Whenever booking a flight, hotel, car rental or a complete trip online or through a travel agent, does the question of "would you like to buy travel insurance to go along with you purchase?" ever come up?
For those who are on the road more than home, it is something that, after listening to it about 20 times, just gets ignored with a simple "no."
The answer of no comes up quickly because most think of it as a scam, a way to take money for something that is useless and probably won't work if needed.
After all, most of us have medical insurance that will cover us, at least while traveling domestically.
However, what about international travel?
Does the insurance company cover issues that could come up on international soil?
That answer is dependent on one's plan, but even if the policyholder is covered medically, what about travel circumstances like lost baggage, canceled trips or being stranded somewhere, due to a natural disaster?
It is for these reasons that insurance companies ask about the individual's or family's travel habits. They need to make sure if the person is a risk to take on or not.
Saying all this, insurance isn't needed for everyone. For example, if a 50-years-old man, who is in decent shape, but is in the middle or a midlife crisis, is planning on going to Brazil to skydive, hang-glide and parasail.
Would he need insurance?
Most would think yes.
On the other hand, a 23-year-old woman, who is going to Paris, will sleep on a couch in her friend's apartment and only be sightseeing and going to theater plays, probably won't need the insurance.
But, in both cases and any case, travel insurance is always good to get and won't cost much.
Policies can cost anywhere from $100-$250 on short two-week or month-long trips and will cover many, if not all of the aforementioned concerns that might come up.
Some of the better known travel insurance sites, like worldnomads.com and insuremytrip.com offer a vast array of packages that can be customize to suit one's need.
Before checking the sites to see the options available, be prepared to answer a few questions:
How many people will be traveling?
How long is the trip planned for?
How much was the flight to the destination?
How much money will be spent over-all?
Is this a multi-city or country trip?
So, the next time the question of "would you like to add travel insurance?" comes up, think before speaking or have a policy in hand.
Isn't it better to be safe than sorry?
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
