Travel insurance confusion!

I am confused by what you are asking. Generally speaking travel insurance will cover for monetary loses not for inconvenience. If you miss a connection you generally do not have a financial lose only the inconvenience of waiting for the next flight. Generally a cancellation must be specified to be cover and that can vary with different insurance companies. Canceling for any reason will be more expensive. You also might look at insuremytrip.com.

Frank-Sorry for the lack of clarity- told you I was confused! I was wondering if it was worth it to purchase more insurance other than the basic plan I already have. I haven't taken a trip like this in 25 years & am rusty in more ways than one! If we miss our 2 connections I thought we would have to pay more to continue on another flight. I guess trip cancellation for any reason is not worth the extra cost. Thanks for your help.

I second what Frank said, check out insuremytrip.com. that is where I started my research on travel insurance.

It depends on the type of connection. If it is all on one ticket and your miss the connection, it is the airlines responsibility to get you to your next place. However, if you have separate or independent tickets then you can have some real problems. I don't know if you can buy insurance for that.

Carol Travel insurance is confusing! And the fine print is SO important. Did you book a flight through an airline website or phone call all the way to and from your destination? If so, the airline picked out what they call "legal" connections. In other words, you should be able to make the connecting flghts. So if you miss the flight, they are responsible for getting you on another flight soon even if it is another airline! They hate to do that so will take every measure not to! Also the flights are so crowded these days, often there are no seats on the next or later flights. I would start with a call to the airlines and ask about your rights and their responsibilities. Ask if you receive hotel and meal vouchers if you miss your flight due to late arrival of connecting flight. Also, do your homework and check to see what other airlines and flights are available for a few hours after your take off. Then instead of using the gate agent (unless they aren't busy), call the airlines yourself. So you have more control over getting on another flight. The more information you have, the more you will know whether you need additional travel insurance. Also you can call the insurance company to ask what it covers in your example. You don't need "cancel for any reason", regardless. Bobbie

Thanks all. Bobbie- thanks for the suggestion to call the airlines.British Air is getting us as far as Lisbon, then we change to SATA for the flight to Madeira, so that connection in particular was a concern.