Why this page exists
Travel insurance is a subject where a vague article can cost a reader real money. This page sets out how Hotelsca US researches, writes, checks and updates its guides, so that you can judge them for yourself.
Where our information comes from
We build guides from primary sources wherever one exists. In order of preference:
- Policy wording. The certificate of insurance, schedule of benefits, definitions and exclusions published by the insurer. When a guide describes how a benefit works, it is describing what these documents say, and it tells you which section to read in your own policy.
- Government and regulatory sources. The US State Department, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CMS and Medicare.gov, official EU and Schengen-area publications, state departments of insurance, and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).
- Carriers’ own documents. Airline contracts of carriage, cruise line terms and hotel cancellation policies, where a guide touches on refunds, delays, and what a travel insurer will and will not pay for.
We do not treat other websites, forums or marketing pages as sources. Where we cannot verify a claim against one of the sources above, we either say that it is unverified or leave it out.
How we handle numbers
Prices, benefit limits and medical cost figures change, and they vary by age, trip cost, destination, duration and medical history. So:
- A figure appears in a guide only when we can point to where it came from, and we say what it refers to.
- We do not publish our own estimates of what a policy costs. Where a guide discusses price, it explains the factors that set it and tells you how to get a quote for your own trip.
- We do not quote benefit limits from memory. If a guide gives a limit, it is taken from a named plan document and dated.
- Any number in a guide is an illustration, not a quote for you.
What we do not do
- We do not invent experts, credentials or testimonials. Guides are published under an editorial byline because that is who writes them.
- We do not rank insurers by the commission they pay.
- We do not present one insurer’s terms as if they applied to all.
- We do not republish old articles with a new date to look fresh.
Review and updates
The date a guide was last updated is shown on the article. We re-read guides when the sources they rely on change: a new State Department advisory, a change in CDC guidance, a revision to Medicare’s rules, a new Schengen requirement, or an insurer rewriting its policy wording. Guides covering fast-moving topics are re-checked more often than evergreen ones. Updates are made in place, and the date is changed only when the content has actually been re-verified, not to make an old article look fresh.
Corrections
If we get something wrong, we fix it. Email the contact page with the article’s title or address and the problem you found; corrections are the messages we act on first. Where a correction changes the substance of a guide, we add a note in the article saying what changed and when, rather than quietly editing it. Where the error was minor, such as a typo or a broken link, we simply fix it.
Independence and commercial relationships
Some links on this site earn us a commission if you buy a policy after clicking. This does not decide what we cover, what we say about a product’s weaknesses, or the order in which we present options. No insurer or affiliate partner sees our content before publication or has any right of approval over it. We are willing to say that a policy is poor value, or that a reader may not need insurance at all for a given trip. Our Affiliate Disclosure explains the arrangement in full.
What this site is not
Hotelsca US is a publisher. We are not an insurance broker, agent or advisor, we are not licensed to sell insurance in any state, and we cannot advise on your individual circumstances. Our guides are general information. The policy wording you are issued always overrides anything you read here. If you need advice about your own situation, contact an agent licensed in your state. If you have a complaint about an insurer, your state’s department of insurance is the body that handles those.