Travel insurance is designed to perform best in simple situations where you prepaid for vacation components. For example, trip cancellation: when you or a loved one gets sick or has an accident that prevents your travel; or trip interruption: when something happens to prevent you from reaching your destination or staying there.

Those kinds of travel insurance are good at getting back whatever money you can’t get back directly from the suppliers, and that’s enough for many travelers. But many problems that often arise fall around the edges of travel insurance policies, and may not be covered.

Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison site, recently shared some “surprisingly common” nightmares that standard travel insurance often doesn’t cover. Squaremouth names three situations for each of the following categories: air travel, hotel stays, and on-the-ground bookings once you’ve arrived.

Here are potential travel insurance nightmares to be on the lookout for, and how you might be able to avoid or remedy it.

• Security delays: Travel insurance typically doesn’t cover you if you miss a plane due to excessively long lines at TSA. While those aren’t your fault, they also aren’t the fault of the airline. If you frequent busy airports, consider TSA Precheck where it’s available.

• Bumping: Insurance typically doesn’t cover downstream cancellation penalties if you’re bumped from a flight and miss a subsequent departure.

• Mileage flights: If your flight on a frequent-flier award ticket is canceled or otherwise impacted, insurance can’t replace or pay you for points. It may, however, cover the cost or re-deposit unused miles thereafter.

• Lost lodging reservations: A lost lodging reservation isn’t covered by travel insurance, and instead will have to be taken up with the company or travel agent that lost it.

By Ed Perkins

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