Why I consider Travel Insurance a Necessity

Given my vacation addiction, I’m always looking for ways to trim the vacation budget (I once joked that I’d accept the horrible view hotel room to save a buck). However, one thing I will not skip out on is travel insurance. The flip answer I tend to give when people on various bullitin boards ask if it’s worth it, is that I’ve used travel insurance twice (once when my grandmother was sick, and once when my father died), and I’m only in my mid-twenties. However, I was reminded of how trip insurance can be helpful in circumstances other than cancellation this morning. My mother is presently on tour in Europe. One woman had surgery before departing, but was cleared to go. She ended up in the hospital for more surgery last night. Thankfully, she and her husband had travel insurance, which is covering her medical expenses as well as her husband’s extended stay in the city where she had surgery. Ironically, the nest day another member of their tour group was diagnosed with shingles. Before traveling you should a) check with your medical insurance to see if you would be covered abroad, b)if not, make sure your trip insurance (I like Insure my trip) covers any emergency medical treatment. Also, check if your travel insurance will cover emergency medical evacuation, and repatriation of remains (sending your dead body back to the US). Please make sure you know how to contact loved ones in an emergency when traveling as well-if you have a phonecard, or calling card, please ensure you can use it, and carry multiple phone numbers in case you can’t reach somebody.