Many covered under other policies

NEW YORK - Rushing to catch a plane, you pass a come-on for flight insurance. You flash back to recent airplane crashes and wonder, "Should I bite?"

Probably not.

If you are insurance-savvy, you already have life insurance that will result in payment to your survivors. If you are on a business trip, you may be covered by your company's policy.

Or if, like the vast majority of travelers, you charged your ticket on a major credit card, chances are high that the card provides automatic coverage.

Even if you aren't otherwise covered, paying extra for flight insurance doesn't make sense, advises Joseph Belth, professor emeritus of insurance at Indiana University and longtime critic of the industry.

"A person should buy life insurance that will pay out no matter what his cause of death," Belth said. Flight insurance might give a "white-knuckle flier" that extra measure of confidence, "but you could get the same feeling out of drinking some booze on the plane."

The risk also makes the purchase questionable. Chances of dying in an airline crash are about one in 3 million.

But people continue to buy the policies. For some, it is part routine. Older travelers are accustomed to buying it. Couples flying together purchase it for the benefit of their children. Parents buy it for flying dependents.

"I buy it every time I fly," said Donna Hahn, a 39-year-old Seattle hospital technician and mother of two. She never charges the tickets for her annual vacation flights, and never books them through a travel agency. And although she has a life insurance policy, she buys $150,000 of flight insurance, which costs about $40.

"The possibility of a crash - that's a reality," Hahn said. "It can happen any time, for any reason."

Public interest in insurance typically heightens after a big crash. Mutual of Omaha has seen a 5 percent increase in sales since the ValuJet crash on May 11 in the Florida Everglades and the explosion of TWA Flight 800 July 17 off Long Island, said Holly Richmond, an executive at a subsidiary that handles policies sold at airports.

Inquiries by MasterCard cardholders have gone up 15 to 20 percent, while American Express Corp. has had a 5 percent increase, said spokesmen at those companies.

Flight insurance has evolved since its creation in the 1950s, when travelers deposited 25 cents for every $1,000 of coverage

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about When do you need flight insurance??
We want to hear your view. Write now!