Travel insurance questions, answered
By Damian Tysdal, licensed travel insurance agent since 2006 · Updated 12 September 2026
- Is credit card travel insurance enough?
For a domestic trip, often yes. For a trip abroad, no: the best cards pay $2,500 for medical bills and most pay nothing.
- Does travel insurance cover flight delays?
Yes. Travel delay pays for a hotel and meals once the delay passes the plan's threshold (3 to 24 hours), missed connection pays to catch up with a cruise or tour, and baggage delay covers...
- What does travel insurance not cover?
Seven things nearly every travel insurance policy excludes, from changing your mind to a storm that already has a name, what fixes each one, and the smaller print most people never read.
- How much does travel insurance cost?
A package plan usually costs 4 to 8 percent of your prepaid trip cost: $200 to $400 on a $5,000 trip. What sets the price, why two plans on the same trip differ, and how to pay less.
- Do I need travel insurance?
You need it when a trip has money you cannot get back, or when you are leaving the country. One yes means buy it, two noes means skip it.
- Does Medicare cover me outside the United States?
No, apart from three border cases and a cruise ship within six hours of a US port.
- When should I buy travel insurance? Is it too late for me?
You can buy travel insurance any time before you leave, and it is never too late while you are still home. Buying within 14 days of your first payment adds two extras.
- Do I have to insure the full cost of my trip if I have not paid for it all yet?
No. Enter the total if you know it, or what you have paid so far, and add later payments as you make them. The only catch is the pre-existing condition waiver, explained in plain words.
- Can I get travel insurance if I have a pre-existing condition?
Yes. Every plan we compare will sell you a policy, and 53 of 54 will cover the condition itself if you buy within 14 days of your first trip payment.
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