There are travel situations where insurance is simply not necessary.
In these situations, having insurance means you are over-insured and no one likes to waste money that way.
Reminder: The decision to buy travel insurance comes down to 2 major factors. Understanding this will help you decide if you need insurance for your trip:
Financial Risk: Are you worried about losing your money due to a canceled trip, interrupted trip, lost bag, delayed trip, or emergency medical expense?
Medical Concerns: Are you traveling outside your home country where your insurance from home won’t cover you for accidents?
Here are 3 cases where insurance (probably) isn’t necessary
1. Last-minute domestic trips
If you are taking a last-minute trip in the U.S. you probably don’t need travel insurance.
Since you have not pre-paid any non-refundable trip costs, you are not concerned with trip cancellation or interruption coverage.
And since you are within the U.S., your health insurance plan will cover you for any emergency medical situations.
Buying travel insurance would give you coverage for lost baggage and travel delays, but these coverages alone might not be worth the cost of a plan.
2. Cheap domestic trips
If you get a super saver $129 round trip flight and you’re staying with family members, you don’t have much money at risk.
Travel insurance is best used when your pre-paid and non-refundable expenses are more than you are willing to lose.
In this case, you’re only at risk of losing $129, which might not be worth insuring.
Again, you are missing out on coverage for baggage and delays, but these coverages alone might not be worth it.
3. If you can afford to lose your pre-paid trip expenses
If you can afford to lose the money, skip the insurance.
As stated above, travel insurance is best used when your pre-paid and non-refundable expenses are more than you are willing to lose. If you only have a few hundred dollars at risk, you can afford to ‘self-insure’ this risk.
Tip: One situation where you should always buy insurance
If you are leaving your home country, you should always have emergency medical and evacuation coverage.
This coverage is included in all vacation travel insurance plans, or you can buy a travel medical insurance (which does not have cancellation coverage). Click here for more about these types of plans.
When you leave your home country, your health insurance may or may not travel with you. Whenever you are traveling abroad, buy either a travel medical plan or vacation plan that includes medical emergencies.