Avoid Unforeseen Vacation Expense
Today travel insurance is more popular in the US than ever, but a recent
report indicated that only 50% of travelers take extra cover whilst on vacation.
Included in this figure are travelers who have limited coverage provided by:
- Their personal credit cards
- Cruise operators
- Personal health insurance policies
All of the above can provide some form of travel insurance, but if you were
to be taken ill abroad, required medical evacuation, involved in an incident
with a common carrier, or stranded because you missed a flight, the chances are
you'd be left to fend for yourself. These are just a few of the reasons Travel
Insurance companies pay claims.
50% is a vast increase from 10% pre-September 2001, but there are still
millions of travelers out there with insufficient coverage; why? Well people in
the US still ask me, "What is Travel Insurance?" says Coverhunter.com founder
member, Geoff Fincher, this is a question you don't hear in the UK where 90% of
travelers take extra cover when on vacation.
The world is a lot smaller these days; the past 30 years has seen flying
become an option for almost everyone, and a week away in exotic or far away
places is now something a lot of travelers do more than once a year. That said,
American's don't really need to leave the US the way holiday makers in UK have
to. Skiing - go to Colorado. Sun, Sand and Surf - go to Florida or California.
Hiking and mountain climbing - Visit the Appalachian Trail. There's gambling in
Vegas, site seeing in New York, The Great Lakes, Disney World, Disney Land, the
list is endless and probably one of the reasons only a small percentage of
American's own a passport. The more authoritative sources on the web put the
figure between 18%-20% although there is no official government data to back
this up, and this is another reason travelers don't take out travel insurance,
they think because they're on vacation in the US, they don't need it; this
simply is not true.
Take for example Coverhunter.com customer Rick Hyatt, who found himself
stranded over 10,000ft up Mount Teide on Tenerife for 18 hours, after falling
and fracturing his hip and wrist whilst hiking. When he was eventually found he
had also developed severe hypothermia. This is a story with a happy ending by
the way! Rick was taken to a nearby hospital, stabilized and after 6 days, flown
back to the UK all courtesy of his travel insurance policy. The total bill for
this incident was £41,000 or $80,000. This could easily happen when skiing in
Colorado or Hiking in Montana and the expense wouldn't be much different!
For over 20 years we've made helping travelers avoid this kind of unnecessary
expense our goal at Coverhunter.com , "for a fraction of the cost of your
vacation, there is no reason to take a chance!"
Need cover? Click
here to get started.
- Geoff Fincher, January 2008