Why You Need Travel Insurance

Although planning for a trip can be expensive on its own, travel insurance also adds to your whole vacation budget. However, if you can’t afford to lose the non-refundable money you’ve paid for your trip, it is a smart investment.

Travel insurance isn’t just for expensive vacations or overseas trips. If you can afford it, you should buy it for every trip because you never know what might happen when you’re far from home. Most times, it will provide you with financial protection from common travel mishaps. Plus, if you experience a medical emergency while traveling, it can cover your medical bill.

Nevertheless, the decision to purchase travel insurance is entirely left to you. Your decision may be based on your circumstances, including your destination, health condition, and financial situation. 

This post will take you through the common travel mishaps and why you need travel insurance if you’re a frequent traveler. Keep reading. 

What is Travel Insurance?

Travel Insurance is a type of insurance that covers the costs and losses associated with traveling. It is a plan you purchase that protects you from certain financial risks and unprecedented losses that can occur during your travel. 

Generally, it covers medical expenses, lost luggage, flight cancellations, and other losses that a traveler can incur while traveling. Usually, the insurance starts to be valid from the day of your flight until you return to your home country.

Many travelers decline purchasing travel insurance because it is an additional cost to their travel budget. However, travel insurance is less costly than many travelers think, and beyond the cost, purchasing travel insurance adds an extra layer of protection and security to the traveler.

What Does Travel Insurance Cover?

The categories of things travel insurance covers include, but are not limited to, the following:

Trip Cancellation/Interruption Coverage

Trip cancellation insurance compensates a traveler for prepaid, nonrefundable travel expenses, and this reimbursement happens only if you cancel a trip for a covered reason. Acceptable reasons may include illness, sudden business issues, weather-related issues, a sudden death in the family, and so on. Keep in mind that you cannot cancel your trip for any reason and expect your insurance to reimburse you.

Trip Delay Insurance

This is one of the aspects where travel insurance works best. In case of a delay in your trip, your policy offers some financial relief. This is done as long as the traveler’s delay is covered under the policy for acceptable reasons. The benefits of this particular insurance may cut across expenses on food, lodging, and local transportation that you may incur during the time of the delay. However, before a traveler can qualify for the benefits of this insurance policy, they must have been delayed for the acceptable amount of time listed in the policy.

Medical Expense Coverage

When traveling out of the country, you should get insurance with medical coverage and emergency medical transportation. This is because your domestic health plans will provide zero or little coverage for you. With travel insurance with medical coverage, if you ever become ill or injured while traveling, the benefits can cover your medical costs, including doctor’s fees and hospital costs. In a worst-case scenario, you can even access an emergency medical evacuation service.

Baggage and Personal Effects Coverage

This is another important policy every traveler should look into. This insurance policy protects damaged, lost, or stolen belongings during a trip. Most organizations, such as airlines, reimburse travelers if baggage is lost or delayed, especially if the error is from the airline. However, the amount of reimbursement also has a certain limit. Baggage and personal effects coverage provides an additional layer of protection.

Why You Need Travel Insurance

If you’re still contemplating whether purchasing travel insurance is a necessary investment, here are some reasons to consider it:

Protection Against Unforeseen Cancellation 

Sometimes, you may have to cancel even the most well-planned trips due to reasons beyond your control. In such a situation, you wouldn’t want to lose all the money you’ve spent on the trip. 

That’s why it is a good way to protect you against the losses you may incur when you cancel your trip. When you cancel your trip for the reasons covered, your insurance will reimburse you for non-refundable trip costs. So, you can book your trip for another day with better prospects for traveling.

To Deal with Medical Emergencies While Traveling

If you have a medical condition, then you should consider getting travel insurance. Healthy travelers often think they don’t need emergency medical insurance. However, the truth is nobody is immune to illness or injury while traveling. You wouldn’t want to be stranded on foreign territory if you ever need medical intervention. Medical insurance will ensure that you’re provided with 24-hour assistance in case of any medical emergency. 

Protection Against Inevitable Travel Delays

Often, there are delays on domestic flights. So, you can imagine the number of delays that also occur on international flights. Travel insurance with delay benefits can reimburse you for any additional costs you may incur due to delayed flights. These include additional accommodation, meals or travel expenses, and lost prepaid expenses.

Protection Against Lost Luggage

Many travelers report that an airline has lost their luggage at least once in the past. Most of these travelers never got their bags back and consequently lost an irreplaceable item. 

When your luggage goes missing, travel insurance can save the day. There are two ways it can protect you in case your luggage goes missing.

• Baggage delay benefits: This reimburses you for the reasonable additional purchase of essential items during your trip if an airline delays or misdirects your baggage.
• Baggage damage benefits: these reimburse you for the actual price, actual cash value, repair, or replacement of your lost/damaged items. 

Takeaway

If you’re traveling domestically, travel insurance may not be necessary. Likewise, if you’re going on a refundable trip, you may not need it. However, if you’re exploring international destinations or have a medical condition, we would recommend purchasing travel insurance. Travel insurance always offers some level of protection and security against unforeseen circumstances. In essence, it generally provides invaluable peace of mind when making a trip abroad. So, if you’ve never purchased it for any trip, you might want to consider it now.

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