Avoid Catastrophe: Why Travel Insurance is a Wise Investment

No matter how much you plan, we all know things don’t always go as expected. That’s when travel insurance can help you avoid a catastrophe and deal with the unexpected.  

There are a lot of unknowns even after you choose your vacation destination and plan your travel itinerary. It’s always best to perform your due diligence, following up on requirements for trip deposits and reservations so your plans are finalized when it’s time for you to leave.

You should also investigate insurance for travelers and find the plan option that is best for you and your situation. A good travel insurance plan such as RoundTrip Elite, includes five important types of benefits that can make a huge difference if you run into difficulties while traveling.  

Five Key Types of Protection

1. Your Trip Expenses

This includes any money you prepaid for your trip such as deposits for accommodations, tours or excursions, and travel arrangements such as airfare. If something happens to prevent you from taking your trip, can you afford to lose the money you already spent?If you can’t, you need travel insurance. It covers you for a list of potential covered reasons that could cause you to cancel, interrupt, or delay your trip.

Travel insurance plans help you recoup any nonrefundable prepaid expenses if you cancel because of these events. Each plan has a different list of triggers but typically things such as sickness, death, weather, and travel provider issues such as strike or financial default are covered.

2. Medical Expenses

What happens if you become sick or get hurt while traveling? Most travel insurance plans include coverage for emergency medical expenses, and depending on your health plan coverage, you may need it. If you are traveling abroad, your health insurance here at home doesn't always follow you. Check with your health insurance carrier to find out what type of coverage, if any, is provided outside of the U.S.

If you’re traveling within the United States, there are also some plans that will not follow you once you leave your state. Others may cover you but with special stipulations or limited benefit amounts. Again, check with your insurance company to find out for sure. If you are sick or hurt away from home, you want to be certain you can receive the medical care you need, and you don't want to get stuck paying a large medical bill.

3. Emergency Medical Evacuation 

If you are traveling in a location where appropriate medical care is not available for you, this benefit will be very important. If medically necessary, the travel insurance plan will cover the cost and services to arrange an emergency medical evacuation to transport you to the nearest location with appropriate care and to return you home to recover as well.  

4. Your Belongings

When you’re traveling, your personal items can get lost, damaged, or stolen. Travel insurance plans offer specialized benefits for these situations. A baggage delay amount is also often included, and we see many claims of this nature. If your bags arrive at your destination four days later than you, you will likely need to purchase clothes and personal items in the interim.

4. Travel Assistance

You're in a foreign country and you start running a fever and need to find a doctor. You don't speak the language and you're staying in a rural area. How will you find a doctor?

Help is just a phone call away when you have insurance for travelers. Most plans include 24/7 travel assistance services to help you locate medical facilities, arrange for emergency medical evacuations, and help with a wide variety of travel situations and emergencies that can occur.