Should I get travel insurance if I go overseas?

I would not.
Check the coverage you have already. Most people’s health insurance already coveres health emergencies overseas.
Most credit cards cover fraud and loss.
Most homeowners liability and property insurance includes coverages as well.
Airlines generally cover you if they cancel a flight.

Travel agents and insurance agents try to convince you to buy insurance for one reason – they profit from the sale Save your money.

Don’t bring extra stuff. Do carry a credit card with a chip, and you’ll have a great time.

See this question Do you purchase travel insurance?
Someone recently investigated this.

No. Not worth it. And if you do, trying to collect is a pain in the rear because of the mountains of paperwork.

I have travelled internationally for years, and I have never been in a situation where travel insurance would have been useful.

What about trip cancellation insurance?

I planned a trip to Europe for the family and made reservations. Shortly after I bought tickets, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. We weren’t going to France and Switzerland and Germany. We were going to chemotherapy and radiation.

Would trip cancellation insurance have made it any easier to get refunds?

@Jeruba it is my understanding that that is exactly the main reason for buying travel insurance.

Welcome to Fluther.

Part of my response would depend on whether or not the travel was for business or pleasure, and who was paying. I wouldn’t buy any kind of trip or cancellation insurance for business travel that my employer is paying for. They already recognize that “stuff happens” and trips can be cancelled at the last minute for various reasons. That’s why we generally purchase non-refundable air tickets and then – if necessary – pay the penalty at the time we do make the trip if we have to change the itinerary. It amounts to the same thing that way, but it only happens when necessary.

But those are not “trip-of-a-lifetime” travel excursions. For tourist travel I might very well reconsider and buy the insurance, because, for example, cruise ship itineraries are a lot more dependent upon weather than most air travel, and while a missed business flight might put us at a work destination a day or so later than we had planned, a missed trip to a cruise could put you off the trip entirely.

So, like most things, “it depends”.

@Jeruba I tried to buy missed flight connection, loss of baggage and trip cancellation (for various reasons) coverage WITHOUT medical coverage. I don’t need medical coverage (my health insurance company covers all medical emergencies (injury/illness) anywhere I go.

I checked out several different travel insurance companies but I can’t find one that offers insurance without medical coverage. Do you know of one?

So I’m traveling to Australia from the USA this May ‘16 without travel insurance because I don’t like to be forced to buy something that I don’t need.

@Jeruba, that’s exactly why I buy travel insurance for bigger trips. Not for short haul or short trips, but yes if I’m investing a lot of money. However, I think @gondwanalon‘s post makes an important point. The answer to this question will be different depending on where you are in the world. If you’re in Australia, the UK or a country with universal health care, you might not already have health insurance and so might need that additional health cover. I would want health cover and it would be a major reason for me choosing insurance. If you’re in a country where people automatically have such cover, then you’re just doubling up.

Depends on your health, your age, and where you are going. If it’s a place you would want to be air lifted out of if you became ill or had an accident, I’d get it. This type if coverage usually includes cancellation insurance.

If you just want cancellation insurance that’s another thing. If you are having a hard time getting cancellation insurance just check how much you lose if you need to change the flight. Airlines usually too out at $150. Hotels, the first night stay. Likely, you won’t need to cancel anything anyway.