What is Travel Insurance?
Travel Insurance provides financial coverage for costs, losses, risks and unexpected events that might happen to you while traveling. Many companies selling travel packages allow consumers to purchase travel insurance as an additional service.
Main Categories of Travel Insurance Include:
- Trip cancelation/interruption
- Baggage/personal effects coverage
- Major medical expenses
- Accidental death/flight accident
Purchasing Travel Insurance
You can purchase travel insurance in three ways:
- Per-trip coverage
- Multi-trip coverage
- Annual trip coverage
Per-trip coverage
Is the most common, and according to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association, 80% of all travel policies fall into this category. Typically it is arranged at the time of the booking so that it will cover exactly the duration of that trip. Providing protection for a single trip, this coverage is perfect for those people who travel occasionally. A single trip policy can cover up to 10 travelers on international or domestic trips.
Multi-trip coverage
Provides protection for multiple trips throughout one year as long as none of the trips exceed the maximum 30-45 days allowed by the insurance plan.
Annual-trip coverage
Is usually for more frequent travelers who take multiple short trips throughout a year. Travelers usually select a specific start date for an annual policy, which should be the departure date for their first trip. An annual policy will last one full year starting from the first day of departure.
People frequently purchase travel insurance as a package that includes several different types of coverage. Many travel insurance plans offered in the U.S. also include 24/7 emergency travel services, such as replacing lost passports, cash wire assistance and re-booking canceled flights.
What Can Affects the Cost?
Travel Insurance premiums are usually based on the following:
- Type of coverage
- Duration of the coverage
- Cost of the trip
- Your age
The costs of policy might also be affected by the trip destination.
