Vacation Insurance: What To Include in Your Policy
Many travelers save up for one big vacation per year, and often plan the trip months in advance. With that heavy planning can come a serious financial investment. Vacation insurance can help protect that investment.
When the time comes to book your next vacation, there are some key travel insurance benefits to make sure your policy includes.
What to Look For in a Vacation Insurance Policy?
Travel insurance policies are designed with a traveler’s main concerns in mind, but can vary if benefits and coverage amounts. The best policies will be comprehensive and include the following benefits:
Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption
Trip Cancellation will protect 100% of your trip expenses if you need to cancel for a reason listed by your policy. The most common reasons include:
- Illness, injury or death or you, a traveling companion or a family member
- Hurricane or a natural disaster that prevents you from traveling
- A terrorist attack in or near your destination
Most policies with Trip Cancellation coverage also include Trip Interruption, which covers the same events, however begins when you leave home. This benefit can reimburse your unused trip expenses, as well as additional transportation payments you make to return home.
Emergency Medical
Medical coverage is a top concern for many travelers going on vacation, especially if they traveling out of the country. The Emergency Medical benefit is designed to protect those travelers from expensive medical bills during their trips.
If you have an illness or injury that needs to be treated while traveling, Emergency Medical can reimburse you. This benefit can cover physician services, ambulance fees, x-rays, and other necessary medical services.
Medical Evacuation
Many family vacations involve tours and excursions, some in more remote locations than others. The Medical Evacuation benefit can transport you to the nearest hospital in the event of an emergency.
Travel Delay and Missed Connection
Travel delays can start even the most exciting vacations out poorly. With Travel Delay coverage, you can at least be refunded for meals and hotel accommodations after a delay of 3-12 hours. If that delay causes you to miss a connecting flight, the Missed Connection benefit can help you catch up to your itinerary.
Baggage Delay and Baggage & Personal Items Loss
Arriving at your destination to find out your luggage has been delayed can be an expensive problem to solve. With travel insurance, you can be refunded for the necessities you need to buy, including clothes and toiletries. If your bags are damaged, or outright lost, you can also be reimbursed for the lost items, as long as you can provide receipts.
How Much Should I Spend on Vacation Insurance?
It’s a common misconception among travelers that a more expensive policy will provide better, more reliable coverage.
The main factors that determine a policy’s cost are your trip cost, the age of the travelers, the length of your trip, and how much coverage is included. Depending on those factors, a comprehensive policy will typically cost between 4% and 10% of your total trip cost.
Once you have selected a provider and policy that you feel has the best coverage for your trip, you can check their underwriter’s A.M. Best Rating to verify their financial stability. Every provider on squaremouth.com is backed by a company with an A.M. Best Rating of at least “Good” or higher.