Frequent travel has become part of life. Between speaking engagements, client meetings, and family vacations, enough miles have been logged with Delta to earn status year after year. Along the way, a few opinions have formed. Indianapolis and Sacramento are among the best airports in the country. They're easy to navigate, efficient, and make traveling just a little less stressful. Denver and Las Vegas? Let's just say they're on the opposite end of the list. After enough time in airports, one lesson becomes clear: no matter how carefully you plan, travel has a way of reminding you that you're not in control.
Over the years, I've experienced just about everything. Flights have been canceled. Connections have been missed. I've spent unexpected nights in hotels and waited far too long at baggage claim for luggage that never arrived. Most of those stories have become funny memories. They were inconvenient, but they weren't life-changing.
Every once in a while, however, something happens that isn't just an inconvenience. A family emergency forces someone to cancel a long-awaited vacation. A traveler becomes seriously ill overseas. An injury requires emergency medical treatment or transportation back to the United States. Those situations can quickly turn an enjoyable trip into a financial devastation.
People often ask us whether travel insurance is worth purchasing. Like many insurance questions, our answer is the same: it depends.
At Glidewell, we don't believe in buying insurance simply because it exists. We believe in protecting the things that could truly impact your financial future. One of the principles we talk about often is simple: insure what would financially devastate you and self-insure what would inconvenience you.
For some travelers, losing a few hundred dollars on a canceled hotel reservation would be disappointing but manageable. For others, losing several thousand dollars on a non-refundable international vacation would be a meaningful financial setback. The same is true for medical coverage. Many people assume their health insurance follows them wherever they travel, only to discover that international medical coverage is limited or nonexistent. Emergency medical evacuations alone can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Before purchasing travel insurance, it's worth taking a step back and asking a few questions. How much of your trip is nonrefundable? Are you traveling internationally? What protections are already included through your credit card? If the unexpected happened tomorrow, could you comfortably absorb the financial loss?
Those questions matter far more than simply asking whether travel insurance is "good" or "bad."
Our goal has never been to recommend more insurance. It's to recommend the right insurance. Sometimes that means purchasing a policy. Other times it means recognizing that the risk is small enough to handle yourself.
After years of traveling, I've learned that delayed flights, missed connections, and lost luggage are simply part of the journey. They're an inconvenience, but they're rarely devastating. The purpose of insurance isn't to eliminate every inconvenience. It's to protect you from unexpected events that have the potential to change your financial future.
That's a philosophy that applies whether you're booking an international vacation, protecting your home, or planning for your family's future. Good insurance isn't about preparing for everything. It's about protecting what matters most.
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