Save Money When you Travel During The Off-Season

Planning to visit Hawaii, Aspen, New York, Paris or Napa, might require a hefty vacation budget, but if you time it right, you can visit these destinations when these places are at their most affordable. The best time to travel varies from destination to destination. That can mean shoulder season or off season, or finding that window in high season when rates take a dip, if only for a couple of weeks. And it's worth the effort, because the savings can range from 20 to 50 percent off high-season prices. They may not be truly "cheap”, but certainly more affordable.

Take London for example; both airfares and hotel rates fall between Oct. 15 and March 31, with the exception being the Christmas-through-New Year's holiday period.
The caveats here: weather and daylight. Wet, rainy and cold weather is to be expected, and the lack of daylight might turn off some travelers. In mid-winter the sun sets in London at 3:45 p.m. But if you accept that museums, the theater and restaurants are where you'll spend most of your time, you probably won't mind it so much.

Then there's Hawaii. Go now, while recession continues to leave thousands of empty hotel rooms throughout the state. If you're willing, postpone travel between September and early December, which has long been the low season for the Aloha State.

The month of May is a great time for Caribbean travel. By then prices could have dropped as much as 50 percent from winter highs, the weather is still terrific and the spring break crowds are gone. The weather gets warmer in June, but it can still be a terrific time to go. While July and August are quite hot, they might still be preferable to the weather in the U.S. at the same time. (Certainly cooler than our Arizona office!) September through November are the quietest time in the islands.
Of course there is one caution to heed in the Caribbean, and that's hurricane season, which extends from June through November. You should have travel insurance and stay at a hotel that has a hurricane policy (with refunds clearly spelled out).


Skiing in Aspen without dipping into your retirement fund? Go in early December. A rate at a popular luxury hotel was $219 a night for a mid-December stay in a basic room. In February that same room had jumped to $439 per night. Other dates worth looking at are the entire month of January, except Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.

Balmy breezes and empty beaches make Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket best during May and June. Before the private jet set arrive on these pricey islands every summer and fall, most hotels offer weekend deals to entice us regular folk. You'll especially see a lot of midweek deals. You can stroll these island beaches during May and June, but the waters don't really begin to warm up until July.

A trip insurance plan from Insurance Services of America fits nicely into your budget-conscious vacation plans. Since trip insurance rates are based on the cost of your trip, saving money at your destination means saving money on your coverage.

Call the experts at Insurance Services of America.

Show us your plans, and we'll show you ours!

800-647-4589

Spring Strike!

The friendly skies? Not so much.

Lufthansa pilots just had a strike. British Airways flight attendants are planning a strike. Now French (and possibly Greek) air controllers are on strike. French air traffic controllers are in day two of their action and air traffic is suffering from all of the above.




As Spring break approaches, what better time for air controllers to call a five-day-long strike? On Tuesday, France’s civil aviation authority ordered airlines to cancel 25 percent of the flights at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is a major hub for air travel in the European Union. At this time, intercontinental flights are expected to operate. But short and medium-haul flights were disrupted Tuesday and significant cancellations and delays are anticipated today and until the end of the week.




Fifty percent of flights at Orly, Paris’s smaller airport, which serves destinations within the European Union, French overseas territories and North Africa, have been canceled. Some smaller French airports have closed completely.



This strike follows Lufthansa’s main pilots’ union agreeing to postpone its strike until March 9th. Even though the German airline agreed to return to the bargaining table, its flight schedule has already been disrupted. Air travelers should expect to be victims of the domino effect.



As of Wednesday morning, flights from Paris to the U.S. are operating, but expect delays.



In the UK, the union representing more than 12,000 British Airways cabin crew members voted Monday to strike over changes introduced late last year to employees’ contracts and a proposed two-year pay freeze. Air traffic controllers in Greece planned a 24-hour strike today to protest planned government budget cuts — the second such strike in less than a month there. Athens International Airport warned on its Web site that all flights into and out of the Greek capital would be canceled as of midnight.




Before leaving for the airport, confirm that your flight is operating and be prepared to wait.



A trip insurance from Insurance Services of America is designed to protect you if a strike hinders your travel plans. Naturally there are some exclusions, and policy wording can be confusing, so for regular folks like you and me, here’s how it breaks down:

In order for you to be covered in the event of a strike, you must purchase your trip insurance at least 14 days before you depart, and if a strike has already been announced prior to you purchasing coverage, it will not be covered. (This goes back to the old cliché about purchasing homeowners insurance while your house is on fire.)

So what can Insurance Services Of America policyholders expect if they get stuck due to the strikes? While their fellow stranded passengers clamor for the ticket counter, our clients need only make a quick phone call while our travel assistants take care of business.



Due to the worldwide financial crisis, travel experts do not anticipate things getting better any time soon, in fact, they say it will probably get worse. Right about now, you might be planning your summer travel, and there is no better time to make sure your trip insurance is in place before another strike is announced.


