A Beginner's Guide to Travel Insurance

(Note - The above is for Travel Insurance if you live in the United States. If you live in the UK then click here instead to get our travel insurance pick for UK residents.)

Travel insurance is widely available and often offered as part of a vacation package. Travel agents rarely complete your booking without first offering you a comprehensive travel insurance package. If you phone an airline to book a ticket, the customer service representative will also offer you travel insurance, particularly if you are booking a non-refundable ticket. Many credit card and charge cards offer free travel insurance for those who book a trip using their services. Also travel insurance is also widely available as part of comprehensive health and life insurance plans.

A good basic travel insurance policy will include coverage for such eventualities as cancelled flights, lost luggage and overseas medical and hospital expenses. One caveat however is that the older you are, the more difficult it may be to get comprehensive travel insurance from a life or health insurance company. Usually with credit card coverage, your age doesn't matter. The travel insurance is simply offered to the customer as a privilege for using the service.

The amount of travel insurance coverage that you will need can also depend on your destination. Travel insurance experts recommend taking out travel insurance if you are planning to visit Canada, Europe, Japan, Africa, South America or the Middle East. This is because medical care is particularly expensive in these countries. Those traveling to the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Asia may not need as much coverage as medical services are more easy to access and less expensive in those regions.

The cost of your premiums may also depend on the length of time you intend to spend out of your home country. Business travelers, who take several trips a year may benefit from taking out annual travel insurance. Annual travel insurance is cheaper than paying for several individual policies over the course of year.

Most insurance companies offer travel insurance on annual basis as well as per trip basis. Annual policies cover unlimited trips made by the insured during the entire year provided that each trip does not exceed a certain number of days. This period is usually 90 days. This type of coverage is best suited to frequent fliers.

Family travel insurance packages are also common offerings by insurance companies and travel agents. Usually family packages include coverage for yourself, a spouse and your children. Although annual policies are also provided for families, such plans are generally not as popular as the annual policies for individuals as they can be expensive. Family travel insurance is cheaper in the long run if it is purchased per trip.

A number of insurance companies are also offering what is called a "phone and fly" service. This is a 24 hours a day service that allows you to call up from anywhere in the world and purchase travel insurance for a last minute flight.