Travelers Insurance

“Why would I need travel insurance? I’m careful and don’t need that.”

Something that is all too common a question I get from fellow travelers. Much like car insurance being there to protect you from mayhem, travel insurance is there to do the same.

I’ve had several incidents on the road, had a computer stolen in Budapest, got a $500 train ticket confiscated in Switzerland, had a flight canceled on me and I’ve had some injuries happen to friends on the road that without travel insurance would have cost a pretty penny.

So why would I recommend it to anyone? Well for less than $100 for most short term trips (less than 3 weeks) and a few hundred on most longer trips (I counted $1000 for a year) you can be insured against: theft of personal possessions, trip cancelation due to bad weather, baggage delay, personal injury and worse (death). So any time I travel more than 100 miles from home with anything more than the clothes on my back I prefer to just pony up the cash to buy the insurance and rest assured that I’m safe on my travels.

“So what travel insurance do you use?”

When it comes to travel, and if you’ve been doing for a while, then you’ve probably brought your computer, a camera, a smart phone or some jewelry along on the voyage. If you are like me, you weren’t fortunate enough to insure your travels before you went.

Travelers Insurance isn’t something you buy after your trip, you buy it before your trip to make sure you don’t have to end your trip early because of something unforeseen…

Not having it almost crippled my trip to Europe one summer and it seriously messed up my mood another summer on my birthday when I had something very special stolen.

I learned this lesson twice before I committed to getting it, once in 2010 while Traveling through Switzerland and again the summer of 2014 while traveling through Budapest Hungary. Now I get it on each and every trip that I take which is over 100 miles from my home.

“What is it Even Good For?”

It’s the one thing I never leave home without now. 

Traveler’s insurance isn’t something extra you get to cover your trip, it’s what you need to rest safe and know that if something happens during your travels then your body, your family, your possessions are safe and or protected to some degree (it won’t stop bullets but it will help with the medical attention you need heaven forbid that ever were to happen on the road).

Here’s what traveler’s insurance will cover and why I always travel with it:

• You’re covered if your possessions are stolen.
• You’re covered if you need emergency medical treatment or need to be flown out by helicopter.
• You’re covered if you get sick and need to see a local doctor.
• You’re covered if you have to cancel your trip.
• You’re covered if your computer, camera, smart phone, tablet are stolen or damaged.
• If you have an incident while on the road you don’t have to guess what to do

“I have A Rewards Card That Offers Travelers Insurance, Why Would I Need To Buy It Again?”

If you are familiar with travel rewards credit cards then you know that some of these travel troubles will be covered just by using the rewards card for purchases during your travels. However, you do need to read the fine print as there may be some limitations on your card.

Two such limitations on the Chase Freedom card are:

• Up to $500 per item limit for jewelry, watches, electronic equipment and cameras.
• No emergency medical evacuation in the event of injury or illness.

So though the card company offers some travelers insurance benefits, the two most important (in my opinion) can be had with simple, inexpensive travelers insurance. For a week I paid $100 bucks and I was covered up to $100k in emergency medical, evac, and all my possessions were covered + I had cancelation insurance.

The smart traveler knows that you don’t wait till it’s too late to insure your trip, and you don’t wait till accidents happen to prepare for them. Do yourself and your family a favor and get travelers insurance today to make sure you come back from your trip un-frayed.

Why we here at M.S.O.L. partner with World Nomads:

• Personally, we all use World Nomads to insure our trips and find them to be the best.
• Their claims process is simple and efficient with 24/7 phone support and online support.
• Their coverage is the most comprehensive for the cost you pay
• Their insurance can be bought online from your phone, computer or tablet while at home or on the road.
• You can easily renew it from the road.

If you want to learn more about how to travel safely and securely anywhere in the world, head on over to their Travel Safety information page and book travel insurance while you’re over there. https://www.worldnomads.com/travel-safety

 

Important disclaimer: Anything I recommend on this site I’ve personally used and believe in. Some of the links on this site, when you click on them, will give me a small affiliate commission at no additional cost to you. These links will cost you nothing to use, the price of the linked products and resources remain the same; however, when you use these links it helps support this site. It takes quite a bit to run a website and it ain’t cheap.