Sometimes things in life don’t go according to plan, and traveling is no exception. With the right attitude, and great travel insurance, you can rest assured that your trip will still be a memorable one.
Travel insurance helps protect more than just the traveler’s trip investment. Here are 10 important reasons to purchase travel insurance.
1. Trip Cancellation — It doesn’t matter whether you are flying domestically or traveling internationally to a destination like Norway. Plane tickets are expensive. Travel insurance will reimburse the price of the airline tickets if the flight is suddenly canceled due to some unexpected life event.
2. Lost Baggage — Airlines, hotels and travelers lose baggage. It’s not a frequent occurrence, but it can happen. Personal belongings cost money to replace, and an insurance policy will help cover the replacement expense. A traveler can also opt to purchase excess valuation travel insurance on their luggage to cover over and above the airline’s liability amounts.
3. Evacuation — Mother nature is unpredictable. It’s not unusual for typhoons or hurricanes to hit places like Cancun or other beach side places such as hotels in Cabo San Lucas. In these situations, the areas must be evacuated.
4. Medical Coverage — Private health insurance coverage often does not cover medical expenses when traveling abroad. Travelers insurance covers varying amounts of emergency medical care anywhere in the world.
5. Theft — Theft happens both domestically and internationally. With travelers insurance, the cost of the stolen items are covered.
6. Airline Ticket Reimbursement — Few travelers realize that most airlines will not reimburse the cost of airline tickets if a natural disaster or act of terrorism occurs.
7. Emergency Stay Coverage — If a passport is lost, the traveler might be faced with a costly departure delay. Insurance alleviates the cost of the extension by covering the hotel and food expenses.
8. Rental Car Coverage — Even purchasing rental car insurance from the rental car company is often not enough. High deductibles frequently need to be paid before the car rental company’s insurance steps forward. Travel insurance helps to pick up the cost of deductibles or other unforeseen expenses.
9. Credit Card Shortfall — Many credit card companies provide some form of insurance protection, but they might fall short. Travel insurance picks up the excess that the credit card company will not pay.
10. Medication Coverage — People with prescription medication can forget their prescriptions at home, only to discover their health insurance will not cover the pharmaceuticals when traveling overseas. Travel insurance covers all or a portion of medication costs and will also help locate a pharmacy anywhere in the world.
