By Aizat Md Noor, Corporate Communications Department

Most of us love traveling. It is always exciting to explore new lands and new cultures. However, a straightforward mistake does not take much time to turn the fun of your entire trip into a complete catastrophe. While you are preparing for your international travel, travel insurance is one of the suggested conditions you need to match. It takes only an avid traveller to sit and go through the whole process in which he / she can compare travel insurance and then select the most appropriate insurance plan. In most cases, however, we only select the most affordable one for convenience, even without looking at the features or conditions. We buy travel insurance for our international trips because of the enforcement charges, otherwise our visas would not be granted. Even in such situations, we choose the bare minimum without even going through most of the features and select the cheapest available plan.

The following is a list of eight advantages you can benefit from when you purchase travel insurance:

No Added Hassle in Case of an Unfortunate Eventuality

Everything can be in your way of your travel plans. It may be an unpredictable accident or a medical emergency that suddenly admits you to the hospital. It can be anything you haven’t accounted for, and maybe you’ll lose all your money because of that. However, if you choose a good travel policy, you don’t have to lose all your money. If you compare travel insurance from different available options, you will find that travel accident coverage is the most common feature in most policies. After all, it is the fundamental basics of having travel insurance in the first place.

Don’t miss the trip because of a missed connection

If you end up missing even one of the connecting flights in such cases, your whole trip can be interrupted. When you purchase travel insurance, you will be ensured that it provides you with an alternative if you encounter the above situation. It’s very difficult to get help if you are stuck in an unknown place.

Missing baggage should not result in an unexpected spending

Your luggage can be taken to another plane and you can end up with missing baggage. In particular, if you have a connecting flight, you can end up waiting for a different flight at the conveyor belt and your luggage is elsewhere. Most flights would reimburse you a specific quantity of cash whereas the airlines get within the method of finding your bags. Many travel consultants would advise you to hold all the mandatory documentation further as dearly-valuable belongings such as gadgets and jewellery are placed separately in cabin baggage in order that you’ll be able to be sure of it being kept.

Covering the Medical Costs in Case of an Emergency

The last thing you need on a trip is to have a medical emergency. But, it is essential to have travel insurance for this one purpose as well. When you buy travel insurance, you need to think about the purpose for which you are undertaking the trip. For example, if you are going on a water rafting adventure, then it is highly advised that you opt for insurance. The benefits you can take advantage of depend on your health and age, but most importantly, after you compare your travel insurance, they depend on the right choice. This feature is also essential if you have seniors traveling with you or if you have your whole family. Unforeseen medical expenses can be heavy on your pocket and in some cases can hardly be arranged, which is when having travel insurance with medical coverage is of maximum use.

Make social connections at destinations where you are heading

We have connectivity and networking almost everywhere at the present time. You feel completely lost and helpless when you face an emergency and a mistake during your trip. If there is a medical emergency, it becomes even more difficult to manage everything on your own. With travel insurance, however, you can cover problems such as arrangements of dead bodies transporting, damage caused by an accident, cancelation of baggage or delay in the purchase of your luggage, hijacks, delays in travel, etc. with just a simple call to your insurance company. Get a Cover for Your Travel Companions as Well When you take a family trip, individual travel insurance plans can be costly. Also, as a wise traveller, you know that emergencies can hit anybody’s door. It would not come to you seeing your age or your economic condition. That’s why we highly suggest that you get a family travel insurance plan. You should at least consider a policy that covers your companions. You will also find plans for corporate trips when you compare travel insurance policies. Therefore, once you decide your purpose, you can begin to analyse the various features that travel insurance offers. Most family policies include personal liabilities, missing luggage, hijack allowances, and etc.

Frequent Flyer

Points If you’re an avid traveler, you’d certainly have chosen at least one loyalty program. Almost all airlines offer a program of rewards and people covering domestic distances. For example, most popular loyalty programs are domestic airlines such as Jet and Air India. A lot of times, people book tickets with miles or the loyalty points. Although the airlines do not guarantee these tickets, you can ensure that your frequent flyer points remain intact with the correct travel insurance policy. Though, this is not a very common, and if you have booked your tickets through frequent flyer points you should definitely look for it. There are many ways to compare insurance plans for travel. After careful analysis of various policies, we would always advise you to purchase travel insurance and ensure that the selected policy meets all your travelling requirements in case of any mishap. With only a small amount of premium, you can save on all the funds you spent on your trip and a small investment can go a long way for your convenience. So, with the world moving towards everything smart – why not take a step ahead of being a smart traveller and get insured for every trip?

• References www.policybazaar.com www.telegraph.co.uk