Top Travel Insurance Tips for Holiday Travelers

As Travel Agent reader Murray noted in our latest poll, it's a little easier these days for agents to sell travel protection to their clients. Purchasing travel insurance is key for precaution during flu season as well as providing peace of mind during the holiday travel season. It provides significant coverage for some of the most common travel risks including severe weather, delays and missed connections, and lost baggage.

Whether you're a first-time travel insurance consumer or a veteran customer, InsureMyTrip.com offers the following guidelines to help you through the buying process.

1. Know what you most want to protect: From your travel investment to your personal health, travel insurance can provide the coverage you need when you need it most.

2. Know what you have: Travel insurance protects many things that are not covered by credit cards, homeowner policies, and healthcare plans. Know what you have then research and compare the coverages available with travel insurance at InsureMyTrip.com.

3. Buy sooner than later: Trip Cancellation Package Policies offer the broadest protection, including coverage for trip cancellation, interruption, baggage and travel delay, as well as medical and emergency evacuation. To receive the most benefit from the travel insurance policy including financial default protection and coverage for pre-existing medical conditions, the majority of the policies require that you purchase your policy within 10 to 30 days of your First Trip Payment.

4. Protect your baggage: Current data estimates that 30 million bags are mishandled each year as a result of airport congestion, reduced flight availability, and mounting baggage volumes. Remember to protect your bags during the busy travel season.

5. Take control of your travel: Travel insurance affords many options to help you manage your travels. "Cancel For Any Reason" is one such optional benefit that empowers travelers to cancel trips for any reason of their choosing including schedule conflicts, bad weather, even fear of contracting the H1N1 influenza virus, up to two days prior to departure. This coverage varies by company and must be purchased within 15 days of your First Trip Payment.