Do You Need Travel Insurance? A Straight Answer

Short answer: if your trip involves a flight, a non-refundable booking, or leaving the country, yes — and it's cheaper than people think.

When it actually pays for itself

International trips. Your domestic health insurance usually doesn't cover you abroad. A single ER visit or medevac overseas can run into the tens of thousands — a policy is typically $40–100 for a two-week trip.

Non-refundable bookings. If a flight, tour, or hotel deposit isn't refundable and something comes up — illness, a canceled flight, a family emergency — trip cancellation coverage returns that money.

Adventure activities. Diving, skiing, hiking at altitude — check that your policy actually covers the specific activity. Many base plans exclude "high-risk" activities by default.

When you can skip it

A short domestic trip with fully refundable bookings and a credit card that already includes trip-delay or rental-car coverage (check your card's benefits guide first — you may already have some of this for free).

What to actually check in a policy

• Medical coverage limit — look for at least $50,000–100,000 for international trips
• Emergency evacuation — separate from medical, and the line item that actually matters if something goes wrong somewhere remote
• Cancel-for-any-reason (CFAR) — costs more, but the only kind that covers "I changed my mind"
• Pre-existing condition waivers — usually require buying within 14–21 days of your first trip deposit

The other half of "staying covered"

Insurance covers the emergency. A local eSIM covers the everyday — so you can actually reach your insurer, a map, or a translation app the moment something goes wrong, without hunting for wifi or a SIM shop at the airport.

Let AI handle the itinerary, you handle the coverage

TravelBeast builds your day-by-day plan free — so the only thing left to decide is how you want to be covered. Plan your trip free →