Friday, May 29, 2009

Planning Fall Family Trip to Japan

This fall the whole family will be visiting Japan for a period of about 2 weeks. I purchased the tickets this afternoon, so it’s pretty much a done deal – non-refundable tickets. Total cost for all four of us runs around $5500 from Petersburg to Narita. The trip over requires an overnight stay in Seattle. The trip back does not (unlike my trip this month which did because it was paid for by miles and I didn’t have much of a choice in selecting flights).

I also purchased travel insurance, given that this trip is still five months away and a lot can change between now and then, not to mention the unpredictable nature of travel in SE Alaska.

I discovered it is important to check quotes and not just necessarily accept the first quote that is offered. The travel website offered a policy for about $295 during the initial checkout steps. That seemed steep so I went directly to the insurance provider’s website and got a quote: $144. After I had purchased the tickets, the confirmation page showed a new quote: $241. Hmm… I went with the $144 directly from the provider. The $295 policy included a Concierge feature that I really don’t need. Other than that I could not find any differences in coverage.

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