If you’ve previously purchased travel insurance or even heard about it in passing, then you’re likely aware of its key benefits: protecting your travel investment and providing convenience whether you’re planning a trip or in a pinch.

But when you look a little bit closer, travel insurance offers even more upside — a fleeting resource we try to stretch every which way: time. These time savings are delivered to travelers in myriad ways. For starters, there is the extra hours and minutes that both a concierge benefit and trip cancellation benefit can add to your trip. Then there is this refreshing idea: if your trip gets derailed or never even gets off the ground, your travel budget can be protected in such a manner that you don’t need to wait and save to reboot the anticipated getaway. Finally, if you choose Allianz Global Assistance for your travel insurance, you can accrue additional time savings with some help from our intuitive Allyz® TravelSmart App and one-of-a-kind Smart Benefits.

How Travel Insurance’s Concierge Benefit Can Save You Time

The term “concierge” may be most closely associated with a hotel employee who can set you up with hard-to-find tickets and in-demand tours. But the term has much wider applications in and outside the tourism industry, form healthcare to finance. When it comes to travel insurance, generally speaking, a concierge benefit can provide you information, assistance and troubleshooting whether you’re in the planning stage of your trip or mid-trek. More specifically, at Allianz Global Assistance, our concierge benefit offers 24/7 telephone assistance for topics ranging from getting dinner reservations to finding an English-speaking pharmacy. The list goes on and on. In order to take advantage of this benefit, you simply need to be a valid Allianz Global Assistance policyholder.

Pause for a moment and think back to all the unexpected blips and bumps in the road you’ve experienced in your past travels — and how much time you spent seeking remedies and solutions. Now imagine you had an on-call travel expert waiting to fix your snafus and keep your itinerary on point and on schedule. That’s a lot of time saved, right?¹

Turn Back the Clock with Trip Cancellation

You planned and plotted your dream getaway to Tahiti for months. You booked early, and even pre-paid for your hotel, airfare, tours and other tickets to take full advantage of all the discounts.

But the worst-case scenario has just occurred: massive, dangerous storms and flooding have rendered your dream destination inhabitable.

If you don’t have travel insurance, and at least some of those pre-paid trip costs are non-refundable, you’re looking at a lot of time and legwork. That’s because you’ll need to contact each vendor and appeal to their good nature — taking advantage of email, phone and maybe even social media — to get their money back. And if they’re operating from the crosshairs of a disaster, the last thing on their mind will be refunding your fees.

But if you have travel insurance with a trip cancellation benefit, you can streamline this process. For example, with Allianz Global Assistance, if your trip is canceled before you get started for a covered reason, then travel insurance can reimburse these prepaid, non-refundable expenses.

That’s time back in your pocket.

As always, whether you choose Allianz Global Assistance or another travel insurance provider, you’ll want to consult your individual plan for all the details.^{2 3}

Don’t Wait to Reload Your Budget Before Rebooting Your Trip

If your vacations stalls before it starts or hits a snag on the road, and you don’t have travel insurance to protect your investment, you could be looking at a little bit of a wait to save up and reboot your vacation.

With the average vacation for a family of four costing an average of $4,580, that little wait could easily turn into a long one.⁴

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Take a look at a few ways that Allianz Global Assistance can provide the financial recourse in the event your trip meets up with unforeseen issues.

• Lost / Damaged Bag Benefit: If your bag and its contents are lost, stolen or damaged, there’s more on the line than the inconvenience of replacing a few of your favorite things. There is also the cost. With an Allianz Global Assistance plan with a Baggage Loss / Damage benefit, you may be reimbursed up to the maximum amount outlined in your specific travel insurance plan.
  
  
• Trip Delay Benefit: Costs relating to travel delays can add up: meals, transportation costs, lodging and more. With a Travel Delay benefit, you can receive reimbursements for these costs up to the daily limit laid your plan.
  
  
• Emergency Medical Benefit: Hundreds, thousands and even tens of thousands of dollars. Whether it’s a sprained ankle, a broken leg or a much more serious medical emergency, the costs can add up quickly and amount to totals you never imagined. And these aren’t rare occurrences; in fact, 15 percent of travelers experience a medical issue during their getaway. Compounding the hurt is that it’s more than likely your health insurance won’t work abroad.⁵ With an Emergency Medical benefit from Allianz Global Assistance, you can receive a benefit for losses due to covered medical and dental emergencies up to the maximum amount set in your plan.²

Allianz Global Assistance’s Exclusive Time Savers

Throughout this piece, we’ve detailed how some of Allianz Global Assistance’s specific travel insurance plans and benefits can help travelers achieve time savings. Here are two of our most innovative features designed to keep you troubleshoot any trip mishaps without skipping a beat on your itinerary.

• Allyz® TravelSmart App: Our app can help keep your trip on track right from your smartphone. Access your plan, file a claim, contact the Allyz TravelSmart hotline, find nearby hospitals and more. With all these key services packaged together into one app, you can streamline your efforts to plan and enjoy your getaways like never before.⁶
• SmartBenefits: Imagine having your flight delayed and receiving proactive claim payments without having to file a claim or even submit a receipt. This is an example of Allianz Global Assistance’s new suite of savvy SmartBenefits that automate some of the legwork traditionally required from travelers to make travel insurance claims.⁷

Whether you’re a business traveler grinding out a trip to Cleveland or a family taking the All-American summer vacation, time is money. And thanks to travel insurance, you can save both whether you’re planning a trip, experience a little turbulence on your journey, or picking up the pieces of a failed or flailing excursion.

Related Articles

• The 6-Step Plan to Maximizing Your Vacation Time
• Behind the Scenes: The Allianz Travel Assistance Hotline
• When to Buy Travel Insurance with Trip Cancellation Benefits