How Do I Book Travel When I Don't Know What the Future will Hold?

 Have you ever given travel insurance much thought? We often don't think about these things much until we are faced with a need for them, and then it is too late! These days whenever you book some form of travel you are given an opportunity to add travel protection to your purchase. While it is typically a small percentage of your purchase price, adding on one more thing often feels burdensome at this point in the process. You've already been nickel and dimed for your seat choice, your dining choice, your drinks package. No! We're not paying for ONE MORE THING! The downside to this is then your investment is not covered should the unexpected occur. 

 Our family has had two experiences involving travel insurance that have cemented our decision to always cover our purchases, with very few exceptions. The first took place on my first cruise in 2010. My grandfather passed away a week before the cruise embarked and the date of the memorial service had not been determined. I felt terrible at the idea of rushing my family for a decision so I could figure out whether or not to board my cruise - it just seemed so trivial. That said, I didn't want to miss the memorial, and I didn't want to miss the cruise. In addition, we were so close to the cruise date that if I were to just cancel it, I would lose the entire cost. So, what could I do? I called up the travel insurance number so I could figure out my options. The kind service agent was more than happy to cancel the cruise for us for a full refund if that's what we wanted, but she suggested an alternative. She told us that if we were to board the cruise and then after we left the family decided to hold the memorial while we were gone, our insurance would cover the cost of getting us home from whichever port we were at. This seemed like the best option and so we headed off. Thankfully, my family decided to wait on the memorial until I was back, but with this insurance I didn't have to worry. That was worth EVERY PENNY!

 Then, almost exactly two years ago in December of 2022, our travels encountered a major hiccup! We had taken our kids on a cruise out of Los Angeles and had booked it over Christmas break so that those who were in school could attend. This left us traveling home on December 23rd. Through gritted teeth I purchased the insanely expensive airfare, but I made sure to tack on the travel insurance coverage when I did. So, when a crazy ice storm hit the Pacific Northwest grounding all the flights at every airport within a 6-hour drive of our home, we were covered. I had rented us a van to do sight-seeing that afternoon before our flight (it was cheaper than the cost of cruise transfers to the port for 7 people and far more fun than sitting at the gate all day).  When our flight was officially cancelled, I called our insurance to check our options then called the rental company to let them know we'd be dropping off the van in Seattle instead of LAX. Yep, my husband drove us all the way home from LA, a 24-hour trip. In hindsight, I would have made it a 40-hour trip and included a stay at a motel on the way, but live and learn! The insurance got our flights fully refunded and paid for *almost* all of our expenses on the road home including the van rental, gas, and food. I say *almost* because one of the gas stations we stopped at in the middle of the night was unmanned and unable to issue us a receipt. We probably could have pursued the matter as we took pictures of the pump reading and we had our credit card statement, but my husband was so pleased with how well and quickly they covered everything that he let it go.

 Since then I've been diagnosed with a brain tumor and our travel plans seem more precarious than ever! At this point I'm on a 6-month cycle of going in to check and MRI and determining if it has grown too much or not. Last year was a mess with that going back and forth and the experts disagreeing. We were told everything including that it had grown by nearly double and it hadn't grown at all! At first this made it very difficult to make plans at all. You see, if they determine that my tumor has grown 20% or more since my surgeries last year I'll need to do radiation. That will be a six-week commitment and then who knows how long to recover, a year would not be an exaggeration. But with this in mind, it made travel all that much more important to me because I don't know if after radiation I'll ever be back to the level of ability I'm at today again. If I'm going to do some things, they need to be done now. But, again, what if things change and either at my 6-month checkup or because my symptoms flare and we have to go in early and I learn that we have to move up my treatment timetable and cancel all my plans? Again, enter travel insurance. Now it is not just a good idea, it's a necessity. 

 

 Last year we spent nearly $2,000 on travel insurance. That wasn't just for trips we took that year, but for ones we booked for the future as well. When you have a pre-existing condition, you typically have to purchase the insurance within a few days of making your deposit on a trip. While we value the peace of mind afforded by travel insurance, the cost has become quite burdensome! Over the last few months, I've been learning more and more about travelling with points and miles and the benefits you can receive from travel credit cards. There's lots more to this that I will explore in future posts (stay tuned!), but I wanted to share with you today this tremendous benefit that we are already receiving from my learning.

 Our first investment in a travel credit card came from recommendations from just about every site I've found as being the best first card to get, the Chase Sapphire Preferred*. I walked into the card excited about the points I could earn with purchases and the travel credit it offered, but the more I learn about the card, the more satisfied I am with it. Of paramount interest with this post is the travel insurance it gives. If you use this card for even part of the purchase price of a ticket or reservation (say you bought the ticket with points and used the card to pay the taxes and fees) it covers you for a plethora of things like trip cancellation/delay, baggage delay/loss, and more. It is quite generous in the number of people covered by the insurance as well, branching out well beyond the card holder and their spouse. The card comes with a $95 annual fee but compared to the amount I spent on travel insurance last year, that's a drop in the bucket. Many of the credits offered by the card offset that fee as well. The insurance offered on this card doesn't cover everything however, the most important of these things to me was medical evacuation, care, and repatriation.

 Now that I was just looking for some specific coverage, annual travel insurance became much more feasible. Allianz, which is the company that took such good care of us a couple of years ago with the cancelled flight, offers a few different annual plans that cover the medical components my credit card insurance was lacking, all for less than the price of one of our trip's insurance from last year. I didn't consider it before because the coverage wasn't complete, but now that I had the Chase Sapphire Preferred* coverage to balance it out, these annual plans worked perfectly for us. There are lots of other insurance companies out there, and plenty of sites with rankings that you could go through. I just had the most experience with Allianz so they were my go-to. "There's got to be a catch to all this," you might be saying to yourself, and you're right, there is. 

 Credit cards aren't for everyone. We are all in different financial situations and we all have different spending dispositions. If you are the type of person that will absolutely pay off your card(s) EVERY MONTH and NEVER carry a balance, this is a good fit for you. If you lose track of what's been spent where and lean into making the minimum payment, THIS IS NOT A GOOD FIT FOR YOU! This is a disclaimer that you're likely to see from me often as I share with you more of what I've been learning, but it's the most important one. Never, never, open a credit card if you are not prepared to pay the balance in full every month. It's never worth it.

Here's the Thing: If you are financially on track and looking for a way to cut travel expenses while opening up new possibilities, this is a great option! I'm beyond thrilled and have already made my first points purchase, booking a flight home from London at the end of my upcoming cruise for less than it would have cost to fly standby (you still have to pay taxes and fees). I paid $150 out of pocket plus half my sign up bonus points for what was then a $2,677 ticket. So. Thrilled.

*The Chase Sapphire Preferred links in this post are my personal referral link. When you use it, you will receive Chase's best offer on the card (currently 60,000 bonus points) and I will receive bonus points as well. It will not cost you any extra to use this link, but it will support my travel adventures!