Hi All,
Thanks a lot for helping me out with all my itinerary questions for NZ and Australia. We leave for our trip next week!! Can't wait to get there!

One last question: Can you suggest good travel insurance (for US residents) which will cover both NZ and Australia for medical/accident as well as car rental?

Thanks,
Vandy

Go to www.insuremytrip.com for in-depth comparisons of policy terms and premiums for just about every type of travel insurance available. There are 10 or 12 different companies to choose from and you can pick the one that most closely matches those perils you wish to insure. You can select various options and deductibles. You should know that purchasing any type of travel insurance at the last minute is usually going to be more expensive than if you purchased it when you made you original travel plans. Good luck!

Vandy,

Travel insurance is a tricky business. Just reading the various policies can leave you dizzy with all the legalese involved.

Most policies have "Basic" insurance which is mostly medical coverage. Then there's "Comprehensive" and that's the more exepensive (naturally) and includes CANCELLATION insurance, which is what you want. That's where you need to look at the components of your trip and figure out what the penalties would be if you were to cancel.

For example, let's assume that you're not fabulously weathly and are travelling on non-refundable airline tickets. If a family member gets sick and you have to cancel the trip will the insurance reimburse you for the cost of your airline tickets? And if so, what are the parameters? (as in....no, they won't cover it if you just happen to miss your plane..heaven forbid).

You should also check your own medical insurance to find out what you're already covered for when out of the country.

Sunny...there shouldn't be any extra charges for purchasing insurance at the last minute...the insurance is based on the total cost of the trip and the ages of the passengers.... For example, just picking one out of my files -- if the trip cost, per person was $6,000, and you were 35 years old, the insurance would be $412.

Also, if you've paid by credit card, many of them include some form of insurance already..you need to check with your credit card company to find out what may already be covered.

As I mentioned at the beginning, this can be very confusing, and I recommend that you call one or two companies and speak with them directly; they have 800 numbers.

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

My father, who always researched these things carefully, always used Travelguard. They actually collected once when there was a death in the family and had to fly home early.

To wlzmitilda (Melodie) - I guess I didn't make myself clear or perhaps I am mistaken but when I did the research (for travel insurance) for a recent trip I found that in order to get the initial quoted premium you had to purchase the insurance within X number of days of booking your travel arrangements. I got the impression that if you purchased the insurance after the close of that particular "booking window" the price went up. I'm certainly not an expert in the insurance industry so I will defer to others on this particular point.