Their South African Holiday was all planned out. Together we went through the details and decided upon the perfect lodging, the best car hire, and a wonderful route. They were to begin in Addo Elephant National Park, hike Plettenberg Bay, travel the Garden Route and finish in Cape Town.

It was a picturesque dream vacation in South Africa.

Once the itinerary was decided upon I was told, “Let’s be in touch tomorrow regarding deposit and also, the cancellation policies of hotels along the way and finally, the grand total cost of the trip.”

It was my pleasure to explain my terms and conditions and the cancellation policies.

They understood but wanted to double check as they, “sometimes like to change their itinerary once in country.”

This was my red flag warning. I knew then and there they needed travel insurance.

After we came up with a solution they happily paid their initial 30% investment.

Travel insurance is one of those things many of us simply don’t think we need. Many clients, much like this one in the story often object saying, “I haven’t experienced problems in the past.”

Some clients may feel that since they travel to the same destination every year that they do not need travel insurance.  If you could see the future you would not need travel insurance.

But from the outside perspective I knew right away that this family’s plans could change on a whim. Everything they said provided the evidence. They shared stories of past vacations in South America where they started with one plan and changed it along the way.

I reminded them, your South Africa holiday is a large investment. It is highly recommended to get a comprehensive travel-insurance policy in addition to any primary insurance you already have. It is also IMPORTANT to purchase travel insurance within 14 days of paying your initial investment. For most policies this will not only ensure your trip deposit, but also cover you for any preexisting medical conditions and default by most airlines and safari companies. These, in most cases, will not apply if your policy is purchased after the 14 days.

I was told, “I think I can purchase travel insurance up to 24 hours before departure.”

“Yes, that is true,” I told them. “However, you will lose many benefits such as cancelling for any reason.”

A couple more emails were passed in a last attempt to show the benefits of purchasing travel insurance within the initial 14 days.

I heard nothing. That is until…

About 19 days before they were scheduled to depart I get a phone call. On the other end of the line was a distressed client who couldn’t believe they could no longer go on their vacation.

I asked, “Did you purchase travel insurance?” Knowing that they were comparing plans and thought they went with another company other than Travel Guard which I provide.

I hear a sigh. Then, “No we didn’t. What can we do?”

All of this would have been prevented because Travel Guard will make arrangements of total reimbursement for clients who are forced to cancel.

But with no travel insurance policy, a policy that costs less than 10% of your total African holiday investment, you’re out of luck and losing thousands of dollars.

Luckily for them, I was able to pull some strings. But it won’t come without cost.

We worked out a plan to reschedule their South Africa holiday – the exact itinerary – for a year from their original dates. I was able to do this because of the relationships I have developed with my ground contacts in South Africa.

But don’t count on this always working out in your favor.

When investing thousands of dollars to travel to a continent like Africa do yourself a favor and protect yourself with travel insurance.

Need a quote on travel insurance. Contact me and I will get you squared away with Travel Guard the leading provider in travel insurance. http://wildsafariafrica.com/contact/

Jeremy