Friday newsletters always feature luxury travel contests, tips, series, or news.

Today: Why you should purchase travel insurance for your next holiday

The past 18 months have been a challenging and turbulent time for travelers from around the world because of the unprecedented pandemic-related travel restrictions. But despite a worrying surge of the COVID Delta variant in several countries, demand for trips is up significantly, with many people booking luxurious holidays to far flung destinations again. Since these trips abroad often include expensive tours, hotels and flights, it's an absolute no-brainer to buy travel insurance, so you get reimbursed for your trip costs in case something unexpected happens. As a rule, the more pre-paid, non-refundable expenses you make, the more you need travel insurance.

When it comes to flight delays and trip cancellations, I've had more than my fair share. I once had to cancel a trip to Fiji because of an unexpected family emergency, and a trip to Miami because of illness of my travel companion. I've missed my connection in Doha, Qatar, twice because of a sandstorm, resulting in a flight delay of 24 and 72 hours respectively (and a hugely unpleasant airport experience). I've lost my luggage twice, once with Brussels Airlines and once with United Airlines. And because of the pandemic, I had to cancel trips to Costa Rica, Namibia, and the Maldives. Fortunately, I had purchased travel insurance in all of these instances, which prevented these trips from having a significant financial effect.

Here's why a travel insurance plan is essential to cover for trip cancellation, trip delay, trip interruption, medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation, and luggage loss.

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