I know what you are thinking and I'm right there with you. I HATE BUYING INSURANCE! But I'd never think twice about insuring my home, car or my family's health! But why do people question insuring their vacation investment? With each of our cruise and land vacations we sell, we are happy to offer LeisureCare Travel insurance because you just never know what might happen before or during your trip. We have many instances where unforeseen circumstances have interrupted dream vacations. And I can assure you - those that had insurance - will never regret it!
When you book a vacation, you have the option of purchasing the insurance with your deposit (or within 14 days) or later with your final payment.
Below are some tips and benefits of purchasing travel protection right away, instead of waiting until final payment is due.
- Pre-existing condition exclusion will be waived. Additionally, if you have a medical issue after the deposit is made, but before final payment is due, this new issue is considered a pre-existing condition and will generally not be covered if LeisureCare is not purchased at time of deposit.
- Immediate coverage of airline cancellation fees. Clients who cancel prior to the cruise/tour penalty period may have non-refundable airline tickets. The tickets can only be covered if LeisureCare is purchased prior to the reason for cancellation.
- Reimbursement of deposit if travel supplier ceases operations due to financial insolvency. Even normally refundable deposits may not be returned to your client in the event a supplier ceases operations.
- Coverage for ANY ancillary travel components that are subject to penalty – air, hotel, land, etc. These components may be subject to penalty before the final cruise/tour payment is due (please note that these components must be included in the insurance premium and covered by LeisureCare to be eligible).
- One less thing for the you to worry about later – if you know you want coverage, why not be proactive and take care of it now!
At a recent meeting, CruiseOne owners were asked to share their most memorable claims stories.
Following are some of the submissions.
“Family with 10 cabins. Everyone took travel protection except one woman. She had a heart attack on the cruise. The ship turned around to Mexico, and an ambulance transported her to a hospital. Unfortunately, she passed away. The family spent $24,000 to transport her remains back to the states!” - L. M.
TIP: LeisureCare includes Evacuation and Repatriation benefits that cover expenses associated with emergency medical transportation and repatriation (return of remains). It could have saved the family $24,000.
“A large family took a short cruise as a last trip with Dad, who had terminal cancer. They refused travel protection. After making final payment, Dad had a car accident. The cancer was not going to stop the cruise, but the car accident might. And now, injuries from the car accident are a pre-existing condition. “Hindsight is 20/20”” – Anonymous
TIP: Had they purchased LeisureCare before the car accident, they would have been covered had they cancelled due to injuries from the car accident.
“A passenger who did NOT purchase travel protection called 3 days before taking their cruise crying for HELP. Their birth certificate was chewed up by their dog! I managed to get their birth certificate replaced overnight” - H.P.
TIP: LeisureCare’s 24/7 assistance program, serviced by OnCall International, can help with document replacement.
“Clients purchased cruise and travel protection (thank God!). Two weeks prior to sailing one was diagnosed with Cancer and could not go. They had another couple traveling with them. They ALL cancelled and received the non-refundable portion of their cruise cost back. You never know what may happen!” – T.L.
TIP: Purchase LeisureCare with your deposit to waive the pre-existing condition exclusion..
“Healthy man became ill during cruise – open heart surgery on Madura. 100% coverage! An awesome testimonial” – P.S.
TIP: LeisureCare includes $50,000 for accident- and $50,000 for sickness-medical expenses if you are injured or become ill during your cruise vacation.
“My client fell off a tram in Bermuda and went to the local hospital. Even his wife’s expenses in a Bed & Breakfast were covered. If he hadn’t taken travel protection, he would have incurred thousands of dollars.” - T.B.
TIP: In addition to coverage for medical expenses, LeisureCare includes trip interruption coverage which reimburses for unused travel arrangements, as well as up to $100 per day for additional transportation and accommodation expenses to remain near a hospitalized traveling companion.
“Two days before their cruise, my clients’ daughter was sitting in a park and got hit in the head with a baseball. She suffered a concussion. Fortunately, the doctor cleared her to cruise.” - J.T.
NOTE: If she hadn’t been cleared by the doctor, they could have cancelled and received 100% cash back with LeisureCare.
“My suitcase went to China instead of the Caribbean. First stop was P.C. Florida, where I took a cab to Macy’s and rebought everything. All was refunded under the bag delay benefit. (My bags finally arrived at my house in Florida the day I returned home from my cruise.) – R.M.
TIP: LeisureCare reimburses up to $500 per person for covered expenses if bags are delayed by the common carrier.
“Three couples booked a cruise to Bermuda. Two bought travel protection. One of the passengers almost had her pocketbook stolen. During the incident she fell and broke her leg. Luckily she was one of the couples who had travel protection. . She had to be medevac’d home. The couple was handled extremely well by the 24/7 help desk and called later to thank me.” – L.S.
TIP: Emergency medical evacuation costs are pre-paid. Clients should remember to call On-Call International to in the event of medical emergencies.
You can view LeisureCare's description of Coverage by clicking here.
So next time you book a vacation, don't forget the insurance!
