Travel Insurance For Trips To The Bahamas

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The islands that make up the Bahamas are famous for white sand beaches, swimming pigs and some of the best snorkeling spots in all of the Caribbean.

To plan a Bahamas vacation with minimal hassle and stress, here’s what you need to know about buying a comprehensive travel insurance policy before you fly—or sail—to paradise.

Travel Insurance for the Bahamas: The Basics

Travel insurance for international excursions is a good idea if you want to protect the investment you’ve made in your trip. And buying a travel insurance policy for the Bahamas might be cheaper than you think.

The average cost of travel insurance for a Bahamas trip is $188, according to a Forbes Advisor analysis of plans purchased so far in 2022. The average trip cost for the Bahamas is $3,730.

Your cost of travel insurance will vary based on the age of the travelers, the length of your trip, the trip cost you’re insuring and the plan you select. A comprehensive travel insurance plan will include:

  • Trip cancellation insurance
  • Trip interruption insurance
  • Trip delay insurance
  • Baggage coverage
  • Travel medical insurance

Here we’ll discuss the financial protection each of these coverages offers, before and during your trip.

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Trip Cancellation Insurance and Trip Interruption Benefits

Any number of problems—from broken bones to unexpected job loss—could disrupt your plans for a relaxing Bahamas beach getaway. If you’re planning a fall trip to the Bahamas, you’ll also want to account for hurricane season.

Buying travel insurance for a trip to the Caribbean with adequate trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance can give you peace of mind that the investment you’ve made in your trip is covered.

Trip cancellation insurance

Trip cancellation insurance reimburses you for 100% of pre-paid, non-refundable expenses you lose if you need to cancel your trip for a reason listed in your policy. These reasons typically include:

  • Destination is under a hurricane warning
  • Injury, sickness or death of you, a family member or a traveling companion
  • Job loss
  • Jury duty
  • Mechanical or equipment failure of a common carrier (like a plane)
  • Natural disaster, fire or burglary that makes your home uninhabitable
  • Strike
  • Terrorist incident
  • You’re being required to work during your scheduled trip

You can purchase this coverage up to the day before your scheduled departure time, but Carol Mueller of Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection points out it’s crucial to buy trip cancellation insurance for hurricanes early on.

“Once a storm is named, it is too late to purchase insurance to be protected against trip cancellation if a hurricane damages the intended destination,” says Mueller. “The best advice is to make purchasing a travel insurance plan that includes hurricane coverage the very next step after making your first trip payment.”

Related: Travel insurance for hurricane-prone destinations

Trip interruption insurance

Trip interruption insurance reimburses up to 150% of your trip expenses if you are in the Bahamas but need to end your trip early, for a reason listed in your policy. This may include:

  • Injury or illness of you or your traveling companion
  • Injury or illness of your family member back home who needs immediate care
  • Injury or illness of your business partner that requires you to return home
  • Named hurricane that makes your destination inaccessible or uninhabitable

Once you are eligible for a trip interruption claim, you can get reimbursed for booking a last-minute, one-way economy ticket home. This coverage can also reimburse any pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs you lose by leaving early, up to your policy limit.

Trip Delay: When You’re Stuck Midway

If your connecting flight to the Bahamas is canceled and you get stuck in Miami overnight, trip delay insurance can help.

Trip delay insurance reimburses reasonable expenses incurred because of a delay.

“These plans can cover expenses during the delay, such as meals or accommodations, and additional flight costs to reach the destination,” says Megan Moncrief of Squaremouth. “They can also provide reimbursement for pre-paid expenses that the traveler forfeits due to the weather-related delay, such as a night at their hotel or their entire trip.”

As with other coverages, you can only get reimbursed if the delay happens because of a reason listed in your policy.

Reasons might include:

  • Civil disorder
  • Common carrier delay, such as a flight
  • Injury, illness or death of you or your traveling companion
  • Hijacking
  • Natural disaster
  • Strike
  • Traffic accident

It’s also important to note that trip delay insurance typically has a waiting period—for example six or 12 hours— before coverage begins. When shopping for travel insurance, look for plans that have a short waiting period for trip delay coverage.

Travel Medical Insurance for Island Injuries and Illness

Travel medical insurance is also important to consider when traveling to the Bahamas. According to Mueller, travelers are often inclined to believe they are fully protected if they have health insurance at home. However, most U.S. health insurance does not cover expenses incurred outside of the country, and Medicare isn’t accepted in other countries.

