As a travel advisor, there is one question I get asked all the time. That question is, “Do I need to purchase travel insurance?”. My response is always, YES! I mean, you don’t need to, but I couldn’t tell you how many clients have told me they were thankful they listened to me and purchased the insurance. There are so many things that can go wrong either before a trip starts or while you are away from home. Today, I am going to share a few scenarios where travel insurance can save you from losing hundreds, or thousands, of dollars on a vacation.

Reasons Why You Need to Purchase Travel Insurance

Return Flight is Cancelled

 

Let’s say you are vacationing in Norway and there is an airline strike. That strike means your flight home, and many others, are cancelled. And you are stranded in a foreign country.

Don’t think this could happen in real life??

Well, it did to a colleague of mine and her daughter.

Their flight was cancelled, and she had no way to get home. Buses and trains to other cities were booked. There were no rental cars. And there were no other flights on other airlines.

So, she did what she needed to and booked a hotel room for the time she was stuck in the country. Since she had travel insurance, she didn’t need to pay for the hotel room for those nights. The insurance covered it in full.

The little extra she paid to insure her trip resulted in her saving hundreds of dollars in hotel costs as well as her meals.

 

Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Other Disasters

 

In this scenario, let’s say you had plans to travel down to Florida. You envisioned soft sandy beaches and romantic adventures with your partner.

What you got was a hurricane wiping everything out in that area before you arrived.

Without travel insurance, you may lose out on the money you paid for your flights, hotel, and any activities you had pre-booked. Yes, in this scenario, the airlines may work with you and give you a credit to use on flights within the next year.

But do you want to rely on luck?? Or would you prefer to have the money in your bank account to use as you need it?

 

Emergency Work Orders

 

Staying with the hurricane, or other natural disaster, scenario above, I am going to focus on emergency work orders. The colleague I mentioned above has a trip to Scotland planned for the beginning of November. However, her husband is currently down in Florida restoring power to the thousands of people who lost it during a hurricane.

No one knows how long he will be gone. Or if he will be home in time to go on vacation.

Thankfully, they have travel insurance that will cover the trip if they need to cancel it.

Now, you may never be called away for an emergency like this. But what if you had emergency surgery or something happened to your parents or one of the kids? Wouldn’t it be better to know you aren’t losing money on a trip you can no longer take?

You Need to Return Home Unexpectedly

 

You never know when you may need to return home from a trip earlier than planned. Something may happen to a family member back home. You may even get really sick while on vacation and your best option is to return home to a local hospital.

There are dozens of reasons why you might need to return home. The good news is travel insurance will help with the costs of that return trip. This insurance will also cover foreign hospital stays and emergency airlifts if you purchase the correct plan.

 

Lost Luggage

 

Lost luggage may not seem to be a big deal since it normally shows up after a day or two. But did you know that anything you need to purchase until your luggage arrives is covered by travel insurance?

It is and that means you won’t be spending money on things you wouldn’t have to buy if your luggage wasn’t lost. Your bag must be lost for more than 24 hours for this coverage to go into effect.

This insurance even covers the cost to replace everything if your bags never show up.

These are the main reasons why you need to purchase travel insurance for all your vacations. There are other scenarios that do not happen as often too. I always say it is better to have this insurance and never use it then to not have it and need it. We can discuss your thoughts on travel insurance as I am booking your next vacation.

So, are you ready to start planning your next  vacation?

If you said yes, I would like to invite you to schedule a planning session with me by clicking here. When you click on this link, you will be taken directly to my digital calendar to schedule a time that is convenient for you.

And if you are not ready to start planning a vacation just yet, you can always sign up for my newsletter here. This will ensure you always receive all the travel information I share.