Travel insurance -- worth it?

This is certainly a question that a lot of people are grappling with. One way to approach it is pricing out a "worst case" scenario and then deciding if you could afford to pay that out of pocket or if you feel that you would like insurance to help mitigate costs.

It sounds like trip interruption is the feature that you are most concerned about, so you will want to pay special attention to what is covered by any policies in that regard.

When I priced out my "worst case" I included 10 days of additional lodging, 10 days of food, and a brand new ticket home. You may have a different way of looking at this. I travel solo most of the time so I'm not sure how you would also consider that this could be happening to up to two people and at different times.

Most consumer watch companies say travel insurance isn't worth it, but I know that many tours recommend it.

The tour companies recommend it because they are covering their own butts. If anything does go wrong, they don't have to listen to your whining. "Just file a claim with your insurance", then they can walk away.

To my mind, a low cost Medevac plan to cover disastrous medical issues in case of serious illness or accident is what is required. But that is just my own assessment of the risks I can accept. If I lost $5000, that would be tough to swallow in the short run, but have no real consequence to my financial future.

IMO, Travelex is the high cost provider. Look at Allianz for one.

I always get insurance for our trips. We used to get insurance because our parents were elderly and we might need to fly home early if they fell ill or worse. Now we get insurance because we are the elderly people. LOL! You don’t need insurance until you need it. It’s like paying for car insurance, homeowner’s insurance and life insurance. You hope you won’t need it but will be glad if something happens and you do need it. You have to figure out and decide how much you are willing to lose should the unforeseen happen. What if you get covid, etc.

Get the medical insurance and the evac. I have a yearly policy and it comes with the other stuff. All I care about is the medical. Hate to be looking at the ceiling and wonder what I should have done.

Search Travel Insurance here in the Forum. There have been dozens and dozens of posts in the last six months. We have some very informed folks contributing. Good luck,

Absolutely always. Your appendix could rupture, you could break an ankle, someone at home could die --- my brother was killed in a car accident while we were on vacation - had we not had trip Insurance to fly back home urgently last minute and cancel all plans - it would have costed us $$$$$

We don't go anywhere without trip insurance.

Same with all types of insurance: you don't need it until you need it and when you need it it's too late!

I do exactly as Sam (Green Bay) does. Med evac is a must as that is an expensive risk. (If you have no health insurance abroad, then get that as well). The rest I could, begrudgingly, cover. Through my many years of travel, had I insured for the trips, I would have been out a lot more money than one trip of an extended Covid stay. But, each person needs to think about what is best for them.

I have read about the Covid extension coverage and tried to ascertain the details. Nothing I have read makes me comfortable that it will be worth it. I am waiting for those who are reimbursed versus those who aren’t to chime in once the claims are resolved. For those who are putting no value on their trip just to get the Covid extension coverage, I believe they will not pay because of mistruths about the value of the trip…but perhaps I am being cynical, but…

Before you buy any travel insurance, don’t just research the price. Research whether the insurance companies rapidly reimburse their customers when they file claims or do they fight them tooth & nail.

If you just want the Medevac plan and nothing else; put down $0 for trip cost.

You can purchase an annual policy that will cover all your travel within the year. This is the first year I have done it and with the current crisis in air travel I have already used it. It also provided peace of mind in renting car in Europe, and iemergency evacuation coverage for my husband’s hunting trips into the wilds of the Grand Tetons. Cost for the two of us through Allianz was about $1000 at age 70.

But be careful. If you have a claim you must have all documentation. In particular, the reason from the airlines why a flight was cancelled. Allianz would only pay extra for weather related cancellation.

Not sure about others. Always read the fine print to be sure it covers what you want.

My understanding is, some credit cards have trip cancellation insurance which pays the loss caused by flight change or cancellation. And the changes include those caused by personal illness or injuries.

And some health care insurances cover medical expenses for emergency care outside the network, e.g., our BCBS Advantage Plan (under Medicare) and BCBS plan (not under Medicare).

We will be independent tourists and our main interest is hiking in the Julian Alps (in Slovenia). We will take strenuous hikes, but not the technical ones, like Mt. Triglav.

I did a bit research on travel insurance. For my husband and me (65 and 72, resp), it will cost $1000 or more for two week. This is way to high for two healthy people. So I decided not to buy it.

I recall a colleague usually purchased life insurance at the airline counter on our business trips on top of the generous insurance provided by our employer. To me, he was over-insured. I know my trip will not be covered by any generous insurances. But I am willing to take the risk.

The OP must be done with his/her trip by now……….

I ended up getting a basic plan from Allianz Global Assistance. It wasn't very expensive and it gave me peace of mind for our trip. As it turns out, everything went well and we are back home (note: one of my traveling companions did get Covid as she was traveling back!). Thanks everyone for your replies!

adlievler, glad everything worked out! Thanks for the update!