5 Times Travel Insurance Could Have Helped

Each time we book travel we are tasked with answering “yes” or “no” when it comes to protecting our trip with travel insurance, and I would be willing to bet that more people are exactly the way I used to be with the “nah nothing will happen” attitude when the decision is placed in front of us. To be fair, I have had more good than bad experiences without travel insurance but I will not travel without it now. I have put myself in too many situations where there was absolutely nothing I could do but pay out of pocket – and to think, for most of these trips I could have been protected for under a measly $50 dollars. So what is it that makes us take the risk when saying “no” to travel insurance? I haven’t come to an exact answer yet because 1. it isn’t expensive 2. you are protecting your trip that you just paid for – there is an assumption that if you can afford to travel, you can afford to protect your travel (amiright?) and 3. you are taking a risk at so many unknown factors and outcomes that could disrupt or even ruin your trip. Traveling without travel insurance after everything I have been through is no longer an option. Allianz Travel Insurance is the one thing I always know I have now because I purchased an annual plan and it only cost me $125 (price varies)! Just thinking about the sheer amount of money I have lost by not having it is 40 times that.
Here are 5 times that purchasing travel insurance could have helped me.

  1. The time the airline lost my luggage in Ireland .. in JANUARY .. and I did not have any warm clothes on me or get my luggage back for 3 days! This of course was at the height of the Euro and I had to pay cash out of my own pocket for clothes each day hoping my luggage would come back. Had I purchased travel insurance I would have been covered up to $1,000 for clothing allotment until my luggage was returned.
  2. The time I booked a cruise and just 2 weeks before sailing I fell incredibly ill and was hospitalized on both coasts of the U.S. Now my illness did not qualify under travel insurance (but my health insurance did) and I lost the full amount paid of the cruise because I was too sick to go. Over $2,700 I could have had returned to me to re-book another trip at a later date when I was feeling better because travel insurance would have covered this under emergency medical.
  3. The 27 hour flight delay returning from Asia. I don’t know how this even happens – but when you are flying half way around the world and stopping in multiple airports and really just want to sleep, learning that you have a flight delay of more than a days time can be disheartening. Sure, airport lounges can be great in transit – – but not for 27 hours. At this point you have to make the decision to leave the airport and get a hotel. If I had travel insurance I could have been covered by the trip delay (if it is longer than 6 hours) and had my hotel and meals covered.
  4. The pesky fall down the stairs in Paris and the French doctor who had to come to my hotel and barely spoke a lick of English. Now there was a medical emergency that cost me a pretty penny. I didn’t break anything but it put me out of commission a lot for the next 5 days of my trip. Walking was very painful and my back end and right leg were black with bruises. If I had travel insurance I could have had the doctor visit covered, a translator (one of the many services Allianz’s assistance service covers) and could have gone home since it disrupted my trip – I should not have continued on but I did because 1. I didn’t want to lose the trip and 2. I did not want to buy a plane ticket in addition to the money I had already spent on the trip.
  5. The time my rental car was broken into and damaged in Hawaii. Who could have known that 20 seconds after walking away from my car rental at a public beach that someone would drive up and smash the window while taking my belongings? What came next was even worse .. all of the hassle with the car company and not being able to enjoy my vacation. I had no money, no I.D. no credit card or access to one, bathing suit stolen, prescription goggles, and the hassle of the car company demanding payment upfront to put me into a new car (when I had no money). In the months that followed that car company wanted several thousand dollars for having their car out for repair on the window and it was just an unnecessary situation that could have been avoided. If I had travel insurance I could have had the car taken care of, my clothing replaced and the lack of hassle I received from the car company while in Hawaii and for months to come when I left.

So you see – I have lost a lot of time and money just by not having travel insurance to protect me in case situations like these arise. Don’t make the costly mistakes that I have and make sure to protect your travel – after all, travel is an investment on you and your education around the globe.
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*Dislaimer: this post is written in collaboration with Allianz Travel Insurance. As always, opinions are entirely my own. 

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13 Comments

  1. June 17, 2018 / 12:50 am

    I remember when you got sick before a cruise. Sad all the way around! But all these other times – I can really see why you buy travel insurance now! We always buy travel insurance. We have had to use it a couple of times – so well worth the insurance cost. I was interested to hear that you got an annual plan. Last time I looked I could not get this in Canada. Some plans don’t cover the longer trips we are doing these days.

  2. June 17, 2018 / 8:57 am

    We always get yearly travel insurance now, the amount we travel. It’s just not worth the stress of not being covered.

  3. June 17, 2018 / 3:49 pm

    I started travelling a lot as an adult on business. So I’ve always had quite extensive insurance and I simply can’t imagine why you wouldn’t pay for annual insurance. My biggest faux pas is forgetting which countries I am covered for (I don’t always take out cover beyond Europe).

  4. June 17, 2018 / 7:31 pm

    A 27 hour flight delay? I would be beyond grumpy! I almost fell down the stairs with my suitcase in London, someone grabbed me. If they hadn’t I would surely have ended up in the hospital and missed my return flight. It was a huge wakeup call

  5. Milijana
    June 17, 2018 / 7:34 pm

    ‘Penny wise and pound foolish’ – we should always think of it when thinking of travel insurance.
    Your past experiences are perfect examples of it.

  6. Mar
    June 18, 2018 / 11:02 am

    Definitely get insurance, I have a few situation like this one and in fact was a happy customer of Allianz for years and might go back again

  7. authenticfoodquest
    June 18, 2018 / 3:45 pm

    There is no question, we absolutely travel with Travel Insurance. Not familiar with Allianz as we usually use World Nomads. Gonna have to look into Allianz further. Always better to be prepared with insurance. Great examples!

  8. June 19, 2018 / 6:33 am

    Travel Insurance is one of the best part of travel. Every traveler must be do that. That was safe and backup our family and us. There you share some reason why we take Travel insurance. I love it your article inspired many traveler to take insurance. If you share how to take insurances and get insurance so that will be batter for traveler.

  9. June 19, 2018 / 12:47 pm

    Preach it! I’m a World Nomads girl, but the important thing here is coverage. I’ve only been insuring my trips for the last four years and I was starting to think it might not be worth it… Then last year I broke my arm hiking in Chiang Mai – totally covered all medical expenses and then I had to have emergency surgery in Bangkok 2 months later – also totally covered as well as my flight home and all the things I had booked for the next month (flights, hotels, etc). I’m glad you’ve found a great company to cover you!

  10. June 19, 2018 / 4:52 pm

    Travel insurance is a must. Pure and simple. Your helpful post illustrates why, and I’m sorry you had all of those incidents on some of your travels. We certainly never travel without it – as you note, the time and cost of dealing with misfortune should something happen is just not worth it!

  11. June 20, 2018 / 1:57 am

    omgd you certainly are prone to travel mishaps! I can’t believe you had a flight delayed for 27 hours. Like at that point…just cancel it and stay on vacation.

  12. June 20, 2018 / 8:39 am

    Even we are of the same attitude like yours. But we humans learn after mistakes and that has happened with you too. Travel insurance is must and actually you would have save d a lot, if you would have had it. Anyways it is a good decision not to travel without it anymore.

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