Don't get left behind...

When Traveling...Never get left behind....protect yourself and family with a travel plan and team.

Wow...very sad news this week about the bankruptcy of iconic travel brand, Thomas Cook Travel this week, the oldest travel company and tour operator in the world.  Thomas Cook was a very large tour operator with tours and vacation packages around the world and their bankruptcy has stranded hundreds of thousands of guests on vacation everywhere and has prompted the British government to enact one of the largest peacetime repatriation in the country’s history. Thousands of employees have also lost their jobs adding to this tragedy. 

Read on how to protect yourself and family from this type of situations in the future?

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1)  Book with a professional Travel Advisor
 Good travel advisors have inside information, expertise and years of experience and act as your personal advocate so can advise you on the destination, itineraries and best suppliers. For example, the  "cheapest"  tour or cruise advertised may end up costing you more in the end when you add in the all the  extra's it does not include or travels in the worst possible weather so delays are unavoidable. Always read the fine print and know the terms and conditions of anything you buy.   A good travel advisor can help and explain all of this for you (you'll never get this when booking travel online) as well as monitor your trip, tour operator, cruise line and or for any events, weather or situations that may potentially affect your trip.  The demise and final bankruptcy of Thomas Cook was not totally shocking as the company had been having issues before this and sadly could not get their debt restructured at the last minute. A good travel advisor could have warned you about this and made sure you were protected with travel insurance and had other options so your vacation would not be ruined. 

2) Purchase travel insurance
A good travel insurance policy will cover you and your family  for many reasons including the financial default of your travel supplier, medical costs and medical transportation, missed flights, flight delays, etc.  Some credit cards do offer some limited protection (definitely check your credit card's terms and conditions) you must purchase your travel with the credit card and know the current protection. Our advice is to always purchase a comprehensive third party travel insurance when traveling internationally, on a cruise or when the value of your vacation is significant and can't afford to lose it.

It is important to purchase a 3rd party travel comprehensive travel insurance policy that covers your entire trip (not just the air or cruise portion), so you're protected in case your tour operator (in this case, Thomas Cook Travel) defaults or is not able to provide and deliver your trip as promised.  Comprehensive coverage usually covers, your air flights, accommodations, tours and all non-refundable costs associated with your trip and some even include a cancel for any reason waiver.  Unfortunately, we have seen too many good friends and clients lose their travel investment and incur additional costs by not buying travel insurance. 

For more information on travel insurance check out:
https://www.meistermeetings.com/why-travel-insurance.html

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