Flight Insurance
Many of us grew up noticing those insurance kiosks at airports. They offer to pay out larger sums if you bought the insurance with them, the plane crashed and you were on it. What would be the final.This is not necessary. In fact, if you annualized the premium, it's the most expensive kind of travel insurance you can buy, and probably the least necessary.
Trip Cancellation and Interruption Insurance
YES. Buy this insurance. If you get sick, or miss your trip, or the travel provider (airline, cruise line, bus transfer company) goes out of business, you're not left high and dry. You're covered. Do NOT buy this insurance from the individual travel provider, meaning don't buy your cruise trip insurance from the cruise ship company. Why? If that company goes out of business, chances are, so does their insurance.
Health Care Insurance
This is perhaps the most confusing area. Most people think they are covered if they already have existing health care insurance. Within Sri Lanka, that’s true. Outside Sri Lanka., however, is a big IF. And in some cases, your insurance won't even cover you if you're traveling on a foreign-flagged vessel.
And in many cases, even if you are covered for basic emergency care overseas almost all cases, your current health insurance does NOT cover you to evacuate you and repatriate you back to Sri Lanka. This is where "Medical Evacuation and Repatriation" insurance comes into play. I believe this is essential for anyone who travels. It's an insurance program (usually an annual premium, not often purchased per trip) where if you get sick or injured overseas the policy will get you treated.
And then there's another reason for getting this coverage: If you’re in a foreign country, particularly a country where many hospitals will admit you without caring about coverage, they won’t let you leave until you pay. Travel insurance can help facilitate payment, and act as an advocate so that you’re not overcharged.
