You’ve finally booked the trip of a lifetime. Be it a luxury cruise, adventure travel or some far-flung, off-the-map destination, even the best laid plans sometimes unravel. While it’s important to be prepared and be flexible, the unexpected can happen, and experts suggest taking out travel insurance in Spain or even while adventuring in your own backyard!
Travel insurance is a class of coverage that is used primarily to protect travelers from financial and physical risk when in transit or in their destination. Typical types of coverage are related to transportation delays and cancellations, concerns about luggage, medical emergencies or even trip cancellation. Essentially, a solid plan will give you peace of mind as you’re packing your bags.
Once advantage of travel insurance is that many of the coverages can be bundled or operate as a pay-as-you-go perk.
Travel insurance can be a money-saving option for those who travel abroad frequently, those who have prepaid a significant portion of their trip ahead of travel, those engaging in high-risk activities while on holiday (such as extreme sports) or even those whose travel could be disrupted because of current events or anticipated conflict. It’s also recommended for pregnant women.
Be it delayed or lost luggage, a medical or environmental emergency or even trip cancellation, an estimated 140 million people in the United States alone took out travel insurance in 2023 or were covered by credit card purchases (source: Forbes).
Take a look at how the world has changed in the last five years, particularly in major disruptions like the COVID pandemic, environmental hazards like hurricanes and earthquakes, and travel company mergers and bankruptcies or local strikes and tech breakdowns. Displaced travelers have made headlines – and often – as flight cancellation and on-time arrival rates bounced around.
In short, contracting travel insurance can save you money, time and the headache or trying to make a claim if your trip plans go south (and we don’t mean geographically).
Depending on the type of holiday, you may also want to consider some add-on packages, such as adventure sports coverage if you’re planning something extreme (this includes skiing!) or a pre-existing condition waiver.
While Spain is a safe country with excellent transportation and travel infrastructure, it is not immune to natural disasters, transportation strikes or common headaches for travelers. Check with your insurance company or even your credit card company to see if you are covered for your holiday in the sun, or considering looking into travel insurance in Spain.
Save room in your suitcase for peace of mind: Caser’s award-winning insurance now extends to your trips in and out of the Iberian peninsula!
You can choose from three different modalities that best fit your needs and destinations (Caser covers nearly every destination and type of trip!):
Vacation plan: For cost-conscious travelers looking for only the essentials. This basic plan covers your care in any part of the world – most particularly, it is a top travel insurance in Spain and Portugal. You’ll also receive reimbursement for any vacation days that you didn’t take in case of a cancellation and have the option to add pet coverage if you’re traveling with your furry friend.
Comprehensive plan: For more extensive coverage, consider the comprehensive plan. It includes the aforementioned benefits of the Vacation plan in addition to coverage for search and rescue operations, flight overbooking in case you get bumped and higher coverage refunds for missed vacation days. Caser Expat Insurance recommends this plan if you’re traveling in Europe, though it’s valid worldwide.
Prestige plan: Finally, the Prestige plan offers you total peace of mind when it comes to insuring your trip worldwide, from covering costs for cancellation or postponement, covering any medical need that could arise (including preexisting medical conditions) and insuring you for pesky thigs like lost luggage or the need for a hotel stay.
Don’t currently hold a policy with Caser? That’s ok! Caser’s travel insurance can also be purchased as a one-off trip, guaranteeing that you’ll have round-the-clock care and access to some of Spain’s best doctors and care facilities.
My husband’s job took us to live in Lyon, France, for six months. This was shortly after lockdown restrictions eased in 2020, and we were eager to explore southeastern France, nearby Germany and Switzerland and our little village’s boulangeries (bakeries). One weekend, I hopped in my car and drove with my elder child – then nearly four year old – to meet a friend in Annecy. While she dined in a Michelin-starred restaurant, my kid and I shared a few slices of pizza and explored the parks.
While E was goofing off, I took a call from my mother in the U.S. She says I said hello and then she saw sky, ground, sky, ground while I rushed to cover my son’s bleeding chin. I carried him across Annecy to the hospital, where he was given immediate care for laughing gas, four stitches and probably a lifetime’s worth of trauma. Though my French was terrible, I was able to work out that our family travel insurance would not only cover the care that day but also extended to the stitches removal and a follow-up with a plastic surgeon. We paid 80 or so out of pocket before receiving reimbursement the following month from our travel insurance in Spain.
Lesson learned: travel insurance and coverage abroad saved us the headache of claims, reimbursements and a great deal of paperwork so that we could give E extra care by way of snuggles.