You planned for months for your long awaited dream vacation only to have a tropical storm close the airport or simply make it too dangerous to travel. Unless you paid for insurance through the airlines, you are out the flight money. What about a hotel, the prepaid excursions to scuba dive or travel tour fees?
Or perhaps you arrive at your destination only to be injured? I had that happen to a friend during a birthday celebration in Maui. She fell while walking under a waterfall and had to be airlifted out and brought home for surgery. Her brother who paid for her trip was kind enough to send her back to Maui 3 years later, but the expense he paid the first time was not reimbursed simply because of her injury.
Fortunately, as with most things, there is insurance that can reimburse you for all of those things. Travel insurance is intended to cover medical expenses, trip cancellation, lost luggage, flight accident and other losses incurred while traveling, either internationally or domestically.
There are many different types of travel insurance policies available, and it is important to understand what each type covers before purchasing a policy.
Medical travel insurance is the most important type of travel insurance to have, as it can cover the costs of medical care and evacuation in the event of a serious accident or debilitating illness.
As we saw during Covid, trip cancellation and interruption insurance can reimburse you for non-refundable trip expenses if you need to cancel or interrupt your trip due to a covered event such as severe weather, illness or death in the family.