AIRTRAVEL INSURANCE

AIRTRAVEL INSURANCE

Air travel insurance often called flight insurance is a shortterm accidental death and dismemberment insurance

policy that covers the policyholder should he or she be killed or maimed on a specific commercial flight or flight connection Once the trip is over and the policyholder deplanes the policy is null and void. Air travel insurance is essentially a shortterm life insurance policy It covers the policyholder in the case of accidental death during the boarding flight and deplaning of a single flight and must be purchased prior to departure If an accident occurs benefits are distributed to the policyholders beneficiary. Coverage for commercial aircraft is available but flight insurance does not exist for privates planes Air travel insurance is usually available in amounts of up to $1 000 000 Because it covers such as short period of time air travel insurance is generally affordable with policies starting at just $12 per person Policies may be purchased for individuals or family groups

Air travel insurance may be purchased as a single policy or as part of a blanket travel insurance policy that includes such products as travel health insurance baggage insurance and trip cancellation insurance Several major travel insurance underwriters such as AccessAmerica and TravelGuard offer such blanket policies

The advent of the Internet has made it especially easy to purchase air travel insurance Several flight insurance companies allow you to purchase policies online via a simple onepage form Among these companies are

Travel Guard Insurance

Travelex Insurance

As with any insurance policy make sure that you read the terms and benefits carefully before you purchase the policy Terms and coverage amounts vary a little among companies

Flight insurance may also be purchased at many airports via automated kiosks Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company operates many of these You can usually find them near the airline checkin counters To buy a policy you simply enter your flight information and pay via credit card and your policy prints directly from the kiosk Its simple and just takes a couple of minutes

Many credit card companies also offer free air travel insurance particularly for their gold and platinum cardholders commonly up to $100 000 when you charge air travel tickets to that card Please note that the insurance only covers the cardholder even if you buy other family members ticket at the same time This insurance benefit is particularly advantageous to frequent business travelers

Do You Really Need this Insurance

Like other forms of insurance the decision whether to purchase air travel insurance is a personal one To some extent this insurance plays upon travelers fear of flying Someone who would never think of insuring a single car trip even if you could buy that kind of policy buys a flight insurance policy because of the publics uncertainty about flying This type of insurance also often duplicates standard life insurance coverage

Only you can decide whether air travel insurance is right for you Just make sure to research the various products and coverages and make an informed rather than an emotional decision