Is Travel Insurance Worth The Price Tag?

A certified financial planner offers her two cents.

By Laura RiceJune 21, 2017 11:54 am

Summer vacation season is in full swing. But with attacks in Europe, travel alerts there, warnings for parts of South America and Asia, not to mention weather concerns like Tropical Storm Cindy, many wonder whether buying travel insurance makes sense.

Kelli Grant, a certified financial planner and avid traveler, covers consumer spending for CNBC. She advises carefully evaluating a few key factors before investing in a travel insurance policy or deciding to go without.

“The thing you really need to think about is this: If something happened that I no longer want to go on this trip or I need to change the plans of it — leave early, come home early, that sort of thing — how much money would I lose? You want to look at all of your cancellation and change policies to see how much you are really on the hook for,” Grant says.

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– Why it’s important to read the fine print in travel insurance policies

– What types of protection you can buy against change and cancellation fees, medical expenses and more

– Where to find coverage and how to compare policies

 

Written by Taylor Jackson Buchanan.