USI Affinity’s VP and COO, Jenny Zhang, posted an article last week about her personal experience with travel insurance and why it matters for travelers. Read her article here:

"Earlier this year in March, I traveled to China with my family — myself, my husband, our three young daughters, and my parents. Between trying all the street food in Shanghai and whizzing down the Great Wall in a toboggan slide in Beijing, the kids had great fun but also picked up all the germs along the way. During the last couple of days of our trip, all three of them came down with the flu. We were thousands of miles from home with three sick children. So, runny noses, high fever, coughing and all, we made three trips to the local clinic, then headed back home to the U.S. with all the expected good memories and an unexpected medical bill of $280. Even though the doctor bills in China were so much cheaper than in the U.S., the unplanned travel expenses on top of the flights, hotels & food was still frustrating and stressful. Thankfully I had purchased travel insurance before I left - $126 to cover all 7 travelers. Two weeks after I got back, I received a check for $280—a full reimbursement of my medical bill from China.

Most people think Travel Insurance is just Trip Cancellation Insurance. Everyone can recall accepting or denying the Trip Cancellation coverages offered by airlines when booking your flight online. While Trip Cancellation Insurance can come in handy to protect the insured financially should you need to cancel your trip for a covered reason before the departure, have you thought about what happens after you depart for the trip?

• What if you get sick or injured during the trip?
• What if you lose your luggage?
• What if you have to cut the trip short due to work or family reasons?
• What if there's an earthquake or hurricane at the destination?
• What if your Tour Operator goes bankrupt while you were on the trip? (Remember Sept 2019, hundreds of thousands of vacationers were left stranded when one of the world's oldest tour companies, Thomas Cook, abruptly announced, with some of its flights still in the air, that it was going out of business?)

In addition to Trip Cancellation coverage, most travel protection plans offer additional coverage including Coverage for Interruptions, Travel Delays, Baggage Loss & Damage, Medical Expenses and more. Let’s talk about the benefit that saved me money on my China trip.

Travel Medical Expense Coverage

Most personal health insurance plans, including Medicare, have very limited—if any—coverage outside the U.S. And some plans are limited even within the U.S. When you’re traveling out of your plan’s coverage area, expenses often must be paid out of your own pocket and can be extremely costly.

With travel insurance, an accident or illness while traveling away from home does not have to be a financial burden. People traveling to foreign countries like my family may require emergency medical treatment, hospitalization or even medical evacuation back to their home country. When traveling outside of the United States or your home country, securing a comprehensive trip cancellation plan is a smart idea to ensure you’re covered for the unexpected.

If you don’t want a full trip cancellation plan and wish to only focus on a plan with travel medical benefits, that’s an option too. For example, USI Travel Insurance Services offers International Medical Insurance designed specifically for people who are traveling outside their home country. These plans are ideal for people who may be traveling for a long duration, such as study or work abroad, or for people who don’t have significant non-refundable trip expenses to insure.

Regardless of which type of plan you choose, I hope my experience serves as an important reminder of the benefits of having travel insurance. And, wherever you travel, please remember that USI Travel Insurance Services is here to help protect not only your travel plans, but also your experience. For information on how USI Travel Insurance Services can protect your trip, visit our website here."