Tash's Travel Tips: Should I Buy Travel Insurance?

Let’s talk travel insurance, shall we?

Insurance is one of those things that no one ever wants to invest in, but everyone always needs. At least, I think and in my experience that has been true. Travel insurance is an area where things can get a little hairy and confusing and leave you with more questions then answers.

Do you think your plans might change?

Is it actually worth it?

How does it work?

What's covered?

By the time you consider all of these questions, you've worn yourself out and decided to opt-out of the process all together. How do you know if you should invest in insurance and if it’s necessary? My family and I have been doing A LOT of international travel as of late, and we aren't always going to places where America deems as "safe" or where our insurance from home crosses over when abroad. I have found such safety and security in the comfort of travel insurance and I have teamed up with Yonder Insurance to answer some of your most asked questions about insurance and why you should absolutely make the investment on your next trip.

Is travel insurance really necessary?

Most travelers assume travel insurance is just an “extra cost” to purchasing an airline ticket, like how Best Buy employees always ask if you want the extra 5 year protection plan with your big screen TV purchase. Travel insurance is so much more than that!

Here’s a breakdown of what travel insurance is vs. what it isn’t but we’ve added some notes below on how it’ll help on your next vacation.

International Trips: Did you know your health insurance may not cover you outside the US? A $30 travel insurance policy may provide hundreds of thousands of medical expense and medical evacuation coverage should a medical emergency occur during your trip. Each travel insurance policy also comes with a 24/7 travel and medical emergency assistance number to call at any point during your trip and they’ll ensure you’re getting the treatment you need as soon as possible.

Expensive Trips: If you’re spending an uncomfortable amount of money on your trip, insurance would protect your nonrefundable trip investment in the event you or a family member become ill/injured or if there’s a natural disaster at your destination and you have to cancel your trip.

Elaborate Trips: If you have multiple flights or your traveling through largest international airports notorious for misplacing luggage, make sure you purchase travel insurance coverage for if your flight is delayed, you miss a connecting flight or if your baggage is delayed or stolen.

Travel Insurance In Action

It's story time....

Example number 1: While heading out on that Mediterranean cruise you’ve been saving for, a tropical storm delays your flight, and you miss the cruise’s departure out of Rome. Missed connection coverage would provide reimbursement for that unexpected hotel stay, meals, and your flight to the next port town to rejoin the ship.

Example number 2: Someone in the family comes down with the flu a few days before your trip. Coverage would provide reimbursement for those prepaid, non-refundable payments included in your insured trip cost that you’ve made towards your family vacation.

And finally, example number 3: On a Disney Cruise through the Bahamas, you stumble while chasing your son poolside and break your arm. You call the 24/7 emergency assistance number associated with your travel insurance plan, and you are immediately airlifted from the next port to a nearby hospital for treatment. Your transportation back to the ship is arranged by your policy’s emergency service provider, so you can rejoin your family for the remainder of the cruise — ideally with a waterproof cast.

When to skip travel insurance?

It's not actually recommended to buy travel insurance for every trip (surprising, I know!). Top reasons and examples you could forego travel insurance would be for:

Domestic Trips: Domestic trips are usually less expensive than international trips so you'll probably be able to skip the extra coverage. Your current health insurance might cover medical emergencies that come up, but check with your provider first (especially if you have a high deductible).

Cheap Trips: If you can afford to lose the prepaid and nonrefundable deposits, which travel insurance can cover, then you can most likely go without travel insurance.

Refundable Trips: If you used flexible and refundable miles to book your airfare and most of your hotels have a free cancellation policy, you may not need a travel insurance policy.

Where to buy travel insurance?

The price of travel insurance is mostly dependent on the number of travelers, ages of those travelers and the amount of your insured trip cost. As these factors increase, the policy premium will likely increase. Each travel insurance provider has a different pricing matrix based on these factors, this means one provider may have really affordable policies for seniors but more expensive policies for families. Because of this, it’s best to compare all of your travel insurance options in one place.

Yonder Travel Insurance is a travel insurance comparison site to compare all of your policy options in one place. Yonder also curates all of these options based on how YOU travel to provide three different recommendations to help take out the guesswork as to what policy works best for your trip. Yonder is also a social enterprise and committed to providing a week's worth of food to a child refugee for every policy sold. So you can, with confidence know, that your investment is having great impact.

I personally have used travel insurance on every international trip I took in 2019 and when I got sick in Paris, I was so thankful knowing that if I needed to go to the doctor, I was going to be covered. Knowing what I know about travel insurance, I will never leave the country without the security of knowing we are insured and that my family has the safety net of insurance catching us should we fall.

So, if you're still wondering if travel insurance is necessary, I would ask if you could put a value on your life, because the answer is "no," and the protection we get from insurance is the guarantee that we are covered everywhere we go.

If you have any other questions about travel insurance, drop them in the comments below.

I would love to answer them. I hope you found this blog post useful and that it is the beginning to providing an understanding for the value of travel insurance.

With strength, courage and wisdom,

Tash