3 Travel Insurance Mistakes That Cost You Money, Revealed by Squaremouth

Travelers don’t always know that some credit cards include free travel insurance for customers who pay for trips with their card. However, many of these cards limit the trip costs that can be covered, and typically don’t cover medical emergencies during a trip.

Expert Tip: Only insure the trip costs that are not covered by your credit card. If your card covers $10,000 per trip, and your trip cost is $15,000, you can save money by only insuring the additional $5,000. A lower trip cost typically results in a less expensive policy, however, be aware that some providers require you to insure 100% of your trip cost.

Trip cost is one of the main factors that can drive up the price of a policy. Travelers have the choice of insuring all, some, or none of their trip cost, but travel insurance can only reimburse prepaid and non-refundable trip expenses up to the amount insured.

Expert Tip: Insure only the trip cost you lose if you cancel. If you just pay a 50% penalty to cancel a hotel reservation, insure that amount rather than the full cost of the hotel to get a less expensive policy.

When comparing travel insurance, more expensive does not mean better. Each provider tailors their policies toward a specific demographic. If one policy is less expensive than another policy with the same coverage amounts, it’s because the traveler falls in that provider’s sweet spot, not because the coverage is worse.

Expert Tip: Pick the least expensive policy that meets the coverage you need. Squaremouth understands that travelers think the cheapest policy is inferior, however, every insurance company on squaremouth.com is vetted and complies with the Zero Complaint Guarantee. If you have a complaint during the claims process, Squaremouth will mediate with your provider on your behalf and remove them from squaremouth.com if the claim is not handled to Squaremouth’s satisfaction.