Know When You Need Travel Insurance

Filed in archive Tips and Tricks on August 29, 2007

You do not really need a travel insurance for every trip that you take. However, if you are planning a major trip abroad, I suggest that you get one.

Apart from sparing you from worrying about what could happen, a travel insurance will save you the extra cost, should Murphy's Law get the upper hand during your trip. Believe me, you wouldn't want to be laden with any extra cost if you are traveling on a very tight budget to begin with.

So... what kind of costs are we talking about? Well, here are a few examples of what travel insurances could save you the cost of:

• Buying another ticket, should your airline suddenly declares bankruptcy while you are still vagabonding abroad.


• Getting medical care, should you get sick (could happen, you know!) abroad and the country you are in does not accept your own local medical insurance


• replacing a valuable lost/stolen item


• losing your booking because you have to cancel at the last minute (death- or health-related only)

Of course, you cannot just get any travel insurance. You need to do your homework first.

You need to ask a lot of theoretical questions ("what if I...?") even at the sake of sounding way too paranoid. Better safe than sorry, I always say.

You also need check the policy inclusions. Imagine getting sick and finding out at the last minute that the travel insurance you bought only covered, say, last minute cancellations? Take the time to read the fine print before you sign on the dotted line.

Depending on what kind of trip you are taking, there are other things which you might want to consider before you get the travel insurance that fits your needs. Don't forget: ASK, CHECK and COMPARE before you BOOK.