Top tips for buying travel insurance
Don’t Confuse Insurance with a Waiver
Courtesy of Disney Cruise Line
Some tour companies and cruise lines offer something that may be touted as a kind of insurance: a “cancellation waiver” that allows you to cancel within a certain time frame and not lose any money. The reality: you don’t get your money back—you just get to rebook at a later date without a penalty. “It’s kind of like a collision damage waiver on a car rental—it’s not really insurance,” says Scott Richardson, director of the South Carolina Department of Insurance. Plus, says Evans, “a few hours prior to travel your window closes, so if you miss your flight, or if you get sick on the ship and cut your trip short, you get nothing.”
