Exploring exotic destinations is serious business, more so when your heart desires visiting places you’ve never been to! However, when you’re travelling, everything doesn’t always work like clock-work. You can face tricky situations of your making or someone else’s. It is to safeguard us against these situations that almost all of us buy travel insurance. But, the big question is: Are you buying the right travel insurance for you or your family? Here’s what you need to keep in mind to make the most of your trip!

Don’t straightaway go for the cheapest choice

With numerous options on the market, choosing the right one may seem like a daunting task. Apart from pricing, do compare other aspects too. With higher premiums, you get better advantages. Many of the cheaper options have capping on room rent, pay lower expenses for trip cancellation, lower payable amount from repatriation of remains, etc. In fact, many such compromises are built into the cheaper policies as compared to the more effective policies with the so-called ‘higher’ premiums. You also need to understand the context and judge the premiums accordingly. While the difference in premium between two policies might be a couple of hundreds or even thousands, the truth is that if you get into a situation where you might have to spend due to some unforeseen circumstances, the expense which have to be incurred in dollars can run in to a couple of lakhs, or even more.

So, make sure you consider all plans and tick the ones that are suitable for you and leave out the ones that don’t work for you. Additionally, do remember that when it comes to travel you can’t always have a ‘one-fits-all’ approach.

Always compare the value of benefits

While you are insurance shopping, you will stumble upon various policies that seem overwhelming for the wide range of benefits they offer. Make sure you shortlist the key points you need to address while choosing the right policy. Do also look out for the percentages of the principal or the limits that might be allocated with each benefit.

For instance, if you’re going to an adventure destination, look out for a policy that covers the same by paying an extra amount that will come in handy as all the normal policies have exclusion for the same.

Do not make the mistake of overlooking these crucial benefits

The following benefits are often overlooked, but you should consider them as they can be the difference between a great holiday and a holiday that could have been great!

• Flight Delay: If your insurance covers delayed flights, you will get reimbursement if the flight is delayed beyond the duration mentioned in the policy.

• Loss of Baggage: It’s more common than you think; in 2019, a survey showed that 28 million pieces of baggage were mishandled/misplaced, and five percent of them were never found.

Choose the right policy provider as claims handling is certainly a specialized job and smoothness of handling claims is an essential part of the policy.

Especially in today’s day and age of online and offline policy providers, it’s extremely important whom you buy your travel policy from. Don’t make the mistake of just going by the price on offer, also look at the level of support you will get in case you need to avail of the benefits. When you’re in a foreign land, the support becomes especially crucial. If you have a trusted policy provider, it’s always good to go with them, since there is a personal rapport and you’re sure of getting the best support. In case you don’t have one, and need to rely on an online portal, make sure you read the reviews of people who might have availed of the services of the company before you finalise the travel insurance policy for you and your family.