Written By: Megan Moncrief, Chief Marketing Officer – Tin Leg Travel Insurance
The lasting impact of the coronavirus pandemic has given an unknown feel to the future of travel. However, as more states and countries start to reopen, travel is slowly beginning to rebound, especially within the United States.
At Tin Leg Travel Insurance, we know travel agents spend considerable time and effort helping your customers plan unforgettable trips. However, we also understand that travelers are facing more challenges than ever before, leading to more cancellations as travelers attempt to recoup their losses and more refunds from travel agents.
Tin Leg has six travel insurance policies that are designed to provide coverage for the most common traveler concerns. As travel rebounds and travelers begin to book their future trips, our policies can help travel agents and their travelers save money.
How is travel shaping up for the rest of 2020?
Even as uncertainty remains during the COVID-19 pandemic, travelers are slowly becoming more willing to book future trips for the second half of 2020. Many of the travelers who are showing interest in traveling are choosing to stay closer to home.
Despite overall travel for the remainder of 2020 being down roughly 80% compared to last year – according to data from Tin Leg’s parent company, Squaremouth.com – domestic travel has remained relatively steady, dropping by just 5%. In comparison, international travel has dropped by 90%.
As a result of traveler’s preference to stay closer to home during the pandemic, domestic trips now comprise 57% of insured travel throughout the remainder of 2020. Historically, domestic travel accounts for about 12% to 15% of total travel.
What does this mean for travel insurance?
With U.S. residents anxious to get out of their houses after months in quarantine, we believe this trend will continue, with travelers hesitant to go too far until it is safe. For most travelers staying within the United States, Trip Cancellation is the most important benefit.
The Trip Cancellation benefit is designed to cover 100% of a traveler’s prepaid and non-refundable trip expenses in the event they are forced to cancel their trip for a covered reason, such as an illness, injury, or severe weather. Tin Leg is one of the few travel insurance providers that offers Trip Cancellation coverage for illness due to the coronavirus. This benefit can be triggered in the event a traveler contracts the virus or cannot travel because they are quarantined. Trip Cancellation can be included on all six Tin Leg policies.
Due to the limited covered reasons under Trip Cancellation, for travelers who want more flexible cancellation coverage beyond contracting COVID-19, a policy with Cancel For Any Reason may be the best option. This is an optional upgrade that refunds travelers 75% if they cancel for a reason that is not otherwise covered by their policy, such as fear of traveling or simply not wanting to go anymore. To use this benefit, a traveler must insure their entire trip cost and cancel at least two days before their departure date. This benefit can be added to Tin Leg’s Gold policy.
In response to the trend of travelers favoring domestic travel, Tin Leg has launched USA Only, a cost-effective policy for U.S. residents who will be traveling within the United States. We know most travelers who are staying within the U.S. are covered by their primary health insurance, so we lowered the Emergency Medical amount within this policy to provide comprehensive benefits at an affordable price.
Why buy travel insurance?
During these unprecedented times, travelers are more concerned than they’ve ever been about an unforeseen event impacting their trip. As travel bounces back, we expect travel insurance to be in high demand, especially as travelers who have already been impacted rebook their trips and want peace of mind.
At Tin Leg, we are dedicated to our travelers and our travel partners. We never want our customers to pay for a policy that can’t cover their main concerns, and we want to provide coverage to help our agents retain their earnings in the event travel shuts down again. Tin Leg agents with customers who are already looking into insuring a trip will earn 30% on all Tin Leg sales, and 20% on any other provider sold through tinleg.com. Our policies can offer financial protection if the unexpected occurs, such as an illness forcing them to cancel or a medical emergency during their trip.