Lost Bags, Delayed Flights, Medical Bills: Tips for Selling Travel Insurance

Family vacations, business travel, and adventure travelers are in full swing now that the pandemic is far enough behind us. Yet, travel plans can have hiccups regardless of how well travelers prepare.

Travel insurance is an important detail many travelers overlook. They may skip buying travel insurance because they don’t feel it’s important or to save on upfront costs. Yet, lots of problems can happen on a trip - a trip cancellation, a medical emergency, lost luggage, and more.

You can position yourself as a travel risk advisor to ensure that travelers can still enjoy their experience even when things go awry.

We’ll explain how to find travel insurance customers, how to round out your book of business by selling or cross-selling travel insurance, and how to leverage screen-sharing to do it all from your home or office.

Shortcuts:

What Do Insurance Brokers and Agents Need to Know About the Travel Insurance Market?

• What Are Some Common Travel Insurance Coverages?
• What’s Not Covered in a Travel Insurance Policy?
• Who Is Your Target Audience?
• What Are Some Common Consumer Misconceptions?

How Can You Find Your Best Travel Insurance Prospects?

• Existing Client Opportunities
• Life Events That Create Travel Insurance Needs
• Building Travel-Related Client Profiles

How Can You Position Travel Insurance as Protection, Not an Expense?

• Use Real-World Scenarios
• Emphasize Potential Financial Consequences
• How Can Virtual Screen Sharing Increase Travel Insurance Sales?
• Which Strategic Partnerships Can Result in Referrals?
• Turning Travel Insurance Into a Profitable Niche

What Do Insurance Brokers and Agents Need to Know About the Travel Insurance Market?

To have success in the travel insurance market, you need to understand common travel insurance coverages. You also have to consider the coverages most travelers want and the common misperceptions they have about them.

The key to successful travel insurance sales is to identify the features a client is looking for in a travel protection policy and match them with a product that addresses their needs.

What Are Some Common Travel Insurance Coverages?

Regardless of how much a prospect knows about travel insurance, it’s important to meet prospects where they’re at.

A good place to start your travel insurance slide show presentation is by giving prospects a snapshot of the common coverages that travel insurance policies include, such as:

• Trip cancellation and interruption: Covers non-refundable expenses such as flights, accommodations, and costs of a trip interruption
• Emergency medical coverage: Helps with injuries and illnesses that happen during a trip, such as medical bills and prescriptions
• Medical evacuation: Pays for emergency transportation to the nearest hospital that can treat the injury or illness
• Lost or delayed baggage: Allows travelers to replace essential items (e.g., toothbrush, change of clothing) if luggage is lost or delayed
• Trip delay coverage: Reimburses travelers for unexpected expenses, such as meals, hotel rooms, and local transportation, if their trip is delayed

What’s Not Covered in a Travel Insurance Policy?

While travel insurance policies cover quite a bit, prospects should also be aware of what they don’t cover. Common exclusions, such as those listed below, should be part of your virtual presentation:

• Extreme sports: Skydiving, bungee jumping, deep-sea diving
• Pre-existing conditions: Existing conditions such as diabetes and heart disease
• Pregnancy: Routine checkups, normal childbirth, and newborn care
• Routine care: Non-emergency care such as medical checkups and dental cleanings
• Mental health: Care for psychiatric disorders or psychological treatments
• Alcohol or drug use: Claims caused by intoxication or being under the influence of drugs
• Unlawful acts: Loss of items or injuries due to committing a crime

Some prospects may know exactly what they’re looking for in a travel insurance policy. Others may know they need it, but don’t fully understand how it can protect them. Still others may be in the investigation stage and not even be sure they want to buy it.

Education can make all the difference, regardless of how much they know about travel insurance.

A primary issue in selling travel insurance is the traveler’s purpose. What type of trip are they taking (business, vacation, family visit, etc.) and what could put a damper on it?

Who Is Your Target Audience?

When defining your target audience, consider who needs travel insurance, where they want to go, and how they plan to get there.

Here are some audiences to consider as you define your target audience:

• International travelers
• Cruise passengers
• Families taking expensive vacations
• Retirees
• Business travelers
• Adventure travelers

Think about the types of travel insurance coverages that might meet each demographic’s needs and create a marketing plan for each target audience.

While consumers should understand travel insurance coverage, you can also help dispel myths about it.

What Are Some Common Consumer Misconceptions about Travel Insurance?

You might consider common consumer misconceptions as objections to the sale. It’s a good idea to anticipate the common consumer misconceptions and have ready answers to why the prospect should protect themselves with a travel insurance policy.

Here are some common misconceptions and how you can answer them:

• “My health insurance covers me everywhere.” Have you checked whether your health plan covers you internationally? Many plans offer limited coverage outside the United States, and emergency medical transportation can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
• “My credit card provides enough protection.” I encourage travelers to compare their credit card benefits with a travel insurance policy. Many people are surprised to find coverage limits, exclusions, or requirements that must be met before benefits apply.
• “Travel insurance is too expensive.” I understand. Most travelers hope they never need it. The real question is whether you’d be comfortable absorbing the financial loss if an unexpected event forced you to cancel your trip.
• “Nothing will happen on my trip.” Travel insurance isn’t really about expecting something bad to happen. It’s about protecting your travel investment if circumstances change unexpectedly.

An alternative is to ask an open-ended question, such as, “What would happen if you had to cancel your trip the day before your departure?” An open-ended question will encourage your clients to think about the potential risks on their own, which is often more effective than telling tales of other clients’ travel predicaments.

