All year long, people around the world look forward to their summer vacation. Traveling broadens the mind and allows for a break from day-to-day life. However, while it’s easy to choose a hotel and flight, what about travel insurance? Should you even get it? With so many trips coming up, let’s take a look!
What Is Travel Insurance
Travel insurance helps travelers during any emergencies that might arise before or during the trip. From a broken bone to a stolen device, coverage can cover a broad range of issues that might occur during a vacation.
However, why do you need travel insurance, if you already have some back home? As insurance expert Dominic Rufran explains, “a lot of the time, people’s domestic health insurance doesn’t cover them when they travel internationally. If it does, it’s always a very small amount.”
General Types of Insurance
Before you can decide if you need travel insurance or not, you need to differentiate between all the types. First, make a list of all of your travel priories and worries. For example, are you worried about getting injured or losing your bag? If so, which ranks higher? With those marked down, try and narrow down which of the four types of travel insurance you need.
- Evacuation Insurance – This is the most popular with those heading into politically unstable or dangerous regions. Evacuation insurance covers medical and transportation cost if something goes wrong during your time abroad, including evacuation.
- Medical Insurance – As the name implies, medical coverage will cover any medical costs for injury or illness obtained while traveling, including medication and surgery. If you’re going somewhere where diseases are prevalent, or you plan on doing any sporting while on vacation, you might want to look into medical travel insurance.
- Accident Insurance – This type of coverage covers your family in the event that there’s an accidental death while you travel.
- Package Insurance – Packaged insurance, by far the most popular, packages together all the insurance types listed above. Although it’s by far the most expensive, it also covers all possible outcomes, including canceled trips!
When You Don’t Need Insurance
Of course, there are times when you can travel without needing coverage! Considering skipping travel insurance, if:
- Some Bases Are Already Covered – Often, it’s cheaper and easier to find a hotel that allows for free cancellation than paying for extra coverage to cancel later. This also goes for airlines, rental cars, and anything else that requires a reservation.
- The Trip Remains In The United States – If a traveler is not going abroad, their private insurance will likely cover any costs, as it happened within the U.S.
- A Credit Card Comes With An Insurance Bonus – There’s also a way to get free or reduced-rate insurance. Check your credit card’s terms first! Many come with amazing bonuses that provide free insurance for cancellation and interrupted trips, if you book through them. Chase Sapphire Preferred, Citi Prestige, and Citi ThankYou Premier are just some of the cards that include these bonuses!
As always, do your research and talk to your travel agency before deciding and picking out the right travel insurance for your next fantastic journey!
Sources: CNBC, Finance101