Travel is different this summer. So is travel insurance. Together, the changes could affect your decision on whether, and how, to insure your vacation.
As the pandemic recedes, a comeback is underway for the full-fledged family vacation — the kind that involves flying and an Airbnb or hotel stay — and probably costs more than the road trip you took last year. And as vacation spending rises, so could the amount spent to insure trips. Adroit Market Research predicts the premiums paid for travel insurance will rise by an average of nearly 8% a year between 2021 and 2028.
Even as infections drop, though, COVID-19 continues to affect travel and travel insurance, if in different ways than it did last summer. Continuing concerns about the virus have prompted airlines to offer greater flexibility about switching or canceling flights, which may mean less need for insurance in case you change plans. At the same time, travel insurers are providing surer coverage of COVID-19 treatment than they did in 2020.
Other issues for travelers this year include predictions of widespread flight delays and the fact that some countries now require foreign visitors to have travel insurance in order to enter.
Travel insurance doesn’t come cheap, typically costing 5% to 10% of the total cost of the trip. If you’re traveling this summer, here’s what to keep in mind when deciding if insuring your trip is worth the cost.
1. Insurance could help during a troubled summer for flight delays
More flight delays and cancellations than usual are predicted this summer. That means insurance that compensates you for those setbacks could be especially valuable — if you aren’t already covered in other ways.
“If you’re going to travel, make plans for at least a potential 24-hour delay,” said Dean Headley,…