Why Do I Need Travel Insurance?

photo credit: Gary Knight via Flickr

You’ve just put down a big chunk o’ money on your next big trip, when your travel consultant asks you if you’d like to purchase travel insurance.  More money??  After all that money you just paid?  Well, that’s exactly the point, actually.  How much did you just invest in your vacation?  And if something goes awry, are you willing to lose it all?

It’s all very well and fine to think that nothing is going to happen…until it does.  If you are traveling with others, the chances increase, as well.  Travel insurance covers many things from trip cancellation to trip interruption, lost luggage to long trip delays at the airport, medical coverage to evacuation.

Maybe that all sounds like a lot that you think doesn’t apply to you.  But let’s take a look at some of the reasons your average traveler might find it necessary:

1. You’re all packed and excited to leave – and then one of you comes down with a flu that makes it impossible to travel.
2. You arrive at your destination…your bags don’t, and will take at least a day to arrive.  What will you do?  Travel insurance will cover a set amount for purchasing necessary items to tide you over.  And if they were completely lost, travel insurance covers that as well.
3. Got a connecting flight?  You’ve landed, but the next flight has been cancelled.  The next flight isn’t until tomorrow morning.  Now what?  Travel insurance will cover food and hotel stay.
4. No one wants to think of it, but it happens.  You’ve arrived at your glorious destination, but two days into it, your mom ends up in serious condition in the hospital.  You need to go to her, but not only are you losing out on the rest of the trip you paid for, the return tickets are far more than your original tickets.  Trip interruption is covered under your insurance and will cover these costs.
5. You’re going on an awesome tropical vacation – but a hurricane is now shutting down the airports and you can’t get there.  Travel insurance has you covered.
6. You are in a foreign country when you are accidentally injured on one of your adventures and need to see a doctor.  Where will you seek good medical care, and will your own medical insurance cover it or are there exclusions, provisions, etc?  With travel insurance you can have the policy become your primary medical so you don’t have to worry about who pays AND have access to a 24 hour helpline, in English, that can quickly help you find a reputable doctor and help you get there.
7. You become severely ill or injured and adequate medical care is not available in your location.  You need medical evacuation (extremely costly!), and travel insurance covers this.
8. You unexpectedly lose your job before your vacation – what now?!  Coverage for work related reasons can be added to the policy, or in some states, is already covered under the policy.

These are just a few of the reasons to consider travel insurance.  We all hope that nothing will go wrong before or during our travels, and many times, of course, nothing does.  However, the peace of mind you get from insuring your large vacation purchase is quite valuable in and of itself.  And should something unfortunate occur, you know that you will not lose the investment you have made, and that you will have assistance in your time of need.