Top travel insurance needs for summer vacations

WARWICK, R.I., June 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- InsureMyTrip, the nation's top travel insurance comparison site, released its first-ever Summer Travel Guide. The Summer Guide is a compilation of data-driven insights to help consumers travel smarter in 2015.

To compile this research, a team of data scientists at InsureMyTrip analyzed online traffic and buying habits in order to identify trends. In addition to internal data, customer surveys and feedback from travel experts were also utilized to gauge insights on summer travel. Here are the results:

TOP TRAVEL INSURANCE NEEDS FOR SUMMER TRAVEL

To gain insight on the travel insurance needs of summer travelers, the research team polled licensed travel insurance agents from InsureMyTrip.

These agents respond to all phone, e-mail, and chat inquiries from travelers seeking information about insurance plans.

Here are the top reasons why travelers purchase travel insurance for summer travel, listed in order of importance:

1. Hurricanes or bad weather affecting travel plans
2. Concerns over coverage for a vacation rental
3. Health issues affecting travel plans 

InsureMyTrip estimates 80 percent of travel insurance consumers purchase a comprehensive policy.

Comprehensive travel insurance provides a variety of benefits including medical coverage, emergency travel services, baggage protection, and trip cancellation and interruption coverage.

Tip: Travelers concerned about hurricanes should purchase travel insurance early. Once a storm starts forming, insurance is no longer available.

MOST POPULAR INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS: UK, FRANCE, ITALY

This list shows the most popular summer destinations for travel outside the US (June 2015 – August 2015) based off internal customer data.

1. United Kingdom
2. France
3. Italy
4. Caribbean
5. Netherlands

SUMMER TRAVEL SURVEY RESULTS

InsureMyTrip conducted a highly targeted survey and restricted the respondent pool to only US travelers who either researched or purchased travel insurance within the past 18 months. Here are the results:

MOST WILL GO ON A SUMMER VACATION THIS YEAR

An overwhelming eighty-two percent said they were planning a summer vacation. Twelve percent said they had no plans yet. Six percent had no plans.

Out of those polled, 67 percent will get to their destination by air.

PREFER STAYING IN HOTELS

42% will stay in a hotel
25% will go on a cruise
18% will stay in a vacation rental
10% prefer to stay with family or friends
4%   will use a timeshare

SIGHTSEEING TOPS THE LIST OF SUMMER TRAVEL ACTIVITIES

50% enjoy sightseeing the most during a summer vacation
23% like going to the beach or relaxing
13% enjoy spending time with family and friends the most
10% other
3%   eating at restaurants

TRAVELERS BOOKING WELL IN ADVANCE

Most travelers prefer to book vacations in advance with 82 percent booking a trip more than 30 days in advance, 15 percent booking a few weeks prior to departure and three percent preferring spur of the moment trips.

TRAVELERS PREFER TO VISIT NEW DESTINATIONS

55% will visit a new destination this summer
24% will sometimes visit the same destination
22% do tend to visit the same destination

TOP TRAVEL CONCERNS: MONEY, HEALTH, WEATHER

The poll reveals that most summer travelers are concerned about overspending, health issues and bad weather affecting travel. Here is the list of concerns in order of popularity:

1. Overspending
2. Health issues before or during a trip
3. Hurricane or bad weather affecting travel plans
4. Missing a flight
5. Bad experience with food or accommodations

The survey also asked how much travelers planned to spend on a vacation. Nearly half polled (47 percent) will spend over $1500 on a vacation budget. Thirty-one percent will spend over $5000.

MORE INTEREST IN TRAVEL TO EUROPE

InsureMyTrip teamed up with pricing app Hopper to research travel trends this summer. With the strong US dollar, it is not surprising to find more Americans booking trips to Europe this summer and taking advantage of a bargain.

According to Hopper, the cheapest times to fly to Europe this summer are in the beginning of May and the end of August.

• June is the most popular month for European travel
• Prices peak at the end of July

METHODOLOGY FOR INSUREMYTRIP:

The InsureMyTrip survey was sent by email to those identified as US travelers who either researched or purchased travel insurance within the past 18 months. All data from this email survey was collected and tabulated by InsureMyTrip. The survey was conducted from April 2 – April 16 2015 and generated 234 completed responses.

For internal data, research teams at InsureMyTrip reviewed all travel insurance policy purchases for the past 12 months. The raw data was then processed through a weighting program to insure the sample only reflected US customers that booked a trip to Europe during the months of June, July, and August in 2015.

ABOUT INSUREMYTRIP:

InsureMyTrip compares travel insurance products from the most trusted providers in the industry.

InsureMyTrip's powerful unbiased comparison engine and thousands of reviews enable travelers to quote and buy the right travel insurance plan. The site is supported by award winning customer service and travel insurance agents licensed in all 50 states.

Featured by Consumer Reports, and listed as a helpful website by the US Federal Consumer Information Center.

InsureMyTrip travel insurance experts are featured in national publications including Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, and Travel + Leisure.

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SOURCE InsureMyTrip