There’s no shortage of people who need travel insurance, as people travel all the time. The challenge is tapping into your CRM to find the best prospects for marketing.

How Can You Find Your Best Travel Insurance Prospects?

Your CRM is a gold mine of opportunities to find the best travel insurance prospects. Existing clients and life events are usually good clues for cross-selling opportunities. That’s a good start to building travel-related client profiles.

Existing Client Opportunities

Whether you specialize in residential, commercial, health, or life insurance, you’ll find existing client opportunities within your current book of business. See the list below:

• Personal lines customers
• Medicare clients who travel frequently
• Affluent households
• Small business owners

Life Events That Create Travel Insurance Needs

One of the things that makes selling insurance so interesting is that life is continually changing.

As your insureds go through various life stages, their insurance needs will change as well. See below for developments that could lead to a travel insurance sale.

• Retirement
• Destination weddings
• Family reunions
• Bucket-list vacations
• International travel plans

Building Travel-Related Client Profiles

With every conversation you have with your insureds, you have chances to learn more about them. Policy reviews and other conversations may highlight a client’s future travel plans. The key to leveraging that information is to make careful notes in your CRM about hints clients have given you about where they may be traveling and when.

Classify clients into the following categories or create some of your own:

• Frequent travelers
• Seasonal travelers
• Cruise enthusiasts
• Snowbirds

A confident salesperson can usually get prospects to see the value in a travel insurance policy, yet the expense can still be a hurdle to overcome.

How Can You Position Travel Insurance as Protection, Not an Expense?

Trips are expensive, and many consumers would rather spend their travel dollars at the destination rather than on a travel insurance policy. Travel risks may be at the back of their mind, yet mishaps can and do happen.

As part of your presentation, you need to help clients understand risk and how to cover it. It’s a matter of helping them understand the probability versus the financial impact.

Using real-world scenarios and emphasizing the potential financial consequences can often help clients focus more on the risks of traveling.

Use Real-World Scenarios

You won’t have to look too far in the media to find incidents that have negatively impacted someone’s travel plans. Here are some examples of incidents to look for:

• Medical emergency abroad
• Hurricane-related cancellations
• Airline disruptions
• Lost luggage incidents

Emphasize Potential Financial Consequences

No one wants to think about emergencies and travel cancellations when they’re looking forward to taking a trip. The reality is that these things happen, and they can cause immense financial strain and mental stress.

Point out that any of the following incidents could set them back financially, unless they invest a relatively small amount in a travel insurance policy.

• Emergency medical transportation costs
• Nonrefundable vacation expenses
• International healthcare expenses

As with all other types of insurance, what you are ultimately selling is peace of mind. Travel insurance can provide financial compensation to your insureds when the unexpected occurs before or during a trip.

With all this information at your fingertips, it’s time to create an impactful slide presentation to drive your points home and convert the sale.

How Can Virtual Screen Sharing Increase Travel Insurance Sales?

Consumers are fairly familiar with their other insurance policies, but travel insurance policies have unique characteristics that may not be quite so familiar.

A slide presentation is useful for sharing visual demonstrations that can explain travel insurance concepts and reduce confusion.

Clients retain information more effectively when they can see coverage details. They’ll stay more engaged when you can add videos and images to capture their attention.

The following suggestions should provide inspiration for creating an insightful in-person or virtual presentation.

• Review coverage side by side: Compare policy options, highlight coverage differences, and demonstrate value.
• Show real travel scenarios: Walk clients through claim examples, show how trip cancellation works, and explain emergency medical benefits.
• Use screen-sharing to overcome objections: Explain policy language, review exclusions, and address the customer’s concerns.
• Complete application process: Go over applications in real time and get applications signed on the first appointment.

An overarching benefit of a virtual presentation is that you can easily replicate the in-office consultation experience without the time and expense of traveling to meet the client. Virtual presentations are convenient and save clients time.

Most importantly, screen sharing can help you build trust, which can otherwise be difficult unless your client is sitting in front of you. Screen sharing reduces misunderstandings, simplifies the buying process, and helps clients feel confident in their decisions.

Which Strategic Partnerships Can Result in Referrals?

Seek out strategic partnerships to help build a referral network for travel insurance prospects your way.

Here’s a list of potential sources you may not have considered and how to network with them:

• Travel agencies: Referral partnerships and joint marketing opportunities
• Cruise specialists: Educational workshops and cross-promotion opportunities
• Financial advisors: Coordinated planning discussions and referrals from affluent clients
• Local community organizations: Connections with retirement groups, travel clubs, and chambers of commerce

Our tips and the right tools can help you turn travel insurance into a profitable niche to add to your book of business while increasing your commissions.

Turning Travel Insurance Into a Profitable Niche

Travel insurance can be a profitable niche for your insurance agency. Your success often depends on how effectively you educate your clients about the value of coverage before they travel. A happy customer will continue to buy travel insurance from you in the future, generating long-term revenue.

By focusing on education-based marketing, relationship selling, strategic partnerships, and digital outreach, you can create meaningful conversations that lead to higher conversion rates and stronger client relationships.

A screen-sharing tool like Crank Wheel can help you earn trust with your clients. By sharing your screen, you can visually explain coverages, compare plans, and show potential risks.

The potential for repeat sales, greater retention, and more referrals makes selling travel insurance a rewarding addition to your portfolio.

Try a demo of CrankWheel’s screen sharing tool to get started on selling travel insurance today.