Travel insurance

Does your health insurance cover anything international for you? I'm on Medicare but my supplement policy does cover international.

What kind of expenses would you want to cover? Is your airfare refundable either for $$ or a voucher? Do you have hotels or other arrangements that are non-refundable? Doing a tour or a cruise that are not refundable?

I've been getting insurance that will cover me for air ambulance transport back to the US. I've always done that but during Covid upped the coverage so I have $500,000 for med-evac. That may or may not be important to you.

I cover my airfare with the cheap coverage that comes with Delta on Allianz but I don't cover my hotels because they are all refundable up until a few days before. If I am doing a tour, depending on the company I may or may not cover. I felt pretty good last year not covering the RS tour cost because of his policies. This year they've changed slightly and I would cover them with insurance. I'm traveling with a new company in May and I think I will cover that cost with insurance.

Before I retired my employer health insurance covered international travel even evacuation. We got a policy for my husband with Medjet assist which will fly you home to your home hospital from a hospital overseas if needed. No idea how good it is because we never used it. BUT the most likely cost to break the bank would be evacuation home with a serious injury. An acquaintance had to mortgage his house to get his daughter back from Egypt after she was hit by a car and had no insurance.

Now that we are retired we get an annual policy from Alianz. I had a trip policy with them a few years ago when I fell and broke my elbow in a castle ruin. They paid the hospital and also reimbursed me for the needed medical follow up in France so I didn't have to end the trip -- saved both of us money and saved the trip.

Luggage and such doesn't matter -- but medical care and most importantly getting back home if you need an air ambulance or a medical aid to travel with you can be incredibly expensive.

I got an Allianz insurance policy to cover our flights from Washington to Edinburgh in July. $3,000 coverage for $200, which includes illness or worse for us or family members. We've got some relatives who are aging and not doing so great, so you never know when the next shoe will drop. I can get 90% or more of our money back for the hotel and tours, so I didn't cover that.