Also, don't give much weight to such throw-ins as plane-crash insurance. Your life insurance policy should already cover your needs no matter how you die. And travel-hassle expenses are either too small to insure or are already covered by your homeowner's policy or credit card benefits. Airlines reimburse you for lost bags.
Still, you might decide travel insurance is for you. Buying travel insurance for, say, $200 might give you peace of mind and seem worthwhile if you can recoup thousands of dollars.
Here are questions to ask yourself.
* What am I afraid of?
Identify specific things that could go wrong and affect your trip. Then evaluate the chances of the bad things happening and what it would cost you. For example, if a sickly parent might need you -- or might die -- just before or during your trip, travel insurance might be worthwhile.
* What coverage do I already have?
You don't want to pay twice for coverage. Check out details from your health insurance carrier, homeowner's insurance, the credit card you used to pay for the trip and an automobile club if you're a member.
Seniors should be aware that Medicare provides no coverage abroad, unless you have one of the more robust Medicare supplements that cover most of the cost of medical services overseas. Many health plans don't cover medical evacuation in foreign countries.
* How expensive is my trip?
Nobody likes to lose money, but assess the cost of the vacation compared with how much money you have. The more you have at stake, the more insurance might be worthwhile.
* How much of my trip is prepaid and nonrefundable?
Know the details on how much money you get back if you need to cancel, delay or cut short your trip.
Once you're clear about why you are buying travel insurance, here are tips, developed with help from Peter Evans, executive vice president of InsureMyTrip.com, and Brad Finkle, president of the U.S. Travel Insurance Assn.
* Buy soon after you book the trip. "Buy these policies as close to the trip deposit as possible," Evans said. "That's paramount."
There are several reasons to do this. Primarily, you want the most coverage you can get for trip cancellation, which means including the most number of days between booking the trip and leaving for the trip.
Insurance also has short windows of time, seven to 21 days after an initial deposit, to get such benefits as a waiver of preexisting medical conditions, tripsupplier bankruptcy protection and terrorism protection, Evans said.
* Don't necessarily buy from your travel supplier.
You might get better value from a third-party insurer, such as InsureMyTrip.com, QuoteWright.com and TravelInsurance.com. Prices might be roughly the same, but if your cruise line goes bankrupt, not only will you lose the cruise but the insurance you bought also might be worthless.
The same goes for buying from a travel agent that could go belly up. But seniors might consider buying through a reputable cruise line or tour operator if they don't use age ratings and rates are significantly cheaper.
* Read the fine print.
Identify the bad things you want to protect against and make sure they are covered. For example, if you're worried about trip cancellation or interruption because of terrorism, make sure that's included in the policy.
Gregory Karp is a personal finance writer for the Morning Call, a Tribune Co. newspaper in Allentown, Pa.
