I second the suggestion for going to insuremytrip.com. I generally don’t buy insurance for small trips or ones with refundable hotels, but for example, we did a 10 day Mediterranean cruise for the four of us and I did buy for that as well as for other similar expensive, non-refundable trips. I don’t think the cost was too bad - I don’t think that it was nearly 4% of the cost of the trip. In our case, we worry about something happening with elderly MIL and also DH’s brother was quite ill and we were concerned about needing to make a last minute cancellation. I don’t think the cancel for any reason is a good value though; we just wanted it for emergency reasons and also the medical evacuation coverage. As others said - read the fine print and get coverage for your own needs.
The group rate offer for our trip seems to be about the same or better than most. I went to squaremouth and insuremytrip/travel guard. They all charge between 4-6%. I get that I pay for peace of mind but to pay 4% when I expect the chance of loss less than 1% seems exorbitant.
They are a business and they make money as well. They have overhead and staff that needs to be paid. You are paying for the peace of mind but they have cost even if you don’t have a claim.
I get that, overhead, profits and all. But over 4% when your expected use is less 1%? We won’t like the loss but won’t sweat if we have to pay out of our pocket. For comparison, our homeowner’s insurance is a small fraction of 1% of covered value. So is the car insurance. Do I think I have a greater chance, about 20 times, of mishap during trip than while driving?
Adverse selection. Everyone is required to buy auto liability and most mortgagees require HO insurance so everyone buys them. Typically trip insurance is not purchased or only purchased by those who think they will need. Not sure where the 1% statistic is from but I think claims happen more than we realize. Even a cancelled or delayed flight or missed connection can trigger some coverage.
Some of this depends on the possibility that if you needed medical care, would you also likely need med evac to a somewhat distant place. Our international studies kid spent internship time in a country with limited medical options; if something major happened, she would have needed air evac to another country. Not to mention how expensive medical flights home from 3/4 of the way around the globe could be. Insurance was a priority.
Risk tolerance is a big part of the equation. The expenses my overseas accident generated that were not routine medical expenses were about $20,000. That is one equation for us, but an entirely different one for our young adult kids. Made me realize how vulnerable they are when traveling.
I bought trip insurance for our recent alaska cruise. We were paying for lots of people who are notoriously unreliable. IT wasn’t used but worth the stress reduction knowing we had it.