Can You Buy Travel Insurance After Booking A Flight?
Why It's Good To Purchase Flight Insurance Right After Booking
Regardless of which flight insurance product you choose, buying your flight insurance right after you book is a good idea.
Here’s why.
If you choose AirCare® from BHTP, you know your flights will be covered and you’ll be reimbursed for inconveniences and mishaps like:
- Flight cancellation and delay
- Missed connections
- Lost luggage
- Tarmac delay
- Flight diversion
If you choose ExactCare Extra® , buying early qualifies you for several important bonus coverages, such as:
- Coverage for pre-existing medical conditions
- Coverage for financial default of airline, cruise line, tour operator
Here are some other reasons why you should buy flight insurance within two weeks of making your first trip deposit:
It’s Done.
You know how travel is: There’s so much to remember, and so many lists to keep straight. There’s what you have to pack and what you have to do at home and who you have to notify and what you have to shut off … it’s a lot.
If you buy flight insurance right away there’s nothing to remember to do. It’s done. You don’t even have to add it to a to-do list. Save those for the dog-sitter and that serious historical novel you promised yourself you'd read someday.
It’ll Be Easier To Forget Later On.
This is the flip side of that argument. The closer you get to your departure date the more things seem to speed up. There’s so much to remember – and maybe some unexpected last-minute costs besides.
If you buy travel insurance right away, as a normal part of your booking process, then it’s bought and paid for – and there’s no danger of forgetting it later on.
In fact, many repeat buyers of AirCare do just that: Buy it like clockwork for all the flights they plan on taking throughout the year. It’s easy, inexpensive, and best of all – it’s done.
Coverage May Be Limited Closer To Your Departure Date.
If you try to buy flight insurance because a named snowstorm is approaching your departure airport or hurricane is heading toward your destination, coverage for trip cancellation is more than likely no longer available.
Travel insurance is meant to protect you from unforeseen events. Once a storm is named, it’s no longer unforeseen.
Flying to snowy destinations in the dead of winter – for a ski trip, for instance – is a risk. Same for flying to the Caribbean during hurricane season. For flights like these, it’s better to buy early and be protected.
What Are Some Other Good Times To Buy Flight Insurance?
Great times to buy flight insurance include:
- 50 days before departure
- Two weeks before departure
- The day before you leave (if eligible)
Let’s look at why these are all good times to buy flight insurance.
Buying 50 Days Before Departure
If you booked a flight far in advance of your departure, buying flight insurance 50 days out makes sense.
50 days before departure is when airfares are often at their lowest, meaning it’s a time when people start actively thinking about their upcoming travel. If you haven’t thought of flight insurance before, now’s the time to think of it.
Buying 50 days before also takes the whole “named storm” thing out of the equation. A named storm is not going to emerge 50 days before you leave. If you buy flight insurance now, you can be protected against a blizzard, typhoon, or hurricane that comes your way.
Buying Two Weeks Before Departure
Buying two weeks before departure might be your last chance to buy flight insurance before weather patterns firm up and storms start to form.
For people who like to jump on bargain airfares, two weeks out is when they generally start looking in earnest.
Two weeks before departure is also generally when people start running through their “last-minute” list of things to do.
Unfortunately, those lists can fill up fast. If you like bargain fares or are just a little bit of a procrastinator, booking your flight two weeks out, then immediately buying your flight insurance might be the perfect time to insure your flights.
Whenever You Book - Remember Flight Insurance
Flight insurance provides protection and assistance for all the bad things that can happen when you fly. It can cover all this and more:
- Flight cancellation
- Flight delay
- Missed connections
- Lost luggage
- Tarmac delay
- Flight diversion and late-night arrival
That’s important protection whenever you book or whenever you buy. So can you buy travel insurance after booking a flight? You sure can.