The chance of a traveler needing to use traveling insurance is slim. The debate over whether to travel with travel insurance has been long discussed, but see The Traveling Professor's comments in this New York Times "The Haggler" article.
In the last year or so we have had travelers:
- Cancel trips due to health reasons.
- Have trips delayed due to weather (think Iceland)
- Have baggage delayed due to baggage missing connecting flights
- Lost passport
- Minor medical issues (sprains, upset stomach, colds)
- Have flights delayed due to airline issues
All of the above would be covered by trip insurance. On top of it, travel insurance could have been provided for free.
Let's go through an example. Say 2 people are going on a cruise to Croatia departing on August 27 and returning September 7. The flights are about $1,200 each and the cruise is $3400 per person. You would want to insure your trip for about $9200 and of course have medical coverage, trip cancellation, trip delay, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, medical evacuation insurance (costs for transporting ill travelers back home).
In looking online on Insure My Trip, we can get a policy quote for two people in the range of $343 to $454. Not bad.
However, if you charge all or part of your trip with a credit card that provides trip insurance, you may have sufficient insurance coverage without having to pay an extra cent and without having the hassle of doing all the paperwork to apply for travel insurance.
The Traveling Professor prefers the Chase Sapphire Reserve Card or the MasterCard World Elite Card for premium travel insurance. These two cards carry fees (from $400-$450 per year) but other options can be found with other cards providing travel insurance.
The terms, conditions and coverage of every insurance policy varies. It is extremely important for the traveler to review these terms and conditions of travel insurance policies offered by these cards.
Join The Professor on one of his small group tours to Europe and South America.