You're going on a long-awaited family vacation! You've got your airfare booked, your resort booked, and many excursions are already booked as well. Your trip can add up to quite a lot of money, sometimes as much as buying a car! If it were a car, what would you do if you drove that car out of the lot but didn't have insurance on it yet? (although the car dealer would make sure you did have insurance) And suppose your car was hit as you pulled out, totalling the car! Let's hope this doesn't happen, but it could.
Well, the same goes for your vacation. You've invested a lot of your hard-earned money in your vacation. Now what happens if you are in a car accident on your way to the airport, or your mother is very ill and admitted to the hospital the day before your trip. Or perhaps your flight is cancelled because of a blizzard (we've seen that happen a lot this winter!)and the next flight out is two days later. What happens to your vacation? If you are not insured, you may lose all of your money, or end up spending more money just to get to your vacation spot while having lost two nights' worth of your prepaid room.
Many people think this won't happen to them. Or they'll say they'll never cancel their trip so they don't need insurance. Or many will say their credit card will cover them. Do you know that for sure? Will they cover you for the canceling your trip because of an illness of a family member not traveling with you? And what about medical expenses, especially while out of the country? Medicare will not cover these expenses. And while your health insurance company may say they will cover the expenses, most times you have to pay out of pocket first, then submit the bills to the insurance company. How expensive is it to be flown home to the U.S. to get your medical care at home? Your medical insurance may not pay this at all.
There was an excellent article in USA Today's Travel section by Linda Burbank. The article is titled "Traveler's Aide: Why you should always buy trip insurance for a cruise". Click here to read it.
