Inside the AAA office in Roanoke on Monday afternoon, we found Laura Liakos.
She was making sure everything was in place for her Orlando trip this October, including her travel insurance.
It’s something Liakos says she never leaves home without.
“Just to be on the safe side because you never know something may happen,“ said Liakos.
AAA Manager Joyce Bradford says they always recommend it.
“Sure, under any circumstance,“ said Bradford.
Bradford tells WSLS travelers can expect to pay anywhere from $50 to hundreds of thousands of dollars for trip insurance, but she says it pays for itself if they have to use it.
“If it’s a situation where you’ve paid $4,000 for a trip and it gets cancelled because of a hurricane and you didn’t take out any insurance, you’re in bind,“ said Bradford.
From talking with several travel companies and searching traveling websites online, WSLS found that, depending on the company and your policy, if a storm damages your hotel before your departure, shuts down your airport or even if a hurricane’s predicted path is near the location of your upcoming insured vacation it is possible to get reimbursed.
But, it all depends on your policy.
That’s one reason the Better Business Bureau recommends you read the fine print and the exclusions of your policy to know exactly what you are paying for.
“Just insuring your investments is really what it amounts to,“ said Bradford.
If you have to cash in your trip insurance, Bradford says the wait time varies depending on the policy, but says the average turnaround is about 6 weeks.
According to AAA, it’s rare that cruise ships will cancel their plans because of hurricanes.
They say, most of the time, the cruise ships will just change their routes.
For more helpful information, you can go to the following websites:
http://insurance.aaa.com/travel.htm
http://www.travelguard.com/hurricaneSeason
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