Do you Really Need Travel Insurance?
It’s hard to name a friend or family member who hasn’t taken off overseas. Modern lifestyles and travel options have made jet-setting a relatively easy process, and online guides make it simple to plan trips.
Even though things like hotels and flights can be booked quickly, organizing everything else can be overwhelming. Rental cars, inoculations, medications, budgets and foreign lingos all need to be arranged before we step near an airport. Not only are these preparations confusing and stressful to the inexperienced, they can be expensive as well. Some expenses can cut, but is travel insurance one of those?
Photo by whatatravisty
Who is it for?
To some, travel insurance can seem like an additional cost they can do without – especially if they are fit, healthy and not planning on doing anything too adventurous. Someone who lives in a country with great healthcare often won’t realize how strong the safety net is, especially if they never use it. It can come as quite a shock to someone experiencing for the first time less than first-class health support.
So who should get travel insurance for their holiday? With international vacations, you would be hard-pressed to find examples of when you wouldn’t require travel insurance. There are exceptions, but they’re few. The rule of thumb is simple: for extended domestic travel or any international vacations, travel insurance is must-have.
Some countries may have reciprocal health agreements with your own, which simply means that healthcare costs can be much cheaper. Still, travel insurance is much more than looking after you if you’re sick or injured.
More than health cover
Insurance won’t be needed if everything goes to plan on a vacation, but it’s a fact of life that anything can happen on a trip. From lost luggage, stolen items, canceled itineraries to even family members passing away, vacations can become eventful for the wrong reasons. These incidents are stressful enough in our own towns or cities, but having to deal with these problems in a foreign country can be overwhelming.
These incidents can be expensive as well. Replacing lost or stolen items, especially gear like laptops or cameras, can eat into travel budgets. Having to return home mid-vacation to attend a funeral could mean any pre-paid expenses like flights and hotels might be non-refundable. Not only is the vacation ruined, but a healthy chunk of money is gone as well.
Travel insurance is designed to minimize outlays when unfortunate events occur, and can reimburse any additional out of pocket expenses, such as replacing stolen valuables. Should you injure yourself and return home prematurely, insurance can cover you for the flights and accommodation you paid for but didn’t use. Other benefits include insurance excesses for rental cars, which are often cheaper through travel insurance than they are through rental car companies.
What to look for?
Obviously every insurance policy is different, and some research is required before you find the policy that suits you. There is no guarantee that you’ll be able to find insurance that covers every conceivable incident, situation or location, but chances are there will be some degree of coverage available. Finding advice on the right company, policy or coverage is a simple process. Reading through the fine print of policy agreements isn’t necessary when you can contact the insurer directly to discuss possible coverage scenarios, or else research policy reviews online to see what other customers who have used the coverage have to say about it.
Do you need it?
There is the oft-repeated mantra made by travel advisories, holiday agents and other parties with a vested interest in travelers – that if you can’t afford travel insurance, you can’t afford to travel. Depending on the trip, the duration, and the traveler, insurance can be cheaper than a domestic flight ticket. There are not many of us who don’t have the perfect travel story, or know of friends who do – the romantic evening in Paris, the beautiful beaches in Thailand, or the glitz of Vegas. These are far more preferable to the horror stories told by the uninsured: third-world hospitals, painful bureaucracy, long waits and crippling expenses to take home. While travel insurance isn’t a guarantee of a good time or an incident-free trip, it can help (and in some cases enormously) a traveler caught in a bad situation or accident. It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. Trying to save money by not getting travel insurance could turn out to cost you far more than you think.
Jack Marion is an avid travel blogger and consultant. He often sees travelers get into trouble overseas because limited travel information. He enjoys sharing his travel insights on various websites. Visit www.expedia.com.au for more travel insurance information.
Category: Travel Tips
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