six travel mistakes to avoid

Cliffs of Moher (c) 2019 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Inexperienced travelers frequently make foolish travel mistakes when planning a trip. I am highlighting six of the worst travel mistakes mentioned in a recent article in USA Today.

(1) Declining travel insurance for expensive international trips. Even if you have NOT made any non-refundable deposits, purchasing $500 of trip cancellation per person is inexpensive and offers important protections. Top of the list: primary medical coverage while out of the country. If you're a US-based senior citizen, Medicare does NOT cover you outside the U.S., but Travelex Basic or Select offers primary medical insurance. Because the coverage is primary, you won't have to bother getting your claim rejected by Medicare before the insurance company will pay you (which is the case if your policy provides only secondary medical coverage). Note: rely only on the insurance carrier's own employees for authoritative and detailed explanations of a policy's coverage.

(2) Taking selfies in hazardous places. For instance, there's a rope to keep you safe when visiting Ireland's Cliffs of Moher (pictured above), but that doesn't stop some foolhardy tourists from venturing to the very edge of the cliff, risking injury or death. Risking your life is not worth 5 minutes of YouTube fame.

(3) Failing to check passport and visa requirements well in advance of the trip. Ensure that your passport has empty pages and is valid for at least six months beyond the end of the trip (as countries typically require). Check whether the country to which you are traveling requires acquiring a visa before you travel. Not all countries offer visa on entry.

(4) Arriving the day your cruise (or tour) departs. It simply makes no sense to risk being left behind at the port, scrambling to figure out how to catch up with the rest of the cruise or tour (at your own expense). Plan to arrive the day before your cruise or tour begins.

(5) Overscheduling your days. While many tourists have the idea that "doing Paris" means checking off a dozen items on a to-do list, I'm a firm believer in "less is more." Don't plan on six museums in one day; you can't possibly enjoy all of them, and you'll be exhausted. There's no reason to visit Versailles and Giverny on the same day; you'll be short-changing both. And don't waste a full day in Paris visiting Disney, of all things. Don't "do" Paris. "Experience" Paris by doing what Parisians do. Spend a leisurely hour sitting at a sidewalk cafe on a picturesque street just watching the life of the city unfold before you.

(6) Booking tight flight connections. Think you can make that 50-minute connection in Paris, London, or Frankfurt? Think again. Navigating an unfamiliar airport in a jet-lagged condition, waiting in passport lines, possibly going through security a second time, and generally not knowing where to go is NOT the way you want to begin your trip. I would want at least a 2-hour connection in all of these international airports. Consider a VIP meet-at-the-gate escort where available to fast-track you through immigration and get you to your next gate stress-free.

copyright (c) 2019 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Medjet Horizon | stay in control

You can stay in control, even when things go wrong during a trip. While nothing can eliminate the possibility of a serious illness or security situation, Medjet Horizon comes as close as anything I know to keeping you safe and in control during an emergency. Medjet offers two levels of coverage.

Medjet Classic provides air medical transport to a hospital you trust. "If you are hospitalized 150 miles or more from home, MedjetAssist will arrange air medical transport all the way back to your hospital of choice in your home country, regardless of medical necessity, and at no cost besides your membership fee." While traditional travel protection policies provide medical evacuation, it's only to the closest adequate facility. (Important note: MedJet does not include a medical insurance component; you'll need to obtain this protection through other vendors).

Medjet Horizon goes a step further. You receive medical evacuation to your hospital of choice but also have access to help when encountering these potential threats:

Violent Crime
Political Threat
Terrorism
Hi-Jack
Wrongful Detention
Disappearance
Kidnap
Blackmail/Extortion

You will have on-demand access to a 24/7 Crisis Response Center run by FocusPoint International, not only to advise you but also to provide in-country services as they determine necessary to get you to safety.

EXAMPLE: A University Student living and studying in Nigeria’s northeast Borno State contacts the Crisis Response Center to report an overnight raid by Boko Haram militants. The student said he fears for his life and wants to leave Ngamdu. 

ASSISTANCE: The CRC contacts the protected member to obtain additional details about the raid and local conditions. The CRC coordinates with local security assets in Lagos, Nigeria and plans a land evacuation back to Lagos. The protected member is provided detailed instructions on how to prepare for the evacuation, when he will be moved and by whom.

To obtain the security of either the classic MedJet Assist (medical transport to your hospital of choice) or MedJet Horizon (which also includes crisis response protection), just click this link.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

lost night in paradise | who pays?

beautiful lagoon waters (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Who pays when something goes wrong on your vacation? One of the travel blogs that I regularly follow, Ben Schlappig's One Mile at a Time, relayed the sad story of a missed night during a couple's honeymoon. Their flight from Moorea to Bora Bora had a stop at Huahine. There it suffered a mechanical breakdown and was unable to continue to their final destination. Ten hours later, Air Tahiti sent a replacement plane, but due to high winds in Bora Bora, the plane was unable to make the flight until the next morning.

