When planning a trip the usual things that go through a person’s mind are the exciting things they will see and how much fun they are going to have. It’s not surprising that many will purposely avoid thinking of the bad things such as what happens if I l break a limp, get food poisoning or worse. It is pretty obvious why a traveler only is thinking about the positive and not the negative. It’s their vacation and a well deserved break from the everyday stresses of life. Having health insurance is just another thing they need to do. Having the correct coverage can only make the trip much more enjoyable. Here is simple list of reasons why a traveler needs a back up plan if something goes wrong on a trip.
1. That trip was expensive
There are no guarantees for what is going to happen in the future. Floods could have washed away the railroad tracks and/or roads that lead to your destination as we saw with Machu Picchu this past month or a military coup could have erupted in the area you intended on traveling through. These and many other things can temporary postpone or cancel the trip entirely. The correct coverage will most likely reimburse the traveler fully or partly for tickets, accommodation and all related expenses in some way or form depending on what is bought. There are chances that the agencies you are dealing with whether it be an airline, travel agent or the like will work with you if something was their fault, but don’t count on it being easy or guarenteed.
2. The exotic food was too good to resist
Many travelers suffer from the common stomach aliments while traveling since part of experiencing a new place is sampling local cuisine. The locals usually have natural immunities to parasites and other things found in locally produced food. The traveler, no matter how strong of a stomach they think they have, isn’t as fortunate. The trip to the doctor for a sick traveler is not uncommon. Some countries are easier on the wallet then others but it’s nice to know that a traveler will just need to figure out how to get treated and not worry about paying for the treatment at the end.
3. Missed connections…what..no flight until tomorrow?
Not all planes, trains, buses and taxis the traveler uses along the way will be prompt. Countries all have their own interpretation of time and schedules. Those interpretations can cause travel delays which may leave a traveler stranded. Many travel insurance plans have coverage for such travel delays and interruptions. This coverage pays for certain extra transportation and accommodation expenses for a trip interruption that is generally after 6 hours or more. This is great if the airline or other transport company decides that it’s not going to do anything for you. It is also nice to know that you may not have to sleep in the waiting area but instead in a private room nearby.
4. If something REALLY bad happens…
It may seem over the top to mention them but bad things can happen anywhere. Travelers go and do things in foreign places assuming that they will not encounter any danger along the way. It’s all a part of the adventure. They tend to forget that safety measures one country takes to keep people “safe from doing harm to themselves” are different or non-existent in other countries. This is the reason why there are added benefits and higher premiums for those participating in dangerous activities such as scuba diving and down-hill skiing. There are more general add-on categories of coverage such as how much the policy will reimburse or cover. Some of these include the cost of bring a family member to the traveler in the event they are transported to a hospital or other facility due to an injury for more than several days, medevac services for when the traveler gets into some hairy situations such as being trapped on a mountain or a helicopter rescue is necessary along with taking the victim to an adequate hospital facility. Hopefully the traveler will be safe and travel with some commonsense when visiting a foreign land. These pre-paid benefits can give them and those that care about them piece of mind while away.
5. I lost my passport/ticket
A traveler has so much to keep track of and sometimes these important things are M.I.A. or worse yet… stolen. The passport or tickets are probably two of the most valuable and hard to replace items at traveler has on them. If they disappear, then it’s good to know that your travel insurance company will be a phone call away and that prepaid coverage does come in handy. There should be a back up photocopy of all important documents stowed away safely in your money belt and back at home with a reliable person for such emergencies. This along with the insurance company’s help can just make the process a less bumpy one when on the road.
Anything can happen along the way. More than likely they will be all good things along they way. The trip insurance is never a bad investment even if you don’t use it along the way. It’s just gives you many less things to worry about and more time to spend enjoying your trip.
Each policy and companies providing those policies are different. It is important to find one that suits your needs and provides coverage for things that could happen on this particular trip. Most importantly, read the fine print, enjoy the trip and don’t worried because you’re covered.
I find that this website is a very good start in finding the plan that works for you. It has a helpful chart comparing plans to one another.
Here’s another good article on msnbc.com about travel insurance and a blog post by Airwatchdog.com showing a Airline snafu/travel insurance chart. You can never have enough information. Good luck.
farflungistan 
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