TRAVEL TOOLS

Part of travelers’ responsibility when it comes to educating themselves about travel insurance includes learning how and when their other travel partners may or may not offer them assistance when a trip doesn’t go as planned.

For example, you may learn that airlines aren’t obligated to do anything when your flights are delayed. When the airlines are the ones at fault, they may offer some assistance, but they’re not bound by law or duty to do so.

There are a number of similar misconceptions that travel insurance can guard against. Insurance comes packaged together with specific coverage benefits – the type and amount will range based on the provider and the package selected – that fill gaps where your travel plans may be exposed to a number of threats.

What kind of threats?  Take lost baggage. Sure with the rise of bag fees, airlines are seeing fewer and fewer bags checked. And they’re doing a better and better job of keeping tabs on them. Still, lost and damaged bags are the No. 2 complaint issued to the Department of Transportation. Additionally, while domestic airlines safely transport more than 99 percent of all luggage, international carriers still lag behind. But a lost, damaged or even stolen luggage benefit is just one small benefit of most travel insurance offerings.