ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — People booking vacations during the coronavirus outbreak may have a lot of questions. Travel agents at AAA have been answering a lot of them, many related to travel insurance.
At a time like this travel insurance is more important than ever. Travel agents say the tricky part is making sure you buy the correct one.
Most travel insurance doesn’t cover pandemics or epidemics. Tegan Ward is a Senior Development Specialist at AAA. She said there is a way to protect your vacation against coronavirus.
“Most travel insurance doesn’t cover any pandemic or epidemic, so it’s important to get the cancel anytime policy or place the cancel anytime line into your policy,” Ward said.
She said the cancel anytime policy allows you to cancel a trip without giving a reason. The policy can be more expensive but you can get up to 80 percent of the cost of your trip back.
“It’s important not to say ‘coronavirus’ – but you can say, ‘hey I don’t feel comfortable traveling, things have changed, I’d like to cancel.'”
After booking a vacation you have 14 days to add travel insurance and have it cover a pre-existing condition. For those who booked more than 14 days ago, the options are more limited.
“If you want to be covered and have peace of mind in case the coronavirus gets worse really the only thing you can do is take out a second policy that includes the cancel anytime line but that can be very costly and you can can’t amend the current policy that you have because it’s outside of that 14-day window.”
Ward said as long as you’re not traveling to one of the affected areas you should be okay. She said the biggest areas of concern right now when it comes to travel are Italy, Japan, other surrounding Asian countries, and Iran.
Ward said if you’re traveling outside those areas just watch the cancellation policy for your vacation. She said to read all the fine print as you’re booking and be aware of your options ahead of time.