Domestic vs. International: Which travel insurance benefits do your travelers need?
Published on Thursday, July 30, 2015
What Kind Of Travel Protection Benefits Do Your Travelers Really Need?
When determining needs for travel insurance, considering the frequency of traveling domestically and internationally is important, for more reasons than one might imagine. It makes sense to cover flight delays and lost luggage regardless of where and when we travel. Cancellation too is important whether traveling by land, air or sea. Still, considering domestic travel as a place to start and then layering appropriate coverage on top of that for international travel makes sense in a number of ways.
From a sales angle, travelers will begin their trip in a North American city regardless of where it ends. Framing coverage specific to domestic travel will make sense to them and comes in a variety of plans. Single trip insurance can cover the occasional traveler while multi-trip or annual plans are a better value for those who are on the road frequently.
Often, when travelers go international, coverage like concierge service, travel assistance and missed connection compensation begin to have real value. These are common elements included in popular plans, but may not establish enough of a reason for a traveler to buy coverage. They want more reasons, and will buy if we can establish need. As a result, the traveler will travel confidently.
For most people, a summer flight from St. Louis to Dallas, a few nights in a hotel, a rental car and meals holds little risk. That kind of trip presents one of the most difficult situations for agents selling travel protection. The odds are simply against needing it. But make a trip from St Louis that passes through Atlanta on the way to London and it’s time to take a second look. Agents and travelers both know the risk of something going wrong increases with the distance involved in and complexity of travel plans.
That reality makes evaluating each client on an individual basis a top priority. Better yet, doing so is a far more effective and personable way to go about the business of selling travel protection in the first place. Taking the time to evaluate each individual traveler’s needs dramatically increases the odds of selling it, insures that they have adequate coverage for their travel needs and, in the process, makes for a better, long-term business relationship built on trust.