By: Megan Stoffield
With spring coming up soon, many of us are booking flights and reservations ready to go on vacation. Whether it be all the way across the world or just a few hours away it would still be a bummer if something came up causing the trip to be canceled. If your trip gets canceled due to injury, sickness, weather, etc., how much money will you lose? Can you get a refund? Is buying travel insurance worth it? Travel insurance can be a lifesaver in many cases, but at the same time be a waste of money and it’s important to know when to spend the extra dollars on it when booking a trip.
What is Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance is a purchased protection for losses or emergencies that can occur while you are traveling. Common things that travel insurance covers is a medical emergency that occurs right before a trip or during the trip, or even just a delayed or lost suitcase. In addition to being insured for certain circumstances on your trip, travel insurance commonly comes with assistance services. These assistant services can help replace lost luggage, passports, and even assistance in arrangement and monitoring of medical care in case of an emergency. There are different types of travel insurance for cruises, international trips, resorts, etc. Each type of travel insurance comes with its own fine print, so always read all details to ensure you will be fully protected in any type of emergency that could occur during your specific trip.
When is it worth it?
Travel insurance can be well worth the cost if you have to cancel your trip last minute or even during your trip. For example a close relative of mine had a two week trip to Scotland planned, but tore his achilles tendon a few weeks before the trip which came with a very long recovery. They were able to save all but $200 on the whole two week trip of reservations and flights. The main reasons that travel insurance is worth it is for international trips, for cruises, and medical reasons.International trips tend to be much more expensive, planned out, and longer in length than domestic trips and this leads to much more money on the line if the trip needs to be canceled. There are many websites and resources such as insuremytrip.com that will give quotes for the whole trip and recommend the best insurance to cover your whole trip and reservations rather than just the flight or lodging that companies offer. With that said, those trips that are very planned out with upfront costs that add up, trip insurance is worth it.
Cruises are mostly all paid up front, have a high risk of problems that cause cancelations, and are many times international and those together are a recipe for disaster unless you have travel insurance. Additionally, with cruises it is reliable to get your insurance through the cruise line as long as it covers everything you need it for.
Lastly, medical emergencies can come up in many trips and if you are somewhere international or with little access to adequate medical care, travel insurance can help a lot. Based on the type of insurance, it can cover upfront initial costs of care and make sure your treatment is being monitored and arranged for you no matter where you are: but only specific insurance plans will cover these things.
When should you skip it?
There are some cases in which travel insurance can end up being a waste of money and hassle. These cases include domestic travel, for flights alone, and if your credit card already offers it.
Domestic travel tends to be much cheaper per person and less planned in advance than international trips are. Additionally, it tends to be much easier to cancel reservations or flights in the US over expensive international flights or plans. If a medical emergency arises and you have medical insurance, based on your plan it will be easier and more affordable to get care than if you were in another country, so travel insurance for that case isn’t necessary.
For flights alone, most simple travel insurance policies aren’t worth the cost of coverage for flights. With most flights if they are delayed or even canceled, the airline themselves will get you on the next open flight or provide compensation in terms of a refund or credit for another flight due to the cancelation. If you are to get insurance for a flight, make sure to research the plan closely to ensure that you will be covered and it is worth the cost.
Lastly, many credit card companies already offer travel protection as a perk of the card itself. Some companies offer mid-trip interruption insurance while others will cover lost baggage or trip cancelation coverage. As you sign up for a credit card it should be listed if any form of travel insurance is a perk of the card, but it is always worth it to ask and avoid the extra fees of separate travel insurance if your card already has it.
In summary, travel insurance can be a life saver financially or a waste of money. It is beneficial that you look into the trip you are booking and the coverage options that are available, and what the policies actually cover. Each trip is different and though it is never fun to have to use your travel insurance, in many cases it can save tons of money and stress.
