Domestic and international trips are slightly different. This is because travelling to another country often means you don’t have the same kind of financial, medical, or other types of support available to you in your home country.
Here are some of the major differences:
Health coverage
While travelling abroad, people assume their health insurance will be valid during the whole trip. However, this may not be true, this may depend on the kind of insurance you have gone for. A Single-trip insurance covers you for a specific trip, while a multi-trip policy covers you for multiple trips in a given time period. Conditions may apply on the number of trips and the maximum duration (of trips). Also, domestic travel insurance policies don’t always cover pre-existing conditions, while international travel insurance with medical cover accounts for such things as pregnancy-related emergencies and accidental death, injury, or funeral-related costs.
Risk coverage
Domestic travel is not as risky as international travel. International travel insurance accounts for life-threatening conditions, including plane hijacking. This is usually not the case with domestic travel policies, simply because the incidences of such events happening within a country are quite low. An important difference between domestic and international travel insurance is that the latter covers injury and harm resulting from acts of terrorism.
International travel insurance often covers flight delays and cancellations and covers emergency hotel stays as well. For domestic travel, this is not always the case – travellers often have to obtain proof of flight delay and cancellation before applying for reimbursement from their insurer. International trips are generally more expensive as well, so it is wise to obtain insurance that accounts for such emergencies.
Another important difference is felt when it comes to the loss of important documents such as passport or other travel documents. International insurance policies cover this, but domestic travel insurance policies do not. This is because when citizens travel within their home country, replacing lost documents is fairly simple as compared to doing the same when abroad. Evacuation to the home country is also covered by international travel insurance; this is obviously not applicable for domestic travel.
Why Insurance is Necessary Even for Domestic Travel ?
Travel insurance is designed to meet the specific needs of travelers in case of an unanticipated situation. It protects them from financial losses in case of a medical emergency, death, lost passport or baggage and other such situations. If you are traveling abroad, travel insurance becomes more or less necessary because many of the countries make it mandatory to have travel insurance. While traveling internationally, travelers make sure that they buy travel insurance but in the case of domestic travel, most people do not go for travel insurance. However, for domestic travel, insurance is as necessary as international travel insurance.
Whenever or wherever you travel, your mind starts to imagine happy experiences but in reality, things can sometimes get complicated and unwanted. Travel insurance not only covers you but also covers your belongings. If something unpredictable happens on your trip, whether it is a domestic or international trip, insurance can bring some comfort and make the process of handling emergency hassle-free. Let us have a look at why insurance is necessary even for domestic travel:
Reasons You Need Travel Insurance
1. Loss of passport, baggage, or documents
This is probably the worst situation you can imagine while travelling. But if you have a travel insurance, you have help at hand. In case of a lost passport, your insurance will reimburse the cost of acquiring a duplicate or a new one. In case of missing belongings, you will be compensated for your loss up to an approved sum; while if your baggage gets delayed, you will be reimbursed for the personal effects that you might have to buy for the meanwhile. This can be a huge help as you wait for your baggage to turn up.
2. Accident & Sickness In a Foreign Land
No one wants to fall ill while on vacation. But medical complications or a serious bodily injury could arise at any time. That is why travel insurance is important. It will ensure you get the necessary medical attention in case of an emergency be it to take you to an hospital or have a close family member flown to you if you are a student. This also includes dental treatment because it’s quite understand that when you’re in a new place, stopping yourself from going on the sweets can be a little difficult. Your travel insurance will take care of other related expenses as well. You may also avail cashless hospitalisation with travel insurance. Our Travel Insurance also Covers you in the age of a pandemic with COVID-19 Covered*
3. Flight Cancellation or Delay
This is a common glitch nowadays. It could be airline’s fault, a natural hazard, or a personal problem. In all the cases, you will be either reimbursed or refunded a certain amount as per the policy schedule. In case illness at the eleventh hour or a sudden death in the family can affect your plans. Suppose you need to cancel your travel plans. What happens to the money you spent on the air ticket and hotel bookings? It does not get wasted. Your insurance will reimburse you the unused hotel cost and travel tickets. In case of a delayed flight, your travel policy will cover additional expenses. This may include an unplanned night stay at a hotel and food, among other things.
4. Emergency Medical Evacuation
If a medical condition requires you to be transported from the scene of incidence to the nearest hospital, you don’t have to worry about the expenses. If you are already admitted in a hospital and need to be taken back to your country for further medical help or to be with your loved ones, your travel insurance will take care of that too.
5. Fraudulent Charges
Imagine losing your credit/debit card while you are on a vacation and you start getting texts that someone is using it. Scary, right? Not only are you losing your money but you are losing money in a place where you might not even find help easily. But with travel insurance, that would not be a problem. Your policy will refund you for the money lost through stolen payment cards for up to 12 hours prior to your first reporting of the incident.
