This is a large subject to tackle and there’s no way I can explain it all in one blog post. However, I’ll start by clarifying what travel insurance is and what it’s not.

In its most broad definition travel insurance is “insurance that covers you while you’re traveling”. In fact, this definition explains why many Homeowner Policies and credit cards can say they include travel insurance as one of their coverages.

The problem (as I see it) is that while the customer has an idea what travel insurance is, there’s no guarantee the Homeowner Policies and credit cards are covering exactly what the customer is thinking.

Steve’s Pet Peeve
Another problem is that the phrase ‘travel insurance’ is used loosely causing people to assume all plans are essentially the same. This is one of my pet peeves because I used to be a a stockbroker who specialized in financial planning (I’m still an insurance agent). Insurance is actually a legal term and it has certain understandings associated with it. Yet, many people in the travel business, who are not insurance agents, seem to apply the phrase a ‘travel insurance’ to every type of ‘protection plan’.

What Commonly Is Called Travel Insurance?

• travel health / medical
• trip cancellation
• flight accident
• baggage / luggage
• rental car damage waivers
• evacuation plans

I’ll explain these more in my next post.