5 Great Reasons to Purchase Travel Insurance When You Make Your Beach Vacation Reservation
Every day we at Sunset Properties help our guests find the perfect beach home for their dream getaway. We help couples find the perfect place to get engaged or spend a honeymoon. We match up family needs from homes perfect for a small gathering to family reunions. Need a girls weekend away? We have you covered! But what if something bad happens before you get to take your trip? What if it literally rains on your vacation parade? We strongly suggest purchasing travel insurance at the time you make your reservation. For just a few more dollars, you can guarantee your vacation investment is covered. Here are five of the top reasons to purchase travel insurance when you make your reservation:
1. Illnesses are unexpected
When planning for our Alabama Gulf Coast vacation adventures, we expect to be healthy and happy when it’s time to leave home. After all, most of us make our plans to visit Gulf Shores and Orange Beach when we are feeling well and we expect to feel just as well when it’s time to depart. But what if we get sick and can’t actually take our vacation on time as we planned? As much as we’d like to go, and even though we believe a trip to the beautiful beaches of Fort Morgan can cure any ailment, our doctor just isn’t in agreement. What then? Do we just lose our money? Does our deposit get refunded? What is the rental management company’s policy? When we book our vacation reservations, with the appropriate travel insurance, we don’t have to face any of these worries. If we happen to get sick and aren’t able to go on vacation, we contact the insurance provider for guidance and financial resolution, and then all we will have to focus on, is getting well. After all, our favorite vacation destination home is still calling out to us. And we really do believe: anything can be cured with the right amount of sea, sand and sun!
2. Work schedules change
Most of us work to live, but sometimes, I’ll admit, it seems like we just live to work. That’s why vacations are so important in our lives. Most of us work for folks, who, like us, plan vacation getaways well in advance of departure dates. They understand the need for time away from the office, but they still expect us to meet our professional obligations in advance of our personal relaxation time. We, being the hard-working, dedicated employees that we are, will work right up until it’s time to go expecting to leave for a restful recharging excursion right on time. But what if work gets in the way? What if that huge deal you have been working on all year requires your attention at the exact time as your beach adventure is planned? What about your deposit? Cancellation fees? What if you can’t reschedule your time away in accordance with your rental management company’s policy? Again, I suggest purchasing travel insurance at the time you make your reservation. With the correct policy, your financial investment can be protected. This will easily afford you the opportunity to change the dates of your time away, without incurring additional charges. And then, once you’ve sealed that all
important deal, you can still come down and stay in your favorite beach home or condo.
3. The weather gets in the way
A lot of us down here in Baldwin County, Alabama joke about our weather. “If you don’t like the way it is outside, stick around for about thirty minutes. It’ll change!”
While we say this in a flippant manner, the truth is, this is actually pretty much the case all year long. It may be summer outside today and feel like winter tomorrow. We may go for several weeks with only a little rain, and then have a major storm pass through. The greatest part about a fabulous vacation destination can simply be the climate. By contrast, the weather can also be the one unpredictable factor that can destroy not only a vacation plan, but a vacation destination. What if a storm comes and destroys your beach home? What if snow falls and you just can’t get there? By the way, snow does occasionally fall on the beaches of Gulf Shores. It’s rare, but it happens. So if there’s snow on your beach and you can’t go, then what? What if the winds are at hurricane force and the only folks allowed onto our island are meteorologists? You can’t blame the adverse weather conditions on the rental management company and it certainly isn’t your fault, so who pays for the travel loss when Jim Cantore shows up? Usually, without travel insurance, you do. That’s right. Usually, the renter absorbs the loss. A big reason to purchase vacation travel insurance, is to make sure you’re not the one who loses out. With the right policy, your vacation investment is covered. You are able to simply change your vacation location, your vacation dates or both. And when Jim goes back to Atlanta, you can come see us in beautiful sunny South Alabama. (And, for the record, we love Jim Cantore down here!)
4. Medical emergencies happen away from home
We have all heard those terrible stories about tourists who swim out too far in The Gulf, face a medical emergency, and have to be life-flighted to a nearby hospital. We have heard the stories about folks who ate something that didn’t agree with them and spent a couple of unexpected days in bed after a trip to our local emergency clinic. What do you do when your husband accidentally gets a severe sunburn that requires medical attention? Does your regular health insurance cover this? Maybe…but with the addition of certain travel insurances, you are surly covered. Be purposeful about asking your travel insurance advisor about adding this to your policy. While no one likes to think about accidents that happen on vacation, the truth is accidents don’t take a holiday. They can happen to anyone, anytime.
5. You miss your flight or your luggage is lost
Most of the guests we see here along the Alabama Gulf Coast drive here from home. Some of you, however, prefer the ease of air travel. With Mobile and Pensacola so close to Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, sometimes air travel is just a lot more convenient. Flying can be the best way to go, however you still have to drive to your local airport to get to one of ours. So if the traffic getting to LAX slows you down and you miss your flight to Houston and then miss your connecting flights to Mobile, then what? You haven’t even gotten to your vacation home yet, and already you’re out money to change your flight plans. Maybe you made all your flights, but your luggage took a vacation of its own. What are you supposed to do when the friendly sky folks accidentally send your luggage to Peabody, MA instead of Pensacola, FL? What if your favorite cocktail dress goes to Montgomery instead of Mobile? Then what? With certain travel insurances, your flights, your clothes and even your luggage can be covered. Instead of the stress of not having your clothes with you on vacation, you may just end up with a whole new wardrobe!
When you book your vacation reservation with Sunset Properties, we will offer you the opportunity to purchase travel insurance through Red Sky. It is a good idea to do your own research, don’t just take our word for it, but strongly consider purchasing some kind of travel policy. Policies vary from company to company and person to person, based on need. Most guests, though they don’t realize it, do need some form of travel insurance. After all, we insure everything else that is important to us. Why wouldn’t we insure our Alabama Gulf Coast vacations, too?
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