Should you buy travel insurance when visiting Europe?

Travel insurance can help you with the financial impact of flight cancellations. Photo: Sean O'Neill

We all know that feeling. You’re planning and booking your European adventure, and when you get to the end of a big-ticket purchase (like a round-trip airline ticket to Rome or a hotel room in London) a travel insurance box pops up and asks whether you want to insure your purchase in case something goes wrong.

What do you do?

As a budget traveler with years of experience seeking out deals, I can tell you that I’m always looking for ways to save money — not add to my expenses. So when it comes to most forms of travel insurance, it’s something that, in the past, I’ve mostly dismissed. It’s ironic, however, because I always spring for the full coverage on a rental car so that I’m not stuck footing the bill if someone sideswipes me in Paris… so why haven’t I been covering other aspects of my trip?

Taking another look at travel insurance

Lately, however, I’ve changed my tune on travel insurance. Do you really think your travel plans could change? (Um, yes!) What could possibly go wrong? (A lot!) Why spend extra money when you’re already spending so much on your trip? (Because it might save you a lot of money… and it offers peace of mind.)

Maybe it’s a combination of getting older and the rising cost of traveling to Europe that gives me a new outlook. Or maybe it’s the stories I’ve heard from my friends: trips canceled at the last minute, medical emergencies that made traveling impossible, luggage stolen or missing.

Trips, whether traveling alone or with your entire family, are investments. Travel insurance can protect that investment against unplanned travel disruptions.

What exactly are you insuring?

It’s very important to understand what travel insurance can offer before you even consider purchasing it. Travel insurance varies in its scope, but it usually helps cover expenses like lost luggage or passports, medical bills incurred while traveling, trip cancellation costs, and accidents that happen when you’re on the road. Categories covered may range from trip delays and emergency evacuations to hospital expenses and personal items.

The most important point: Every policy is different, with different aspects of your trip covered and at different amounts, and with different deductibles. Some things to consider when comparing your insurance options:

• Assess your personal situation and travel plans. Are you a beginner or “experienced” traveler? Is this an easygoing trip or are you into risky adventure sports? You should choose a policy that offers the coverage you need for your situation.

• Be sure to read the fine print. Yes, the price of the policy is important, but how much coverage does it give you? And what kind of deductible will you need to pay in order to use the policy? Look over all the numbers.

• Know what is and isn’t covered. When comparing plans, it’s easy to see what is covered, but trickier to ascertain what isn’t covered. Spend enough time when shopping to really understand the differences between the plans.

• Understand if your existing insurance applies to travel. Does your health insurance cover you when traveling abroad? What about your car insurance? What, exactly, is covered by your credit card? It’s important to understand what kind of coverage you’ve already got — and whether it extends to travel abroad.

• Always be prepared to pay for emergencies. Even with insurance coverage, you should be prepared to pay out-of-pocket expenses when traveling. In many situations, with trip insurance, you’ll be reimbursed for these emergencies after your trip.

Scenarios where travel insurance might help

Still wondering if travel insurance is a good investment for your trip? Here are some very common situations that an insurance policy may cover. (Note that we always need to say “could cover,” as it will depend on the plan you choose!)

Trip Cancellation: You have an anniversary trip planned to Venice, but you need to cancel your plans at the last minute for a covered reason.

Stolen Personal Items: You come back to your hotel in Amsterdam and realize that your smartphone is missing. Some policies will cover for loss, theft, or damage of personal items up to a certain amount.

Trip Interruption: You are on a month-long tour around Europe. In your second week, bad weather causes you to miss your flight from London to Barcelona. Travel insurance could help pay for expenses to rearrange your schedule and get you back on track.

Medical Emergency: You stumble and injure yourself as you’re wandering around the ruins in Athens. All or a portion of your medical and hospital expenses might be covered by travel insurance.

Emergency Dental: You break a tooth while dining at a pub in Ireland. Travel insurance could defray the cost of dental work overseas.

Evacuation Insurance: You are hiking through the Alps in a remote area and you injure yourself in a serious accident. Many policies offer doctor-approved evacuation services.

Why we like World Nomads

At EuroCheapo, we’ve partnered with World Nomads to give you an easy way to cover your trip. They provide affordable plans to more than 150 countries and respond to requests quickly with a 24-hour assistance hotline. (You can even contact them through social media.)

World Nomads offers plans for single travelers, couples, and families, so you can search for the coverage that best suits your needs.

Check out their plans by doing a search here: