Escaping the Unexpected: Can Travel Insurance Really Make a Difference to Your Trip?

Enter Scene 1: You made a fam-jam travel plan with everything - from your hotel booking to flight tickets - in place. But now, one of you got sick right before the trip. Moods are down, mom decides to stay back and help the sick one out, and just like that, the whole plan eats dust faster than a failed attempt at a card pyramid.

Enter Scene 2: You decide to go on a trip with your friends. One of your close relatives is dropping you off at the airport. And, BOOM! Unfortunately, you guys meet with a minor accident and your relative needs to be hospitalised for some minor injuries.

Enter Scene 3: You and your wife decide to retreat somewhere down the sea coast of the Bahamas. The hotel you were staying in got a hurricane warning and you had to relocate somewhere safe. All your plans are now disturbed. Although you had paid for the room and booked the returning tickets for a much later date, you now decide to go back home considering everyone’s safety.

Here’s When Travel Insurance Swoops In

In all three scenarios discussed, there was something unforeseen and unplanned. Something that is neither your fault nor your choice. In all such scenarios, most travel insurance plans will cover up to 100% of your trip expenses. From cancelled flight tickets to booked hotel charges, relocation charges, and new flight tickets, everything is covered!

And what did you have to do to make sure none of these heavy expenses come out of your pocket? Easy - you shed some pennies over travel insurance!

Underrated Benefits of Travel Insurance

You thought that’s it? Apart from the benefits mentioned above, there’s a long list of unimagined scenarios and their incurred expenses that travel insurance can swoop in and take care of.

These include -

• Loss or delay of baggage at the airport
• Loss of passport
• Trip cancellation and curtailment
• Emergency medical expenses
• Theft of cash, belongings, or travel documents
• Alternative transport
• Cancellation fee and lost deposits
• Rental vehicle excess
• Personal liability
• Delays/cancellations due to COVID-19 

& many more.

Note: The offerings of a travel insurance plan depend on which plan and provider you have chosen. It is always advisable to compare the plans and go with the one that caters to your particular requirements.

Travel Insurance -  Your Best Travel Buddy

So, the question that persists through a lot of minds is - “Why should we pay 20-30% more on our tickets for something that might not even happen?”

Let’s let the numbers talk.

Despite the upcoming busy summer travel season, a third of Canadian individuals aged 18 to 34 believe that travel insurance is too costly as per a recent 2023 TD Insurance survey. Interestingly, the same survey revealed that 31 percent of these young Canadians would struggle to cover out-of-pocket expenses exceeding $300 during their travels.

Typically, trip cancellation insurance amounts to approximately four to ten percent of the non-refundable expenses associated with a trip as per Ratehub. The platform estimates that the average cost of trip cancellation insurance is $170, which is nearly half of that unattainable $300 threshold.

Just your plain maths, explaining it all the better!

Written By: Tashika Chopra