Anyone traveling during flu season should consider insuring their expensive vacation, as the risk of illness increases in the fall. These policies can be taken out in no time.
Flu season is just around the corner. According to the weekly report for week 36 of the Robert Koch Institute’s Acute Respiratory Diseases Working Group, the activity of flu, corona and colds is at a higher level than at this time last year. The flu season typically begins in early October. If you want to travel in the fall, you won’t be left with the cost of your vacation if you cancel or interrupt your trip due to illness if you have the appropriate insurance.
Important in autumn: take out travel cancellation and trip interruption insurance
The consumer advice center recommends travel cancellation and trip interruption insurance for expensive vacations or trips with children. A seasonal aspect could also be added to this recommendation. In autumn, the probability of adults and children becoming infected with flu viruses is higher. Even if everything is fine health-wise on the way to vacation, an acute autumn flu infection can unintentionally shorten the vacation fun just a few incubation days later. In these cases, travel cancellation insurance is worth the money. The Finanztip portal recommends the following minimum criteria for travel cancellation insurance:
- no deductible
- Participation in the Insurance Ombudsman’s arbitration procedure
- Trip cancellation and trip interruption can be taken out alone, not in a package with other insurances such as luggage or international health insurance
- In the event of cancellation of the trip, the full travel costs will be reimbursed if the trip has to be cancelled in the first half.
Together with its insurance partner Axa, American Express offers comprehensive travel cancellation insurance. Only a few relevant details are entered in the order form, and within just a few minutes the policy is ordered, paid for and immediately valid. Those who opt for the annual policy are insured for as many trips as they want in a year. This can be worthwhile for those who go on frequent vacations. However, insurance for a single vacation is only worthwhile if the trip is correspondingly expensive.
Details of the travel cancellation policy:
- Up to 10,000 euros travel expenses reimbursement within the selected framework
- Without deductible
- Any travel duration per holiday
Good travel cancellation insurance should cover comprehensive benefits. A look at the insured reasons for cancellation or interruption of travel gives a good idea of the cases in which the policy offers coverage. The following reasons should definitely be included:
- Acute illness before or during vacation
- Accidents before or during the holiday (including accidents involving accompanying partners)
- Vaccine intolerance
- Unexpected job loss before departure
- Damage to the apartment or house (including burglary and theft) that requires on-site presence
The travel cancellation insurance from Europ Assistance offers an excellent insurance package. Stiftung Warentest recently awarded the annual policy and the insurance for individual trips the top marks as test winners.
All-in-one solutions when things need to be done particularly quickly
Sometimes things have to happen quickly. Spontaneous vacation trips cannot be planned and prepared in detail. Sometimes it is not possible to look for individual offers for trip cancellation, international health insurance or baggage insurance shortly before departure. For such cases, there are comprehensive travel insurance policies. The consumer advice center criticizes the fact that such insurance packages often over-insure consumers, but anyone who really does not want to leave any gaps in their insurance before short-term autumn trips should look at the relevant offers.
The complete travel protection from American Express and the insurance partner Axa offers comprehensive insurance cover. The package includes:
- International health insurance up to 20 million euros
- Emergency dental treatment up to 1,000 euros
- Reimbursement of costs for overnight stays of relatives or friends in the event of an extension of stay due to medical treatment
- Luggage insurance up to 1,750 euros
- Travel accident insurance
- Travel cancellation and trip interruption insurance
- Insurance for 300 euros against robbery after cash withdrawal
Insuring your holiday: When does the insurance cover take effect?
Ideally, travelers take out insurance before booking a vacation. Policies are valid immediately after vacationers receive the insurance certificate from the insurer. The insurance certificate is usually sent by email with all other contract documents after payment.
Some insurers also cover holidays that were booked shortly before taking out a policy with the corresponding cover. Travellers should check the terms and conditions of the respective policy to see whether this is the case.
Source: Stern
