We have no doubt you are ready to go and Exotic Asia is calling, but no one wants to lose substantial money in changing or cancelling travel plans. The decision to “go or not to go” must be yours alone, and Asia Desk wants to make sure that decision is not clouded by financial considerations. To assure that, we are encouraging each of our guests to purchase some form of travel insurance to protect yourself.
Important Note: On our final Payment Authorization form we require that you indicate if you have, or have not, purchased travel insurance. Again, purchasing travel insurance is at your sole discretion but, in our view, you should not leave home without it!
Travel Insurance Minimizes Risk to Your Financial Investement
In these uncertain times and to fully safeguard payments made to Asia Desk, travel insurance with provisions for cancellation will minimize your financial risk. If you follow our recommendations in purchasing a policy, it is one in which it first lets you insure the deposit then, just before making your deposit, allows you to increase your policy amount to cover the entire trip cost.
The objective of our advice, and the credits we offer for following it, should lower “out-of-pocket” expense to protect your investment in this trip. In most cases, the expense will be only a small percentage of the total trip cost, after the trip credit Asia Desk will be offering for you purchasing travel insurance.
"Cancel For Any Reason" Travel Insurance
The absolute BEST way to maximize your risk minimization is purchasing a 'Cancel For Any Reason' (CFAR) travel insurance policy, and these are still being offered by many companies. Although this is the most expensive form of insurance, it affords the best protection against financial loss.
Asia Desk encourages you to purchase either a CFAR policy or a policy that will cover cancellation for things like force majeure (sometimes called an Act of God), civil unrest, terrorism, or health emergencies, like a pandemic. What can be covered by travel insurance and the rules governing this insurance vary from state to state, although many commonalities exist and most of these policies cover up to 75% of your trip.
In order to find a reputable insurer which fits your needs, we suggest that you use the services of Squaremouth to compare policies and choose one which fits you.
How We Can Help
To encourage you to purchase travel cancellation insurance, preferably a CFAR policy, Asia Desk will issue you a trip credit, deducted from your final payment, when you have purchased this insurance. The trip credit amount varies dependent on several factors: trip cost, duration, destination, number of travelers and their ages, and state of residency for example.
When you move ahead with an Asia Desk arrangement, we will be asking you to initial our Intent to Travel form which will contain the trip credit amount for your arrangements.
Lastly, if the worst happens and you really must cancel your travel plans within a few weeks, or even days, of your departure date, Asia Desk will offer you a trip credit for whatever your trip cancellation policy does not cover (usually around 25%). In this way you are fully insured against any happenstance for only the cost of trip insurance with a cancellation reason valid in your state
Again, first step would be to insure your deposit amount when you initial the Intent to Travel form, then when your deposit is due, increase that coverage to the full amount of the trip. If the state in which you reside precludes CFAR, we suggest a policy that will cover “pandemics” in addition to normal travel cancellation such as sickness, accident, etc.
How it Works
Asia Desk has revised our policies and procedures with this new threat to travelers heading to Exotic Asia. If you choose to book a trip with Asia Desk and then purchase a 'Cancel For Any Reason' or other suitable travel insurance policy with a trip cancellation clause, Asia Desk will offer a discount of the trip costs by a pre-agreed-upon amount.
In order to qualify for this discount, the following must be true:
You must have booked a trip with Asia Desk, Ltd.
Provide proof of the purchase and email the policy to Sales@Asiadesk.net within one (1) week of the premium being paid.
The 'Cancel For Any Reason' clause or the terms for cancellation must be clearly noted in the policy.
The credit will only be applied after a deposit has been payed and will be reflected in the final Payment Authorization form from Asia Desk, Ltd.
In the case that your trip is indeed cancelled after payment has been made, Asia Desk agrees to extend an additional trip credit, in order to make up for the portion of trip costs which the travel insurance company does not cover.
This credit would be non-transferable, can only be applied towards a future Asia Desk trip, and is valid for 18 months from the date of cancellation.
This cancellation credit would be in the amount of up to, but not exceeding, 25% of the total trip.
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