Is Travel Insurance Worth It? What I Want Travelers to Understand Before They Decline It
Travel insurance is one of those things that is easy to look at as an extra expense.
You’re already paying for the cruise or vacation. Maybe you’re watching the airfare. You’re thinking about excursions, hotels, meals and everything else that adds to the cost of a trip. Then someone asks whether you want travel insurance, and it can be tempting to think, Do I really need to spend more money on this?
I understand that. For years, I declined travel insurance myself. I figured I was healthy, I had already spent enough on the trip, and the chances of something going seriously wrong were probably pretty small.
Then I became a travel advisor, learned more about what travel insurance actually can and cannot cover, and started looking at the decision very differently.
In recent years, I’ve also seen what happens when something does go wrong while someone is traveling. And those experiences changed the way I think about travel insurance.
Sometimes the expense you're protecting against is much bigger than the trip
In 2025, a family friend was vacationing in the Caribbean when he fell and suffered a serious head injury. He needed emergency surgery on the island and spent a week in intensive care. Eventually, he had to be transported back to the United States by air ambulance, where he underwent additional brain surgeries followed by months of hospitalization and inpatient rehabilitation.
Once he was back in the United States, his regular medical insurance could take over, but getting him there was another matter.
Travel insurance can include benefits for covered emergency medical expenses and medically necessary emergency transportation, although the benefits and limits vary significantly by policy.
That experience is an extreme example, but it illustrates something important:
When we talk about protecting a trip, we're not necessarily talking about protecting only the amount you paid for the vacation.
Sometimes we're protecting ourselves from an expense that could be far larger.
And sometimes it looks much less dramatic
A few years ago, I was flying from Florida to Rochester with my mom and my two children over Fourth of July week. We had a connection at JFK. A severe storm between New York City and Rochester forced our flight to turn around, and suddenly we were stuck at JFK. Our luggage disappeared somewhere in the process. There were no flights with space for us for three days, and because it was a holiday week, we couldn't find a rental car either.
Eventually, we hired a driver who took us and another stranded traveler the six hours to Rochester. Our portion of the cost was about $700. Luckily, my mom had travel insurance, which reimbursed her for the driver as well as the clothing and toiletries we needed while we waited four days for the airline to get our luggage back to us.
Nobody went to the hospital. Nobody was evacuated from another country. We were simply stranded.
Travel-delay and baggage benefits are examples of benefits that some travel-insurance policies may provide for eligible expenses after a covered disruption. Exactly what qualifies, how long a delay must last and how much may be reimbursed depends on the policy.
That experience also reinforced something many travelers overlook:
Travel insurance isn't only for international travel or expensive trips.
A tight budget can make the decision about travel insurance even more important
One of the most common reasons people decline travel insurance is completely understandable - they are trying to keep the trip within budget.
But there's another question worth asking:
If paying for the insurance feels difficult, what would happen financially if something went wrong without it?
Someone with substantial savings may be able to absorb thousands of dollars in unexpected transportation, medical or lodging expenses. They probably won't be happy about paying them, but they may have the financial ability to do it.
A traveler who carefully saved for the vacation may have much less room for an unexpected expense.
I know of one situation that illustrates this painfully well. A couple was traveling from Canada to Mexico for their honeymoon. Because money was tight, they declined travel insurance.
The bride's mother drove them to the airport. After dropping them off, she was killed in a car accident on her way home. The newlyweds learned what had happened after arriving at their resort in Mexico. They wanted to go home, but they couldn't afford the cost of changing their flights.
So while their family gathered in Canada and the bride's mother was laid to rest, they remained in Mexico.
I don't share that story to frighten anyone into purchasing insurance. And whether a particular circumstance would be covered always depends on the terms and covered reasons in the policy.
I share it because it illustrates something we don't always consider when we're deciding whether to insure a trip:
The emergency doesn't necessarily happen to you. And it doesn't necessarily happen where you're traveling.
Trip-interruption benefits in some policies may reimburse eligible unused trip costs and additional transportation expenses when a traveler must return home early for a covered reason.
For someone traveling on a tight budget, having some protection against those unexpected costs can be especially important.
The question isn't only: Can I afford travel insurance?
It's also: Could I afford the consequences if something happened and I didn't have it?