So they missed their first night in Bora Bora at a (very) expensive resort, and they lost the amount they had paid for their first night at the resort.


Question: how could they have protected against this?

Answer: travel insurance

Problem: travel insurance policies are not created equal


We work almost exclusively with Travelex, Brownell's preferred travel protection partner for many years. I spoke with a telephone representative of Travelex this morning, and I asked her about the particular situation I read about on Ben's blog. She told me the following.

Trip Interruption coverage would have been activated by a delay of a Common Carrier caused by a mechanical breakdown, weather delay, or strike. Such a policy benefit would have covered their unused travel arrangements resulting from this delay up to 100% of the amount of cancellation protection and Trip Interruption purchased (for a Travel Basic policy) or 150% of the interruption protection purchased (for a Travel Select or Travel Max policy). [language revised 12:08 p.m. as suggested by Laura Heidt]


What about the travel insurance from your credit card? The devil's in the details, so I checked out those details. American Express Platinum does not include a travel interruption component. Citi Prestige offers travel interruption coverage if you miss "more than half of [your] Trip because of missed connections, delayed departures, etc." Citi Sapphire Reserve states that interruption coverage does not apply from "Common Carrier caused delays, unless they are as a result of an organized strike that affects public transportation." Visa Signature provides neither Trip Cancellation nor Trip Interruption coverage.

link for Travelex travel protection

Let me stress that you should rely only on the representations of your travel insurance carrier for their authoritative answers to what would or would not be covered by your policy.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

travel insurance | four helpful tips

Our rep from Travelex visited the Brownell office earlier this week to do some training on travel insurance for newer travel consultants. I read the summary of her presentation and wanted to pass along these tips:

1. Pre-existing waivers. Travelex provides a waiver of pre-existing conditions if you purchase their Travel Select policy or better within 21 days of your initial period. You must be fit to travel at the time of purchase. If you miss that 21 day waiver period, the policy would look back 60 days from the date of purchase in your medical history.
2. Zero-band policies are very inexpensive. They include no trip cancellation insurance but provide medical insurance while you are away, including medical evacuation.
3. Keep your receipts. If something happens while on your trip (a medical situation or a delay or interruption in your travels), keep the receipts of all out-of-pocket expenses. Only expenses with proof of purchase can be reimbursed.
4. Your policy can be transferred to another trip within one year of the travel date (in the event you cancel the trip for which you initially purchased the policy).

Do you need travel insurance? We were told that 40% of of the time, on average, travelers file claims. Click here to learn more about Travelex travel insurance and get a quote.

travel insurance (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2013 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

four tips | how to avoid travel stress

A cruise passenger issued a call for help in a recent post on fodors.com. Their 5-night Costa cruise begins this Sunday, departing from and returning to Savona, Italy. Looks like an interesting itinerary, from the map on Costa's website. But 6 days before the cruise starts, they discovered a problem with their itinerary. Their return air flight departs Milan at 1:50 p.m., just a few hours after their cruise is scheduled to arrive back in Savona. Depending on traffic, the drive to the airport could be 2 1/2 - 3 hours ... and of course, you should arrive two hours early to check in and get through security.

They are exploring the idea of departing the cruise a day early in Marseilles and taking the train to Milan, but what a shame to miss out on a full day of a short cruise. I suggested they arrange for a private driver to meet them at the port ... and that they arrange for an early disembarkation. Other posters added that they should leave the ship at 8 a.m. to be on the safe side.

Four tips on how to avoid travel stress in the first place:

1. Never arrive for your cruise the day of departure. Too much can go wrong with late or cancelled flights, and you might miss your cruise's departure. Always plan to arrive a day early.
2. Pay attention to connection times. Only got 60 minutes to change planes in Paris? You're very likely to misconnect.
3. Get someone else to look at your itinerary before you book it. This is one advantage of using a travel consultant. We are very conscious of these kinds of issues because we deal with them on a daily basis.
4. Buy travel insurance. It's surprisingly affordable, will provide medical coverage when you're outside the country, and can protect you in the event of trip interruptions* and cancellations due to medical reasons.

* probably not if they miss their flight because they planned an impossible itinerary

travel consultant (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2012 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website. .

canceling hotel reservations | a primer

entrance to the Four Seasons George V, Paris

Canceling hotel reservations sounds like such a mundane, cut-and-dry subject, but it really has layers of complexity. As a travel consultant specializing in luxury hotel bookings, I have years of experience both making and canceling hotel reservations for my clients. I want to share some basic but hopefully useful information on the subject.

Cancellation Policies Vary

City hotels typically have a deadline of 24 hours or 48 hours prior to arrival. You need to request a cancellation by a stated hour local hotel time on that day; time zones matter very much, as does the fact that it's already tomorrow for hotels west of the International Date Line.

