Our day
Our day started out quite normal leaving Carnival Sunshine and heading to the airport in Venice, Italy – until a bird hit our airplane.
You see, Air Dolomiti flies one plane between Venice and Munich all day, with a bird hitting the first plane, every flight thereafter was backlogged until the airline could do an equipment swap and bring another plane. Since we were backlogged and delayed a few hours, it caused us to miss our connection to Newark, keeping us in Munich, Germany for the night (to bad it wasn’t Octoberfest).
Besides the basics like air changes, here are five more things I learned about trip insurance on this journey:
1. Luggage issues. If you’re stuck in an airport and they request to keep your bag, trip insurance will reimburse you for travel toiletries that are stuck in your bag. Policies usually have a daily limit on this but it isn’t a bad idea to always keep the basics in your laptop bag or purse.
2. Transportation. We had to take a taxi to our hotel and it was 20 euro each way, since our travel insurance covered this, it was an easy reimbursement provided we got a receipt from our driver.
3. Missed connections. If you miss your connection, trip insurance will pay up to a certain amount to help you rejoin your trip. If the airline is responsible, like our scenario, the airline covers that part.
4. Food and Lodging. You have to eat and sleep, right? Your trip insurance policy will cover food and in most instances hotels. This is generally around $250 per day. I say generally because every policy is different and you should always make sure of the coverage you are purchasing.
5. Items stolen. Some countries we visit could be corrupt or may not have the most honest people working in the baggage area. With the proper documentation, the right trip insurance policy will cover any items damaged or stolen during your trip.
In our case, the only one we had to use was transportation expense because of the taxi fare getting to the hotel. Lufthansa Airlines covered our hotel, meals and re-booked us on a flight. As far as personal items, I’ve traveled enough to always keep a small amount of all the personal items like toothpaste, toothbrush, deodorant and Advil in my backpack.
Note: Keep in mind that you need to call your trip insurance provider at the first sign of trip disruption. They will guide you in the right direction and tell you what you can and can’t do. Sometimes they will tell you more than the airline will.
For a list of Trip Insurance coverage and questions before buying, check out TripInsurance.com. They also have iPhone insurance which is great for travelers who use their iPhone for photos and videos.
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