We often get asked whether travel insurance is a necessity when planning a trip. For us, it is one of the most important things you need when traveling and we usually purchase immediately after booking airline or train tickets and make hotel reservations. Whether we are traveling domestically or internationally we always purchase travel insurance.
It is important to remember that even if your credit card offers travel insurance, it is often minimal coverage or only covers items that were purchased with the credit card. When you are making your decision about what type of travel insurance to purchase, you need to consider the type of trip you are taking so you can ensure that you are covered adequately.
Depending on your trip, you want to ensure that the travel insurance covers:
- Visits to a doctor and/or hospital whether you are sick or injured during your trip.
- Whether you have to cancel your trip for personal reasons.
- If your trip is cancelled by an airline or rail service, does it cover all things that have been pre-purchased or reimburse deposits.
- If you need to be evacuated from your location.
- Broken or stolen electronics.
- Baggage being lost or stolen.
- Offers various types of plans that suit what you need.
When we travel internationally, we use World Nomads Travel Insurance. They offer comprehensive plans for all types of travel. Fortunately, we have not had to use our travel insurance, but it offers piece of mind for a minimal cost and the expenses it could save. Another reputable travel insurance company, that offers a wide variety of plans, is Visitors Coverage . We have not used them, but we know several people who have.
Regardless of who you choose for your travel insurance, it is definitely a worthwhile investment. We have been fortunate to have not been in a position where we had to use our insurance, but we have heard from so many people who having travel insurance was literally a lifesaver. Whether it was getting a helicopter to fly someone out of the jungle with a broken leg or getting home after a natural disaster, not having to worry about the added expenses that might come into play is well worth the peace of mind that travel insurance provides.
Since the husband and I both have elderly parents, I always buy a plan whose definition of “family” is very broad. Our credit card has good coverage, but will only cover a trip interruption or cancellation in the event that one of US gets sick or dies, not if one of our parents gets sick or dies.
We have recently seen companies announcing plans which seems to provide more coverage for things that could happen during a trip for “older” travelers.