Has anyone taken out travel insurance? Is it worth it? Where would I get it? How much would it be?

I regularly get trip insurance, especially when I travel during the winter or hurricane season, out of the country, on obscure air carriers, or to remote destinations. Since I travel often, and also tend to be subject to travel calamities, it has been very worthwhile to me. I have relied on the "trip interruption" and "trip delay" parts of the policy, and have (unfortunately) had 5 claims in the last 10 years. The claims have covered such things as (1) hotel and meals in San Juan, where I had to stay overnight because of a missed connection (unofficial labor action by airline employees, compounded by delays due to volcanic eruption), (2) missed sailing days on a sailing charter that was interrupted by a hurricane, and (3) 2 1/2 days marooned in Texas (hotel, rental car, meals), en route from Belize, because the East Coast (where I was returning) was paralyzed by a blizzard.

Trip interruption and trip delay are part of the coverages available. People more commonly take policies when they are concerned that an illness or accident will cause them not to take their trip, resulting in lost deposits. The policies cover it, but make sure it's not a "pre-existing condition" (some policies waive that if you purchase them within days of booking your trip).

The cost depends on the cost of your trip, as well as the coverages you seek. You can get a policy from the provider of your trip, or you can get your own policy independently. I use Travelguard (www.travelguard.com) in those cases, though there are others.

Good luck, and read the fine print!

Is it worth it? - The answer with any insurance, is, if you need it, it sure is worth it. If not, you question it.

For me, the answer is to look at each trip and see what is refundable and what is not. For example, most regular hotel rooms are refundable/not charged with a 6 PM cancellation. Air fares are not (with some rules that may make them so - let's not get into that).

The other thing covered which I find reassuring, especially if we are out of the country, is the provision for medical evacuation in event of serious injury/illness.

And then only you can decide how much money you are willing to risk or "sel-insure" for and guess how likely a trip is to be cancelled. While of course you can't predict weather, family emergencies, etc. - some is predictable. For example, husband and I have 3 elderly parents between us, and 2 of them are in fragile health. We immediately bought trip insurance for a $5000 family cruise this summer.

When considering travel policies you should review coverage concerning evacuation for sickness/injury carefully. Those costs can be staggering. For instance, you might be required to travel with a medical doctor, paying his first class travel expenses. Your health insurance likely would not cover those expenses.
Strongly recommend that you do not buy travel insurance from your travel agent.
In my line of work I am subject to being required to change leisure travel plans on short notice. We buy if a large portion of the expense is nonrefundable, which it normally is when one cancels on short notice.

There is a web site, InsureMyTrip.com that gives a comparsion of the different plans available. They also have a toll free number to call re: a policy. I used them for my last trip. I did not need to file a claim. I have an elderly parent and I felt I needed to have coverage. Check out this site. I bought from a company that offered a gold or silver plan.

I think the two key considerations are:
a) are there any special risks associated with your trip, and b) if you choose to buy insurance make sure you've looked at the exclusions and coverages carefully.

I consider special special risks to be very expensive prepaid trips, trips overseas where unusual costs may be encountered in an emergency, trips into risky areas (hurricane season, politically tenuous areas, third world areas etc), travelling with health risks, and the like.

Travel insurance is a POOR investment for a typical trip to Las Vegas or NYC or San Francisco.

In my view it depends on the type of trip you are taking. For me, because I head away for longer durations to some weird places, the ONLY thing I care about is really medical assistance and getting help in an emergency. Cancellation and luggage I don't care about at all.

As other posts, read the small print and benefits cover in detail to make sure you understand what you are getting and how you can use it (if you have to).

Where to get it? There are some great online players such as http://www.insureandgo.com and http://www.worldnomads.com who offer good cover and prices.

I use Nomads becuase the style of their cover suits me.

Hope this helps