Travel Insurance: When It’s Worth It (And When It’s Not) (2025)
My coworker booked a $6,000 trip to Italy for her honeymoon. Two weeks before departure her fiancé got appendicitis and emergency surgery. Obviously couldn’t travel. Obviously couldn’t get $6,000 back from airlines and hotels.
She didn’t have travel insurance. Lost most of that money. Started her marriage with a $6,000 disappointment and debt.
Flip side—I’ve bought travel insurance on like ten trips and never used it. Feels like wasted money until you hear a story like hers.
Travel insurance is one of those genuinely optional things where the answer to “do I need it” is really “depends on what would happen if things go wrong.”
What travel insurance covers
Depends on the policy but typically:
Trip cancellation/interruption. You have to cancel before or during the trip for covered reasons. Get your prepaid expenses back. Covered reasons usually include illness, injury, death in family, weather events, sometimes job loss or jury duty.
Travel medical. You get sick or injured while traveling. Covers medical treatment. Especially important for international travel where your regular health insurance might not cover you or might have limited coverage.
Medical evacuation. You need to be transported to a hospital or back home for medical treatment. Helicopters and medical flights are insanely expensive. This can be $50,000+ without insurance.
Baggage loss/delay. Airline loses your stuff or it shows up late. Insurance reimburses for lost items or essential purchases while waiting for delayed bags.
Travel delay. Flight gets cancelled and you’re stuck somewhere. Covers hotels, meals, rebooking costs.
When it’s probably worth it
Expensive trips. If you’re spending $5,000+ on a trip and couldn’t absorb losing that money, insurance makes sense. The coworker situation—$6,000 trip, no insurance, devastating loss.
International travel. Your regular health insurance probably doesn’t cover you abroad or has very limited coverage. Medical care in foreign countries can be expensive and complicated. Medical evacuation home can cost more than your house.
Adventure travel. Doing risky activities? Skiing, scuba diving, mountain climbing? Higher chance something goes wrong. Make sure your policy covers the activities you’re doing—some exclude “adventure sports.”
Traveling to unstable areas. Political situations can change. Events can be cancelled. Having coverage for unforeseen issues helps.
Cruises and tours. These are usually expensive, prepaid, and hard to get refunds from. Trip cancellation coverage is particularly valuable.
When health issues are possible. Older travelers, people with health conditions, anyone where a medical issue derailing the trip is more likely.
When you might skip it
Cheap domestic trips. Long weekend road trip that cost $500? Probably not worth insuring. If something goes wrong you can absorb the loss.
Flexible bookings. If your airline tickets and hotels are refundable or easily changed, the main benefit of trip cancellation insurance is less valuable.
Credit card already covers you. Many travel credit cards include travel insurance. Check what you already have before buying more. Some are decent, some are garbage. Read the actual terms.
You have good health insurance that covers you anywhere. Some plans do cover international care. Check before assuming you need separate travel medical.
What it costs
Usually 4-10% of your total trip cost. $5,000 trip might have insurance options from $200-500 depending on coverage levels, your age, destination.
Compare plans carefully. Cheaper isn’t always better. Coverage limits, exclusions, and what counts as a “covered reason” for cancellation vary a lot.
The fine print that matters
Pre-existing conditions are usually excluded. If you have a health condition and it causes you to cancel, probably not covered unless you buy within a certain window of booking (usually 14-21 days) and your condition was “stable.”
“Cancel for any reason” coverage is more expensive but actually lets you cancel for any reason. Standard policies only cover specific listed reasons.
Read what activities are excluded. Some policies don’t cover skiing, scuba, motorcycles, etc.
Understand the claims process. Some require pre-authorization for medical treatment. Some reimburse, some pay directly. Know before you need it.
Where to buy
Direct from insurers like Allianz, World Nomads, Travel Guard. Comparison sites like InsureMyTrip or Squaremouth let you compare multiple options. Sometimes offered when booking flights or hotels but these aren’t always the best deals—compare first.
Buy early if you want trip cancellation coverage. Some benefits require buying within certain timeframe of booking. And obviously you can’t insure after something’s already gone wrong.
Collision just knocked my travel mug off the desk which feels like a sign I should wrap this up—but basically travel insurance is worth considering for expensive trips or international travel, probably not worth it for cheap domestic stuff, and the devil is in the policy details. Read what’s actually covered before you buy.
