Why You Should Buy Family Travel Insurance and Which Plan is Best For You

You know that feeling you get before you leave for vacation? That exciting, anything can happen, all I have is free time kind of feeling? It is like the feeling I used to get in the final moments before school would let out before summer. I remember that same exuberant feeling as a kid when we would take family vacations, and I cannot wait for my own kids to experience the incredible happiness family travel can bring. However, there is nothing worse than when plans go awry. A once in a lifetime trip can easily be completely ruined in a matter of moments, which is why family travel insurance should be considered for those longer or out of country trips.

When I was about ten, we planned an epic houseboat vacation with our cousins, and we counted down the days until departure. The day we arrived at the dock to pick up the houseboat, my cousin James had just gotten his learner’s permit and insisted on driving all of us to the location.

Jumping out of the van, everyone was a buzz, running around like it was Disneyland. James immediately jumped on the boat and ran to the top of the water slide. As his mom yelled for him to get down, he lost his footing and fell on the slide. He landed on his side, smashing his shoulder with an audible crunch and a blood curdling scream before slipping helplessly down the slide and splashing into the water. 

Everyone ran to the edge of the boat to watch as my uncle dove in, grabbed James, and hauled him back onto the boat. He was screaming with panic and holding his elbow close to his body. That was when I noticed a bulge poking through his t-shirt. He had managed to break his collarbone.

As we scrambled to get him into the car, we couldn’t find the car keys when James remembered he had them. He used his good arm to search his pockets when he realized that they had slipped out when he fell into the water. For a moment, we all stood and looked at each other in silent horror before we began scrambling to figure out what to do next.

Needless to say, the trip was pretty much ruined before it even had a chance to begin. All that planning and money spent was wasted in a just a matter of moments. It taught me that things, at times, do in fact go wrong, and it is something that is always in the back of my mind when I plan my family vacations. It’s the reason why I use family travel insurance whenever I plan a trip. 

I choose Allianz Global Assistance to protect myself and loved ones when those unexpected disasters and emergencies happen during travel. I like that they offer a variety of plans to fit your needs – whether you travel frequently or you are taking a one time major trip. Their plans are split into single trip plans and annual insurance (good for frequent travelers) allowing you to find a policy that is specific to your needs.   

Their single trip, OneTrip plans include:

• OneTrip Cancellation Plus – Covers you in the event of an unexpected cancellation.
• OneTrip Basic – This plan covers cancellations as well as applicable medical emergencies.
• OneTrip Prime – As a full slate plan, it is the most popular, and it includes free coverage for children 17 and under when traveling with a parent or a grandparent.
• OneTrip Premier – With this plan, it doubles nearly all of the post-departure benefits of OneTrip Prime.
• OneTrip Emergency Medical – This affordable plan covers minor medical emergencies and travel mishaps.

If you are an avid traveller, whether for business or pleasure, you may benefit from an annual plan to cover all those potential hiccups to major disasters while you are away from home. I choose this one because it ends up being much more cost effective and I don’t have to worry about signing up for coverage very time I travel. I know I’m covered for the whole year, on any trip I take.

Allianz Global Assistance annual coverage includes AllTrip Plans to cover a variety of potential issues:  

• AllTrips Basic – Covering emergency medical and travel mishaps.
• AllTrips Prime – With limited benefits for covered trip cancellation and protection for overseas travel such as medical emergencies baggage mishaps and even rental car damage protection.
• AllTrips Executive – Similar to the Prime plan it features higher coverage rates and benefits for business equipment replacement, repair, and rental.
• AllTrips Premier – Offers an entire year of worldwide travel protection and concierge for you and your household, even if you are not traveling together.  

There is so much time, money, and effort put into travel plans, that it just makes sense to protect myself from potential disaster with a family travel insurance policy.

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