Higher airfares and budget-busting gasoline prices mean a bigger 2011 challenge to keeping the family's summer vacation plans on the calendar. Some hotels, tour operators, and even a cruise line, offer relief with "Kids Eat and Stay Free" Promotions. Kids Free travel insurance from Travel Insured International® adds savings when one or more kids travel with insured adult relatives.

East Hartford, CT (PRWEB) May 05, 2011 - The rocketing rise of air and auto transportation costs this summer has been no friend to the traditional family vacation, but hoteliers, tour operators and even a cruise line have stepped up to offer some relief with "Kids Eat and Stay Free" promotions. Many vacation hospitality providers have wisely recognized that offering families price breaks and added value during their stay can make the difference between a week-long booking of three or more family guests or no booking at all. The leading independently-owned travel insurer Travel Insured International® adds to the savings with its "Kids Are Free" insurance coverage, along with its reminder that family vacation savings can be instantly lost on top of added, undue expenses incurred when an unforeseen trip disruption strikes the family that goes on their vacation without travel insurance.

"Kids Eat and Stay free" vacation deals are everywhere this summer, especially for children under age 12, and sometimes even older:

• Kids under 12 get the free deal, as they have for several summers, at the Holiday Inn Hotel chain, including the company's Sunspree Resorts in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and in Aruba.
• Kids Eat and Stay Free deals are on offer at numerous hotels on several Hawaiian islands with some including kids as old as 17 and under. Check Aston, Hyatt, Westin and Sheraton resorts for details.
• Kids 12 and under are now welcome for free with their parents at Iberostar Resorts in Mexico, the Comfort Suites in Paradise Island, Bahamas, the Wyndham Sugar Bay Resort on St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and several Dreams Resorts in Mexico.
• Up to two kids 12 and under can stay and eat free at the Hard Rock Hotel in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, when staying with one or more adults.
• Several resorts on the beaches of Aruba are offering Kids Free deals including the Divi Aruba, Tamarijn Aruba, Sunspree Resort, the Renaissance Resort and the Marriott Resort.
• Closer to home the Marina Inn at Grand Dunes in Myrtle Beach, SC, is offering the free deal for kids age 16 and under.

•Tour operators, including Apple Vacations and Cheap Caribbean.com, are selling an assortment of Kids Stay Free resort package deals to several sun-and-beach destinations.

•Cruise line NCL offered its one-week "Kids Cruise Free" promotion for kids age 17 and younger staying in a cabin with parents for all cruises booked between May 1 and 7, 2011. Watch for other cruise deals.

Kids Are Free Travel Insurance

Kids staying and eating free on vacation need the benefit of strong travel insurance to cover the risks of emergency medical costs for accidents, illness or a medical evacuation, as well as covering the added family travel expenses resulting from trip delays, misdirected or delayed baggage, and missed connections due to weather delays. Travel Insured offers "Kids Are Free" coverage as the perfect added savings needed to obtain valuable family travel insurance coverage, even when younger family members will be staying and eating free in the vacation destination. Remember that a good third-party travel insurance plan, such as those offered by Travel Insured, reimburses a family's covered claim with a cash refund, not a vacation credit or a deadline rebooking offered by waivers and other types of limited trip insurance.

The affordable way to avoid both disappointment and lost prepaid trip costs is one of three types of Worldwide Trip Protector Plans from Travel Insured that include Kids Are Free coverage. Families on the Worldwide Trip Protector comprehensive plan receive free coverage for all kids under 18 traveling on the same plan with a related adult paying for the same coverage. Families on the budget-priced Trip Protector Lite or Trip Protector Lite Expanded plan receive free coverage for one child under 18 for each related adult paying for coverage on the same plan and traveling with the child. All three types of plans include Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption, Trip Delay, Baggage Loss and Delay, among other coverage. Common Carrier Accident insurance, Renter's Collision Insurance, and even Sports Coverage to protect against golf equipment delays or contact sports injuries are available options in all three plans.

Keeping the family's summer vacation on the 2011 calendar is still possible despite rising fuel and travel costs. Remembering to protect prepaid family vacation plans is a must, however, so that if the worst happens the vacation budget can be saved to reschedule the trip for when the time is right.