Packing peace of mind

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Anything from canceled flights to illness or injury can leave travelers out of the money they put down on a vacation if they passed up on traveler’s insurance. Travel agents recommend that any trip costing more than $5,000 should be protected with insuran

Updated: October 29, 2011 12:40AM

You’ve been dreaming of that faraway trip for months — picturesque palm trees, camel riding across the desert, ancient architecture, exotic food. You’ve read all the guidebooks, you’ve packed, you’ve prepped and now the vacation is under way — without you. You are trapped in a U.S. airport because your connecting flight was canceled due to inclement weather.

Cynthia Clampitt, of Arlington Heights, found herself in just this situation. Her flight to Morocco was canceled and Clampitt was stuck in New York for the night. What did she do? She called her travel insurance company.

To some, travel insurance seems like an additional cost to be avoided. To others, like Clampitt, it’s a must.

“The insurance company helped me find a hotel,” Clampitt said. “I hadn’t planned on staying in New York and because of the storm, all the hotels near the airport were full.”

According to the United States Travel Insurance Association (USTIA), 30 percent of leisure travelers taking cruises, air/tour vacations and international trips bought travel insurance in 2004, which is a significant increase from the estimated 8 to 10 percent of travelers who purchased insurance before 9/11.

So how do you decide whether travel insurance is a worthwhile investment?

Jacklyn Buchner, of Buchner’s Travel in Aurora, strongly recommends travel insurance to those whose vacations cost around or more than $5,000.

“If a person’s spending less than $1,000 on a vacation, I really don’t push it,” Buchner said. “But when I have people spending between $5,000 and $10,000, I really want them to take insurance.”

Marianne Ebey, of Aurora’s Exclusive Travel Inc., agrees.

“If you’re spending $5,000 on a vacation and have to cancel, you’re protecting an investment,” she said.

Ebey recommends travel insurance, especially if you are planning your own vacation.

“If you’re not working with an agent, you’re on your own,” she said. “There’s no one to intercede on your behalf with the airlines or the hotels. If an emergency comes up, you’re looking at losing the cost of your vacation.”

“The number (of people purchasing travel insurance) may be rising,” says Daniel Durazo, director of communications for travel insurance provider Access America. “In a national Access America survey completed last month, nearly two in 10 (16 percent) Americans say that events of this past year, including dramatic weather, terrorism, civil unrest, volcano eruptions and tsunamis, has made them more likely to purchase travel insurance.”

While it is good to be prepared for the event of a national crisis while abroad, whether it be a volcano eruption or political turmoil, the emergency most likely to make your insurance pay off is illness. According to Durazo, the most common travel insurance claim is made for unexpected illness or injury that prevents the traveler from using their trip.

There is a variety of coverage offered for travelers, including cancellation, interruption and delay protection, baggage protection and medical insurance, as coverage for many national health insurance plans does not extend abroad.

Purchasing insurance through a national provider such as Access America or American Express can make all the difference should something go wrong before or on your trip. Many travel insurance providers offer customizable packages based on your traveling needs or concerns.

Clampitt, a veteran traveler with 37 countries on her passports, has travel insurance purchasing down to an art.

“I have a background overall policy that’s about $100 a year for $100,000 worth of coverage,” Clampitt said. “That’s just for injuries and sickness, and is purely background insurance. It can cost a lot of money to get brought home, especially if your leg is in a cast and you’re taking up two or three seats on an airplane.”

In addition to medical coverage abroad, Clampitt also uses an independent insurance provider for additional coverage. If your vacation is with a tour or cruise that offers its own insurance packages, Clampitt recommends shopping around a bit before taking the package offered. Based on your age and health concerns, you may find a better deal elsewhere.

While it may be cheaper to pass on the travel insurance before your big trip, some consider it akin to gambling.

To read more about health and safety risks abroad, visit the U.S. State Department’s travel website at travel.state.gov and the Center for Disease Control at www.cdc.gov/travel.