One big question is whether we need to purchase travel insurance and this is a rather interesting question to ask. Just like any insurance policy, travel insurance is intended to protect us against unexpected and unwanted challenges. There are many unforeseen events that could happen during a trip. As an example, we may have our luggage misplaced by the airline and we could be left without any clothes to wear. There are also problems associated with cancelled flights due to unusually severe snowstorm around the airport, causing us to lose money in accommodation and booked travel trip. It is not a good thing to cut short a trip and many people got sick on vacation.
These problems should be covered by reliable travel insurance companies and interruption of trips won’t cause us to lose excessive amount of money. If we miss connecting flights due to external factors, they will pay for our accommodation. It means that we won’t need to sleep in an airport which will cause us to get tired and less energized for the upcoming trip. We may get up to $200 for a hotel room, before we resume our flight to the destination area. Travel insurance providers may pay us for $200 for delayed luggage or up to $1,000 for lost luggage. So, if we only bring ordinary clothes, deodorant and underwear, this should be a good deal. Travel insurance should also allow us cover any kind of medical evacuation and treatment. In fact, with travel insurance; people will be able to afford to travel, because they don’t need to allocate too much money for unexpected situations.
For Americans, Medicare doesn’t provide medical coverage for treatment outside the United States. This could also apply for medical coverage programs in other countries. However, to take full benefits of travel insurance, we should do the following:
- Take all our travel documentation with us and not in our luggage.
- Policy numbers should be written separate pieces of paper, placed in multiple areas. It means that if we lose the actual policy, we will still be able to identify ourselves.
- Leave copies of our policy with next of kin at home and they should know our whereabouts. It means that we need to contact them regularly. Some quick instant messaging updates through smartphone should be enough.
- Fill in the information page of our passport with important details. This will expedite services during an accident.
In general, travel insurance should be able to help us and the insurer should provide us with:
- Reimbursement of our travel investment cause by early termination or cancellation
- Reimbursement of unexpected travel costs, due to loss of luggage, delays and others
- Coverage for medical referrals and emergency medical assistance
- The availability of international medical assistance
It is clear that travel insurance could provide us with huge benefits. There should be many things that we can achieve by having proper insurance policy during a trip.