Does buying travel insurance for this trip make sense? [closed]

This is my first post on Travel Stack, thank you in advance for your help. I am an American traveler going on a 2-week trip and don't know much about travel insurance and whether it is appropriate for my situation.

I will be going on a 2-week trip to Alaska this month, flying out from the eastern US to Anchorage on 8/17 and flying back on 8/31-9/1. I will be traveling with my friend Kevin. Our trip has an intense itinerary with many expensive day trips such as kayaking, flight tours, river rafting, etc. All of our lodging, car rental, airplane tickets, and trips have been booked on Kevin's credit card(s); I will be paying back my share to him later. I will have my own credit cards on me for additional purchases once there.

My question is, since all of our major purchases are going on his credit cards, is there any reason for me to buy a traveler's insurance policy? I have my own Aetna health insurance plan through my employer, which indicates there are in-network providers in Anchorage. Is there any other type of coverage that I might be missing of which I'm not aware?

Best Answer

Travel insurance is rather complicated.

Since you are staying in the US, your existing health care may cover you. Or not. Check with your health care insurer or read the fine print: Some insurance plans have a very restrictive definition of what "in-network" means.

The other major reason to get travel insurance would be to recover travel expenses in case you cant't actually travel or miss major parts of the trip due to sickness, delays, some natural disaster, political unrest, etc.

That's worth considering for an expensive trip, but you have to read the rules very carefully. Many policies have a large list of "exclusions" which protect the insurance from paying. Personally, I never found it to be worth it: once you find a policy that has decent coverage, it's often prohibitively expensive (10%-20% of the total trip cost).

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Does travel insurance cover entire trip?

These policies are designed to reimburse you if you cancel your trip completely due to a covered reason. You would insure the full value of the tickets so you could be reimbursed for the full value of the tickets.

Does travel insurance cover cancelation?

Cancellation cover is included as part of most travel insurance policies. It'll compensate you for some or all of the cost of your travel expenses \u2013 flights, cruise, hotel, excursions and so on \u2013 if you've had to cancel your trip because of unexpected circumstances.

What counts as covered trip cancellation?

The most common covered reason is unforeseen illness, injury, or death of the traveler, a traveling companion, or a non-traveling family member. Other common covered reasons include terrorism, inclement weather, or a natural disaster, among others. Trip Cancellation is the main concern for most travelers.

What travel insurance will not cover?

Losses due to venereal disease, AIDS virus, pregnancy (except complications of pregnancy), or abortion. Losses due to mental, psychological, or nervous disorders including anxiety, depression, neurosis or psychosis. Losses due to nuclear radiation or radioactive contamination.

Travel Insurance Tips: 7 Things to Know Before You Buy

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