Call the experts at Insurance Services Of America to help you find the perfect plan for your travel needs.

800-647-4589

Spring Strike!

The friendly skies? Not so much.

Lufthansa pilots just had a strike. British Airways flight attendants are planning a strike. Now French (and possibly Greek) air controllers are on strike. French air traffic controllers are in day two of their action and air traffic is suffering from all of the above.

As Spring break approaches, what better time for air controllers to call a five-day-long strike? On Tuesday, France’s civil aviation authority ordered airlines to cancel 25 percent of the flights at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport, which is a major hub for air travel in the European Union. At this time, intercontinental flights are expected to operate. But short and medium-haul flights were disrupted Tuesday and significant cancellations and delays are anticipated today and until the end of the week.

Fifty percent of flights at Orly, Paris’s smaller airport, which serves destinations within the European Union, French overseas territories and North Africa, have been canceled. Some smaller French airports have closed completely.

This strike follows Lufthansa’s main pilots’ union agreeing to postpone its strike until March 9th. Even though the German airline agreed to return to the bargaining table, its flight schedule has already been disrupted. Air travelers should expect to be victims of the domino effect.

As of Wednesday morning, flights from Paris to the U.S. are operating, but expect delays.

In the UK, the union representing more than 12,000 British Airways cabin crew members voted Monday to strike over changes introduced late last year to employees’ contracts and a proposed two-year pay freeze. Air traffic controllers in Greece planned a 24-hour strike today to protest planned government budget cuts — the second such strike in less than a month there. Athens International Airport warned on its Web site that all flights into and out of the Greek capital would be canceled as of midnight.

Before leaving for the airport, confirm that your flight is operating and be prepared to wait.

A trip insurance from Insurance Services of America is designed to protect you if a strike hinders your travel plans. Naturally there are some exclusions, and policy wording can be confusing, so for regular folks like you and me, here’s how it breaks down:
In order for you to be covered in the event of a strike, you must purchase your trip insurance at least 14 days before you depart, and if a strike has already been announced prior to you purchasing coverage, it will not be covered. (This goes back to the old cliché about purchasing homeowners insurance while your house is on fire.)

So what can Insurance Services Of America policyholders expect if they get stuck due to the strikes? While their fellow stranded passengers clamor for the ticket counter, our clients need only make a quick phone call while our travel assistants take care of business.

Due to the worldwide financial crisis, travel experts do not anticipate things getting better any time soon, in fact, they say it will probably get worse. Right about now, you might be planning your summer travel, and there is no better time to make sure your trip insurance is in place before another strike is announced.
Call the experts at Insurance Services Of America to help you find the perfect plan for your travel needs.

800-647-4589

Those Darn Monkeys

In my line of work, I hear some pretty crazy travel stories.

Many travelers figure they won’t need travel medical or trip insurance. I hear things like, “I’m extremely healthy”, or “I won’t be gone very long”, but what folks don’t realize is that anything can happen when you travel, regardless of your physical condition or what precautions you take.
Take for example the seasick traveler, whose false teeth fell out while he vomited over the side of a cruise ship, and put in a claim to his travel insurers for new dentures under “lost baggage”.

Take a gander at these actual claims made on a Travel Insurance policy:

Two vacationers in England filed a claim for damage to the paintwork of their car after it was licked by a herd of cows.

Two children visiting the beach with their family buried their parents’ video camera in the sand to prevent it from being stolen while they went swimming, but could not remember where. Thankfully, the insurers paid out.

A young British traveler, distracted by the appearance of a group of women in bikinis, broke his nose when he walked into a bus shelter in Athens. The insurance company paid the hospital bills.

A couple on vacation in Malaysia returned to their hotel to find that monkeys had stolen their clothes and scattered them all across the neighboring rainforest. Yup, the insurance company paid the claim.

A vacationer in Sri Lanka needed hospital treatment after a coconut fell on her head while she was reading in the shade below. Her insurance covered her medical expenses.

Destination wedding? A bride's dream Caribbean wedding was ruined after her dress caught fire on the barbecue. The groom picked up his wife and threw her into the ocean.

If you are planning a trip, big or small, BE PREPARED~ A comprehensive travel medical plan from Insurance Services of America will be all the protection you’ll need from the unexpected.

Lost In Translation?

My co-workers are wondering why I am sitting alone in my office laughing hysterically, so I will leave them to think I have lost my mind as I share with you the reason for my amusement.

Please enjoy the following,

MANGLED TRANSLATIONS FROM ABROAD:

In a Paris hotel elevator:
Please leave your values at the front desk.

In a hotel in Athens:
Visitors are expected to complain at the office between the hours of 9 and 11 A.M. daily.

In a Yugoslavian hotel:
The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid.

In a Japanese hotel:
You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
Our wines leave you nothing to hope for.

On the menu of a Polish hotel:
Salad a firm's own make; limpid red beet soup with cheesy dumplings in the form of a finger; roasted duck let loose; beef rashers beaten up in the country people's fashion.

