When traveling abroad, buying travel insurance is absolutely necessary.
But you may be wondering: How much does travel insurance cost? How much travel insurance do I need? The answers to both questions will depend upon the plan you choose, and the details of the trip and the insured.
Of course, purchasing travel insurance will increase your overall trip expenses, but that doesn't mean you should avoid it. You can follow some of the tips below to keep the cost of travel insurance as low as possible.
Travel Insurance Types
There are primarily two types of travel insurance plans:
- Trip cancellation insurance: covers prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs, among other things
- Travel medical insurance: does not cover trip cost and is primarily focused on medical coverage
Determine whether you would like coverage on your trip cost or different benefits while on your trip.
Compared to trip cancellation insurance, travel medical insurance can cost significantly less.
Destination
Travel insurance cost can vary greatly based on your destination. For example, travel insurance that includes coverage in the US would cost significantly more than a plan that doesn't include the US. To avoid these costs, don't buy the US coverage if you aren't traveling to the US. However, you may be unable to change your destination or itinerary just to save on travel insurance costs.
Trip Cost
Travel insurance cost depends directly on the trip cost. Knowing how to calculate the trip cost for travel insurance accurately will help you save money. For example, don't include expenses that you would incur on the trip when calculating the total trip cost for travel insurance . Be careful when deciding whether to include the refundable trip costs in your calculations; by including these costs, you might miss out on some valuable benefits.
Optional Coverages
There are many optional coverages available that may be useful for some travelers. Carefully evaluate your needs before purchasing. Some examples are:
- Cancel for any reason: Regular travel insurance already covers many unexpected situations, allowing you to get your prepaid, nonrefundable trip cost back. If you find standard coverage to be sufficient, buying travel insurance that allows you to cancel for any reason may not be necessary, since such travel insurance plans tend to be expensive.
- Cancel for work reasons: If your workplace allows you to take vacations with little possibility of a scheduling conflict, you can avoid this type of plan to save money on your travel insurance premium.
- If you are going to do any hazardous activities while on vacation, you should definitely purchase the appropriate optional coverages. Otherwise, you can skip this option to save money.
- Some travel insurance plans provide too much coverage. You may be covered for a $5,000,000 emergency medical evacuation, but you know you will never need that much coverage. If you find a travel insurance plan that is comparable in all other aspects but provides only $250,000 in emergency medical evacuation, choose the $250,000 coverage to save money.
- Some coverage, such as for baggage, may already be provided by the airline or your homeowners insurance. Before adding such options to your policy, make sure that they aren't already included.
Choosing a Travel Insurance Provider
While you could purchase the travel insurance from a travel provider such as a cruise line, it is always better to purchase from a third party aggregator website such as insubuy.com, where you can get instant quotes from various plans, compare them side by side, and make an instant purchase online. That way, you can buy the exact coverage you need and avoid plans with higher, unnecessary costs. Travel insurance sold through a travel supplier may be limited in coverage and may even cost more.
Travel Insurance Coverage Type
If you want trip cancellation insurance, your only option is to purchase single trip insurance. However, for travel medical insurance, you should evaluate whether you should purchase single trip or multi-trip travel insurance. As long as your trip length does not exceed the maximum allowed duration, multi-trip travel insurance provides coverage for any number of international trips throughout the year. If you will be taking two or more trips in a year, annual multi-trip travel insurance may be a better option for you.
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