Did you know that they sell life insurance at the Taiwan airport? Big honking booths too. And people are buying it! Talk about preying on people’s fears. Especially considering that you’re much more likely to have died on your way to the airport than on the flight you’re about to take…
Life Insurance In Airports?
Posted on June 17, 2006 // 14 Comments
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They used to sell life insurance at US Airports too–perhaps they still do…??? I remember seeing the self-service life insurance boxes at various airports when I was younger. Basically, the idea was that you take a form, fill it out and then drop it in the metal box. I assume that one required piece of info on the form was CC number…
Most of the credit cards provide accidental death insurance and often double the benefit if the accident involves a plane.
given that most people use credit cards to buy tickets , the OTC insurance industry has taken a beating.
but if u look closely u can still see some kiosks
According to Freakonomics, the chance per hour of exposure is actually equal between driving and flying.
I just had to be nerdy and add that. :-p
But you haven’t seen how aggressively Taiwanese cabbies drive 😉
I think they still do sell “travel insurance” in US airports. It’s not life insurance.
I remember seeing them at LAX, back in the 80’s it was Mutual of Omaha (with the Indian chief logo). Sorry, I think Taiwan just copied the US on that.
So basically, all the texi cabs should have a “life insurance” surcharge. Your odd of winning that jackpot is GOOD.
The things we notice while traveling!
Buy your plane ticket with an American Express Card and you’re covered for a million dollars… FREE.
Why the hell would someone bother to buy this kind of insurance, when it comes free with most major credit cards?
It comes with most major US credit cards. The benefits and such aren’t necessarily the same elsewhere. I don’t know specifically for Taiwan issued cards (never had one), but wouldn’t be surprised if that wasn’t part of benefits, and Taiwanese would probably be your primary target market in the Taipei airport.
Your claim about dying in the way to the airport vs. in the air isn’t quite true; the airline industry always quotes deaths per mile figures to demonstrate their safety; they do well on these.
Of course, if you go per trip instead, Airplanes are around as dangerous as motorcycles. YMMV.
It might be unfair to say that selling life insurance at the Taiwan airport is preying on people’s fears.
People in Taiwan have government funded health insurance, which covers the medical cost, so the additional life insurance is not very popular in Taiwan. And even if people have additional insurance for accidents, sometimes it only covers accidents happened within the country. That’s why there are people buying insurance in the airport – to cover thier trip outside of the country.
And American Express Card is not the most major credit card in Taiwan.
Yeah I remember the kiosks at US airports in the 60s–you could get a life insurance policy for a quarter! I wonder with the credit card life insurance policies how many people actually know about them and/or notify the company of a death and make a claim. I’ll bet the insurance companies count on most people not making a claim.
I have a copy of a life insurance policy my grandparents bought in the Cleveland Hopkins Airport in August, 1956. $50,000 policy for two dollars for a round trip to San Francisco. They were worried as this was just months after two planes collided over the Grand Canyon. I remember buying insurance in airports in the late 1960’s. You’d buy it and then mail a copy to the beneficiary from the airport.
I bought such airport insurance in 1977 flying from Seattle to Detroit. $8 got me huge coverage, I think as much as 1 million. You just filled a super short form, put it in the provided envelope with cash, and dropped it in the blue box.