Coming and Going
Rest Insured
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MATTERS OF POLICY
Rest Insured
Are you wondering if that travel insurance you bought from Travel Guard is still good after its parent company, AIG , had to be rescued from bankruptcy by the government this week?
Fear not: You're still covered, according to the company.
Travel Guard spokesman Dan McGinnity told CoGo: "Travel Guard policyholders are not affected by the restructuring of our parent company. Travel Guard is strong, and the insurance company that underwrites our policies is strong, with ample resources to underwrite our policies and pay the claims of our policyholders." (The underwriter is National Union Fire Insurance, a member company of AIG Commercial Insurance, which McGinnity says has a "statutory surplus of $26.7 billion and invested assets exceeding $70 billion.")
Plus, insurance policies are protected by state regulators. In a statement issued Tuesday, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, an organization of insurance regulators, reassured worried policyholders: "The No. 1 job of state insurance regulators is to make sure insurance companies operate on a financially sound basis. If needed, we immediately step in if it appears that an insurer will be unable to fulfill the promises made to its policyholders."
McGinnity also offered a few tips to people looking to buy travel insurance , especially in this era of airline bankruptcy: "Consider a third-party travel insurance policy . . . that includes coverage for financial default. To ensure that you get this coverage, the policy must be purchased within 15 days of when you book your trip." Shop for insurance at http:/
STAGE WHISPERS
Broadway for All
Stumped on what to see since "Cats" retired its whiskers? Tired of pastrami on rye from the Carnegie Deli? To broaden your Great White Way experience, the Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, has opened the Broadway Concierge & Ticket Center, an information hub in Times Square. The center will help visitors plan their theatergoing experience with advice on shows, a list of restaurants that don't require a sprint to the venue, and parking 411.
"Our goal is to make the [theater] experience as good as it can be," says Charlotte St. Martin, the league's executive director, "and make Broadway accessible to everyone."
Hotel concierges, of course, provide a similar service . But because of the league's inside track, St. Martin says, her staffers have more current information on seat availability and prices. In addition, the center can help match patrons with shows most appropriate for their ages and thespian tastes. "No one else will have information about all 40 shows," she says.
The assistance comes with a purchase of theater tickets through the league, which charges a $6.50 service fee.
Info: 1560 Broadway, between 46th and 47th streets; open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.;http:/
TRAVEL TICKER
Spirit Airlines announced Wednesday it is selling advertising space inside its planes. The Mile High Media program's first advertiser: the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, which is also teaming with Spirit on package deals to the Bahamas. You can read all about it in the Bahamas brochures in the seat pocket in front of you and in ads plastered on overhead bins, tray tables and bulkheads. . . . Why not appreciate the changing fall leaf colors while getting some exercise? The nonprofit Rails-to-Trails Conservancy has come up with a list of rail-trails, multiuse public paths built along former railroad corridors, that offer optimal leaf-peeping opportunities. Choices include the 34-mile Virginia Creeper Trail, just above the North Carolina border; the Hudson Valley Trail, about 100 miles north of Manhattan; and the Missisquoi Valley Rail Trail in northern Vermont. For details, read the blog on http:/
BARGAIN OF THE WEEK
Virgin America has sale fares from Washington Dulles to Las Vegas and the West Coast. Price to San Francisco or Los Angeles is $149 each way, plus taxes; to San Diego, Seattle or Las Vegas, pay $159 each way, plus taxes. Taxes vary. Round-trip nonstop flight to San Francisco, for example, is $319 (including taxes). Some airlines are matching in select markets. Complete travel by Dec. 17; several blackout dates apply. Book by Sept. 25 at http:/
Reporting: Andrea Sachs, Christina Talcott, Carol Sottili
Help feed CoGo. Send travel news, road reports and juicy tattles to:cogo@washpost.com. By fax: 202-912-3609. By mail: CoGo, Washington Post Travel Section, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.
