What to consider before buying travel insurance

If severe weather disrupts your travel plans, you may be wondering whether to buy travel insurance for your next trip.

Transcript

00:00With weather being the leading cause of delays and cancellations at airports,

00:05millions of people turn to travel insurance to cover expenses.

00:09Travel insurance is something that you typically add on to the price of your trip.

00:14You can purchase a stand-alone travel insurance policy,

00:17or sometimes you'll see individual pieces.

00:20Travel insurance typically covers anything non-refundable,

00:23like flights, hotels, and rental cars.

00:26We also see travel insurance cover other things like lost luggage insurance

00:31or sometimes just delayed luggage.

00:33As you shop for travel insurance,

00:35check to see whether severe weather is included in the policy and to what extent.

00:40You may be traveling during hurricane season, but only tornadoes are covered.

00:44You'll also want to purchase insurance before severe weather strikes.

00:48In the case of a named storm, for example,

00:51if you know that in the eastern Atlantic a storm has formed

00:56and it has now moved from tropical depression to tropical storm to hurricane

01:01and it was named along the way, then that is a foreseen event.

01:05Typically, once it's a foreseen event, then coverage can't be purchased.

01:10Before you buy travel insurance, make sure it's something you don't already have.

01:14Many premium credit cards offer it.

01:16The drawback is many of these credit cards have annual fees that cost many hundreds of dollars.

01:22But what's important to remember is the average travel insurance policy costs more than $400.

01:28Sometimes that is similar to if not more than the cost of an annual fee on a travel credit card.

01:35So don't overlook that option.

01:37For Wacky Weather, I'm Emmy Victor.