Sometimes the problem is simply that you can't go home yet
In 2022, my mother was traveling in Italy when she tested positive for COVID during the pre-flight required testing that was still in place for returning to the United States. Her trip unexpectedly became ten days longer. That meant ten additional days of lodging and meals, along with taxis, pharmacy purchases and other expenses she hadn’t planned for.
Her travel insurance covered eligible expenses under the policy, including up to $200 per day for lodging and meals, along with many of those additional expenses. Again, that specific benefit was part of her policy at that time. It shouldn't be assumed to be the benefit available under another policy today.
But the experience is another useful reminder that travel disruption doesn't always mean a dramatic evacuation or canceled vacation.
Sometimes it means: You planned to come home Tuesday. You're coming home next Friday instead. Now what?
Travel insurance is not one product
“Travel insurance” can refer to policies with very different combinations of benefits and very different limits.
Depending on the plan, benefits may include things such as:
trip cancellation for covered reasons;
trip interruption;
travel delay;
baggage delay, loss or damage;
emergency medical expenses;
emergency medical transportation or evacuation;
24-hour assistance services; and
other benefits specific to that particular policy.
Not every policy includes all of those things, and two policies that both call themselves “travel insurance” can provide substantially different benefits. That's why I don't love treating travel insurance as a simple checkbox at the end of a booking.
The question isn't only whether you are buying it. It's also important to understand what the policy you're considering actually covers.
Annual coverage can be worth knowing about, too
Travel insurance doesn't necessarily have to be purchased one trip at a time. Annual or multi-trip policies exist for travelers who take multiple trips during the year. Depending on the policy, they may provide benefits for eligible domestic as well as international trips.
But annual policies vary, too. Trip-length restrictions, benefit limits, definitions of an eligible trip, cancellation coverage and other provisions can differ. So “I have an annual plan” doesn't automatically tell us exactly what protection someone has. The plan documents do.
Why I make sure travel insurance is part of the planning conversation
There is another reason I prefer clients to look at travel insurance thoughtfully rather than automatically accepting or declining whatever appears during checkout. There may be more options available than travelers realize.
Recently, I compared Allianz’s annual travel-insurance options as a regular consumer and then through my travel-advisor access. Through my advisor access, I was presented with significantly more options to provide to clients. That doesn’t mean every insurer, advisor or situation works the same way. But it was a good reminder that the first options a traveler sees during a booking process may not be the only options available.
My role here is important to understand, especially because insurance is a regulated product.
I am not a licensed insurance agent.
I can provide clients with available travel-insurance options and insurer-approved information about those options. I cannot tell someone which policy is “best” for their individual situation, interpret technical policy language for them, or evaluate whether their existing insurance provides adequate coverage. If a client has questions about how a specific benefit, exclusion or provision would apply to them, those questions belong with the licensed insurance provider.
My job is to make sure travel insurance is part of the conversation and that my clients know they have options to review rather than simply overlooking the decision.
Don't buy it because something terrible will happen
Most trips do not end with an air ambulance. Most travelers aren't stranded for days at JFK. Most honeymoons don't end with an unimaginable phone call from home. And most vacations go wonderfully.
Travel insurance isn't about assuming otherwise. It's about thinking through a different question:
If something unexpected did happen, how much financial risk would I be comfortable carrying myself?
For one traveler, losing the cost of a trip might be manageable. For another, it could represent years of savings.
For one traveler, an unexpected hotel bill might be an annoyance. For another, coming up with several thousand dollars unexpectedly could create a serious financial problem.
There isn't one insurance decision that is right for every traveler or every trip, but I do think every traveler should make that decision deliberately. Read the coverage. Understand the exclusions. Know the benefit limits. Ask the insurance provider questions when something isn't clear.
And don't assume that because travel insurance feels like one more expense in the vacation budget, you're the traveler who needs to think about it least. You may be the traveler with the least room in the budget to absorb an unexpected expense.
Travel insurance benefits, terms, conditions, exclusions and availability vary by policy and state. Storied Tides can provide general information and available travel-insurance options but does not provide individualized insurance advice. Travelers should review the policy documents and direct questions about specific coverage or their individual circumstances to the licensed insurance provider.
Planning a cruise or vacation and want help sorting through the bigger picture?
