Travel insurance vs non refundable accomodations and airline tickets

My personal philosophy is to only insure risks that I truly can't afford, like getting sick or injured and having to be evacuated back home. That can add up. But others are only comfortable if they cover every eventuality. Like the insurance salesmen say, "You're buying peace of mind."

I always book rooms that are cancelable even though I have travel insurance. Reason being that there are many reasons why we may need to cancel or delay a trip ( kids' competitive sports, work commitments etc) and so few are covered by travel insurance. To me, it is worth the extra few dollars.

I find refundable flights very difficult if not impossible to get here in Canada and we have in the past had to take stiff penalties for cancellations/delays of trips.

Understood. However in our case by far the most likely reason to cancel a trip would be due to medical reasons thus I purchase travel insurance only for that eventuality. We'd not cancel for other "convenience" reasons.

I don’t understand your question. The cost of travel insurance is based on the total non-refundable costs of your trip. For an independent trip ( not a tour) this will usually be the cost of flight tickets and maybe train tickets (or pass), and maybe apartments. Hotel rooms booked at the regular rate ( no early booking discount) can usually be cancelled for free up to a day or two ahead. So if you get sick right before your trip and cannot go, you just have to remember to cancel all the hotels. Then the travel insurance will reimburse the cost of your plane and train tickets.

Why would you consider paying the much higher cost of refundable plane tickets? Regular (non-refundable) tickets plus a basic travel insurance policy is cheaper, AND provides medical overage if you get sick or injured during the trip.

We had to cancel a trip once due to a death in the family. Thanks to having trip insurance, it was not a loss.

Insurance for air travel are not that expensive.

For hotels, most of the time I am able to book a hotel that allows cancellation 48 hours prior to the date.

My philosophy is the same as Sam's. I've never bought travel insurance in the 35+ years I've been traveling. I figure if I got sick and couldn't go on the trip, losing the cost of the airfare and any nonrefundable accommodations won't break me. Now that I'm getting older, maybe I'll look into evacuation insurance at some point, but that's about it.

now that I've crossed into the 70s travel insurance has considerable appeal to me. i just want to be sure that i don't have needless expense by having a travel policy and paying more for refundable flights and accommodations (the higher rate for "refundable" is basically additional insurance) so it seems.

Then buy Non-refundable tickets for flights and just insure that amount. That is the cheapest option and you will get medical expense coverage during your trip.

I still do not understand why this is a dilemma.

thanks, then you agree that with a travel policy in hand it is most cost effective to purchase non refundable airline and accommodations and auto rental which are always cheaper than refundable/cancellable arrangements. the assumption being that the total cost difference in such arrangements is less than the premium for the overall policy.

Something not mentioned, but worth understanding, is exactly what "refundable" and Non-refundable" tickets, as well as several other options actually means.

In many cases, refundable vs. non-refundable simply means that if you need to cancel, you get cash minus a handling fee (could be a couple hundred) back, for non-refundable you get a credit, minus a re-booking fee. If you are planning on travelling again, there may be little difference.

I think you need to separate out trip cancellation insurance from Medical/Evacuation insurance. The medical is simply a risk you need to assess. Trip cancellation though is tougher in my book to justify, only because, as others have mentioned, if I can't go, I am able to cancel or rebook at little cost. Now if I shelled out thousands for a tour, that would be different. But the typical independent traveler may not have many issues, especially if you look at coverage under Credit Card amenities.

I have gone to Europe for 14 of the last 16 years and have always taken out travel insurance ever since I turned 65 and went on Medicare which does not cover me in Europe. I picked Travel Guard after researching "insuremytrip" and speaking with some RS employees. In the 7 years I have taken out a policy with them, I have never had to make a claim, thank goodness. The cost of the policy I get which includes med evacuation and an umbrella add on is very small compared to the total cost of my trip and certainly gives me peace of mind in case anything bad were to happen. Have you priced any policies yet to see what costs you might be dealing with? Do some shopping around to see what is available.

I was just going through the United Airlines website, and yes, it is just one airline of many, but even nonrefundable tickets can get some kind of refund, my experience, pay a fee ($200-$300) and get a voucher for the cost of the ticket to be used in the next year. In the case of illness of the ticket holder, or a family member (and there is a big list of eligible family member:

Illness situations:
Change fee refunds require a letter (on letterhead) from a licensed physician confirming that travel was not recommended due to the customer's illness. Ticket refunds require a letter (on letterhead) from a licensed physician confirming that travel was not recommended within the validity of the ticket (one year of ticket’s issued date) due to illness. If the request is due to the illness of an immediate family member, the request must contain the family member’s name and relationship to you.