Travel is all about the fun and excitement of all your plans coming together for a wonderful getaway. What happens when travel is impacted by bad weather? One thing is we are very disappointed and can even be devastated. Our plans are delayed or, in some cases, completely changed or canceled. Allianz Travel Insurance –  bad weather travel tips can help you ensure your travel investment, worry less, and focus on getting back on track.

Planning travel during the seasons where the weather is lousy means paying close attention to all aspects of our travel itinerary. I talked with my travel buddy, Allianz Travel Insurance, about the steps we can take when booking travel, while en route, and when we are at our destinations having fun.

I asked my friends at Allianz Travel Insurance U.S. to come on the radio and share tips for being prepared. Dan Durazo, director of external affairs at Allianz Partners talked about several scenarios. His tips are helpful. 

There are many situations which are caused by bad weather and storms impacting travel in many ways, including:

Flight cancellations and delays

Storms can cancel or delay flights near the airport you’re leaving or heading to.

Hotel closures

Hotels may close in preparation for severe weather and not just once the storm starts. They may also be damaged and unavailable for vacationers before starting or completing their stay. They can remain closed for days after the weather has passed. This can directly affect plans where you feel you’ve dodged the storm, but nope, the destination may have damages that last long into the next weeks or months.

Transportation delays 

There are more ways to travel than airplanes. Trains, planes, and automobiles are getting us to our vacation spot.  What about once we’re there – public transportation and other commuter travel may be delayed before a storm or may be damaged or closed during the storm. Allianz Travel Insurance –  bad weather travel tips can help us with what to do next when things change before or during our travel.

Evacuations

The weather can take the fun out of our vacations. Sometimes, we must get out of the way even before the weather comes our way.  This is an important part of vacationing during rough weather seasons. During hurricane season, evacuations from areas with forecasted stormy weather are essential. You certainly can’t play around with this. Bad weather reports to evacuate means it’s time to go now—no questions about it. If a hurricane’s path is in a major travel destination, travelers may be ordered to evacuate, with no option to stay. 

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Cruise lines

Heading out on a cruise during hurricane season means being flexible. I know you’ve wanted to go to dream ports, but here comes the storm. Cruise lines may alter their itineraries or delay departures from certain ports. Make the most of it. What’s fun about cruising is the cruise line’s ability to change the itinerary yet keep everything focused on exploring great destinations.

Tours and attractions

Plans can change, and disappointment is a real thing. Tours, attractions, events, festivals – all the things you plan to do can be affected by the weather. It is no fun to arrive at your event and see a sign saying – canceled. Yikes, that’s the worst. It happens, and you need to know the next steps. Hold on to those tickets and receipts and get ready to make new plans. Tourist attractions may close in preparation for severe weather and may be damaged and remain closed. We can’t tell Mother Nature what to do. There are no magic wands to wave, but there are ways to keep the stress down, feel comfortable being flexible, and know what to do to protect your travel investment and recover from unexpected delays, cancellations, and trip interruptions. Travel insurance can protect you and Allianz Travel Insurance bad weather tips can help.

Check airline waivers

Some airlines issue waivers that allow travelers to change their flights without penalty.

Check credit card policies

Your credit cards may include a basic travel insurance policy to help cover some of your cancellation/delay expenses

Check Airbnb’s Major Disruptive Events Policy

Airbnb’s policy allows guests to cancel and receive a refund if a predictable weather event results in a mandatory evacuation order. Double check to make sure your rental falls within Airbnb’s policy and the host policy.

Trending Destinations

Ready to start planning your next trip. Here are the destinations trending and ready to show you the fun.

Allianz Partners reviewed more than 750,000 travel itineraries* around the Thanksgiving holiday to reveal the most popular domestic and international destinations for 2024. Roundtrip flights departing from United States airports from Saturday, November 23 to Thursday, November 28, and returning Friday, November 29 to Tuesday, December 3 were considered”, stated Georgia Ganser with Finn PR.

Keep Allianz Travel Insurance bad weather travel tips in mind.

Click here – Tips for driving in bad weather.