Consider purchasing solid insurance coverage:

·  When traveling into remote areas where health care may not be up to acceptable standards

·  When traveling to less popular destinations where there may be only one airline, one car rental company, or otherwise limited backup choices

·  When traveling internationally or on international airlines that are not bound by US law

·  When traveling with a group, such as your family, that may be affected by events affecting one member of the group. (For groups, most travel insurance companies offer group policies.)

While you cannot predict every possible scenario, in all of these cases, it will be important to understand how the exceptions might affect your options. For example, if there is only one airline, and that airline is not covered by your policy, you're going to have to get out your wallet, or hitchhike.

In some cases, your personal insurance will cover you; check with your insurance company to make sure.

More Exceptions
The list of exceptions can get long, and will vary by your state of residence. Most major travel insurance companies will make all exceptions very clear on their Web site.

Some causes of trip cancellations that might not be covered:

·  Labor unrest or strikes

·  Financial difficulties on the part of the traveler, an immediate family member, or traveling companion

·  Any business or contractual obligations of the traveler

·  Loss caused by "mental, nervous, or psychological disorders"

·  "Normal pregnancy or resulting childbirth"

·  Mountain climbing, bungee cord jumping, skydiving, parachuting… or travel on any air-supported device, other than on a regularly scheduled airline"

·  Any event that occurs prior to the Effective Date of your insurance

Property not covered:

·  Animals

·  Artificial limbs, false teeth, eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids

·  Tickets, keys, money, notes, food stamps, more

·  Loss arising from damage by rodents, insects, or vermin (pretty specific, that one, yeesh)

Etc. etc. - you get the idea.

With the combination of political unrest, financial troubles of major tour operators and airlines, and the prevalence of nonrefundable airline tickets, more travelers have purchased travel insurance to protect themselves against unforeseen events that may impact their plans.

There are several different types of travel insurance policies available, ranging from trip cancellation insurance to emergency medical evacuation, all of which vary widely by company in what their coverage includes and how much it costs.

Make sure you know exactly what your policy will and will not cover before you purchase anything. See Traveler's Ed for help decoding your insurance policy in Travel Insurance: The Fine Print.