Just weeks after Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton has brought even more devastation to Florida.
So what if you have plans to visit a damaged beach soon, or had to leave your vacation early?
Travel insurance, in particular trip cancellation insurance, would help in most of those cases.
Canceling a trip usually means a loss
Most travelers, with no insurance, will be looking at losses.
Beverly Moorman is among them. She had to cut her Florida trip to the Clearwater area short.
"We had a mandatory evacuation off the island," she said, while arriving home at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport.
While she knows her issues are nothing compared with gulf coast residents who face months of rebuilding, coming home early was costly.
"We had to pay for new plane tickets," she said. "Our rental car we for the entire time, and they wouldn't reimburse us or anything."
Getting a voucher for future travel on an airline is pretty easy in these circumstances, with airports closed for and thousands of flights canceled.
But getting a full refund for an Airbnb rental or a cruise can be a lot more difficult.
That's where travel insurance can be well worth buying.
How travel insurance can help
A few years ago, Queen Jones and Sheila Smoot contacted us after each lost hundreds of dollars when they missed their cruise, after their flight was canceled due to bad weather.
The cruise line would not issue a refund.
"Never was it explained to me," Jones said, "that I needed to get insurance due to weather."
According to NerdWallet, there are two types of insurance, and both are worth considering.
- Travel insurance covers lost baggage, medical treatment, missed plane and boat connections, and emergency medical evacuation from other countries.
- Trip cancellation insurance reimburses you if you have to cancel due to weather, illness or job loss.
What about losing a vacation rental?
Vrbo's automatic "Book with Confidence" guarantee and Airbnb's "Air Cover" guarantee will cover you if the property is no longer available, or the island is closed, but not if you simply decide to back out.
Canceling because you are not comfortable visiting a damaged area still leaves you liable for the reservation.
So consider paying an extra $100 to $200 or so for trip cancellation insurance, like Beth Askins does.
"I always get insurance this time of year when going to Florida," she said.
Vrbo and Airbnb offer basic policies on their site, as do most airlines.
And if you are going overseas, look into travel insurance with medical coverage, as your health insurance (or Medicare) may not cover a hospital visit outside the US.
That way you don't waste your money.
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