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Laura Heidt heads up the travel insurance desk at Birmingham, Ala.-based Brownell Travel (the oldest travel agency in the U.S.), where she's found success as the agency's resident travel insurance expert — her close rate is an incredible 90-95%.
In this episode of Trade Secrets, the first of a two-part installment on travel insurance, Heidt speaks to Emma Weissmann (Senior Editor at TravelAge West) and Jamie Biesiada (Senior Editor at Travel Weekly) about her job at Brownell, and what advice she has for agents looking to learn more about selling travel insurance right now.
We’ll also hear from travel advisors Jaenine Craig and Korrine Johnson, who have questions about the differences between travel protection plans and travel insurance, and about Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) policies, respectively.
Additionally, the co-hosts discuss the changes travel insurance companies are making to their policies due to the current pandemic, and tips for advisors who feel intimidated by the sheer number of policies available to them (and these policies' fine print).
Heidt also gives advice on declination waivers for clients who decide to forego purchasing travel insurance.
Laura Heidt of Brownell Travel
Credit: 2021 Jenn MartinsResources Mentioned in This Episode and Related Reading
From TravelAge West
TravelAge West's Legal Lingo Column by Travel Attorney Jeffrey Ment
Five Things to Know About Selling Travel Insurance Right Now
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed the World of Travel Insurance
From Travel Weekly
Insurance Desk Debut a Timely One at Brownell Travel
With a Little Help From Our Friends
Making the Case for Travel Insurance
Making Travel Insurance Sales Part of Your Workflow
The Benefits of Education and Travel Insurance
Travel Weekly's Legal Briefs Column by Travel Attorney Mark Pestronk
Bad News, Good Sales for Insurance
The Details
Brownell Travel
www.brownelltravel.com
Have a Question?
If you're a travel advisor with a question about the latest travel news, trends, social media, best business practices or more, please send an email to tradesecrets@travelweekly.com. Bonus if you send a recording of yourself asking your question — we may play it on the podcast.
About Your Hosts
Emma Weissmann is a Senior Editor of TravelAge West, a print and online magazine for travel advisors based in the Western U.S. She is also the co-host of Humans of Travel podcast, where she interviews notable individuals in the travel industry about their lives — the highs and lows that make them human.
Jamie Biesiada is a Senior Editor with Travel Weekly. She is an award-winning journalist, including being named the American Society of Travel Advisors’ 2019 Travel Journalist of the Year. Her roots are in community journalism, where she was the editor of several local newspapers and a regional entertainment magazine.
About the Show
Trade Secrets, a podcast from the editors of Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, is where travel advisors ask — and answer — questions. On each podcast, our editors will ask a veteran travel advisor to join them and field listeners’ questions. Topics will range from business advice to industry trends, history and more — as long as it’s travel-related, we want to address it! Find Trade Secrets wherever you get your podcasts, or at www.travelagewest.com/podcasts.
