My original idea for a post about holiday travel was to assess the McAllister’s famous Christmas disaster and talk about how it could’ve been prevented. But, the more I thought about it and my life as a mother so far, the more I realized that leaving a child behind is definitely doable. There were a bunch of other parts that I just couldn’t get my head around (like what does Mr. McAllister DO?!), so, I decided to live in the beautiful suspension of reality that is Home Alone, and instead, discuss things that actually affect you and me – travel over the holidays.
Whether traveling by plane, train or automobile (note my other reference to a film featuring John Candy? You’re welcome), holiday travel can be stressful at best. I’ve written and spoken on how to best travel with kids and babies over the festive season, but what happens when there are elements to your journey that are out of your control? Living in Canada, it is not uncommon to have major delays or even flight cancellations due to weather. The plane coming out of NYC may have been cancelled and now your flight to Montreal is not running, or even worse, your flight to somewhere warm and sunny is no longer flying at all! The last thing you want over the holidays is to be stuck at an airport, lose your luggage (with all the presents in it!!!) or have your trip cancelled altogether. When flying over the holidays, particularly from snowy destinations, I always make sure that I have trip cancellation insurance.
When I was Lost in New York….(Get it? More Home Alone. Ha. But for real, I was stuck in NYC), I was able to use my travel insurance to get a flight home the next day, a hotel for the night, a toothbrush, toothpaste and some clean underwear.
Occasionally, I have been in the situation where a delayed flight has meant that I have missed a connecting flight, throwing off my entire itinerary. I was ready and called my 24/7 emergency assistance team and they helped me book a new flight, sleep in a warm bed for the night and get my vacation back on track. Obviously, all of this fantastic help depends on the t’s & c’s (AKA terms and conditions) of one’s policy so I always make sure that I triple check before I sign on the dotted line.
How would all of this have helped Mrs. McAllister on discovering she had left Kevin back in Chicago? Would cancellation insurance have saved Kevin from battling two Wet Bandits single-handedly in his house over the holidays? I’m not sure, to be honest. I’ve been reading through the small print of my travel insurance and I haven’t seen anything that references leaving a minor. Home. Alone. But maybe it will help you.
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