Are you on the fence about whether you should or shouldn’t purchase travel insurance? One approach in gauging if you should buy the additional coverage is to think about the sum of money you are putting towards your travel plans, and decide how you would feel if you lost this entire investment. Life is unpredictable. There are quite a number of things that potentially could put a major damper on your vacation, and these circumstances are all likely to be beyond your control. There are three primary areas of coverage that travel insurance generally provides.
Travel Protection
If your trip is delayed, interrupted or canceled, this safeguard has your back. Say you or someone who is traveling with you gets sick and you need to reschedule the flights. Without travel protection, this could cost you about $300-$600 per person. The weather can be another unreliable factor in your otherwise meticulously planned getaway. Perhaps uncommon, but tornadoes, blizzards, hurricanes and many other natural setbacks can and do occur.
Medical Protection
You may be thinking “I have health insurance, so I don’t have to worry about this.” Most U.S. policies do not include benefits for international travel. Should you need medical care while abroad, whether or not you are covered is the last thing you want to worry about.
Baggage Protection
After watching the baggage carousel make its 20th rotation without a sighting of your much anticipated suitcase or worse, one by one you spot your mangled personal items (on full display for everyone to see) make their way towards you on the conveyer belt, panic sets in. First, take a deep breath, and then feel rest assured that you will be compensated for luggage delays over 24hrs, damaged articles, or suitcases that seemingly disappear off the face of the earth (in the U.S., they end up at the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama). However, if you don’t have this protection, the airline may recoup some of your loss, but the claims could take up to 6 months to process and restitution is based on the depreciated value of your belongings.
Peace of Mind
There are so many reasons to look forward to your future travel plans, and these should be your primary focus. Once you have the appropriate coverage for you trip, there is no need to dwell on all the what ifs. Do be sure to read through the entire protection plan so that you are familiar with what is covered and what is not. When the time arrives for you to reserve your cheap flights to Europe, ask your 1-800-Fly-Europe reservation agent to add the travel insurance to your purchase.
These are great ideas on why travel insurance is needed. I never bought it, but it may be a good idea.