The difference between specific insurance and "cancel for any reason" insurance

The travel insurance options can be confusing, so here is (hopefully) a better explanation of these two options.

SPECIFIC INSURANCE costs $149. It is helpful for specific reasons such as illness or injury that would prevent your child from attending the trip. For example, if your child breaks his ankle the week before the trip and is no longer able to attend, you would get 100% of your trip money back (except what you paid for insurance). It is (as the name suggests) specific, which means it covers limited, unforeseen circumstances for which you may be required to provide documentation (a doctor's note, for example). You can pay for a specific insurance policy anytime between now and the final payment due date (the January before the trip). Under this policy, a claim can be made up to the day of the trip. If your child wakes up the morning we are scheduled to depart and has the flu, under this policy you are covered.

CANCEL FOR ANY REASON insurance costs $199. It includes all the coverage described in SPECIFIC INSURANCE, but this $50 upgrade also entitles you to cancel for any reason up to 48 hours prior to departure. In order to purchase this policy, you MUST pay for it up front when you pay your initial deposit, meaning your first payment to USA must be $349 ($150 deposit + $199 for the insurance). This coverage may be helpful if, for example, your child is an actor and may get a role between now and the trip. It also may be helpful if you make a deal with your child to maintain a certain GPA in order to be eligible for the trip. If there is a potential issue you can foresee now that would make it so your child would be unable to go on the trip, then Cancel for any Reason insurance may be a good choice for you. If you need to make a Cancel For Any Reason claim, you would get 75% of your trip money back.

Hope this helps! There is a complete explanation of all the details on the USA Student Travel website here:
http://www.usastudenttravel.com/documents/2009_WorldPassTravelGroup.pdf

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