Education & Protection: An identity theft risk & prevention toolkit and resolution guide.

• Personal Guidance: Assistance with filing and obtaining police and credit reports, contracting creditor fraud departments, taking inventory of lost or stolen items and more.
• Emergency Funds: Assistance sending emergency funds to you.

I know I could rest easy and not worry about what might happen as a travel protection plan like this one from AXA, helps have us covered for all the important emergencies and oh so much more. What do you look for in travel protection coverage?

Please read your plan document carefully. This is only a summary of our program. Please refer to your plan document for complete coverages, terms, conditions, limits and exclusions, including a pre-existing condition exclusion. Not all plans or coverages are available in every state. This summary does not replace or change any part of your plan document. If there is a conflict between this summary and your plan document, the plan document will govern. Please contact AXA for additional information regarding plan features and pricing at USTravel@axa-assistance.us Plans contain insured benefits and non-insurance assistance services. The insurance benefits in the Silver, Gold and Platinum plans are underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Affiliated Companies, Columbus, Ohio. Benefits are administered by AXA Assistance USA, Inc. (in California, doing business as AXA Assistance Administrators, License Number 0H74893). Non-insurance assistance services are provided by AXA Assistance USA, Inc. and are not underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.