Travel Insurance for a Jamaica villa rental … What a Rip Off! Or is it?

Travel Insurance for a Jamaica villa rental … What a Rip Off! Or is it?

Think travel insurance for a Jamaica villa rental is a rip-off? You may not think so if your trip is interrupted or cancelled for reasons beyond your control.

No-one wants to think that his or her flight will be delayed or cancelled due to bad weather but you only need to think of the unrelenting series of winter storms in 2013 and 2014 to know that it can and does happen.

I got trip cancellation insurance

Think of the challenges those stranded passengers must have faced trying to rebook their flights. Some had to wait days to get to their destination. It must have been even worse trying to rebook people travelling as part of a group as opposed to people travelling solo or as couples. To top it off, the airlines don’t owe you a dime for delays due to acts of nature, such as snow storms.

And it isn’t just the weather than can cause problems. On a much-anticipated trip to South Africa, which entailed connections in Atlanta and Amsterdam, the initial leg of our flight was delayed due to mechanical difficulties. That, in turn, meant that a later connection out of Atlanta would cause us to be stranded in Amsterdam for almost two days waiting for the next flight to Cape Town.

The other option was to delay starting our trip for two days. The airline representative with whom we spoke acted as though either option was perfectly acceptable, despite the fact that we would have lost 2 or 3 days out of our trip, have additional expenses for our unplanned stay in Amsterdam, and would have lost out on two night’s lodging in Cape Town that we had already paid for!

On top of it, we had booked our tickets late so we got economy seats at almost business class prices. As it turns out, because of the class of the ticket, despite the high price, the agent was not willing to put us on an earlier flight that would allow us to make our connection, even though seats were available.

Fortunately, thanks to our Frequent Flyer status and a conversation with a supervisor, all three of us were able to get on a connecting flight in Atlanta just in time to catch the flight out of Amsterdam and so our vacation was saved. Let’s just say we were really lucky!

And don’t just think of trip insurance for your flight. Think of your villa too!

A friend of ours had planned a week’s vacation at a villa in Jamaica. She switched jobs a few months prior to the anticipated trip and then decided that she didn’t want to take time off so soon into her new job to go on vacation. Unfortunately, she cancelled the booking of the rental property less than 60 days prior to arrival and lost her money. She was very upset and felt that the villa owner was unfair.

Her reason for choosing to cancel her vacation was certainly valid, in her mind. Some people end up cancelling vacations for even better reasons like a personal illness or a death in the family; nevertheless, the bottom line is that a signed villa rental agreement is like a signed lease agreement. It is a valid contract and must be thought of as such.

Although you may have a valid reason why you can’t uphold your end of the bargain, and as much as the villa owner may sympathize or empathize with you, a contract is a contract. You can lose your money if you don’t have cancellation insurance.

To try to put the issue in perspective, consider the following:

1.  Some villa owners will refund your money if they are able to rebook the property for the same time. The sad truth, however, is that it is almost impossible to rebook a villa in the Caribbean that has more than 2 bedrooms in under 60-90 days. This is because most villa guests plan way ahead. Plus, groups have to arrange for airfare, which takes advanced planning. This is especially true for the larger villas. By cancelling, you have in essence deprived the villa owner of a week that he or she could have probably rented had you not promised to rent the property for that time-frame.

2.  Hotels have tens or hundreds of rooms so if someone cancels a booking it is generally not the end of the world. Their business model usually allows for a certain number of cancellations. Even so, some hotels are considering stiffer cancellation policies. A villa, however, is entirely different. Most Jamaica villas are not booked solid year round so the villa owner is depending on all bookings that come in as a way for sustaining his or her business for the entire year.

With your booking, you have reserved the villa owner’s entire inventory. If you cancel, there is no income that is coming in for that time frame. Had you not reserved the property, it is very likely that someone else, who would have kept up their end of the bargain, would have rented the place. This is one of the key differences between a hotel and a villa. You must understand this before you decide to rent a villa for your vacation.

3.  There are some expenses that a villa owner incurs once a villa is booked. There may be additional staff for example that have been contracted. If you cancel your booking, chances are the villa owner is still obligated to pay these people. Your cancellation could therefore cost the villa owner money for a booking that never materialized.

Lesson? Life happens. Delays can happen. Plan for the unexpected. Make sure you understand your villa’s cancellation policy and your responsibility should you have to cancel. Strongly consider trip insurance to protect your investment. Protect your vacation by purchasing good trip-delay and cancellation insurance coverage.

Companies that we have come across that offer travel insurance include:

http://www.vacationprotection.com  This is offered by CSA Travel Protection and promoted by HomeAway, the vacation rental website. This is for the villa stay and not for airfare.

http://www.Insuremytrip.com

http://www.squaremouth.com

http://www.worldtravelcenter.com

http://www.travelguard.com

https://www.diversalertnetwork.org/annual-travel-insurance

Disclaimer: The information provided above is for informational purposes only and does not constitute recommendations. It is your responsibility to thoroughly research your options to determine which service/policy is best for your needs. MakeItJamaica.com, Mais Oui Villa, its owners and/or staff bear no responsibility in this matter.

Til next time. Think and dream Jamaica!

Sherry, Darrell and Darrian

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About the Author Sherry

Sherry & Darrell, owners of Mais Oui Tennis & Spa Villa in Discovery Bay, Jamaica, consider themselves unofficial ambassadors for Jamaica. They look forward to using their insider knowledge to help guests create priceless vacation memories. Feel free to say hi!

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About the Author Sherry

Sherry & Darrell, owners of Mais Oui Tennis & Spa Villa in Discovery Bay, Jamaica, consider themselves unofficial ambassadors for Jamaica. They look forward to using their insider knowledge to help guests create priceless vacation memories. Feel free to say hi!