- Travelers are shifting their focus from fear to “peace of mind” for 2026, making travel insurance the essential accessory of the year.
- From annual policies that save up to 40 percent to “cancel for any reason” upgrades, get expert strategies for protecting your travel investment.
- Find out why not everyone needs coverage (like Grandma’s trips) and how to determine if your credit card benefits are really enough.
“My parents are 94 and living in a long-term care facility,” says Wenkert, a retired pharmaceutical industry marketer from Pittsburgh. “I am also concerned about adequate medical and evacuation insurance coverage.”
As travelers look ahead to next year’s travel plans – spring break, summer vacations and holiday trips (like Running with the Bulls) – they are rethinking how to handle risk. And for them, their essential accessory is travel insurance with full medical coverage. They’ve seen what’s happened there in the past, and they don’t want a rerun.
“In 2026, travel insurance today is less about fear and more about peace of mind,” explains Naresh Dahal.
He should know. He is the operations manager at Kathmandu-based Everest Luxury Holidays. His company designs high-end experiential tours in Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet that involve some risk. He says almost all of his clients are buying travel insurance, “especially when they look to 2026.”
When you talk to experts they say buy insurance.
Stand firm. If you talk to experts, they will tell you that everyone needs travel insurance or that you should get the same insurance no matter where you are going. But the truth is that some people don’t need insurance.
Wenkert, who is planning a trip to Ireland, is one of those travelers. He checks a lot of boxes, including health concerns and there’s a very high chance he’ll have to cancel. She searched for a standard policy on SquareMouth.com and found a policy through Travel Insured International that covered everything she needed, including $100,000 in medical coverage and $500,000 in evacuation coverage. He paid $850 to support himself and his wife.
He says, “The more exotic and further afield we travel, the more emergency medical coverage we purchase.”
Harry Wenkert Isn’t Buying Travel Insurance Because of Fear.
Harry Wenkert Isn’t Buying Travel Insurance Out of Fear; He is buying it in 2026 for peace of mind. With rising costs and increased risks, travelers are rethinking how they protect their trips. We want to know your strategy.
- Do you buy travel insurance for every trip or only for big international holidays?
- Have you ever switched to an annual travel insurance policy to save money, or have you stuck to single-trip coverage?
- Are you willing to pay 10-12 percent more for a “cancel for any reason” policy for complete flexibility?
Also read:
Why is the hotel lobby working with the government to ban short-term rentals?
Ned’s 2025 holiday gift suggestions for travelers