Resorts have longer cancellation deadlines and often take deposits. Four Seasons resorts in Hawaii take a two-night deposit at booking, completely refundable up to 21 days before arrival. If you must cancel within the deadline, you can often use the deposit towards a future stay with one change of dates permitted under such circumstances. Las Vegas hotels typically have a one-night deposit at booking and a two-day cancellation deadline.

Festive Season bookings have more stringent policies, sometimes with non-refundable deposits due at booking and the entire stay becoming non-refundable perhaps 90 days before arrival.

Travelers can sometimes save money by booking pre-paid, non-refundable, non-changeable reservations. These always make me nervous, as the unexpected can always happen

The amount of the cancellation penalty can vary. It is usually the cost of one night's stay including tax, or the amount of the deposit that you paid, but it can be more than this. 

Travel insurance will refund the amount of your penalty if you have to cancel for a covered reason (usually, medical situations involving yourself or a close family member).

How to cancel a reservation.

1. Make sure you get a response to an emailed request to cancel a reservation. As we all know, email is not 100% reliable, and not all email gets delivered. In the case of a time-sensitive cancel request, know that I can't read my email 24/7. If you do not receive a prompt response acknowledging your request and providing a cancellation number, pick up the phone and call me ... or the hotel.

2. It's OK for you to cancel directly with the hotel, or the chain's central reservations office, but let me know you've cancelled (see the reason at #5 below). If someone tries to tell you that "only your travel agent can cancel this booking" (which may not be true), insist that the agent record your request in the reservation record. The important thing is to time-stamp your request, especially important if you are close to the cancellation deadline.

3. You can also email the hotel. If you've got an email with your reservation, just "reply" to the email and make sure the hotel's reservations department is in the address field (and copy me). Again, the important thing is to get your request "time stamped."

4. For last-minute, after-hours cancellations of reservations made through Sabre, Brownell provides 24/7 after-hours support through CCRA to make revisions or cancellations for you. Phone (800) 627-8681 — or from overseas, (682) 233-1914. You'll need your six-letter PNR locator and Brownell's Agency/VIT Code: SG8Y0. Note: we are charged a $17.50 per call charge if you use this after-hours service, and we will pass this charge along to you.

5. Please let your travel agent know when you make a cancellation yourself! We spend a considerable amount of time "chasing" unpaid commissions, and hotels spend a considerable amount of time researching our claims. 

luxury hotel bookings (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2012 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website. .

why you need travel insurance

A snow plough clears the taxi ways after heavy snowfall at Heathrow Airport, London, Saturday Dec. 18, 2010. (AP / PA, Steve Parsons)

The phone rang early on Saturday morning. My friend Lauren was calling on behalf of her friend John. He was ticketed on a British Airways flight to London Heathrow that afternoon — and onto India the next morning. John's flight to London had been cancelled. BA's phone lines were tied up, and he couldn't get through. In fact, Heathrow was closed down entirely because of heavy snow, and thousands similarly distressed travelers were all trying to contact their airlines.

Was there anything I could do to help? As I don't book air, I referred John to a colleague who did. When you can't get through to the airlines, a good travel agent can see availability, provide advice, and make bookings directly from her system.

But then I asked, "Does he have travel insurance?" "No," he said. "I took a gamble and lost."

Here are the facts of life about booking tours and cruises — or anything else with a long cancellation deadline. You need to read the fine print and know the cancellation deadlines and penalties. Cruise lines and tour companies will always offer travel insurance. There are usually less expensive options (often offering better protection) when you buy directly from insurance companies such as Travelex. A travel consultant can help you compare the options, evaluate the coverage you need, and save you money.

Like so many travelers, John planned his vacation on the internet. He declined the offer of travel insurance, and now he was stuck in rainy northern California, two days before his tour was to begin, unable to get to India because of a bad winter storm in Europe. Not only was he going to miss out on the dream vacation he had been planning for so long, he was looking at a 100% loss of his travel investment. While travel insurance can't guarantee good weather, it can protect you from being on the losing side of an expensive gamble.


travel insurance (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2010 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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four lessons for booking travel on the internet

Christopher Elliott's excellent blog, Consumer Traveler, posts this question from a traveler who encountered difficulties when booking his honeymoon on the internet:

About a month ago, I took advantage of a Travelocity e-mail fare alert for a flight from Minneapolis to Costa Rica. The deal seemed too good to be true: $230 roundtrip on US Airways. I booked the flight for my September honeymoon and then went to a Web site and bid on our accommodations, which I also booked.

A few days ago, US Airways notified me that it had dropped a connecting flight to Costa Rica, and that our only option was a full refund. I checked the ticket prices to Costa Rica and found that they had tripled. I felt like I was a victim of a bait-and-switch. I called US Airways, which offered to fly us to Costa Rica a day after we were supposed to leave. But it would involve an overnight stay in Charlotte, which the airline was unwilling to pay for.

