Over the recent years online travel agencies (OTAs) have grown to become a popular trend in the traveling world and are very useful to most people who wish to travel to different destinations. The preference for OTAs has been largely contributed by the ease of booking a flight, a hotel room or a cruise and making payments with ease at the comfort of your home thus saving a lot of money and time. You can compare prices from different airlines and hotels which is very helpful and convenient.
Why you need a good travel insurance plan
The reason why a traveller might need a travel insurance plan is due to unexpected medical problems, medical emergencies or just sicknesses that may arise during your trip. Another reason that a traveller might need a travel insurance plan is that one may need to cancel the trip for whatever reason and to be guaranteed a refund you need a good travel insurance plan.
Other reasons include misplacing your documents – a good insurance plan will assist you in acquiring new documents and making sure you reach your home, losing your luggage, cash or jewelry which can be very stressful, terrorism or civil war coverage in case a war breaks out in the country you had planned to travel to and adventure and sports coverage. Travel insurance plans basically protect the traveller from having to incur many unplanned out of pocket expenses during the span of their trip.
OTAs do not offer the best travel insurance plans
The usefulness of these travel agencies has led to most people believing that these sites offer the best prices or deals available which is contrary to the truth. This is clearly observed in the case of travel insurance plans. Most times when a person books a flight through an online travel agency the agent is likely to offer you the alternative to buy a travel insurance plan. The reality is that these travel agencies don’t necessarily give you the most comprehensive insurance coverage at the best price.
Most OTAs an unlicensed
Another reason to avoid buying travel insurance plans from OTAs is that most of them are not licensed so in the case that you are not pleased by the compensation outcomes your only option may be to look for reparation from civil courts which can be very expensive and time wasting. Most travel insurance companies are licensed by government licensing departments so if you have any claims these institutions will assist you and give you directives on what to do.
Seek the services of credible Travel Insurance Companies
Your best option as a traveler is to obtain travel insurance from actual travel insurance companies like WorldNomads, TravellInsurance.com or InsureMyTrip.com. Such companies offer more comprehensive insurance coverage with better terms and conditions at better prices than the OTAs. If you were to cancel your trip the travel insurance companies allow a broader array of reasons for cancelling, some of them even allow cancellation up to the time of departure. Most OTAs don’t allow cancellations and those that do don’t guarantee you a full remuneration of your money .Travel agencies also offer very limited medical coverage plans as compared to the travel insurance companies which might offer more comprehensive packages at lower prices.
Compare different travel insurance options and select the most suitable
The best course of action as a traveller is to compare different travel insurance options so as to avoid overpaying and to get your preferred package at the correct price. OTAs may be convenient but they are clearly not the best alternative when it comes to travel insurance plans.