Travel Insurance – Do You Really Need One? Think Again

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What if you find that your check-in luggage is missing during your air travel or is lost in transit? Or, you suddenly fall sick and need immediate medical help during your travel?

In both cases, you will have to face massive expenses that can even lead to financial imbalance.

Obviously, these kinds of incidents are not very common, but you can never be sure that it will not happen to you on your next international travel. Catastrophe can strike anytime, anywhere.

Murphy’s law says “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” So, it’s better to be prepared and take precautionary measures so that you can keep the consequences of these mishaps to a minimum.

That’s why, you need to invest in travel insurance, both for domestic and international flights.

Is It Mandatory To Buy Travel Insurance For International and Domestic Travel?

There is no specific rule that states that travel insurance is compulsory for international travel. However, some countries may consider travel insurance as a condition of entry. Now, while many international flights make it mandatory to avail travel insurance for flying with them, it is only optional for domestic travel.

As a result, there is a tendency among travelers to avoid buying travel insurance whenever they can. Such kind of tendency is a mistake.

Whether traveling internationally or domestically, irrespective of the destination, having travel insurance is like a safeguard that will make you prepared for the worst.

Now, let’s find out some reasons that will give you a definite idea why buying travel insurance is a crucial investment –

7 Reasons That Explain the Importance of Travel Insurance

While traveling alone or with family, we are exposed to many risks related to health, luggage, or our essential documents. Travel insurance is a kind of safeguard that keeps all possible risks at bay so that we can have a hassle-free travel experience.

Here are some scenarios where your travel insurance, both international and domestic, can protect you from some common risks during your travel.

1. Falling Sick

Though we take all necessary precautions not to fall sick during our travel, life doesn’t go the way we want. If a medical emergency occurs at any point of travel, hospitalization costs, and medical expenses will cost you a fortune.

In such a scenario, your travel insurance could be your savior as most of these insurance plans cover hospitalization and medical costs, in case you fall sick.

2. Delay or Loss of Luggage

The possibility of misplacement or loss of luggage cannot be excluded in both international and domestic flights. While airports handle millions of luggage daily, it is not unlikely your checked-in luggage might get misplaced or lost in transit. If you have travel insurance, it could act as a savior. Most travel insurances cover such contingencies.

3. Flight Delays

Flight delay or rescheduling of a flight is a common incident. In this scenario, it would be wise to choose international travel insurance that will cover the amount spent on certain conveniences.

4. Trip Cancellation

Planning a trip involves a lot of things, including booking hotels, tickets, and cabs in advance. However, sometimes people need to cancel their trip under some unforeseen circumstances.

If you decide to cancel the trip due to a justifiable reason like injury, illness, natural calamity, national disaster, or any other reason, you won’t lose the full amount you paid for the booking. Your travel insurance will protect you.

5. Loss of Passport/Other Important Documents

If the insured person loses his or her passport, their international travel insurance will reimburse the actual expenses occurred in the event of obtaining a fresh or duplicate passport. The same rule is also applicable to other important documents.

6. Personal Accident

Both international and domestic travel insurance cover personal accidents like an accidental death. If accidental death or permanent disability occurs to the insured person, his or her travel insurance will pay the compensation.

7. Other Benefits

There are also other hosts of benefits where international and domestic travel insurance may provide coverage. These benefits include – personal liability like accidental damage, hijack distress allowance, loss of debit/credit card, and more.

Final Thought

After going through so many reasons for buying travel insurance, you must admit that without insurance, traveling is quite risky and troublesome nowadays. The more coverage, the more you will benefit from travel insurance.

The best thing about both international and domestic travel insurance is that you can always customize them according to your needs. Before settling for any insurance, you should do some research and shop around.

Most importantly, never skip the terms and conditions while buying travel insurance because policies and coverages of these insurances differ from company to company and location to location.

So, invest wisely, and travel freely!