Travel often comes with a hefty price tag, which is why many people consider purchasing travel insurance to cover various expenses that might come up but is it worth it?
Carl Carlson, CEO of Carlson Financial said the most common types of coverage people consider or purchase are for trip cancellation or interruption which would cover non-refundable payments you’ve made for travel such as flights, hotels, or tours or medical coverage to help cover medical costs while out of the country. Baggage protection covers baggage that is lost, delayed, or damaged, or theft protection if you plan on bringing some high value items on your trip and evacuation insurance, which in the worst case scenario could mean a medically equipped private jet home.
You can usually find a comprehensive plan that covers all those things if you need that, Carlson said.
Each of those things could pose a significant financial risk and insuring your trip could easily pay off if something were to go wrong however, many people might already have all the coverage they need through other sources.
You should spend some time checking into whether you do or what the cost of adding would be. Carlson said many credit card companies will cover trip cancellation or interruption, and possibly baggage protection as well.
In all cases the travel would have to be booked with that card. Homeowners or renters insurance typically covers your possessions anywhere you travel, and if you worried about a bag getting lost with an airline, it’s already covered by that airline.
For high ticket items that would otherwise be excluded by your home policy, it may be a cheaper to add a rider for those items, rather than get another policy.
Lastly, check with your health insurance company to see if you will have coverage outside the U.S.
While Medicare does not offer coverage, certain supplemental policies may offer emergency coverage.
Carlson said there is money to be saved by doing your homework!
