Travel Insurance: What You Need to Know
Minute Read
Planning a fabulous trip is hard work. You've pinched the pennies and learned how to save for a vacation, but you still feel like you're not 100 percent prepared for the unexpected. With travel insurance, you can have peace of mind knowing your perfect getaway is covered.
What is Trip Cancellation Coverage?
Let's start with the basics. Travel insurance or trip cancellation coverage works like regular insurance except it covers you when you travel. Travel insurance is designed to cover financial losses and provide assistance if anything unexpected happens during your trip. It's important to compare different types of travel insurance to ensure you're getting the best value and plan that works for your travel needs.
What is Covered?
Trip cancellation isn’t only for medical emergencies. It covers more than you may think. This type of coverage will provide peace of mind in the event of a flight cancellation, lost luggage, medical emergencies and any other unforeseen incidents that can occur while traveling. The most common events that are covered include:
- medical and medical evacuation
- political evacuation
- common carrier
- Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D)
- trip delay
- baggage delay
- travel assistance services
What isn’t Covered?
All plans are different, and we recommend researching what is and isn’t covered. The most common events that are not covered include:
- natural disasters that begin before you purchase
- routine physicals
- routine dental care
- pregnancy and childbirth
- physical therapy
- mental health care
- risky sports and activities
How Much Does It Cost?
Several factors should be considered when looking at the cost of travel insurance including:
- trip duration
- trip destination
- age of traveler
- coverage amount
- deductibles
- pre-existing conditions
- any additional services
Shopping around to find the best fit for your needs is important. According to Forbes, you should expect to pay five to six percent of the trip's total cost for travel insurance.
Is it worth it?
It's hard to put a price tag on peace of mind when traveling, especially if you have already spent a lot of money on the trip. It is always better to have coverage and not need it than to need coverage because you don’t have it.
Insurance products are not federally insured and are not obligations of or guaranteed by Members 1st FCU, Members 1st Insurance Services, or any other affiliated entity.
