The Top Four Reasons You Don't Need Travel Insurance

(reprinted from Allianz Global Assistance)

Do people call you lucky? Is your umbrella always dry? And are you perpetually punctual? Congratulations, you don’t need travel insurance! Or a back-up alarm clock. Or an emergency brake. Or a spare key. See where we’re going with this? The decision of whether or not to buy travel insurance shouldn’t always be based on what you can predict or already have experienced. It’s about protecting yourself from the known and unknown threats to your weekend getaways or transcontinental treks. And it only takes one trip over the dog and down the stairs, a single M.I.A. garment bag before the big presentation, or your 5-star hotel shuttering without warning to realize that maybe you actually do need travel insurance. But for this article, let’s pretend you are that lucky, dry and punctual person.

Here are four reasons why you never need to sweat travel insurance – delivered with a wink and a nod.

(1) You’re Invincible

Travel insurance can protect you against many potential threats before and during trips. These benefits may include providing trip cancellation protection if you come down with something serious enough that your doctor forbids you from flying, as well as the coordination of emergency medical transportation on foreign soil where you don’t even know how to say “doctor” in the native tongue. But you had four years of high school perfect attendance. You laugh at Flu shots and you never even purchased a Band-Aid. You would never enjoy the potential life-saving convenience of being med-evaced from a remote island chain or getting your airfare refunded after contracting Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever the day before your two-week your of Italy.

(2) You’re an Experienced Traveler

You know the guy who invented the fanny pack. Frommer’s reads your travel blog. And you out-predicted the weather against Al Roker by simply licking your finger and sticking it in the air. Sure, a quarter of all flights are delayed – delays where one might enjoy the benefits of missed connection or travel interruption coverage. Thousands more flights are cancelled and three-and-a-half of every thousand bags are mishandled. But those numbers too small to worry about.

(3) You’re a smart and savvy traveler who knows where and when to book.

Who cares that the State Department just issues another travel warning or that the fifth cruise ship in as many months experienced a viral outbreak? Not you, that’s who. No One Really Uses Travel Insurance, Right? Only 29 percent of travelers even buy flight insurance. That only equates to millions and millions of globetrotters who believe the peace of mind is worth the extra cost, many of whom aren’t afraid to talk about their experience.  Plus, even if you have to use travel insurance, it’s probably impossible to actually process a claim, right? Even if policies are carefully spelled out and passionate customer service teams are ready to take your call – it’s still probably cumbersome and slightly inconvenient, right? Maybe? Perhaps…?

(4) You Don’t Have an Imagination

It’s not fun or productive to sit around brainstorming all the different ways your long-awaited trip could be spoiled: slipping a disc reaching for the remote control, having the cruise ship’s gangplank drop on your foot right before the Bon Voyage Party, or missing your connection by two minutes because a feral cat found its way to the tarmac. If you can’t think of all the nearly unfathomable, almost unbelievable ways that your trip can take a sharp left turn to the E.R. or Airport Inn – things that happen every day to travelers just like you – then we can understand why it may be difficult to pull the trigger on a product that nearly one out of three travelers purchases.

Allianz Global Assistance fans and customers do have an imagination. In fact, when we launched a contest asking them to submit all their ideas for why they don’t need travel insurance, we received a deluge of fun, cheeky answers – similar to this very article.

Here is a look at the winning entries:

? The World Series won’t start without me.

? My mother-in-law, who is 89 and travels with us at my wife's insistence, is in the prime of her life.

? Nothing can protect me from holidays with my in-laws

Of course, unless you’re a starting pitcher, the World Series won’t wait for you. And even then it’s a stretch. Your mother-in-law may be the picture of health, but all of us are susceptible ailments and accidents. And while we can’t keep your in-laws from weighing in on parenting techniques or sharing vacation photos from 17 years ago, we may be able to help if they don’t get you to the airport on time. We hope your luck, good fortune and sparkling travel record don’t run out. But if they do, or if you decide that it’s time for travel insurance, Allianz Global Assistance is here to help. Learn more about our plans and products so that you can choose the coverage that best fits your next trip, Seriously.

*Terms, conditions, and exclusions apply. Insurance benefits are underwritten by either BCS, Jefferson Insurance Company or Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Affiliated Companies, depending on insured’s state of residence and plan type. AGA Service Company is the licensed producer and administrator of these plans. Plans may not be available to residents of all states. 

Contact Lori Visser of Cruise Planners, Land and Cruise Expert for a travel insurance quote for your next trip.