Travel Insurance
With your tour guide,
Anne P. Mitchell
| Summary: A travel insurance policy, in the form of travel medical insurance, trip cancellation insurance, or personal property insurance, or all three, is inexpensive and can really save the day. When booking that next trip, don't overlook the travel insurance policy! |
Travel insurance gives travelers peace of mind both before and during their vacation. Generally purchased at the time of booking, travel insurance isn’t usually expensive and is absolutely a wise investment to protect the money you’ve spent on your trip, your baggage and belongings, and most importantly, your health while away.
There are basically three types of travel insurance, and they can be purchased separately or as part of a complete insurance package. Qualified travel agents will always offer travel insurance when your booking is confirmed, but if you’re making your own reservations, organizations such as Blue Cross also offer travel insurance.
The first type of travel insurance is trip cancellation. While full-priced airline tickets are almost always refundable, package tours, hotels, car rentals, and discount flights are usually non-refundable. That means that, no matter how much you’ve spent on your holiday plans, if something happens to prevent you from actually taking the vacation, you won’t be able to get your money back. Purchasing trip cancellation insurance ensures that if you can’t travel, you will at least be able to get a large portion of your money back should you need to cancel your plans.
The second type of travel insurance is medical and health insurance, which is only necessary for international travel if you have a domestic health insurance plan already in place. Should you become ill or have an accident while abroad, medical insurance will cover most doctor or hospital visits and any other expenses you incur due to your illness or injury. Travel health insurance will not cover the cost of prescription drugs while you are away.
The third type of travel insurance covers your personal belongings that you take with you on your trip. If there is a theft at your hotel, for example, your personal things will be covered. This type of insurance also takes care of lost baggage, should your suitcases go astray during your vacation.
Once you’ve booked your flights, hotels, car rental, and the rest of your holiday plans, take a little extra time and invest in travel insurance. Hopefully you won’t need it, but if you ever do you’ll be glad that you didn’t spare the extra, and usually quite small, expense!
