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Even the best-laid travel plans can go awry, as anyone who’s done their fair share of travel can attest. When something disrupts your journey, the last thing you want to worry about is how to afford to get things back on track.
Travel insurance can save the day — and save you thousands of dollars — in these situations. From lost luggage to extra accommodation and food costs, it covers a host of setbacks this could happen when you travel.
Yet many travelers give it up, thinking they don’t need it or it’s not worth it. To find out why this might be a bad idea, we spoke to a few travel experts.
Start exploring your travel insurance options here to learn more.
Why You Should Buy Travel Insurance, According to the Pros
Experts recommend travel insurance for a number of reasons. Here are three of the biggest.
Everything can happen
There are many things you cannot control when traveling. From illness and injury to flight delays and cancellations, any number of things could derail your trip, cost you money you’ve already spent and potentially lead to new expenses.
“Many factors can disrupt travel, from extreme weather and worker strikes to illness, political instability and unforeseen family emergencies,” says Joe Cronin, president of International Citizens Insurance. “For example, last summer heat waves across Europe hampered travel and canceled events and the crash of Southwest Airlines’ computer system left thousands stranded in airports.”
Veronica Hanson, travel agent and full-time traveler, agrees. “People have a habit of not buying travel insurance because historically they haven’t needed it,” Hanson previously said. CBS News. “Their own experiences have taught them over the years that insurance is a waste of money. If something went wrong, companies would usually step in and fix things for the customer. These days it’s a whole other thing. story. Infrequent flyers might not realize the chaos of the airline industry these days.”
It can save you thousands of dollars
Whether you are traveling domestically Or internationally, a trip can be expensive. If something interrupts your plans, you could lose a lot of money.
“I often get calls for help from consumers who have been blindsided by the loss of thousands of dollars invested in a dream vacation that they failed to protect with travel insurance,” said Michelle Couch -Friedman, travel ombudsman and founder of Consumer Rescue, previously said CBS News.
Flight delays alone have made headlines in recent months, and they have cost passengers dearly. When you have invested a lot of money in a trip, you owe it to yourself to protect that money against loss.
“COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of being prepared for unexpected events that can disrupt travel plans, and having a plan in place to deal with these situations is essential,” says Brandon Frady, Agent of insurance approved by Clearsurance. “Long-haul travel, in particular, is a high ticket spend, and protecting your investment is imperative.”
Find out how much travel insurance coverage you could get now.
Your health insurance may not cover you abroad
Don’t assume your health insurance policy will protect you if you sick or injured in a foreign country. It is a municipality travel insurance myth. Many policies do not cover medical expenses incurred overseas, and those that do consider such expenses out-of-network, making them prohibitively expensive.
Travel agent Hans Mast of Golden Rule Travel shares one such story.
“I had a client (who thankfully took out travel insurance!) who was on safari in Zambia and fell from a height of about 8ft and badly injured her back,” Mast said. “The hospital in Zambia was NOT satisfactory. The insurance paid for her $10,000 private air ambulance flight to fly her from Livingstone to Johannesburg where there was a top notch hospital that treated her for several weeks, then flew her business class home to Canada.
“They covered all her medical bills and other accommodations in Johannesburg for her husband. They also paid for a nurse to accompany her to Canada. I didn’t see the total bill for all of this, but it was HUGE .”
The bottom line
If you’ve been debating whether or not to buy travel insurance, the consensus among many experts is: do it. You never know what might happen, and when it comes to your money, prevention is better than cure is often a wise policy.
For find the best travel insurance for your trip, think how much coverage you need and take the time to compare different providers and plans. You can get started by entering your trip details here now.