Travel insurance is not a glamour topic, but it sure can save your bacon. The main reason to buy trip insurance is to protect your investment in nonrefundable trip components in the event you have to cancel or bail from the trip you paid for. In some cases, travel agents and tour operators may simply include insurance as part of an inclusive travel package. More typically though, insurance is an optional extra. When a travel agency offers the coverage and you decline to buy it, you may be required to sign a statement confirming that this was your choice.

Some travelers are logical candidates for coverage, such as senior citizens, travelers buying very expensive trips or individuals with health problems that could interfere with the trip down the line. Insurers, however, argue there is no reason to limit the market by age group or type of trip. After all, they point out, things can go awry for travelers of all ages and regardless of destination. As with any judgment call, not everyone agrees on the value of the coverage. e will not argue here that coverage is warranted on all trips nor can we offer definitive guidelines for determining when insurance is or is not warranted because personal circumstances and preferences vary widely. Indeed, most Americans don’t insure their trips. Insurers estimate that only 25% to 30% of U.S. leisure travelers buy coverage. However, before the 9/11 terrorist attacks revealed how quickly travel plans can be upended, the portion buying coverage was in the 10% to 15% range.

Insurance products
Until a few years ago, insurers offered a relatively small number of products to cover a basket of situations presumed to be important for all travelers. Since 9/11, insurers have added products that give consumers more flexibility to buy coverage for just the risks that concern them most. As a result, you can insure against losses stemming from wrecking a rental car, for example, or you can buy identity theft protection, meant to assist you in protecting your identity if your ID or credit cards are stolen while you travel. But these are not the high-demand travel insurance features.

Broadly, there are four coverage categories, listed below, all of which may be bundled in a single policy. Or, you can often buy only one or two of these coverage types, based on need.

• Emergency medical care.
• Evacuation for medical reasons.
• Lost, stolen or damaged baggage.
• Trip cancellation or trip interruption.

It is fairly obvious what the first three categories are about, but the fourth — coverage for canceled or interrupted trips — is both the most important for most travelers and the one that is most misunderstood. In the trip cancellation/trip interruption category, you can find policies that protect your investment if you cancel or cut a trip short for specific “covered reasons” such as death, disruptive weather, illness, financial failure of a travel supplier, terrorist attacks and a number of other situations. However, insurers report, cancellation due to illness is by far the most common reason travelers file claims.

To learn about the various types of coverages in greater detail, see “Understanding the Basics of Travel Insurance” in the Trip Planning Information tab on the home page of www.besttripchoices.com.

Finding coverage
You can buy travel insurance from travel agents or from travel suppliers such as your tour operator, cruise line or airline. Also, you can buy directly from the insurance providers or shop on line at one of several Web sites that aggregate and compare offerings of numerous insurers.

There are several reputable insurers in the market, and your travel agency probably focuses on selling only one, or maybe two, that cover most travelers’ needs. Some travel suppliers (cruise lines, tour operators, etc.) sell insurance tied to their own travel products. Their policies generally cost less than third-party choices, but they cover less. The big pitfall is that a supplier policy cannot protect you if the supplier goes into default before providing the trip you bought. Also, some supplier coverage is not real insurance, but self-insurance that merely lets you recover cancellation penalties if you change your mind about taking a trip.

If you want more choices, there are several aggregator Web sites (such as InsureMyTrip.com, QuoteWright.com and SquareMouth.com) that seem made for this kind of information gathering. These vendors also sell the insurance, but beware: It is tempting to go for the lowest-priced premium without recognizing the extra value a higher-priced policy might give you. The insurance providers describe their products more fully at their own Web sites (see list below). They also usually offer more products with more specialized coverages than the aggregator sites are able to offer.

Travel agents and other sellers of travel don’t claim to be insurance experts, and Web sites aren’t intuitive enough to anticipate unique concerns. In all cases, if you want to be certain that specific kinds of situations are covered, call the insurance agencies directly on their toll-free lines.

Finally, if insurance is for you, you’ll need to conclude your research and make the purchase within about 10 days of booking your trip. Insurers’ requirements vary, but you may lose some of the benefits of your policy if you wait too long to act.