When bad things happen to good vacations…

This has to be, without a doubt, one of my biggest challenges as a Travel Professional.  No matter how extravagant or low-budget your trip may be, there are many things totally outside of your control that could change your dream vacation into a nightmare faster than you can say “SuperstormSandy”.  For many years I, like many other travelers, was one who believed that once I had committed to a trip, I was going to go on it…NO MATTER WHAT!  It just didn’t seem necessary to add another $79-$129-$249  (whatever the premium) to the cost of trip for something as un-romantic as travel insurance.  I have seen so many situations over the years that have affected my clients’ (and even my own) travel plans and my eyes have definitely been opened to the need for a good travel policy.

I recently was privileged to experience a 7-day European River Cruise on the Danube from Nuremburg, Germany to Budapest, Hungary.  While we drank our way down the Danube, one elderly gentleman had to be taken off the boat by an ambulance and had to have open-heart surgery at a German hospital.  2 days later, a woman who had recently had a knee-replacement bent over to pick up her slippers and completely dislocated the new knee.

The boat had to pull over in Bratislava to evacuate her to a medical clinic for treatment.  On the way home, my flight from Budapest to Vienna was delayed for mechanical reasons and the family sitting next to me missed the tight connection to their Transatlantic flight home to Chicago and were forced to stay an extra night at an expensive Vienna Airport Hotel, including having to purchase dinner and breakfast for themselves and their three whining kids.  Whew!   Any of these three situations would be extremely stressful, and could be financially devastating if you don’t have adequate travel insurance.  And I bet all three people told their travel agent, “Nothing is going to keep us from going on that trip…NOTHING!”

So, you’re not elderly…you’re healthy…You’ve already confirmed with your boss 3 times that you can have the time off…Nothing is going to keep you from going on your vacation and nothing is going to go wrong while you are there….right?

Consider these possibilities:

• One of your parents falls and injures themself and needs you to be their caregiver
• One of your adult children falls ill or needs surgery and has nobody to watch the grandchildren…they need Grandma!
• Your flights to Miami are delayed or cancelled due to the new Polar Vortex and you miss the Caribbean cruise you have been planning all year…The ship has the nerve to sail without you!
• 2 days before your Italy tour, your largest client at work announces that they will be cancelling the contract if you aren’t in their offices by 9:00am 3 days from now
• The volcano in Iceland erupts again, spewing ash into the sky and all TransAtlantic flights are cancelled for 3 days.  You are stuck in Paris for an extra few days where the average hotel room costs $400 per night and you miss an important sales call back at work that costs your company a huge contract…

And the list goes on……Isn’t protecting your dream vacation worth the minimal cost of travel insurance?  Your peace of mind and financial well-being are well worth the investment to your Travel Consultant….What about you?

(Signature Escapes is proud to offer Travel Guard Insurance protection for our clients.)