Is Travel Insurance A Good Choice For Now?
- Travel Lifestyle
Donna Hussain- 0
- 7 minutes read
We are currently in the middle of the holiday season, and because of the latest highly spreading Omicron variant of the Covid, new restrictions on travel have been levied across the globe. In this case, there are many things that are beyond our control. So is travel insurance worthy?
Insurance for traveling is not the same as trip protection, even though it may look like the same thing, and to many travelers they are interchangeable. But travel insurance is a regulated product that is controlled by the insurance companies. Trip protections that are often provided by the travel companies or travel agencies are less expensive and also less comprehensive and it mainly only provides to waive a charge or to offer you a credit for canceling because of the lockdown. But now let us understand what travel insurance is and how they operate. We will also see if it is worth using insurance while traveling.
What Is Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance is an important form of insurance policy supervised by state insurance regulators. By buying an insurance plan for travel, you could be repaid for losses that may occur while you travel. Covered occurrences can range from unexpected trouble such as delayed baggage to major breaks such as injury or illness.
As always, check with official sources concerning visa and travel needs to your specific destination, since you do not wish to be caught off-guard. If you wish to take a trip to Paris, for example, you may be astonished to find you require non-US medical insurance, as per the Department of State. A trip insurance policy will cover this need
What All Is Covered By Travel Insurance?
An insurance policy for your travel will typically cover two major elements which are health cost and trip cancellation services.
Health Cost
The first portion of an insurance for travel covers the cost of health issues if you are beyond your home insurance policy. This often includes the visit of doctors for smaller illnesses along with emergency services that include medical evacuation. Other than that, there are much best travel insurance for covid which you can look for if covid is the issue.
Trip Cancellation Services
If you are not able to travel because of an unforeseen event, travel insurance international and national will repay you for the non-refundable upfront charges, like hotel and flight reservations that otherwise cannot be refunded. Unpredictable events typically consist of things you have no control over that stop you from traveling, such as an injury or a sickness, inclement weather which now has COVID-related illness in most of the cases. So for travel insurance covid, you may get a reimbursement.
This was not on offer when the shutdowns began. According to Michael Giusti, an analyst at Insurance quotes,
"[The public] was nervous because most insurance policies had pandemic exclusions. But the travel industry pivoted toward the consumer and included COVID under the policies. And so, if you get sick with COVID and can't travel, they'll cover your expenses."
Unexpected events made by preexistent circumstances are even covered. For example, if you have asthma and undergo an attack, that still counts as an unexpected event, as per Giusti. Foreseen events, like traveling during your eight months of pregnancy, are not covered.
Mandates by the government that may come into effect while you are traveling are not necessarily covered either. This implies that, if you cannot get on a flight because of the latest mandate, your policy may not cover you. And any fear of travel is also not covered, so if you are afraid to travel because of concerns of contracting COVID, your travel insurance policy will reimburse your trip.
Cost Of Insuring Your Travel
The charges you will pay for trip insurance relies on a few factors:
- Your age
- Cost of your trip
- Trip destination
- Duration of trip
- Your selections of coverage (flights and hotels, prepaid excursions, and many more.)
Having said that, a good thumb rule when planning your budget for travel insurance is 5% to 10% of the complete trip cost.
Conclusion: Is It Worthy?
The answer is, it depends. If you have put down deposits for your tour, especially for all-expenses-paid tours like cruises, it may be worth buying travel insurance. If something occurs, you risk losing all the money that you have deposited, and tour insurance would stop that risk.
On the contrary, if you are just flying to visit your family for any holiday, and you are not paying for lodging, it may make no sense to buy tour insurance, mainly if the airline provides a straightforward cancellation policy. But if you are concerned about having to cancel your tour from contracting COVID, then choosing travel insurance with big coverage can offer peace of mind. So whether you should have your insurance or should you avoid it depends on the type of your trip. It is you who will have to decide.
