[This is a sponsored article with Tune Protect Malaysia.]
Since country borders reopened post-pandemic, revenge travellers have leveraged tourism deals offered worldwide.
With the lure of gorgeous sights and delicious food awaiting us, safety might take a backseat in our minds.
Sure, we’ll usually ensure that we’re staying in a decent neighbourhood, keep our belongings secure with us or in a safe, and other precautions.
But sometimes, our health and mother nature can suddenly take a turn for the worst, and in those cases, how can we be better prepared?
Tune Protect Malaysia had us highlight five benefits of how travel insurance can be handy if unfortunate scenarios were to happen while going abroad, via the brand’s Travel Easy plan. The insurance package comes in two options: with, and without COVID-19 coverage.
1. Reimbursement for overseas medical expenses
While on a trip to Italy earlier this year, my boss’s husband contracted COVID-19, and it was only a matter of time before she caught it too.
Although they didn’t have to seek medical or hospitalisation care while in Europe, it’s something that might have been required in another country.
Serious illnesses can still affect us no matter where we are, and access to emergency care then and there can’t be guaranteed.
Tune Protect’s Travel Easy with COVID-19 coverage ensures your medical expenses are covered for overseas treatments. Those who’ve purchased the COVID Plus plan could claim up to RM250,000 of their sum insured for Stage 3 to Stage 5 treatment (such as cases where breathing difficulties need to be treated).
Did you know: The sum insured is an amount that insurance companies pay to the policyholder in the case of an unpredictable event, as specified in the policy.
In the event of an emergency evacuation and repatriation (transporting someone back to their home country), the sum insured is up to RM500,000.
Taking COVID-19 into consideration, the Travel Easy plan also includes a sum insured value of up to RM1,400 (RM100 per full day) for quarantine costs. Under the COVID Plus plan for hospitalisation, the value is up to RM10,500 (RM350 per full day).
2. Coverage for travel inconveniences
2.1. Coverage for travel cancellations, delays, or curtailment
While travelling alone, my colleague Claudia, was in a frenzy during a 21-hour flight delay after her plane ticket was cancelled for her flight from the US.
The airport went into lockdown, and she learnt that all flights were halted due to bad weather as winter approached.
With no food or accommodation provided by the airport for almost a whole day, Claudia had to use her family’s flight credits to purchase another plane ticket to the next closest city.
No reimbursement or additional credits were provided by the flight for her misfortune.
If such curtailment were to happen with travel insurance, you could claim up to RM18,000 through Tune Protect’s Travel Easy basic plan. This protection also covers air tickets, cancelled car rentals, hotels, and tours.
The coverage extends to trip cancellations made by the traveller due to health or safety concerns insured with the COVID Plus plan, as long as it’s within 14 days prior to your scheduled departure date.
The sum insured for delays is up to RM3,000, and you could also claim up to RM500 for missed departures.
However, customers cannot make claims for scenarios simply where changes in their schedule occur.
2.2. Protection for lost, damaged, or delayed baggage
Another revenge travel misfortune my boss experienced was on a trip back from Singapore.
It was an hour into waiting at KLIA’s baggage claims that it dawned on her: none of the luggage she brought boarded the plane with her.
The only way she could get her luggage back was to wait for the next flight to land, which wouldn’t be for another two to three hours.
Luckily for her, she managed to recover all her belongings in the end.
If my boss had Tune Protect’s Basic Travel Easy insurance at the time, she may have been able to claim a maximum of RM1,000 of the sum insured for baggage delays (RM200 per six hours of the delay).
But say the situation turned out to be worse, and her baggage was completely lost or damaged. If so, she could have gotten reimbursement with travel insurance. With Travel Easy, she could claim up to RM5,000 in such a scenario if the issue is raised within 30 days of the incident.
2.3. Protection for lost travel documents
My mum once faced a situation where all her travel documents—even her Malaysian IC, driving licence, and credit cards—were pick-pocketed in Greece.
She had kept all important documents in her backpack, which was then sliced open by someone on the street, and her belongings were stolen for good.
My mum ended up having to make numerous police reports in Greece and extending her stay to make a temporary passport that could bring her home to Malaysia.
With the current economic situation, people have become more desperate, and may prey on unassuming tourists.
Hence, via the Travel Easy plan, any loss of travel documents like passports and Visas is covered with a sum insured of up to RM5,000.
3. Coverage for personal accidents
Lastly, Tune Protect’s Travel Easy plan has a sum insured value of up to RM300,000 should personal accidents happen. These include any events that occur beyond control by violent, accidental, and external means, such as natural disasters or other unforeseen accidents.
Based on Tune Protect’s policy, 100% of the sum insured will be paid if permanent or total disablement, or death due to accidents is suffered through the incident.
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Complications can and will happen whether we like it or not, and we often can’t do much about them. It’s all the more reason to be protected with travel insurance outside your home country, or risk incurring more cost than necessary in a different currency.
Getting travel insurance like Tune Protect’s Travel Easy plan ensures that you’ll be compensated if ever any of the scenarios above happen during your international trip.
According to Tune Protect, its Travel Easy insurance is also priced competitively, and depends on the destination country. The cost of the individual insurance plan can range between RM69 to RM107.25.
There is also the option of getting the plan for a single trip, or annual coverage regardless of the frequency you’ll travel in one year.
The COVID Plus Plan and COVID Lite Plan are only applicable to international travel.
There is a 15% Early Bird discount if you buy the Travel Easy insurance 30 days before your departure date. This promotion is ongoing from now till March 31, 2023, and those travelling abroad for the new year, such as Chinese New Year could take advantage of it.
Malaysian adults aged 18-80 may purchase Tune Protect’s travel insurance, while children must be part of a family plan.
- Learn more about Tune Protect’s Travel Easy insurance here.
- Read other insurance-related articles here.
Featured Image Credit: Pexels
