Passports and Travel Insurance
Passports and your Covid vaccination card are two most important documents to bring on every trip. You should also consider buying travel insurance (see Travel Insurance paragraph below or visit our Travel Insurance for Seniors Post).
Passports and Travel Documents –
Passports are the most important documents that you are carrying when you travel, don’t lose them. Every traveler needs a passport, even an infant. The expiration date on the passport is very important. If your expiration date is less than six months in the future, you likely will be denied entry.
Renewing your Passports
Unless you are willing to pay for expedited service, you need to renew your passport in a timely manner. The government suggests renewing your passport nine months before the expiration date. iVisa is a company that can help you renew your passport or get a visa.
Passports – Global Entry Service
A service that Robin and Cos have found to be very helpful is Global Entry. This service allows you to skip most long queues in custom areas when reentering the United States. There is a fee that is currently $100, and enrollment requires an in-person interview process. Many of the more expensive credit cards, such as the American Express Platinum Card (see americanexpress.com) offer to reimburse the fee. Included in the application is enrollment also in the pre-TSA program.
Travel Insurance –
Travel Insurance is aimed primarily at international travel. However, it is also offered for some domestic travel. There are three main types of travel insurance: trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage, medical expense coverage, and emergency medical evacuation coverage. Most airlines and cruise lines will try to sell you travel insurance at the time of booking. It can be expensive and confusing as to what you are actually getting, so if you are planning to buy it, make sure you read the fine print.
Robin and Cos have an inexpensive emergency medical evacuation plan and have some international medical expense coverage through their Medicare supplemental program. Generally speaking, they do not normally buy trip cancellation or trip interruption coverage as they find the cost often not worth it and often claims can be easily denied. The emergency medical evacuation plan that they have is through Emergency Assistance Plus. This plan does not provide medical expense insurance.
For more detailed information about Travel Insurance and the best way to purchase it, please see our Post: Travel Insurance for Seniors. To compare Travel Insurance policies visit one of our two recommend Travel Insurance Partners: Insure My Trip or Square Mouth.
Other Important Documents
Other important documents that you carry are your credit cards, driver’s license, prescription lists and recently, as a result of Covid-19, your vaccine cards. Robin and Cos have found that keeping copies, both digital and physical hard-copy copies of your passport and other critical documents, credit cards, licenses, vaccine cards, etc. is critical.
Other Travel Planning Assistance
If you need additional travel planning assistance, here are some other posts you might wish to visit:
- Planning a Trip – This post will introduce you to the DIY planning process.
- Luggage and Packing – This post will offer you packing lists.
- Budget Strategies – This post will help you set a travel budget.
- When to Use a Travel Agent – This post will help you decide if you need a travel agent.
- Planning Tools/Spreadsheet – This post will discuss planning tools and point you to a travel planner.
- Travel Resources – This post will provide you with access to many travel resources.