In a Rhodes tailor shop:
Order your summers suit. Because is big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation.

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest:
It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose

In a Zurich hotel:
Because of the impropriety of entertaining guests of the opposite sex in the bedroom, it is suggested that the lobby be used for this purpose.

In an advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist:
Teeth extracted by the latest Methodists.

In a Rome laundry:
Ladies, leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time.

Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand:
Would you like to ride on your own ass?

In a Bangkok temple:
It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a man.

In a Copenhagen airline ticket office:
We take your bags and send them in all directions.

In the office of a Roman doctor:
Specialist in women and other diseases.

From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo:
When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.

And to top it off

The Dairy Association's huge success with the campaign "Got Milk?" prompted them to expand advertising to Mexico. It was soon brought to their attention the Spanish translation read "Are you lactating?"

Coors put its slogan, "Turn it loose," into Spanish, where it was read as "Suffer from diarrhea".

Scandinavian vacuum manufacturer Electrolux used the following in an American campaign: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux".

Clairol introduced the "Mist Stick" curling iron to Germany, only to find out that "mist" is slang for manure. Not too many people had use for the "manure stick".

When Gerber started selling baby food in Africa, they used the same packaging as in the US, with the smiling baby on the label. Later they learned that in Africa, companies routinely put pictures on the label of what's inside, since many people can't read.

Colgate introduced a toothpaste in France called Cue, the name of a notorious porno magazine.

An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope's visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I saw the potato" (la papa).

Pepsi's "Come alive with the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave", in Chinese.

The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then researched 40,000 characters to find a phonetic equivalent "kokou kole", translating into "happiness in the mouth".

Frank Perdue's chicken slogan, "it takes a strong man to make a tender chicken" was translated into Spanish as "it takes an aroused man to make a chicken affectionate".

When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated its "Fly in leather" campaign literally, which meant "Fly naked" (vuela en cuero) in Spanish.

When Parker Pen marketed a ball-point pen in Mexico, its ads were supposed to have read, "it won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you". The company thought that the word "embarazar" (to impregnate) meant to embarrass, so the ad read: "It won't leak in your pocket and make you pregnant".

If you're traveling to Tokyo, are you prepared to be toodled with vigor?

What of the airline takes your bags and sends them in all directions?

What if you become impregnated by your pen while flying naked to Mexico?

Yeah, we've got a plan for that.

At Insurance Services of America, we specialize in International Travel Medical and Trip Insurance.

Give us a call for prompt, professional, personal service.

800-647-4589

You never know what might happen while the chambermaid is flattening your underwear.

The REAL Meaning of Christmas

Merry Christmas from your friends at

Insurance Services of America!

Gobble up these Thanksgiving Travel Tips:

It’s hard to believe but we’re only a few weeks away from Thanksgiving. Travelers who are planning to fly somewhere and haven’t booked yet should be prepared for some painful fares and middle seats. For those who have booked and have confirmed reservations, here’s a trio of tips from Consumer Traveler, from the obvious, to perhaps the not-so-obvious.

1. Forget having a “normal” airport experience. Planes full of families and leisure travelers are just not the same as equally-full planes of business travelers. Occasional travelers are often less “entitled” than regular fliers, which is a good thing. But they don’t have the “rules” memorized, which is not.
Plenty of folks in security lines will be stopped for cell phones in pockets, water bottles in carry-ons, etc, etc. And, due to people cashing in miles and frequent fliers bringing their families, some of these people will be in the elite lines. (One line was held up recently by a young child who at first refused to take his shoes off.)

2. Full planes and iffy late November weather don’t increase the odds for a successful checked luggage experience. Especially as airlines try their best to keep flights on time, as they know people really want to make it home for the holidays. Getting baggage to destinations together with their owner is a goal, but a lower priority. In additional, leisure travelers tend to check more bags, so there’s simply more volume.
This doesn’t mean not to check your luggage, but if you have a special dress or outfit you REALLY want to wear for a holiday meal, or anything you must have within 24 hours of arrival, try extra hard to put it in your carry-on.

3. Bring a sense of humor. It’s not an easy travel holiday. Even people who are excited about visiting friends and relatives are usually at least a little stressed. And some are more than a little stressed. Plus, road warriors who are used to traveling and flying solo now are getting brought back to earth with family members. (The child who didn’t want to take his shoes off was with an elite-status frequent flier mother, who was incredibly embarrassed by her son’s actions.)

Keep these three Thanksgiving factors in mind while traveling and many maddening things that drive you crazy at the time will make great Thanksgiving dinner table stories later.

Whether you are driving, flying, or taking the train this Thanksgiving, don’t leave home without adequate travel insurance. Why risk your financial investment in the event of accident or illness, lost luggage, and missed connections? Call the pro’s at Insurance Services of America for a free instant quote, and see how affordable piece of mind can be.

And we’re not just talkin’ turkey!

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