I understand that airlines have flight schedule changes, but I also feel that it is their choice and that if they choose to do so, they should be responsible for the consequences. Is there anything you can do?

What can we learn from this traveler's experience? Here are four lessons for booking travel on the internet.

1. Buy a complete package from one vendor.

Had these honeymooners bought a complete package from Travelocity (AIR + RESORT), Travelocity would have owned the entire problem when US Airways cancelled its flight.

2. Purchase travel insurance.

In addition to protecting you from financial loss if you have to cancel in the event of an illness or other covered emergency, travel insurance can protect you from added expenses incurred in the event your trip is interrupted or delayed (i.e., an extra night in Charlotte).

3. The lowest price is not always the best value.

Many internet shoppers become compulsive about finding the very lowest price. But when you're shopping for travel - and especially for your honeymoon - you're buying more than a plane seat and a hotel room. You're planning an experience that will enrich and enhance your life. Sometimes a few extra dollars (purchasing travel insurance or upgrading to a more upscale resort) can relieve you of stress - and provide a level of comfort and luxury that will add so much to a once-in-a-lifetime vacation.

4. Use a live human travel consultant instead of an online travel agency.

Many people think, "I don't need a travel agent. I'll book it on the internet." Well, Travelocity is a travel agency. Priceline is a travel agency. Hotels.com is a travel agency. You pay pretty much the same thing, whether you book directly with a hotel or an airline, or with an online agency, or through a live human travel consultant. Why not avail yourself of the expertise that an experienced travel consultant can offer you? After all, it's our mission to find you the best values and provide you with the most memorable experiences of your life.


Note: I specialize in luxury travel and am only accepting new clients on a limited basis. However, these lessons hold true whether you are spending $1,000; $10,000; or $50,000 on your next trip.


four lessons for booking travel (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2010 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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the importance of travel insurance

This Christmas saw heavy snowstorms in the midwest and on the east coast with inclement weather causing many flight delays and cancellations. I can imagine magine the frustration of vacationers whose flights to the Caribbean, Mexico, or Hawaii did not happen. Not only did they lose precious hours and even days of their family vacations, in most cases they had to pay for their unused resort rooms.

This is why you should strongly consider trip insurance. While an insurance policy cannot change the weather, it can protect you financially in the event of trip delays, flight cancellations, and unexpected illness. Some policies even allow you to cancel your trip for any reason at any time with a complete refund of hotel deposits and airline penalties. And with "bulk fares," even your airfares are completely refundable.

Some travelers want to pay the absolute lowest upfront prices. This winter's storms demonstrate vividly why that's a false economy. Ask your travel consultant about travel insurance the next time you're planning a vacation. Hopefully you won't need to use it, but travel insurance is one of the best ways to minimize travel stress.


travel consultant (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2010 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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travel insurance | is Consumer Reports right?

Consumer Reports researched travel insurance in its May issue. CR's conclusion? It is rarely needed. "Many people don't realize it," said Editor at Large Greg Daugherty, "but travel insurance often duplicates coverage they already have through their credit cards, homeowners insurance, life insurance, and other policies."

You should definitely do your due diligence. What will your health and auto insurance cover if you are out of the country? What coverage does your credit card offer? Duplicating coverage is an unnecessary expense. Consider, however, that the number one reason to purchase travel insurance is for trip cancellation, interruption, or delays. According to a travel industry spokesperson,

The article ignores a very important fact: the vast majority (70%) of travel insurance claims are for trip cancellation, interruption and travel delay. Covered reasons for these benefits include: sickness, injury or death of a traveler or a non-traveling family member; or for non-medical reasons such as adverse weather; or damage or destruction of a home, etc. While we agree it is important to see if coverage is provided by other policies, for the vast majority of the above claim types, consumers will find there is very little coverage, other than travel insurance, that would reimburse their loss.

Here are scenarios in which you should seriously consider trip insurance.

• You are going on a cruise. Cruises are pre-paid, and cancellation penalties get higher as your cruise approaches. Heavily discounted, promotional cruise rates are often totally pre-paid and non-refundable. Check to see if your cruise company offers some sort of "peace of mind" insurance that refunds your deposits if you cancel for whatever reason.
• You are taking a packaged tour. Tour packages, likewise, involve deposits and full pre-payments. If you have to cancel for health reasons or for a personal or family emergency ... trip insurance can protect you.
• You are staying in a resort during high season. Resorts often require deposits and can have rather lengthy cancellation deadlines. Again, trip insurance can save you thousands of dollars.

A company to consider: Travelex. Why? With their Travel Plus or TravelLite policies, multiple children under the age of 16 are covered at no additional cost when accompanied by a covered adult family member.

If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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