Travel Insurance: Is It Really Essential?

When planning a trip, we focus first on flights, accommodation, the itinerary and what to do on arrival. One line item usually sits at the bottom of the list, or gets forgotten altogether: travel insurance. Needless expense, or a genuinely useful precaution? Here is what you need to decide with open eyes.

What Is Travel Insurance?

Travel insurance is a policy that covers part of the risks you face away from home. Depending on the cover you choose, it can include:

• medical expenses abroad;

• emergency repatriation;

• trip cancellation or interruption reimbursement;

• loss, theft or damage to baggage;

• personal liability abroad.

Some policies add targeted options: high-risk sports, COVID-19 cover, legal assistance, or an enforced extension of stay after an unexpected event.

Do not confuse two different things. For EU residents, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) covers medically necessary care during a stay in the EU, EEA or Switzerland — but it covers neither repatriation nor care outside that zone. Beyond Europe, reimbursement of urgent care is assessed case by case and only at home-country tariffs, so the real bill stays largely on you.

Why Get Travel Insurance?

1. Care Abroad Can Cost a Fortune

In the United States, Canada or Japan, a consultation, a night in hospital or a procedure can run into thousands. After a serious accident or illness without suitable cover, you pay out of pocket. France's Foreign Ministry stresses that embassies and consulates cover none of these costs.

2. Repatriation Gets Expensive Fast

Arranging a medical return home means heavy logistics: a medical flight, nursing staff, on-the-ground coordination. The bill ranges from several thousand to tens of thousands of euros depending on distance and condition. That is exactly what medical-assistance-and-repatriation cover is designed for.

3. Cancellation or Interruption

Illness, an accident, a death in the family or another unforeseen event can force you to call off the trip or cut it short. Without cancellation cover, the flights and bookings you have already paid for are not refunded; the cover limits the loss to the policy's excess and caps.

4. Lost or Stolen Luggage

A bag mislaid by the airline or belongings stolen on the spot translate into compensation — again capped and conditional on evidence such as a police report and receipts.

5. 24/7 Assistance

Most policies give access to a round-the-clock helpline: pointing you to a doctor, advancing hospital fees, translation, legal advice. Before you leave, check the number actually works from abroad.

Is Travel Insurance Mandatory?

It depends on the destination. Several countries require proof of medical insurance, either to issue a visa or on entry:

• Schengen area (visa-required travelers): the EU Visa Code sets a minimum of €30,000, covering emergency medical care, hospitalization and repatriation, valid across the whole Schengen area for the entire stay.

• Cuba: valid medical insurance has been required on entry since 2010, and proof may be requested on arrival.

• China, Russia, Algeria: an insurance certificate is among the documents requested for the visa application.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, it is worth confirming your policy explicitly covers that risk, as some destinations have demanded it.

Which Cover Should You Choose?

Before buying anything, look at what you already have. For a trip under three months, assistance is often bundled into home, car or credit-card contracts; beyond that, a dedicated policy is usually needed.

Your Credit Card

Premium cards (Visa Premier, Mastercard Gold and the like) carry travel insurance, but on two conditions: the trip must have been paid for with the card, and the reason must be listed in the contract. Caps are limited (cancellation cover often sits around a few thousand euros a year), excesses apply, and the period covered per trip is bounded. Read it before you go, not after the mishap.

Insurance From the Agency or Platform

Handy because it is sold at the moment of booking, it still deserves scrutiny: scope, exclusions and caps vary widely from one offer to the next.

An Individual Policy From a Specialist Insurer

This is the most comprehensive option. You size the cover to your trip's length, destination and planned activities, generally with far higher medical caps than a card provides.

How Much Does It Cost?

Pricing depends on duration, destination, age and the cover chosen. As a rough guide:

• one week in Europe: about €10 to €30;

• one month in Asia: €30 to €70;

• a round-the-world trip: a few hundred euros.

Set against the cost of a single hospital stay abroad, the gap is in another league.

So, Is It Really Necessary?

For any trip outside your home country, the answer leans firmly toward yes. Start by checking what your EHIC (in Europe), your credit card and your existing contracts already cover, then fill the gaps — repatriation and the medical-expense cap are where it really matters. A few dozen euros in the right place keep a five-figure bill at bay; on that basis, the insurance certificate earns its spot next to your passport and tickets.