The holiday season is approaching and money is tight.
With so many delays and cancellations due to the pandemic, you may be tempted to click through and purchase additional travel insurance when booking your flight or trip online.
But in most cases the compensation is not worth the money. Kevin Brasler, executive editor of Boston Consumers’ Checkbook, says these policies are full of restrictions and exclusions.
“I understand there are concerns here, but I really think the assessment needs to be careful. What’s the real risk here?” Brasler said. “Like any insurance, I have to evaluate if things go wrong. What am I risking and is it worth it for me to buy this insurance plan? When it comes to travel insurance. , usually not.
“Cancellation for any reason” insurance will cost more. While these policies offer much better coverage, Brussler says they are expensive and in most cases cannot fully reimburse travel costs. Evaluate how much money you will lose by canceling. For most trips, you can cancel and get some or all of your money back, or rebook at a later time. Little or no penalty.
“There are types of trips where you want to buy travel insurance,” says Brasler. “If a tour operator company or someone says it’s $10,000 and there are absolutely no refunds, check with them no matter what, they won’t even rebook you, that’s why It may be worth buying “Cancel” regardless. However, you should know up front that these policies can be difficult to collect.There are also exclusions.Many of these plans do not give you full value back.You only get 50. No. % or 75% of the amount paid. “
Consumer’ Checkbook advises consumers to get insurance to protect themselves against financially devastating risks, and it makes sense for some international travelers to have medical insurance said.
“If you are traveling abroad and your health insurance company does not provide medical travel coverage nor does it provide evacuation coverage, if you need to go to a place that offers better medical care. is worth buying with those plans, says Brussler, “especially if you don’t have that kind of insurance. If you have Medicare, that insurance doesn’t cover it. If you are traveling in some countries, that insurance does not cover them, they have very good medical facilities, they have problems and they need to evacuate, which can cost a lot It can cost $100,000.00, $200,000.00.It’s the kind of risk you need to buy insurance for, because it would be financially devastating to most families.”
If you are considering purchasing travel insurance, read all the insurance exclusions to know exactly what you are covered for. In some cases, dozens of pages of detail. Also, many plans require you to cancel at least 48 hours before your scheduled departure, so if there is a real last-minute emergency, your insurance company won’t pay you.
The Consumer’ Checkbook provides detailed information on travel insurance. https://www.checkbook.org/nbcBoston/travel-insurance
