If you are ready to book a vacation deal for you and your family, one thing you may want to consider is whether or not you need to invest in travel insurance. Many travel agents will tell you that you should always have travel insurance, just in case, to make sure you can get your money back for all those hotel reservations, airline tickets and travel tours, but you may be wondering if you really need it.

There are many things that could happen to make travel insurance a necessity. Some may relate to you, such as an illness that limits your ability to travel. Others may be things that are totally out of your control, such as an airline that goes out of business and leaves you with no flight at the airport. If you have travel insurance you will be able to recoup your expenses. Anyone who has ever found him or her self in such a situation likely thinks travel insurance is worth its weight in gold.

What if something happens to you when you are already traveling? If you are in a foreign country and are injured, it is possible that your medical insurance will not cover your expenses. If you have travel insurance it will cover the cost of your treatments for whatever medical issue you are experiencing.

Another consideration that no one wants to think about is if there is another terrorist attack. When 9-11 occurred, many people started to have second thoughts about traveling to countries where terrorism had occurred or where regular terrorist instances were likely. Just because an area is threatened by violence does not mean the airlines have to give you any of your money back if you decide not to fly, unless you have travel insurance.

There are many other things that may cause a flight to be cancelled. From weather to an airline strike, there are a lot of things that can happen to stop you from getting to go on a flight that you had paid for. If a flight is not rescheduled, it is possible that the airline will not offer a refund. This is another time travel insurance will come in handy, helping you get your money back if your flight does not take off, no matter the reason.

There is little worse than getting to your destination only to find your luggage has not made the trek with you. Sometimes the bag will turn up. Other times, it is lost for good. Travel insurance can lessen the impact of this loss by insuring the items that are inside your suitcase so you can replace what you have lost.

If you have decided travel insurance is the way to go, make sure to do a little research before you buy. Not all travel insurance plans are alike, and you should look through the offerings of a number of companies before settling on just one. Also, if you are a regular traveler, you may even want to look into a long-term travel insurance police.