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What's so great about travel insurance? Find out in FTF's roundup of major carriers and the options they offer to FTF members.

After their first holiday spent battling storms, re-booking missed flights, and canceling planned tours due to illness, many families learn why travel insurance comes in handy -- particularly when traveling with kids.  Hopefully, none of you will ever need it, but we urge you to consider purchasing travel insurance as soon as you commit to any journey involving non-refundable fees.

Since climate change landed on everyone's radar, weather has played an even larger part in travel insurance claims, though travel insurance sales did not increase commensurately.  However, 2009's poor economy seems to have influence. According to AIG Travel Guard's VP Dan McGinnity, his company recently experienced a 19.7% increase in the number of vacationers purchasing travel insurance plans for family trips. "The trend we're seeing is that more families are opting for travel insurance to cover their hard-earned investment dollars."

Travelers who purchase travel insurance at the time they book their trip -- prior to the issuance of hurricane or tropical storm warnings, prior to announcements that tour operators or airlines are declaring bankruptcy, prior to an outbreak such as swine flu -- can often protect their deposits and other nonrefundable expenses. Additionally, some companies are adding "job loss coverage" as a valid reason to trigger their trip cancellation policies, and at no extra cost. Read on for FAQ and suggested insurance companies to explore.  Contact the FTF office (212/665-6124) to request more information on specially-priced family plans.

Q.  What is travel insurance?

A.  Travel insurance protects your vacation investment because it ensures reimbursement for costs incurred by the cancellation or early termination of your planned itinerary, for most reasons.  We recommend purchasing a comprehensive insurance plan including trip cancellation, trip interruption, vendor default, and the standard coverage for lost baggage, medical evacuation, etc. from an independent insurer rather than a self-insured cruise or tour operator. Many insurance companies offer, for an extra fee, a "cancel for any reason" option that would extend coverage, for example, to a family that cancelled a Mexico vacation because of health concerns, or travelers whose return date is extended involuntarily because a quarantine is established in their home or destination country.

FTF's recommended family travel insurance packages comprise "trip cancellation insurance" (someone gets sick, etc. and no one goes) and "trip interruption insurance" (extra expenses incurred by travel delays, missed connections, change of itinerary.)  They also cover baggage loss or baggage delay, reimburse expenses due to illness or accident of insured travelers, and pay for medical evacuation in case of emergency. 

In response to member interest, FTF has teamed up with major insurers, Travelex, CSA and AIG Travel Guard to provide travel insurance designed for families. At Travelex, for example, their "Family Friendly Coverage" means that multiple children under the age of 16 are covered at no additional cost when accompanied by a covered adult family member, as long as their names and trip costs are listed on the covered adult's enrollment form. Travelex doesn't have child-to-adult ratios (good for single parents), no time limit on coverage purchased in advance of travel, nor are there deductibles. These companies also provide a 24/7 Emergency Hotline for questions regarding such issues as lost tickets and passports, visa information, translation services and medical and legal referrals. At AIG Travel Guard, children age 17 and under are covered at no additional cost if they are traveling with, and related to, the primary insured adult. (Note that though Travel Guard is an AIG subsidiary, industry reports say its travel business has not been affected by the financial company's bailout by the US Government.)