What Is Travel Insurance?
Any travel includes risks. Whether it is a short flight to another state or a long trip around the world, every time you have a scheduled flight, a planned train, a hotel booking, or a tour, there is the possibility of an error.
Without travel protection, that error could not only cost you a lot, but it could leave you stranded in a train station, looking for a last-minute hotel, or it could mean you never get to leave your home, to begin with. Travel interruption is a major reason to get a protection plan and buy travel insurance.
Travel insurance coverage tries to ease the pain of all of that. While travel insurance plans can’t guarantee to get you where you need to be when you need to be there, the insurance can mean that you won’t be shelling out a lot of money to solve unexpected problems.
Travel Health Insurance
But the real problem is not missing luggage or canceled flights. Those can be a pain and mess up your vacation, but what we’re talking about is your health–your life.
Injury and sickness—medical expenses—are a big aspect of travel insurance trip protection. Does the country you’re traveling to have a good healthcare system? Will your home country’s health plan cover the doctor’s visit? Or will you be paying foreign doctors in foreign currency full price for care?
Do I Need Travel Health Insurance?
That all depends on how much risk you’re willing to take on. Certainly, you aren’t required to have this type of coverage, but when you have a major trip planned that needs to go according to schedule, it only makes sense to have contingency plans.
One trip travel health insurance is always good to look into at the very least. Multiple trips make it almost a must. And if you have pre-existing conditions for your health, it’s definitely wise.
And, the more distant the country you’re traveling to, the more important this coverage becomes. If you’re a New Yorker traveling to Toronto, there’s little language barrier or cultural differences. The medical system is relatively easy to navigate, and you’re not going too far away from home. However, traveling to a country that doesn’t speak your language, that doesn’t have your customs, that might not have the same level of healthcare you’re accustomed to—that’s when you need global trip protection.
How Much Is Travel Insurance?
It depends on how old you are and the overall cost of the trip. A relatively young person in good health will probably spend 3-5% of the overall cost, but a retiree might pay 10%.
