Should you get travel insurance? And if so, what should you look out for?
After spending most of my adult life traveling and having to claim things on my travel insurance several times, these are my travel insurance recommendations.
If we’ve learned one thing from the pandemic it’s that our travel plans sometimes get canceled or have to be changed at the last minute.
Travel insurance became more important than ever.
And although we of course all hope the pandemic is behind us, I definitely wouldn’t recommend you to travel without insurance. And there are certain things you should look for in travel insurance.
If you want to guarantee that you won’t lose out financially if anything spoils your travel plans, you need travel insurance.
Travel insurance has been a lifesaver for me (almost literally once, when I got severe dengue fever in Bali).
So, let me share my travel insurance tips with you.
Why Get Travel Insurance
First things first, why should you get travel insurance? What exactly does it insure?
Well, that depends a little on which travel insurance you get, which is why it’s important to know what to look for in travel insurance.
But, in general, travel insurance can protect you when a number of things happen:
- When your trip is canceled or cut short.
- When you miss a flight, bus, etc. or have delays affecting your trip.
- In case of medical and other emergencies including medical evacuation.
- When items get lost, stolen, or damaged while traveling, including luggage, passports, and money.
- In case of accidental damage or injury caused by you.
But, not every travel insurance is the same and cover can vary widely between one insurance policy and the next.
Therefore the next important questions are:
What should you look for in travel insurance? How do you find the best travel insurance for your type of trip and your personal needs?
What to Look For in Travel Insurance
1. Choose a Policy That Covers Your Needs
The Destination(s) and Duration of Your Trip
Does the travel insurance cover the destination(s) you plan to visit? And the entire duration of your trip?
Some travel insurance policies limit the length of your trip. So if you plan to go on an extended trip, make sure your travel insurance covers all of it.
How Often Do You Travel
If you’ll only go on one or two trips this year, then individual travel insurance for each trip might be best.
But if you travel more often, and that includes domestic travel, then an annual travel policy might be a lot more economical.
What Will You Be Doing on Your Trip
Adventure sports such as scuba diving, skiing, etc. are not always covered in a standard travel insurance policy.
If you plan to do any adventure sports check if your travel insurance covers them.
And if it isn’t covered, I would recommend comparing prices for having them added to your travel insurance or paying for them separately.
For example, if you plan to go scuba diving just once during your trip, getting dive insurance through the dive shop you go diving with might be more economical than adding it to your normal travel insurance.
Do You Need Medical Insurance or Not
If you’re planning a trip inside your own country and you have health insurance, then that insurance plan should cover your medical costs the same way it does when you are at home.
When you travel abroad though you will most likely want your travel insurance to include medical cover.
Do check what your health insurance plan covers. They may (partially) cover you abroad, or cover you in specific countries, which could reduce the cost of the travel insurance plan.
Check for Age Restrictions
Some travel insurance providers charge more if you are over 65, or have insurance policies for specific age groups.
There are special travel insurance policies for older travelers that might be worth looking into.
2. Compare Policies on the Cover They Offer and the Cost
The cheapest travel insurance is, of course, not always the best choice.
Read the fine print and focus on what the travel insurance policy excludes.
For example, budget airline flights may not be covered by some insurance policies.
I had a travel insurance policy once that didn’t cover anything leading up to the flight. I didn’t read the fine print well enough so I only found this out when the bus I took to the airport got seriously delayed and made me miss my flight. Having to rebook that flight cost me a lot of money and a sleepless night at the airport!
Also check what the deductible is and the sum insured.
For example, my current travel insurance has a 50 Euro deductible on lost, stolen and damaged items. That means that if my phone gets stolen while traveling my insurance will pay out the value of the phone minus 50 Euros.
A higher deductible might make your travel insurance cheaper, but think about how much you are willing and able to pay out of pocket when something happens during your trip.
Many travel insurance policies also put a maximum on how much they will pay out per incident. It’s good to know what these maximums are.
In case of a claim for hospital expenses for example. Hospital costs can add up very quickly so you want to know how much is covered by your travel insurance and if that is appropriate for the country or countries you plan to visit.
A good website to compare different travel insurance policies is Travelinsurance.com
3. Consider Different Cancellation Policies
One of the main drivers of more people buying travel insurance has been the realization that trips sometimes have to be canceled very last minute.
Last minute cancellations often fall outside the cancellation or rebooking window airlines and hotel booking services offer. Travel insurance is the only way to be sure you can get your money back.
Cancellation cover is nothing new in travel insurance. But traditionally you could only cancel for a very limited number of reasons, such as falling ill or a family member passing away.
