Tune into Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio to hear Peter Greenberg solve your travel problems and answer your travel questions (click here to find your local station or here to listen to the most recent podcast). This week Peter tackled everything from travel insurance to clear-water beaches. 

Do you have a travel question or problem? You can talk to Peter at 1-888-88-PETER (1-888-887-3837) or email peter@petergreenberg.com. (Write “ASK PETER” in the subject line.) This week Peter will be standing by to answer your questions live between 7 a.m. and 8:50 a.m. ET on Friday, December 16, 2011.

Kent in Pasadena asked: I purchased a round-trip non-refundable ticket from LAX on US Airlines, September 25, 2011 for a roundtrip from LAX to Charleston, South Carolina on October 18, 2011 with the total cost of $637; I had to cancel due to an attack of vertigo, my doctor told me I couldn’t fly for one month, and I even got that in writing. US Airways said I could rebook within one year and pay a $150 re-issue fee… Today I went to re-book the same destination to discover the total round trip cost was now only $388 but I still have to pay the $150, any way I can avoid the reissue fee?

Peter said: The answer is, no…that’s the reason why they call it a non-refundable ticket. I hate this policy just as much as you do. The only way you could have avoided this situation was to take out travel insurance which would have covered you since you had a doctor’s note. Most travel insurance costs between 9 and 12 percent of the total cost of the trip, that’s the premium, but let’s do the math. The original cost was $637 to begin with, if you paid a $150 change fee, that brought it down to $480. If the airfare is now at $388, they actually owe you about a $100 back, so guess what? You only really lost $50.

For more information on travel insurance, check out the Travel Insurance category. 

Andrea in College Station, Texas asked: Would you have any suggestions for the most turquoise blue clear water beach in the United States…it doesn’t have to be continental?

Peter said: If you want a turquoise blue beach, you should go to Hawaii. Another option that is not continental, but is part of the U.S., is Puerto Rico. I love Vieques, an island about 10 minutes away from San Juan, which is also beautiful. If you want to go a little bit further, on a flight that’s actually shorter than Puerto Rico, go to the Turks and Caicos. There’s unbelievable water there and I highly recommend the islands.

For more information, check out: Dr. Beaches’ Best Beaches List. 

Frank in Detroit, Michigan asked: My wife and I are going to Italy in January for 10 days. I would like to take out additional insurance that if needed would fly us home to a United States hospital if necessary. I have called MedJet and MedEx; MedEx is much less expensive but I’m confused as to what the differences are between the two… have you ever used either one of these companies?

Peter said: In the interest of full disclosure, I have a MedJet Assist card; I’ve had it for over 12 years, it costs about $375 a year, it’s an annual premium. I’ve never had to use the card but I’m very happy to have it. With these policies, you have to look at the fine print. Every company promises that they’re going to medically evacuate you and repatriate you back to your home country, and that is true, but you need to look at the fine print because different policies say different things. One policy will send a medically equipped jet to fly you back to the hospital and medical facility of your choice–that’s the policy that you want. There are other policies that say they will fly you back to the medical facility and doctor of their choice–you don’t want that policy.

To find out the difference in policies—use the website insuremytrip.com, which gives you a policy language comparison chart that tells you exactly what is covered, and most importantly, what is not. One last caution,the last thing I would ever do, is buy travel insurance from the travel provider. I would not buy trip cancellation insurance from a cruise line or an airline, I would buy it from a third party because the insurance languages differ radically, and they’re not in your favor. And if you buy the insurance from a travel provider and they go out of business, so does your insurance. So always buy insurance from a third party.

For more information, review the Top 10 Reasons for Travel Insurance.

By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio