East Hartford, CT, May 5, 2010 – The year 2010 is four months old and has seen nine major disasters affecting the world of travel. As a result, travelers are getting serious in considering the advantages of a professional travel agent to help in a travel emergency, and a travel insurance plan that provides both financial and emergency assistance when an unforeseen natural disaster disrupts the trip.

Travel Insured International (www.travelinsured.com) reminds travelers it is crucial for them in obtaining travel insurance to cover a future disaster to buy an insurance plan before a disaster event occurs, and preferably when making their initial trip deposit. This ensures that the plan was purchased before a disaster event was identified or known, thereby qualifying it for coverage. Additionally, buying a Travel Insured plan gives travelers access to Worldwide Emergency Travel Assistance services, available 24/7 wherever they are traveling under their plan and need help to re-route their itinerary or find emergency accommodations, especially when their own travel agent or online booking site is unavailable.

At least nine major natural disasters have affected travel thus far in 2010:

• The month of May has already seen major floods in Nashville, TN, forcing the famed Opryland Hotel’s evacuation and flooding a large downtown area.
• April brought the devastating volcanic ash from the Iceland eruption closing Europe airspace, covered as an unforeseen weather event for Travel Insured plans purchased prior to April 15. The same event has continued with some ongoing effects into May.
• Other April events included an earthquake in northwest China, deadly floods in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and a second earthquake in Calixco and Tijuana, Mexico.
• March brought the “nor’easter” storm to the eastern U.S. with record floods and falling trees rendering many homes uninhabitable in New Jersey and Rhode Island.
• February saw an earthquake centered in Concepcion, and affecting Santiago, Chile.
• January started the year with floods and mudslides closing roads and forcing evacuations from Machu Picchu, Peru, following the massive earthquake that devastated Port au Prince, Haiti.

Trip Cancellation

Travel Insured’s comprehensive Worldwide Trip Protector Gold and Worldwide Trip Protector plans can provide Trip Cancellation coverage when a covered Trip Delay causes the insured to lose 50% or more of his or her trip, or when authorities order a mandatory evacuation of the destination with less than 50% of the trip remaining when the evacuation ends. The same plans, as well as Worldwide Trip Protector Lite or Lite Expanded, can cover when a natural disaster renders the destination accommodations uninhabitable. All plans can cover when weather causes complete cessation of the services of the insured’s common carrier for at least 24 consecutive hours.

Trip Delay

Travel Insured’s Worldwide Trip Protector plans will cover for Trip Delay when the insured is delayed a minimum or either 6 or 12 hours, depending upon the selected plan, due to a common carrier delay, including for bad weather. Trip Delay can reimburse unused land or sea accommodations, added expenses for meals and accommodations, reasonable transportation expenses and, in most plans, an economy airfare to catch up to the trip or reach the return destination.