During the process of booking travel, most people think mostly about which airline has the cheapest flights and which hotel has the best online reviews. While these are both important, whether or not you should purchase travel insurance requires just as much thought and consideration. This should be an even higher priority if you book non-refundable travel. The information below provides insight into whether or not travel insurance is needed.

Reasons to Buy Travel Insurance

The primary reason why travel insurance is a good investment is that there’s a chance that you will lose a significant amount of money if an emergency occurs, and you can’t make the trip. It can also help if you miss a flight. If your ticket is non-refundable, you really won’t have any way of getting your money back, unless you have travel insurance.

Other situations where having travel insurance can be prudent would be:

• if you’re in the military, and there’s a chance of being deployed 
• if you have a demanding job that might require you to cut your trip short 
• if there’s the possibility that you’d have to return home due to a death or illness in the family

When to Buy Travel Insurance

Most travel insurance policies require advanced purchase. Generally, you’ll have to buy insurance at least fifteen days in advance. This is because the closer you get to the trip, the less of a risk there is that you won’t make the flight. It’s also necessary to buy travel insurance in advance because many insurance companies require a three day notice of your intent to cancel your travel arrangements.

Other Options for Protecting Your Trip

There are some credit cards on the market that offer travel benefits, such as trip protection. They will often cover reimbursement of various non-refundable travel purchases and protection should a car accident occur when driving a rental. However, the benefits offered by many credit card companies are often limited.

The bottom line is that anything can happen in life. Nobody knows whether or not an emergency will occur. As a result, buying travel insurance makes sense if you don’t want to worry about what might happen. Simply put, it can give you peace of mind so that you can enjoy your travels.