Travel Insurance: Why You Shouldn't Leave Home Without it #TravelSmarter

This post was created in partnership with Generali Global Assistance. All opinions are my own. 

To say that I travel a lot would be the understatement of the year. I've just embarked on a 10 day trip to Bucharest, Romania, and Athens, Greece, with my 19 year old daughter in tow. While I always have those necessities that most would consider to be a priority when planning a trip, such as outlet adapters, back up battery chargers, extra sim cards...there is something that I usually buy for trips that many travelers don't think of: travel insurance.

I'll tell you WHY travel insurance is so important, whether you are someone who travels just a little, or almost constantly like I do. Sometimes we get sick while traveling. Our luggage gets lost. Accidents happen. No matter how secure you think your luggage is when you're traveling, once you check that bag? All bets are off. Imagine landing in Croatia for a 10 day visit to a friend, and your luggage gets lost somewhere between London and Zagreb. Yes, my friends, that just happened to me in April. I always pack a spare set of clothes in my backpack so that I can freshen up after a long flight, and carry a spare toothbrush in my purse, but once ten days worth of clothing goes missing...well, that's pretty much an apocalyptic event for someone like me. I had to go shopping in a very expensive tourist town on my first day, spending money that I didn't really want to spend - and the airline did not offer a voucher to purchase replacement clothes, although to be fair, some do. Fortunately, my luggage arrived the next night, but I was not feeling my best in my leftover emergency clothing that had been stuffed in my backpack for 48 hours...ON MY 39th BIRTHDAY.

That was not the first time my luggage had been lost during a trip. It actually happens more often when I travel within the US, with luggage being lost for both myself and Angeline during trips to visit family in New Mexico and a recent trip to Seattle before an Alaskan cruise. Can you imagine? We were about to leave for an 8 day cruise through the wilderness of Alaska - THE COLD WILDERNESS OF ALASKA - and all we had on us were the clothes we flew in with...all of our cold weather gear was in our luggage. Which they had no idea where it was, or when it would arrive. We were leaving the next morning and had no warm clothing. No binoculars, no scarves, mittens, raincoats, umbrellas...or my very expensive camera equipment. I would have died of exposure if the baggage hadn't arrive the next day, just as we were leaving to board the cruise ship.

So how do you protect yourself while traveling? Duh! Travel insurance! I just recently learned about Generali Global Assistance, which is recognized as one of the industry leaders in providing full-service travel insurance solutions within the U.S.

In 2017, CSA is rebranding to Generali Global Assistance to better leverage the global resources of its parent company, Generali Group. Generali dates back to 1831 and is a brand known for its travel products throughout Europe. It is one of the largest insurance providers in the world. While Generali is a longstanding Fortune 500 company (it actually ranks 48th as of 2014), the brand is not quite as well known in the U.S.

So I am here to help change that. Every traveler needs to know how they can better prepare for their travels, especially those of us who jump on a plane on a frequent basis.

Generali Global Assistance is different from other travel insurance companies because it offers a global presence with coverage in 208 countries with 35 assistance centers!

Got sick while traveling? This is a REAL concern for me, as my daughter once got a horrible sinus infection while traveling with me in Europe. I got a double ear infection while traveling in Greece last year. I once developed an abcess in my one of my teeth while traveling in South Africa. You never realize how important medical coverage is until you're in a strange place where your insurance is invalid, or if you don't have primary insurance at all! There are 400 health care professionals on staff with Generali Global Assistance Travel Insurance. That? That is music to my ears!

Generali Global Assistance travel insurance has 750,000 certified assistance partners in the network. Yes, you read that correctly...almost a million. That means that wherever you are, wherever you go, there is bound to be a partner nearby who can assist you.

I know that there are many travel insurance companies, but Generali Travel Insurance is different...

They have higher trip cancellation benefit limits, including trip cancellation justification covers extended family members, higher coverage options for stolen or damaged items, no per-item limits on baggage coverage and 24/7 emergency assistance hotline.

TWENTY FOUR HOURS, folks.

Generali Global Assistance Travel Insurance also offers On Demand Medical Care, where you don’t have to pay out of pocket for medical services up to $1,000 (this is pretty life changing for me, as someone without primary insurance back at home in the states). When Angeline and I were in Seattle a few years ago, she developed an ingrown toenail that was infected, and we spent a small fortunate at urgent care at 8 AM trying to get it taken care of before heading out on our Alaskan cruise. This feature makes me wish that I'd had that coverage back then!

They also have a really convenient access to Teladoc, a virtual doctor service, that connects you to medical experts via video from anywhere in the world. Coverage for pre-existing conditions may still be available for purchase, even all the way up to final trip payment, and Identify Theft Resolution services are available at no extra cost and remain available for a full 6 months starting on your trip’s scheduled departure date!

Generali Global Assistance actually lists 5 Reasons WHY You Need Travel Insurance, and I totally agree with all of them!

• 1. What if you need to cancel your trip?
• 2. Sickness or injury before or during a trip
• 3. Adverse weather and natural disasters
• 4. Travel delays or interruptions
• 5. Lost, stolen or delayed baggage

Planning a trip? Or have a million trips planned for the immediate future, like I normally do? Go check out Generali Global Assistance Travel Insurance to find a plan that works for you, and protect yourself during that next trip!

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