travel insurance

READ THE FINE PRINT to see what is covered exactly. Some policies are good and some are weak. Relatively speaking the more you buy the better the policy. You need to decide how much you have at risk ($$$$) and how much of that risk you want to cover. Most insurance is in the range of 5% of amount covered. For a comparison of policies go to insuremytrip.com. Most time you can get a better policy than what the travel agent offers. When we travel by ourselves we never take insurance. However, when there was eight of us traveling together we did.

Travel insurance is generally a big waste of money, except of course for the company accepting your payment. For them it is a giant cash cow. It is very similar to extended warranties on electronics.

Check your own insurance provider to see how you will be covered when travelling. If your coverage is low or nonexistent (which is doubtful) assess your risk of needing coverage based on travel destination, length of stay, your age and health, etc. Then decide whether it is worth it for peace of mind and so forth. As someone else suggested, read the fine print. Insurance companies are not in business to lose money.

I have never purchased travel insurance and am not sure what circumstances would ever compel me to do so. But then, I am in good health and have good coverage here at home. Your circumstances may be different.

Please look back through the postings here to find lengthy discussions of travel insurance. As a previous poster said, www.insuremytrip.com is a good source of information to compare policies and coverages from a variety of companies. What is the $1500 of insurance for? Medical? Trip cancellation? Medical evacuation? No matter how good your health may be, anyone can have an accident that could end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars if you have to be flown home by air ambulance. I don't usually take out additional health insurance or trip cancellation, but I do make sure that I have plenty of med evac coverage.

Mike from Seattle, if your medical insurance includes coverage while you are overseas, consider yourself lucky. The vast majority of policies do not. IMO travel insurance that covers medical/evacuation expenses is essential. A severe leg break that requires special seating to get you home will cost $50,000+. I've heard horror stories of people being financially ruined by these charges. Accidents can happen to anyone regardless of age or current health condition.

Check out World Nomads.com

http://www.worldnomads.com/

Personally, I would not travel overseas with out travel insurance.

It paid off during my trip to Israel.

We didn't buy traveller's insurance in 2006 and travelled all over for a month. Last year we bought insurance for our trip to Mexico because my mother has breast cancer and I didn't want to take chances.

This year we are buying it for Europe. I no longer feel that secure to chance it.

Thanks for all the input. I upgraded our credit card to a world one which has travel insurance built in. At this point I am going to go with that. My travel agent is going to show me some more basic insurance so we shall see!

Mike in Seattle is right that insurance companies are not in the business to lose money. But so what? I have auto insurance to protect me against loss of my vehicle, liability I might face if I cause an accident, etc. They make money on the policy, I sleep better knowing I won't face huge bills.

The point of insurance is to protect you against very costly expenses. I don't insure most appliances; I am unhappy if they break, but I can afford it. A $50,000 bill is something different. I am healthy, like Mike in Seattle, but unlike him I am not so sure I may not suffer an accident abroad. They have car accidents and the like in Europe, too. For roughly 5% I get coverage so that my medical bills will be paid and I will be flown home. I hope I have a lifetime of buying the policies without a claim, and I will consider the money well-spent rather than wasted.

The insurance provided by most credit cards pays for death, loss of limb, etc. It is NOT hospital insurance, it will not pay to fly you back if you need an air ambulance. See a typical policy at http://www.capitalone.com/creditcards/pdfs/MC_Platinum.pdf

Others who posted after I did bring up good points. Your first post used the term "travel insurance", which sometimes (usually?) means trip cancellation insurance. Though I quickly wandered off to the topic of health insurance (blame it on the wine), my true adverse reaction to "travel insurance" is related to the trip-cancellation kind.

If "trip cancellation" insurance is what you are talking about, I'd say forget it unless there is a good chance, due to your health condition etc, that you would use it. If it means medical coverage, then I would re-state what I said previously - check your own policy first to see if you need anything extra. I would not suggest that you travel without some level of health coverage. As others have pointed out, the unexpected can happen. But if you're already covered why pay more? Regardless, Read The Fine Print.

And to Mike, Michael, Mike, and Sam who agrees with Mike, Michael, and not Mike (?), thanks for putting a finer point on this.

I'm an older traveler and I wouldn't set foot outside the country without adequate travel insurance.

Sam, I looked on the divers' website and could not find just the evacuation insurance. Our credit card seems to cover everything else.

Thanks, Bev

I second everyone's comments that medical and evacuation insurance is well worth it. I never thought much about trip cancellation insurance, partly because of the way I tend to travel--making reservations at pensions and B&B's where I can call to cancel if for some reason I can't make it.

But, I was recently on my way to Phoenix for a few days blessed relief from cold and rain and my flight was delayed about eight hours. No other flights were available on standby, since it was spring break for the state university nearby. For me, it was an inconvenience--I missed a ballgame I had tickets to. But for a number of passengers expecting to connect in Phoenix for Mexican flights it was a disaster. Because of the spring break situation, the airline was telling them that it might be a week before they got to Mexico. Obviously for many there, they were going to miss their trip entirely and forfeit their prepaid vacations. Something to consider.

Just wanted to bump this one back up. With our trip approaching in two weeks, I was looking on here for the info on that DAN Divers membership. For my husband and I, it was only $55.00 for a year's membership, and it covers medical evacuation. This will also cover us on our cruise in May. I looked at some other companies for the same coverage and it would cost over $100/pp. So this is quite a deal!

We ended up buying the insurance from our travel agent besides having the credit card flight insurance. I bought the cheapest I could. We had a successful trip and didn't have to use any of it but of course we didn't know that ahead of time. I did not buy it for my son that went to Australia this summer. I guess you just have to weigh the options and peace of mind which is really what insurance is all about:) Hope your trip goes well.