Unfortunately, travel insurance often only covers a small number of personal reasons for canceling a trip. If something happens on the supplier side, such as an airline having to ground its planes or something happening at a hotel meaning you can’t stay there, the insurers leave it to the provider to compensate for travel changes.
This became an issue during the pandemic with cancellations caused by changes in government policy. Tens of thousands of travelers have missed out on trips because of lockdowns and travel restrictions. But most insurance policies didn’t cover that in their cancellation rules.
Thankfully things have changed a bit, but not with every insurance policy.
The insurance industry created new ‘cancel for any reason’ (CFAR) policies. These travel insurance policies are currently more widely available in the US than in Europe, but it’s worth checking if you can get a travel insurance plan that includes ‘cancel for any reason’.
Travelers have become more sensitive to the risks of cancellation and they want protection whatever the reasons. Of course, these new policies do come at a price, but it’s worth considering.
So, my recommendation is to look for travel insurance with a cancellation policy that fits your needs.
4. Trips Cut Short and Enforced Extensions
Another thing travelers have become more aware of is that it can happen that you have to return home sooner than planned or find yourself unable to travel home due to airline strikes, travel restrictions, etc.
That completely changes your trip.
You’d have no choice but to arrange another flight. Who pays for this?
The simple answer is you – unless you find an insurance policy that pays out on curtailments or enforced extensions.
Travel insurance providers are only just getting up to speed with meeting this demand. But, things are expected to change quickly and my travel insurance advice here would be to check carefully what your chosen insurance policy offers.
5. Greater Flexibility
Traditionally, single trip travel insurance has been sold for fixed dates only.
But now that airlines are offering flexible bookings and giving travelers the option to change travel dates within a specified window, it is inevitable that the travel insurance sector will follow suit.
So keep an eye out for that. If your trip can easily be rebooked, make sure your travel insurance can as well.
Or, if you travel multiple times a year it might be easiest, and more economical, to have annual travel insurance.
6. Check if You Have Any Other Insurance That Will Cover You Away From Home
Sometimes, travel insurance is included as an extra service offered through your bank account or credit card. You should check how much you’re paying for this and what kind of cover it offers. Sometimes cover is good, but more often it’s quite limited and it might be better to buy a separate policy.
Depending on where you live, health insurance in your country might cover you abroad. For example, my Dutch health insurance covers me abroad, to some extent. And by paying a small additional fee to my health insurance provider I now have even better worldwide cover.
This turned out to be a lot more economical than looking for travel insurance with good medical coverage.
But, read the fine print. My current health insurance plan doesn’t pay out if I go on trips longer than 180 days. Other insurance plans exclude coverage in the USA. Make sure you know what you are covered for!
If you have home insurance it might also cover you for items you take traveling with you. In that case, you could opt for travel insurance that has limited coverage for stolen, lost, and damaged items.
7. Are You Traveling Independently or Booking an Organized Trip
Organized trips sometimes offer their own insurance.
Often the insurance is limited, but it might be enough and it’s worth looking into.
If it covers all you need then you won’t have to take out your own travel insurance.
8. How Easy Is it to Make a Claim on Your Travel Insurance Policy
It may sound like a minor thing, but it’s worth checking before something goes wrong.
For example, in case you’d end up in a hospital abroad, do you need to pay out of pocket and get your medical expenses refunded months later? Or does the insurance provider deal directly with the hospital?
Or, and more likely to happen, what do you have to do if an item gets lost or stolen? Do you have to go to a local police station to report a stolen item?
It’s good to know exactly how your travel insurance works.
Some travel insurance companies have apps that make it easy to file and track claims on the go.
How to Find the Best Travel Insurance
As you’ve seen, which travel insurance is the best for you really depends on your needs, your type of trip, and which insurance(s) you already have.
So, to find your perfect travel insurance I recommend a good online search to compare travel insurance plans.
A good website to compare travel insurance plans is Travelinsurance.com
Thankfully there are many travel insurance comparison sites and I would recommend to start searching for websites in your own country.
In my case, my travel insurance is through a Dutch company because they work well with my Dutch health insurance and therefore I don’t pay for any overlap between the two.
I hope you’ve found my travel insurance recommendations useful and find a policy that suits your needs.
Also Read:
- How to Stay Safe While Traveling
- 10 of the Best Reasons to Travel
- How to Stay Healthy When Traveling Long Term
- Tips for Driving Abroad for the First Time
- How to Access Blocked Websites Abroad
- How to Save Money When Traveling
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