Skiing trips have several risks:
Cancellation costs
Trips can get canceled for a number of reasons, and travel insurance with trip cancellation coverage can help reimburse your pre-paid, non-refundable costs if you need to cancel for a covered reason. For example: you, your wife, your kids, or even your parents could get sick a week before the trip. The doctor says they cannot travel and need to stay home. This is a covered reason under trip cancellation insurance, and you would be able to recoup pre-paid expenses such as hotel, rental car, airfare, and even lift tickets.
Lost or delayed baggage
Travel insurance also provides coverage for lost, stolen, damaged, or delayed baggage. This can provide coverage if your ski equipment is lost forever, but it can also help if the bags are just delayed the first day of your trip. You will need to rent some skis and buy a pair of gloves, hat and goggles. Baggage delay coverage reimburses a daily amount for necessary expenses while you wait for delayed baggage to arrive.
Medical costs
Skiing can also be dangerous. If you are skiing in your home country where your health insurance covers you, medical costs are not as much of a concern. However, traveling abroad to ski add a new element if your health insurance from home stays behind. Many plans do not cover you when you leave your home country, and you would be stuck with high medical bills if an accident occured.
Regardless of foreign or domestic ski trips, an emergency evacuation would be a huge expense to be burdened with. Many helicopter evacuations can cost tens of thousands of dollars, if not over $100,000. Travel insurance with emergency medical and evacuation coverage provides financial protection against these costs.
It is important to note that medical coverage covers “regular skiing”. as opposed to heli-skiing, extreme skiing, or skiing outside marked areas. This is an important distinction and should be noted if you are purchasing travel insurance with the medical coverage in mind.
