TRAVEL INSURANCE?  What is it?  Do I really need it?

It is a Brave New World of Travel...
Travel Insurance has become a necessity! 

The Airlines... if you do not have Trip Interruption & Cancellation coverage... look-out!

• Major U.S. Airlines in 2008 started routinely canceling flights at the last minute wihout warning - leaving passengers stranded at the gate...  Why?  If not enough seats are booked on a given flight to fly profitably, then the airlines just cancel the flight.  Yes, this is legal!  Stranded travelers frequently get stuck paying change fees and/or higher ticket prices so they can still fly out on the same day.
• Major U.S. Airlines in 2007 began using computer programs to estimate the number of last minute cancelations on each flight... then to keep planes flying at near capacity, the airlines used this information to over-sell each flight by the estimated number of cancellations.  Travelers with highly discounted tickets now find that they are really flying "stand-by"... their seats are subject to availablity... on a first at the gate, first to be seated basis!  Not enough seats... those late to the gate simply do not fly.  Yes... it is a good idea to read all that fine print when you buy those cheap tickets on-line!
• For 2008, many major U.S. Airlines announced that they are withdrawing large numbers of planes from service, creating fewer flights to many popular destinations... this so that more flights are flying at near capacity.  This means that if your flight is canceled or if you are bumped, (see above), then the chances of getting onto another flight are now very slim ...unless you are willing to pay a premium price for that last minute ticket.
• In 2006, Major Airlines began routinely scheduling highly-discounted connecting flights which have next-to-impossible connection times... again leaving passengers to pay for change fees and/or premium prices for last-minute tickets on another flight.

The Hotels:  Again...if you do not have Trip Interruption & Cancellation coverage... ouch! 

• In 2007, major hotel chains began routinely over-selling rooms using software similar to that which the airlines use to over-sell seats... in this case to over-sell hotel rooms.  Now, if a traveler arrives at their hotel... and their "good-deal" discounted room has been sold out from under them to another traveler at a higher room rate... their hotel just says sorry... and sends the traveler down the street to pay a last-minute premium room rate at another hotel!

Emergency Medical and Dental:  This can create a personal financial disaster...

• Time was... when - if you had medical insurance coverage, your insurance coverage followed you wherever you traveled... at least in the USA.  For most American medical plans, this is no longer true.  Travelers who leave their home region - or at best their the state of residence... find that their medical and/or dental coverage disappears completely - or drops to a fraction of regular coverage limits.  In addition, virtually no U.S. medical plans provide anything even close to adequate emergency medical evacuation coverage for travelers.  Have you ever considered the cost of being medi-vac'd off from a beach, a mountain, or a cruise ship?  And... do not forget the medical transport costs incurred to get you back to your home town after your serious injury or illness has been stabilized wherever you were traveling!  This trip home is critical fo many Americans... since home is the only place where their medical coverage will cover most of their medical expenses!
• Planning a trip to Canada, Mexico, or another International Destination?  Very few U.S. medical and dental policies cover you at all when traveling out-of-country.  And... if you think emergency medical evacuation costs to get you home can be expensive in the USA... the cost to bring home a seriously ill or injured American from an international destination - can create a life-long personal financial disaster!  For this reason, international travelers require much higher medical coverage policy limits than do domestic USA travelers.
• Cruise ships present a critical need for a quality travel insurance policy providing the traveler with larger medical and very large medical evacuation coverage limits.  The reason here is not just financial... it is medical.  Cruise ships do not have hospitals, few even have even a basic infirmary, and none have: an ER... or diagnostic equipment... or any type of trauma care facilities.  Very few have a U.S. certified doctor on-duty, virtually none have a a trauma care or an ER-certified staff person of any type.  If a passenger on a cruise ship has a serious illness or injury... the only way that traveler can get adequate medical care is to be heli-vac'd off the ship.  Cruise Lines are under no legal obligation to take a seriously ill or injured passenger to port, not do cruise lines have any legal obligation to pay for emergency medical evacuation of a passenger.   If a passenger on a cruise ship becomes seriously ill, or is seriously injured, the only way they can get heli-vac'd off ship is if they can demonstrate an ability to pay for that expense... which for most passengers means that if you do not have travel insurance... you simply may die.  Little known fact: while medical care is sparse to nearly none on a cruise ship... cruise ships do have morgues in which to store dead passenger bodies!  The message here I hope is clear... never consider taking a cruise without taking out a high quality travel insurance policy to provide a life raft! 

The Car Rental Companies:

• Insurance for car rentals is a topic within itself.  Click:  CAR RENTAL INSURANCE  to learn more.

Travel Insurance is available for groups, (not-age-rated),  and individuals, (usually age rated).

Are all Travel Insurance providers the same?  Absolutely not!  Some are unrated companies with very short operating histories, while others are A.M. BEST financially-rated insurance companies.  CM Travel 4FUN directs its clients only to travel insurance companies A.M. BEST rated "A-" or better... companies that are there when you need them - and who pay claims for covered-losses... with money - not promises!

CM Travel 4FUN recognizes the importance of Travel Insurance and will automatically verify that each client has the opportunity to purchase the appropriate Travel Insurance - for every type of travel experience... thereby protecting the client, and their travel financial investment.  

NEAL KELLNER