Friday, August 19, 2016

Travel Insurance, is it worth it?

When I started in the travel business over 20 years ago, I was very suspicious of travel insurance.  I looked at it as the travel industry's version of an extended warranty.  I saw it as something they sold you to just increase the bottom line, but with no real value.

Unfortunately, I got a quick personal, real life lesson on the importance of travel insurance.  I went a on 3 night Bahamas cruise with my parents and my children in 1996.   Even though we were in the business, my father didn't think it was worth buying insurance for a little weekend getaway.  In this instance, he could not have been more wrong.  My mother took extremely ill on the first night of the cruise and was taken off of the ship in Nassau the next morning and operated on.  Without getting into all of the gory details, she had to be air ambulanced to Miami a few days later, and passed away about 3 weeks after that.  Besides the emotional toll, my father incurred major out of pocket expenses that would have been covered with insurance.

I would never travel without decent travel protection.  It is comparable to living without health insurance or driving a car without auto coverage.  Traveling far, particularly out of the country without insurance is a dangerous risk.  While most people think of insurance for cancellation protection (against penalties for canceling), I believe that the even bigger concern is medical and evacuation coverage.  If you have a medical emergency overseas, it is not unreasonable to assume one can incur hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical and transportation costs.  Many personal policies, including medicare, do not cover these expenses when outside of the country.

Travel insurance is usually not the focus when planning a vacation.  It is much more fun to pick out a ship or hotel, a destination and the tours or other fun things one wants to do.  Travel insurance is a "necessary evil".  But it is not the place to skimp.  When an emergency does happen far from home, one will want the best coverage possible, with a team standing by to assist.  There are various insurance plans out there, and you should always compare to understand what exactly is covered before purchasing (remember to look for pre-existing condition clauses, and if those can be waived).  A travel agent should help you select the policy that fits your needs.

Just like other insurance you buy, travel protection is something you hope you won't actually need to use for your trip.  But when the unexpected does take place, you will feel a lot better knowing you have the coverage to mitigate the impact.

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