Travel Insurance: Necessity or just a gimmick?

I already came across different flight booking sites and I always see insurance as one of the add-ons. They say you're already adulting when you understand and care about insurance. So basically, what is insurance?

Insurance is an agreement between the policyholder and the insurance company to have the policyholder compensated for the loss, damage or any inconvenience in a particular activity, service or product. One of these is the travel insurance. In case you missed a flight, lost a baggage or anything inconvenient related to your flight happens, the insurance company will have you covered in terms of expenses, depending on the plan you purchased and the terms entailed on that plan.

The pro having a travel insurance on flights is that it is convenient to register as it is applied as an add-on upon booking and it is really cheap. The con is that most of the time, it does not cover life and health insurance which could be dangerous financially especially if it happens in a highly-developed country which commonly has a soaring high medical expense.

The fact is you'll never know what happens to you. Accidents happen and of course, we always pray with our fingers crossed that nothing happens. That is when travel health/life insurance comes into importance.

I have already traveled to Singapore and Malaysia and according to my research, Singapore is really safe but Malaysian roads maybe not. I have plans of going on a bus from SG to MY and yay I'm alive. lol.

Better be safe than sorry, I have availed World Nomads Travel Insurance. It is really affordable and it is as easy as 1-2-3 to apply. Many travel bloggers have already recommended this one as you don't have to create a phone call or to be physically present in an establishment to get an insurance policy. You can also have this anywhere you are. You just have to print your insurance document and of course, have on your phonebook the necessary phone numbers just in case, something happens.

For my 2 days Singapore and a day trip to Malaysia, I just spent around 20 USD for the insurance. Please take note that when you are initially getting a quote via the website, it will include a 2 USD donation to footprintsnetwork.org on which you will help the poor in other countries, you can change the beneficiary or just remove the donation if you don't want to donate. 

The regular policy covers 5,000,000 USD of medical expenses and also covers flight inconveniences such as lost baggage, flight delays, and cancellations. As always, you must read the entire policy to have a grasp of all the inclusions in your policy. If you are quite adventurous, you can avail their adventurer plan which is slightly costlier but of course, has higher coverage and has unlimited medical coverage.

Another travel insurance I just discovered Paramount Insurance which offers travel insurance from the Philippines with a cheaper plan but of course with lesser benefits, but If you have are kinda saving or a thrifty backpacker, this could be for you! They offer USD20,000 USD45,000 and USD50,000 plans. According to my research, the lowest plan is for as low as 17 USD or ~700 pesos!

There you have it, my recommendation of having a travel insurance for your travel to be enjoyable and financially stress-free! Have a safe travel!