| Book Next Year’s Snowbirds at This Year’s Checkout |

Snowbird is a common expression to describe seasonal travelers who head south for warmer weather during the cold weather months. These are typically longer trips, spanning sometime between November and April. TripAssure Travel Protection plans are available for many different types of trips, including the seasonal snowbirds. One common tendency among snowbird travelers is to re-book the following year’s trip before this year’s concludes. Booking the trip and travel protection at the same time has some substantial benefits. Here are some items to consider for travelers and travel suppliers when planning for next year.

 

Pre-Existing Conditions

All TripAssure plans offer a waiver for the Pre-Existing Conditions exclusion if the plan was purchased within 15 days of the initial deposit date. If snowbirds are making next year’s deposit at check out, the date of that payment is the initial deposit date. Booking TripAssure simultaneously means the travelers don’t have to be concerned that a Pre-Existing Condition won’t be covered on their next visit. By purchasing travel protection early, the plan is effective earlier, and a change to someone’s Pre-Existing Condition after the effective date can be a covered event.

 

Cancel For Any Reason

Few people book a trip with the expectation of cancelling it later, but the most complete way to protect against cancellation is the Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) benefit. This is as it sounds; travelers may cancel their trip without providing an explanation. There are several requirements to qualify, as detailed in The TripAssure Guide to Cancel For Any Reason. In summary, the CFAR benefit is included in TripAssure Complete if the plan is purchased within 15 days of the initial deposit date, and the full cost of the trip is insured. The last chance to cancel the trip using CFAR is at least 2 days before the trip departure date, and this benefit can reimburse up to 75% of the penalty amount. Snowbirds looking ahead to next year should consider protecting the trip early with the TripAssure Complete plan to take advantage of Cancel For Any Reason.

 

Closer to Departure, Less Likely to Protect

This one is for the agents and travel suppliers booking these repeat guests. The concept is straight forward; the closer the trip gets, the less likely someone will be interested in protecting the trip. This is partly due to the nearing departure date becoming more and more of an eventuality, with much of the risk of cancelling behind them. People tend to be more accepting of potential risk when they feel they know more about their present situation. A healthy traveler with a trip in two weeks may not be worried about falling ill before departure, but looking a year in advance becomes more difficult to predict for any traveler. Offering TripAssure travel protection as they book for next year often results in more travel protection plans sold.

 

Limits to Consider

TripAssure plans are available for these types of trips, but there are two specific limitations of which to be aware. First is that the maximum trip length for TripAssure plans is 120 days, which is roughly four months. This can encompass most snowbird style trips, but some may exceed this time. Similarly, the maximum age to qualify for TripAssure plans is age 80. Both of these limits are taken into account when creating a quote online, making it so you don’t have to memorize these limits. A quote will only display plans available based on the information entered to quote, so if these limits are exceeded on the quote form, the plans won’t be available.

 

It is important to make sure that travel protection is at least offered to guests as they book. Travelers are typically displeased if travel protection goes unmentioned, and they miss out on these benefits. Even if they decline to protect their trip, you’ve done them a service by at least recommending travel protection. This information is meant to be a summary of benefits in travel protection for snowbird travelers. Please contact TripAssure with any questions and please refer to the plan documents for details.