The Basics of Travel Insurance: 5 Things You Need to Know

Lost luggage, medical emergencies, stolen goods-any of these incidents are enough to turn a fun travel trip into a nightmare.

But you can prevent a costly headache by purchasing travel insurance before your trip.

Maybe you’ve heard of it before, but you still wonder, exactly what is travel insurance? Before you write it off as something unnecessary, here are 5 things you need to know about travel insurance.

What Is Travel Insurance?

First, let’s provide a travel insurance definition.

Travel insurance is a specific type of insurance used to cover certain losses when traveling. Most people purchase travel insurance when traveling abroad, but you can also purchase it for domestic trips.

When an incident occurs, like getting ill and having to seek medical attention while on vacation, you may be reimbursed for those expenses after filing a claim and submitting the appropriate documentation.

1. What Travel Insurance Covers

What travel insurance covers will vary from one plan to the next. In general, travel insurance may cover lost luggage, trip cancellation, accidental death, and other medical issues.

2. Medical Insurance Is Not Travel Insurance

Don’t expect your medical insurance to cover you when traveling, especially abroad. Your medical insurance likely only covers you in your home country.

Take Medicare for example. Medicare only covers health care outside the U.S. under very specific instances.

However, travel insurance can cover emergencies in other countries. Depending on the terms of the policy, your travel insurance may cover emergency evacuation or other emergency medical assistance, like helping you find a medical facility.

3. It’s Easy to Purchase

Travel insurance is easy to purchase. You can either do it over the phone or online. Simply provide some details to your insurance agency.

Along with some basic info about yourself, they will want to know the dates you are traveling, and where you will be visiting.

If you’re wondering when to get travel insurance, the sooner the better. You don’t want to purchase insurance too late in the event your trip plans change.

4. It’s Affordable

Basic travel insurance is affordable. Many plans are customizable, allowing you to add on additional options that are not covered by the base plan.

Many companies also offer group plans, which are great for large families or groups of friends traveling together.

5. It Can Cover COVID Related Situations

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, travel insurance is more relevant than ever. Even if you haven’t purchased it before, it’s something you should consider. Your next flight could get delayed, or you could get sick while traveling.

There may not be a specific pandemic travel insurance, but existing travel insurance policies may cover situations that arise as a result of the pandemic.

Do I Need Travel Insurance?

What is travel insurance? It’s a policy for ensuring your next trip doesn’t become a costly mistake. If you travel frequently or take expensive trips, it’s definitely recommended.

If you liked this article be sure to check out more in our Travel section.