Works Cited
Allianz. “Travel Insurance 101: How Travel Insurance Works.” Allianz Travel Insurance, www.allianztravelinsurance.com/travel/planning/how-travel-insurance-works.htm.Leonhardt, Megan. “4 Times You Can Skip Travel Insurance-and 3 Times You Should Buy It.” CNBC, CNBC, 20 June 2018, www.cnbc.com/2018/06/15/when-you-can-skip-travel-insurance-and-when-you-should-buy-it.html.
Nikki, and Nikki. “Is Travel Insurance Worth It? Here's Your Guide to Decide.” She Saves She Travels, 3 Apr. 2019, shesavesshetravels.com/travel-tips/is-travel-insurance-worth-it/.
Weisbaum, Herb. “Is Travel Insurance Worth It?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 6 Mar. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/travel-insurance-worth-it-ncna978911.
Travel insurance is a topic that is very important. Before reading this, I didn't know too much about Travel Insurance since my family has only ever with in the United States. You brought up some pretty good points about when you should use travel insurance vs. when you shouldn't. I had no idea that some credit card companies offer travel protection! I am curious to know more about offers that credit card companies have for travel. I wonder what credit card companies offer this and if they have other perks along with this. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that I fully realized what travel insurance can really do for you in the case of unexpected outcomes, and that would be a really good safety net for many travelers. There was news coverage about travel insurance recently and what it would mean in terms of the corona virus cancelling and shifting many people's travel plans. They said that many travel insurances do not offer coverage for cancellations due to corona virus for new customers, which almost makes it less valuable during an epidemic like this for travelers looking for coverage.
ReplyDeleteI feel like travel insurance is not thought about much when a trip is being planned by somebody, as they do realize things that could happen during the trip that could cause consequences, but they do not realize that there is actual insurance to help them with it, not that they should get travel insurance during certain situations. I think more people should know about this because even I did not realize the importance of this, and would have just gone off without even thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteI am not very familiar with travel, as I have only been on a plane twice, both times going to/from California, but I agree that travel insurance can be a waste of money for flights such as those. Generally, to me, airports seem very well put-together. Plus, it'd be especially wasteful if you were to just bring a carry-on bag, as there's no way that would be left behind. As for international travel, there are a lot more things to be worried about. But I think another big part avoiding needing insurance in the first place is just having the common sense to not go anywhere dangerous or with bad weather where delays/cancellations would be necessary. I heard recently about a cruise that's being quarantined because some people there are showing symptoms of the coronavirus, but why didn't they just... not go anywhere with an outbreak in the first place? Nonetheless, I hope the people on that cruise have travel insurance, as it'd definitely be worth it then.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the way you structured your post about when and when not travel insurance is needed. It didn't just tell me what it was, but gave me a full scope on when to use it. When I travel, my parents are the ones who deal with all the traveling finances, so I never had to look into this before and am unsure of even if we have travel insurance. However, as someone who aspires to travel a lot in my future both domestically and internationally, learning more about travel insurance is definitely something I need to begin doing.
ReplyDeleteI honestly didn't really even know what travel insurance is and I'm actually glad that I read this because you stated times where it is and isn't worth it. I mostly didn't know a whole lot about traveling and things like that because my family likes to drive around but for farther trips like you said it might be worth it. I feel like in most cases you just need to know where you are going to make sure that there isn't any bad weather or that the place you're going isn't a bad place. Those things you can tell on your own. However, you could still use this insurance on far trips and it might be worth it.
ReplyDeleteI never really knew very much about the costs that went hand-in-hand with traveling but now that I know, I have a much better understanding than before and I will definitly apply this new found knowledge to my daily life incase I decide to go on a trip sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteThis is a super relevant topic now because of coronavirus! Suddenly lots of spring break trips are out of the question: Italy, Japan, China (duh), even less extravagant locations like Washington state or NYC. Many travel companies have the fine print, as you said, that will end with a lot of customers not getting much of their money back. This was an interesting read, because as explained by other commenters, we don't talk a lot about travel insurance! Healthcare costs especially can be crazy outside of the US, with lots of paperwork and confusion. My brother shot his hand with a nail gun in Ecuador one time... which was lovely experience. Thanks for sharing!
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