What to Know About Travel Insurance Offered by Airline Websites

Do You Need Travel Insurance?

At long last, your big trip is coming up. You have already bought flight tickets, paid for your hotel bookings and even made advance payments for some car rentals and adventure activities. Nothing could possibly stop you from having a good time on your vacation, except in case you end up cancelling your trip because of an unavoidable reason. What then?

If you had the foresight to buy a policy covering trip cancellation, your insurer would have reimbursed the cost of most of the bookings you made, refundable or not. You would also get compensated for the money you bought your flight tickets for.

Not just trip cancellation, a travel insurance plan keeps you financially safe from unexpected expenses like losing your baggage, emergency medical care, losing your passport and more. However, what exactly will your insurer compensate you for will vary considerably with the type of plan you buy.

What Kinds of Travel Insurance Do Airlines Offer?

While booking your flight tickets, you must have noticed a small box, upon selecting which you can instantly buy travel insurance online for your trip. Most airlines have started providing this facility to help passengers insure their trips without needing to browse or go through multiple steps.

This type of trip insurance offered by airline websites provides mild coverage and is often a great option for many people. As opposed to a standalone travel insurance plan, these are cheaper and quicker to purchase. Depending on your airline or the company offering you insurance, your benefits will be the following:

• Coverage for medical treatment due to accident or illness while travelling
• Delay or total loss of your checked-in baggage
• Indemnification against actual legal liability
• Trip curtailment coverage
• Personal accident (disablement or death)
• Flight delay
• Emergency hotel accommodation

However, these benefits are not offered by all airlines. Depending on your requirements, you can buy these policies. But here's the catch- you must read the fine print and see if it is actually worth it. It will be best to assess your trip, the risk associated with your plans there before selecting the kind of coverage you must opt for.

Is Travel Insurance Offered by Airline Websites Good?

If your overall trip is expensive and you have made plenty of reservations, you should buy a plan which will at least cover the costs in case of cancellation. In the case of airlines, the trip insurance is either offered by a third party insurer or themselves. This means that you will not have many options to compare different plans to buy your policy from. 

In several cases, your airline travel insurance only offers basic coverage like flight cancellation, baggage loss, medical treatment, flight delays, trip cancellation etc. In case you are planning to participate in winter sports or some risky adventure sports, you won't get an option to buy an add-on cover that will cover any loss because of these activities. Beyond the standard coverage, your policy will not cover any special circumstances, for example, pre-booked excursions or non-refundable hotel expenses.

You must also keep in mind that many limits are low and may leave some gaps in coverage. For this reason, you should give the fine print a good read before selecting it. These coverage gaps are common because of relatively lower maximum value and a lesser number of covered contingencies. 

Not just the scope of coverage, most airline travel insurance plans only cover you for a fixed duration, for example, 30 days. With a standalone travel insurance plan, you can buy a plan of your choice for any duration. There are several types of plans to pick from, single-trip travel insurance to student travel insurance which offers comprehensive coverage for one year or more.

Another important point to note is that the coverage benefits are only applicable to people travelling with the same airline. For example, if you’re travelling abroad and your trip consists of multiple flights to different cities via different airlines, then you won’t be covered for certain benefits as your provider will vary too.

Similarly, in the case of medical benefits, if you’re travelling to a place that has a higher risk of a certain disease, say, COVID, then you should ensure that your policy offers COVID-19 related benefits in case you are infected.

In such cases, buying an independent travel insurance plan online after comparing and customizing them thoroughly is highly recommended. If you’re keen on going for milder coverage, you may already have a credit card for travellers that offers similar travel protections. However, you will need to confirm the scope of coverage and protections your card will offer you. Hence, it is very important to know the exact benefits you should look for in your travel insurance policy.

What Should I Look for in a Travel Insurance Policy?

There are plenty of insurance options available to travellers, given that they do some research and pick a plan that suits their needs well. Whenever buying a trip insurance plan, remember these pointers:

• Don't blindly go for the cheapest insurance, compare different policies and the benefits they are offering at the same premium to see if they offer value for your money.
• Don't forget to check the reputation of your insurer; are they reliable? What is their claim settlement ratio?  Are they financially stable? Don't forget to read their reviews to get a good idea about their services and quality.
• Independent travel insurance policies are popular because they can be customized. You should check the optional covers and how much they will cost you.
• Don’t get lazy with the fine print; especially the things that will not be covered. This will save you a lot of time and disappointment later.

Finally, it’s up to you and your requirements to decide the kind of travel insurance you should buy as it will be unfair to dismiss one kind of travel policy over another. However, buying a comprehensive cover offering you all the needed protection after a quick comparison on Policybazaar.com will go a long way!