Any time is a good time to travel. Sure, it depends on where you want to go and the weather season, but for most of us, everything from a quick getaway to an extended exotic vacation is something we love to do and can’t ever come soon enough.
You find the perfect location, plan your adventure, book the tickets, and upon check-out you are ask if you would like to purchase insurance to protect your trip.
Would you? Should you?
Often times not only do you wave goodbye to your family when departing for your vacation, but also to your insurance coverage – especially as soon as you leave the United States.
The most common items (deemed reasonable) covered by travel insurance include medical emergencies, visitor health insurance, delayed, lost, or stolen baggage, and trip cancellation/interruption (death, bodily injury, illness, disease, pregnancy complications, termination of employment, deployment, prohibition of travel to the destination, evacuation from the destination). Sometimes additional policies can be purchased for more specific needs such as pre-existing conditions, elective treatments or surgery, war, and terrorism. An added bonus of travel insurance is it is often there to help 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
So do you need it?
If you are a worrier, this might be a good way to give you peace of mind. If your trip is just a couple days domestically, you probably don’t need it. We gave you some of the pros and the type of coverage you can get, but there are also reason why you might decide not to get travel insurance. For example, you might already be covered on your current insurance, your credit card might already offer additional travel protection, or maybe you just aren’t worried about any type of loss. It all depends on the individual.
It is definitely worth the time to do some research about the coverage available and the health care services available at your destination. As always, it is better to be over-prepared.
Trip Cancellation
Many travel vendors (tour companies and cruise lines) offer their own protection plans and these plans may provide very different coverage than offered through third party insurance companies. In most cases, supplier-provided coverage won’t cover you in the event they go bankrupt. When considering a supplier protection plan, you should carefully compare the coverage with third-party travel insurance products.
