Planning a vacation is an exciting event. You’ve taken time off work and are excited to spend time with your family or friends exploring a new location and making lasting memories. You’re booking reservations, looking up the must-dos, and starting your packing list. Before you get set to leave, there’s one more thing you’ll want to invest in travel insurance.
Having insurance is a normal part of life. From your health to your home to your life, you pay to protect the things you love if there’s an emergency. Well, as you’re planning a big vacation, don’t you want to protect that too? Travel insurance will give you the peace of mind that you aren’t spending a bunch of money upfront on a trip that may get changed or have complications. Let’s dive deeper into what travel insurance is and why it can benefit you to invest in it.
What is travel insurance?
Just like most insurances, travel insurance covers unexpected issues and reimburses you if anything goes wrong with your trip. When you’re planning and booking reservations, a lot of those are nonrefundable deposits. Well, what happens if you have to cancel your cruise or postpone your camping trip? Travel insurance will give you your money back so that you can plan without worry. They can also help you in a pinch while you’re on your vacation or if you lost your luggage. Basically, travel insurance helps give you peace of mind when you reach your destination that whatever happens will be totally covered. Here are a few reasons why it’s a good investment.
You can’t predict the future.
As excited as you may be for your future trip, it’s in the future, and that’s unpredictable. Life happens, and it can interrupt your plans. If you have a medical emergency, lose your job, need to change international travel, etc., having insurance means all the planning and money you’ve already put into the trip won’t be a waste. It’s a good idea to plan for the positives, but prepare in case anything goes wrong.
It will help if you protect your stuff.
While you won’t be taking every valuable item with you on your trip, you still want to be sure your essentials are covered and protected. Looking at tips for packing for a 7-day vacation, it seems your suitcase may be full of dresses, pairs of shoes, underwear, suits, and toiletries that you probably don’t want to have to replace. Travel insurance will cover these items if your luggage or suitcase goes missing. Even so, the pros would still say it’s a good idea to put your valuables like laptops, chargers, documents, and credit cards in a carry-on bag or backpack.
You plan on driving on your trip.
If you’re investing in a rental car for your trip, travel insurance can help cover any accidents or damage to that vehicle as well. Instead of the additional cost at the rental car lender, use this great way to get a better deal and still cover the basics. Just like with tips for buying a used car, the car’s value will determine the cost. But for a week-long trip, it can be a good deal to add this on with your travel insurance.
You want someone readily available in case of emergency.
Traveling can be stressful because you don’t have the same services you’re familiar with back home. With travel insurance, you have someone to contact if things go wrong. From lost luggage to medical emergencies, you’ll be able to talk to someone who can help you work out your next steps and cover the costs.
