Luggage & Travel Insurance

Since the question has come up again, I am repeating my previous post.   For the 23 years I worked for the world's most experienced (and now defunct) airline, I traveled around the world and never purchased travel insurance. I knew if anything happened, my airline would get me home. When it came time to plan our travel to China, I knew that buying travel insurance would be the smart thing to do.  Having too much time from DTC to referral, I researched travel insurance companies almost as thoroughly as I did adoption agencies. I found Tripguard Plus after looking at over 30 companies. Many policies are comparable in benefits and costs. There are a few areas where Tripguard stood out. They will cover up to 4 people staying in one room and consider them "family" regardless of the relationship (or lack of) of these individuals. Many companies will only allow immediate family members to take a family plan coverage. For those traveling with friends or extended family, this makes a big difference in insurance premium costs.  Tripguard also cover pre-existing conditions for you if you purchase within 14 days of making your travel arrangements. While they do not cover pre-existing conditions on the baby, they were the only company that we found that did cover the adoptive child for the trip. When you complete the application, you simply put the baby's Chinese name on the application. In our case, the travel insurance medical emergency coverage was, literally, a lifesaver. ( See A Passage To The Heart).  Most of you will not need the major medical emergency assistance, there are other, more common,  cases where you would benefit from travel insurance. A few examples follow. One family with a 4 hour connection time in LA, still missed the China Southern flight. As the flight was delayed into LA due to weather, the airline had no liability to arrange an alternate flight to China. As China Southern was not daily, the family would have been stuck in LA for a few days waiting for the next flight. This is something to consider when booking an airline that does not have daily service between cities. They opted to pay out of pocket to fly on another airline. The money they paid was reimbursed by insurance. However, since other airlines do not have a "premium economy service" comparable to China Southern, they flew coach on the other airline.   Another family's flight had a mechanical problem. They were rerouted by the airline but their baggage did not show up for 3 days. The airline just said they were sorry but the insurance paid for purchase of personal items and clothing until their bags arrived.  Another mom had her traveling companion cancel due to illness a week before the trip. They had planned sightseeing before the adoption. Travel costs were based on two persons traveling. The insurance picked up the difference between the single and double rates. The companion's non-refundable travel costs were reimbursed and the insurance paid the difference so the mom did not incur any additional travel expenses.  Another family had a weather delay returning from China and their flight arrived 5 hours late. Their ground transportation company waited for the delayed flight but charged the family an exorbitant amount for waiting around. Insurance picked up the charge.  One mom's traveling companion became ill while in China causing the family to have to remain a few extra days in the province. Medical expenses for the companion were covered as well as extra hotel & meal expenses for the mom who waited for her friend to be well enough to travel.  Another family's domestic flight was delayed due to mechanical and they missed their connecting flight at San Francisco. While the airline was responsible, there were no other flights that night to get them to China. The airline did pick up the one night hotel cost in SFO but didn't cover any meals. They were rebooked for the flight the next night. They had prepaid hotel and sightseeing costs in China and were a day late in arriving. Insurance reimbursed the hotel and touring costs. These are just a few of the cases where purchasing travel insurance costs much less than the emergency expenses.  It is a cost that many of us do not factor into the adoption expenses. If you purchase insurance and then do not need it, you may wonder why you spent the money on it. However, if you do not purchase insurance (and are not covered by some other company or credit card policy that would cover you overseas), and have a medical, travel or baggage emergency,  you will regret not taking it. We travel extensively and we take the Tripguard policy every time we travel.  Tripguard has Pacific hours Mon-Fri 7:30Am- 5PM.  Call 800-423-3632. If you tell them you are an adoptive parent, they will quote rates on the phone or mail or fax you a policy if time permits. Rates vary based on the cost of your trip. They are quick to pay claims for covered expenses if you have documentation. (In other words, save all the receipts and document everything).

Baggage and luggage- Often the question of suitcase size or carry-on size comes up. What the rule is and what is done at the airport may be two different things. The "two checked bags and 70 lb weight limits in coach" apply to flights directly to and from the US. Flights between and within other countries (like inside China) still hold to the old 20Kilos (44lbs) per person for coach travel. Unless you purchase a seat on the flight for an infant, they do not get a baggage allowance. Having been the airport manager who waived the baggage rules, I can tell you that many airlines (on TransPacific) flights may be more lenient if the flight is not full. If the flight is full, airlines must document the exact weights (and will then, usually charge the excess baggage fee) for safety. If several people are traveling together, it is possible to "pool" the baggage and divide the total weight between all the passengers. This works great if you don't have an excess on the total amount. Agencies sending large groups often then charge each family a set amount to cover the excess. If you packed light and other traveling companions didn't you might wind up paying for their baggage. This is something you might want to discuss, ahead of time, with your agency. If you are traveling with an extra suitcase of orphanage donations, you might want to ask your agency to give you a "humanitarian" letter stating what you are bringing. It often means the difference between paying an excess charge and a nice airport supervisor waiving the charge.  Many of the carry-on bags sold in stores are not a size that will fit under a seat or in a normal coach overhead compartment. Each airline varies by aircraft but a safe size is 9"x14"x21". This size bag can fit under most airline seats. Remember that size includes the handle. Baggage allowances in business class are a little more generous. Again, with carry-ons, if a flight is full, airlines will police the carry-on size a lot more that if the flight is not full. When you travel, always make sure that you put a copy of your itinerary in every checked and carry-on bag. Always put a luggage tag on your carry-ons in case you leave one at a gate or security checkpoint. If you have the security luggage tags, a copy of your itinerary can be folded and put behind your ID label. It is also important to leave a copy of your itinerary with friends and family so they have emergency contacts for you and do not have to rely on trying to reach your agency, especially if there is an after hours or weekend emergency.  Remember the family above whose bags took 3 days to reach them. The bags were identified as misrouted before the lost bag claim hit the computer. Consequently, the bags were sent back to their city of origin (Newark) and then had to head back to China when they claim was finally taken at their destination. If they had  a copy of their travel itinerary in the baggage, the agent might have contacted the China destination city before sending the bags back to Newark.

Passports-For those who frequently travel internationally or are traveling with a companion that does a lot of international travel, make sure to check the passports to make sure that not only are they valid for a period of 6 months after the expected return date from China but that they have enough pages available  for not only a Chinese visa but entry and departure stamps. A recent adoptive parent just had a last minute emergency when their traveling companion's passport was rejected by the Chinese consulate as not having enough available pages. This necessitated an emergency US passport renewal as the US passport office would not add additional visa pages to the valid passport. If you are traveling alone, and not with a group, but have a translator meeting you on arrival, insist that any rerouting of your flights be documented by the airline in your reservation. This is very important if the airline is changing you to another airline. This way, when you do not show up for your scheduled flight, your translator will be able to check with the airline and then know your new arrival. There are often weather, mechanical, holiday or flight delays when you travel. Check with your agency, before you travel, to see what notification they need if you will not arrive at your destination on time.

Patricia    (mom to the miracle child , Kylie Lan ,  Seedlings, Inc.)

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Special thanks to Kelly for creating this page