Whether you’re headed back to your hometown to see Mom and Dad, gathering with your old college buddies for Friendsgiving, or renting a quiet cabin with the kids, you may be especially ready to reconnect with your loved ones at the end of a long year. But of course you want to make sure that your travels are as safe as possible along the way. Here’s how travel insurance can help you go more securely this season.

1. Stay safe on the road with rental car protection.

Over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go—or at least that was the plan until you realized that your car probably isn’t going to cut it on the icy roads ahead (you really have been meaning to get those snow tires…and there’s also that little matter of getting the car’s heat fixed). Or maybe you even thought ahead and realized that a six-hour drive with your whole family packed in your modest sedan just wasn’t your idea of a great start to the holiday, so you’ve decided to (temporarily) upgrade to a more spacious vehicle. 

Either way, you’ve decided you need to rent a car for the journey ahead. Well, good news on that front: with OneTrip Rental Car Protector, you can get primary coverage for covered collision, loss, and damage to your rental—which saves you from having to use your personal car insurance if something goes wrong on the road. It also comes with our 24-hour assistance for any medical- and travel-related issues you may encounter, which can really help you breathe easier behind the wheel. And at just $11 per calendar day, it can be a much cheaper option than what you get at many rental counters.

2. Protect your deposit on a holiday rental house.  

When you were a tyke, you probably had all kinds of holiday wishes in mind: ponies, dollhouses, loud gadgets that annoyed your parents. But now that you’re an adult, your holiday wishes are much simpler—you just want a few days in a place without a connection to video conference calls. Which is why you’ve rented a house for you and your family to stay this holiday season. The pad you’ve picked has a roaring fireplace, a fully-stocked kitchen so you can still make a delicious holiday meal, and a shaky enough Wi-Fi connection that you can legitimately tell your boss that you’re unable to check email. The perfect set-up.

And here’s another set-up to get excited about: if you’ve put down a non-refundable rental deposit for your vacation home, travel insurance can help keep it secure if you have to cancel your trip for a covered reason (like illness or injury, a natural disaster, jury duty, and more). So let’s say a few days before your trip, you break your leg, and your doctor advises that travel is out of the question. Because you were smart enough to get travel insurance, you’ve got a way to recover your funds. So while you’ll be home for the holidays, at least you won’t be stewing about a lost deposit. Now whether you want to alert your boss that you will have a wireless connection after all? That’s up to you.

3. Get help for just about anything with 24-hour assistance.

Let’s face it: life is unpredictable, and sometimes you don’t know what you’ll need until you need it. Which is exactly why our 24-hour assistance is one of the best benefits of travel insurance. You can call us anytime to get help with all kinds of medical- and travel-related needs, big and small.

For instance, let’s say you’ve been enjoying a day in the snow at your destination, and realize that your teen son decided to forgo some of his winter apparel for most of the day. In fact, it now appears that he has what looks like pretty severe frostbite on his hands. You want to get him to a doctor ASAP—but you’re three hours from home and you’re not sure of the best place to go for care. So you call our 24-hour assistance, and one of our friendly professionals helps you find a prescreened medical facility nearby, where you get your son the treatment he needs.

4. Take safety features wherever you roam with the Allyz® TravelSmart app.

No matter where you’re headed this season, if you have an Allianz Travel Insurance plan, you have our free Allyz® TravelSmart app. And that means along with giving you a convenient way to see your plan benefits all in one place, you’ll have access to some seriously handy safety features.

First up is the Alerts feature, which gives you timely location-based updates about developing events around you—things like weather, security, transportation, culture, and more. For instance, let’s say you’re driving to your destination. You see an update about a major thoroughfare being closed, so you know to take an alternative route, saving you time and hassle.

Then there’s the Around Me feature, which helps you find nearby medical facilities, pharmacies, and police stations. So let’s say you’ve been enjoying your trip when a bad headache hits. You can use Around Me to find a nearby pharmacy for the right meds.

And that 24-hour assistance we talked about? With Allyz TravelSmart, you can access it in just a few clicks, so it’s always easy to get in touch with us for whatever you need, anytime.

5. Let someone else do the legwork with Concierge services.

While the holidays are known for being the most wonderful time of the year, they’re also infamous for being incredible stressful. Luckily, in addition to making your holiday travels safer, travel insurance can also help make them simpler with our Concierge services.

Let’s say you’d love to do a nice holiday dinner on your trip, but don’t feel comfortable eating out at a restaurant with your family. So you call our concierge specialists, who provide a list of nearby restaurants that can whip up a big holiday meal for pick-up. Or they can also help you find various activities where you are—like holiday light tours, where you and the fam can enjoy millions of brilliant bulbs from the comfort of your car (just be aware that you’re responsible for any costs associated with reservations and other activities).

No matter where you’re headed this holiday season, make sure you go safer with travel protection. Find a plan you’ll love today.

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