Is travel insurance worth it? Getting travel insurance is a smart choice if you travel often or plan to take a vacation. It provides financial protection during your trip and helps you manage unexpected expenses.
This type of insurance can cover costs like canceled trips, hotel bills, medical expenses, lost luggage, and even meals. While it sounds beneficial, you might still wonder—is travel insurance really worth it?
With travel insurance, you don’t have to stress over extra costs like hotel bills, flight delays, or even non-refundable payments.
It also helps reduce unexpected expenses that can impact your budget. However, whether or not travel insurance is right for you depends on a few factors.
Before purchasing a plan, it’s important to think about whether travel insurance is necessary for you and your family. This guide will provide all the details you need to decide if it’s the right fit for your next trip.
When Should I Buy Travel Insurance
To decide if travel insurance is worth getting, it’s important to know when it’s most useful. There are certain situations where having travel insurance for you and your family is a good idea. Travel insurance is worth it when:
- You travel internationally.
- You’re going to a place prone to hurricanes.
- You want partial reimbursement if your trip is canceled or cut short.
- The non-refundable costs of your trip are higher than your budget.
- You’re traveling to a remote area with limited healthcare access.
- Your trip involves flight connections or multiple destinations.
Based on these situations, buying travel insurance can be a smart choice. However, it’s important to understand what the insurance covers, how much it costs, and what works best for you. This helps ensure you choose the right coverage.
When Is Travel Insurance Not Worth It?
Generally, if you are not giving a large amount for non-refundable trip expenses or if your United States Health Plan covers your trip, travel insurance is not worth it.
Other cases where travel insurance is not worth it are if you are going on a business trip, a less costly tour component, your travel is already insured, and a less costly domestic travel.
Also, it is not worth getting travel insurance for cases when the trip is taken with points or miles, or if you already have homeowners or renters insurance that offers baggage insurance coverage.
If you fall under any of these cases, you do not need to get travel insurance.
What Is Not Covered?
While travel insurance covers a variety of travel-related expenses, there are some expenses it does not cover.
Losses caused due to negligence will not be covered by this insurance company. This is because travel insurance is designed to cover unexpected expenses. Travel insurance will not cover any of the following cases:
- Mental health care.
- Physical therapy.
- Routine pregnancy.
- Elective processes.
- Adventure or extreme activity participation.
- Routine dental and physical exams.
Aside from these, travel insurance will also not cover funds you lose during a hurricane, except if your travel insurance covers hurricane damages or if you purchased this coverage before the storm occurred.
Where Can I Purchase This Type Of Insurance?
You can get travel insurance from various companies, either online or in person. You can also work with a travel insurance agent who can help you choose the best policy from a reliable provider.
While some tour operators offer travel insurance, it’s often better to purchase it yourself. With just a few details like your travel cost, age, travel dates, and destination, you can easily buy travel insurance online.
How Much Is Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance typically costs between 5% and 6% of your total trip expenses. For example, the average cost for a $5,000 trip is around $228, with rates ranging from $154 to $437 for policies offering competitive coverage.
Like other types of insurance, the cost is based on factors such as trip cost, age, and gender. Among these, age is the most significant factor in determining your travel insurance cost.