If you get sick or injured during your trip, travel medical insurance can provide compensation for X-rays, doctor and hospital bills, ambulance service, lab work and medicine, up to your policy limits. If you require more intensive care than what’s available locally, medical evacuation travel insurance can help pay for you to be medevaced to the nearest adequate treatment center.

Moncrief recommends buying a travel insurance plan with at least $50,000 in emergency medical coverage and $100,000 in medical evacuation coverage. But the most generous travel insurance policies provide $500,000 per person for travel medical expenses coverage and $1 million for evacuation coverage if you want more protection.

“From something as minor as needing to see a doctor for an illness to requiring an emergency medical evacuation, you need to protect yourself against financially catastrophic emergencies,” Mueller says.

If you are planning adventurous activities in the Bahamas, such as parasailing or deep sea scuba diving, you should also make sure your travel insurance policy includes coverage for active sports.

World Nomads is one travel insurance company that specializes in adventure and extreme sports activities.

Featured Travel Insurance Partners

1

AXA Assistance USA

Platinum

Yes

$250,000/$1 million

2

Cat 70

Travel

Yes

$500,000/$500,000

3

GoReady (formerly April)

Pandemic Plus

Yes

$50,000/$500,000

Baggage Insurance: If Your Bathing Suit Dips Out of Your Trip

With baggage loss insurance, you can seek reimbursement for the depreciated value of your luggage and its contents (up to policy limits) if your bags are lost or stolen while traveling. Note that not all items are covered, so you should review your policy for exclusions.

Baggage insurance is usually secondary coverage, so if the airline loses your bag you may need to file a claim with the airline first. If your personal belongings are stolen in the Bahamas, you will likely need to file a claim with your homeowners insurance or renters insurance first.

Baggage delay insurance reimburses you for incidental expenses if you need to buy items while you wait for your bags to arrive. A toothbrush and a change of clothes might tide you over until your suitcase turns up—just be sure to save the receipts for reimbursement.

Baggage delay benefits typically have a waiting period, which could be six, 12 or 24 hours. If your bag turns up before the end of the waiting period, you won’t be able to file a claim.

Consider Upgrades for Cancellation and Interruption Insurance

“Cancel for any reason” travel insurance

In addition to standard travel insurance options, some plans let you add “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) coverage for an additional cost.

This top-tier coverage typically reimburses 75% of your pre-paid trip costs if you decide to cancel for a reason that would otherwise not be covered by your policy.

Adding CFAR coverage increases the cost of your travel insurance by about 50%, but investing in it gives you added flexibility with your travel plans.

“CFAR proved popular throughout the pandemic, and today, as a way for travelers to prepare for the constantly changing travel landscape,” Moncrief says.

One caveat is that to file a successful CFAR claim, you’ll need to cancel your trip at least 48 hours before your scheduled departure date.

Also, if you want to buy CFAR coverage, you’ll typically need to insure 100% of your trip cost within 14 days of making your first trip deposit.

“Interruption for any reason” travel insurance

Some travel insurance companies offer “interruption for any reason” (IFAR) travel insurance. It’s an upgrade for those who want to be able to cut a trip short regardless of the cause and receive partial reimbursement.

IFAR coverage typically adds 3% to 10% to your travel insurance costs and benefits don’t generally apply until you’re at least 48 hours into your trip. But you can return home early for any reason and be reimbursed up to 75% of your insured trip cost.

You usually must buy IFAR coverage within 14 to 20 days of making your first trip deposit.

Related: Advantages to buying travel insurance right after you book a trip

Travel Insurance for Cruises to the Bahamas

If you’re cruising to the Bahamas as well as other destinations, you may want to consider a cruise travel insurance plan.

Cruisers have unique travel needs, so you should look for a travel insurance policy that offers the coverage you need. That might include generous coverage for missed connections, shipboard service disruption and pre-paid excursion reimbursement.

The AXA Assistance Platinum plan, for example, offers $1,500 per person in missed connection coverage for cruises, $3,000 per person in baggage loss coverage, generous medical and evacuation limits and travel concierge services.

You are viewing this post: Travel Insurance For Trips To The Bahamas. Information curated and compiled by Kayaknv.com along with other related topics.

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