Access America Helps Boost Travel Insurance Sales

"My kids never get sick before I go on vacation. I can control the weather. I never miss a connection.” These may be great reasons not to buy travel insurance, but can anyone really claim them, asks Access America as it announces its Travel Insurance Awareness Day.

Access America also released new details of the consumer market for travel insurance useful to travel agents.

On Wednesday, September 7, 2011, AccessAmerica will ask Orbitz.com customers for their best reasons not to buy travel insurance. The event, dubbed “Travel Insurance Awareness Day,” will feature a takeover of the Orbitz.com website and a chance for consumers to share $1,000 in gift cards when they submit their best reasons not to buy travel insurance. The promotion is being offered by Access America to raise awareness of the need for consumers to plan for the unexpected, the company says.



“We hope that by asking Orbitz.com customers to tell us why they don’t need travel insurance, it will cause them to consider those times when travel insurance can be invaluable,” said Cathy McCarthy, vice president of Channel Marketing for Access America’s parent company Mondial Assistance USA. “The Best Reason Not to Buy Travel Insurance Contest may be a tongue in cheek way to raise awareness of travel insurance, but we’re looking forward to having some fun with it while we give away some great prizes.”



In a recent survey conducted by Syndics Research and commissioned by Access America, of the respondents who don’t purchase travel insurance, 78 percent don’t buy it because they think they don’t need it. In fact, Access America’s claims department pays thousands of claims every year due to illnesses or injuries to the insured, a traveling companion or a close family member, as well as for missed connections and other delays.

But the reasons to buy travel insurance don’t stop there, Access America says. The U.S. State Department reports that 310,000 passports were lost and stolen abroad last year and the Air Transport Industry Baggage Report indicated that 25 million bags are mishandled every year. Travel insurance and travel assistance can help consumers with these all too common mishaps, Access America says.

The study found that while many travelers think travel insurance coverage is mainly for overseas medical emergencies only, nearly half of travel insurance purchasers (48 percent) bought travel insurance for travel inside the Continental U.S., Access America reports.

More than half of purchasers (55 percent) buy travel insurance for all or most trips and nearly a third (31 percent) buy for some trips. The occasional purchasers believe that traveling with family increases the risk of something going wrong. The survey also found that purchasers of travel insurance are more experienced travelers who take 50 percent more trips than travelers who are non-purchasers of travel insurance.



Travel Insurance Awareness Day will take over the Orbitz.com homepage at midnight on September 7, 2011. Orbitz.com visitors need to just click on one of the Access America banners to be taken to a special landing page where they can enter the Best Reason Not to Buy Travel Insurance Contest. Five winners will receive $200 VISA gift cards.

Full contest rules apply and can be found here.



Mondial Assistance, part of the Allianz group of companies, is a global leader in specialty insurance and emergency assistance services. In the United States, Mondial Assistance is a brand name of World Access Service Corp., which is best known for its Access America brand of travel insurance and assistance services.

The U.S. operation, one of 28 business units, serves major travel suppliers, health insurers, credit card, and entertainment companies with insurance products, international travel assistance, and concierge services.

Visit www.AccessAmerica.com