Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
35
PIN. I f y ou've forgotten y our P IN, or
didn't ev en kno w y ou had one, call the
phone number on the back of y our credit
card before your trip and ask the bank to
send it to you. It usually takes 5 to 7 busi-
ness days, although some banks will do it
over the phone.
Another hidden expense to contend
with: I nterest rates for cash adv ances ar e
often significantly higher than rates for
credit car d pur chases. M ore impor tantly,
you star t paying inter est on the adv ance
the moment you receive the cash.
6
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Check your existing insurance policies and
credit card coverage before you buy travel
insurance. You may already be covered for
lost luggage, canceled tickets, or medical
expenses.
The cost of trav el insurance v aries
widely, depending on the cost and length
of your trip, your age and health, and the
type of trip y ou're taking, but expect to
pay between 5% and 8% of the v acation
itself.
TRIP-CANCELLATION INSUR ANCE
Trip-cancellation insurance helps y ou get
your money back if y ou have to back out
of a trip, if you have to go home early , or
if y our trav el supplier goes bankr upt.
Allowed reasons for cancellation can range
from sickness to natural disasters to the
Department of State declaring your desti-
nation unsafe for trav el. (Insurers usually
won't cover vague fears, though, as many
travelers disco vered who tried to cancel
their trips in O ct 2001 because they w ere
wary of flying.) I n this unstable world,
trip-cancellation insurance is a good buy if
you're getting tickets w ell in adv ance—
who knows what the state of the world, or
of your airline, will be in 9 months? Insur-
ance policy details v ary, so r ead the fine
print and make sur e that y our airline or
cruise line is on the list of carriers co vered
in case of bankr uptcy. A good r esource
is
“Travel G uard Aler ts,”
a ser vice that
provides a list of companies consider ed
high-risk by Travel Guard International (see
website below). Protect yourself further by
paying for the insurance with a cr edit
card—by law , consumers can get their
money back on goods and ser vices not
received, if they r eport the loss within 60
days after the charge is listed on their
credit card statement.
For mor e information, contact one of
the follo wing r ecommended insur ers:
Access America
(
&
866/807-3982; www.
accessamerica.com);
Travel G uard I nter-
national
(
&
800/826-4919; www .travel
guard.com);
Travel Insured International
(
&
800/243-3174; www .travelinsured.
com); and
Travelex I nsurance S ervices
(
&
888/457-4602; www.travelex-insurance.
com).
MEDICAL INSUR ANCE
F or trav el
overseas, most health plans (including
3
Medicare and M edicaid) do not pr ovide
coverage, and the ones that do often
require you to pay for services upfront and
reimburse you only after you return home.
Even if your plan does cover overseas treat-
ment, most out-of-country hospitals make
you pay your bills upfront, and send you a
refund only after y ou've r eturned home
and filed the necessar y paper work with
your insurance company . As a safety net,
you may want to buy trav el medical insur-
ance. If you require additional medical insur-
ance, tr y
MEDEX A ssistance
(
&
410/
453-6300;
www .medexassist.com) or
Travel Assistance International
(
&
800/
821-2828;
www .travelassistance.com; for
general information on ser vices, call the
company's Worldwide Assistance Services,
Inc., at
&
800/777-8710
).
