Recent terror attacks are certainly a worry for families traveling overseas.
Steve Danishek, owner of Seattle based travel agency TMA Inc., says these events are the reason people should purchase travel insurance.
“I strongly recommend traveler’s insurance for a couple of reasons. Number one. It will cover your trip cancellations if you can’t go, but it will also cover delays while you’re there, Danishek says.
There are two types of travel insurance. There’s cancel for any reason which means what it says.
For a 40 year old paying for a thousand dollar ticket, the cost would be $126 dollars.
If you just want trip cancellation or interruption the cost is around 70 bucks.
Another reason to buy travel insurance is that if the U.S. Government steps in, you are covered.
“In the case of Turkey, if you had the insurance and the state department issues a travel advisory, which they have, you can cancel your trip and the insurance coverage’s generally apply. If you buy traveler’s insurance after the fact, it will not help you”, Danishek says.
Also, before planning any trip overseas .make sure you have a plan B to get out should an emergency take place. Steve uses the attack at the Istanbul airport as an example, “If I had been in Istanbul and the airport was closed and I didn’t want to be a part of the civil unrest that’s going on, I would have taken a bus down south and taken a ferry over to one of the Greek Islands, or even hired a little boat to take me over. It’s not very far. Once you can get into another country, they you can access major transportation systems, and flights out.”
Overseas travelers should also join the STEP program, the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program run by the federal government.
Put in your contact information and it will enroll your trip with the Embassy nearest your destination. So you will get emergency information right away.
