I am still surprised at how many coastal property managers allow guest refunds for stays that have to be cancelled due to named storms. In North Carolina, whenever I’ve booked a vacation rental on the coast, the property management company always recommended the purchase of travel insurance. They let me know at every stage of the booking that I would not be getting my money back in the event of a tropical storm or hurricane. My only course of recourse would travel insurance and they highly suggested I purchase it – especially if my travel was during hurricane season.
As a guest, that did not bother me. I can understand why a business cannot allow mother nature to interrupt their cash flow. Imagine having to refund all of those guests stays, especially during a busy Labor Day travel season, because of a hurricane. Yikes, what a mess.
Travel insurance isn’t that expensive and it provides a lot more than just protection from named storms. It protects against cancellation due to job loss, sickness and a death in the family. It protects not only your vacation rental accommodations, but flight costs too, as well as costs associated with lost luggage.
Here is a list of some of the items travel insurance typically covers:
If your property manager isn’t offering travel insurance or effectively mandating it by not offering refunds under any condition, then consider purchasing travel insurance on your own. Lodgix has a travel insurance partner that is reputable and makes issuance super easy, just visit:
https://lodgix.pablow.io/
Happy travels!