Travel Insurance: USA To Iceland Trip

Known as the Land of Fire and Ice because of its mix of volcanoes and glaciers, Iceland boasts amazing natural wonders like the Dettifoss waterfall. The country is also known for the Northern Lights, which beckon the most tourists from August through April.

If you’re going to Iceland, make sure to have the right travel insurance in hand.

Travel Insurance Recommendations for Iceland Trips

While travel insurance is not required to enter Iceland, it is highly recommended.

Because your trip to Iceland is something you’ve been planning and looking forward to, it’s smart to purchase a travel insurance policy in case of unexpected—and expensive—situations.

The best travel insurance plans include:

• Trip cancellation, delay and interruption benefits
• Medical expense and medical evacuation benefits
• Baggage coverage

Trip Cancellation Coverage for Iceland

A trip to Iceland is costly and includes flights, hotel stays, dining and possibly expensive tours. Many of these costs are non-refundable and pre-paid. As soon as you start making trip deposits you should lock in travel insurance, so your trip cancellation insurance starts right away to cover that money.

Even if you’re generally in great health, setbacks can happen, including illness. For example, if your husband starts to experience heart issues and can’t go, this would be a covered reason to cancel the trip. A travel insurance plan will reimburse 100% of any pre-paid and non-refundable costs. For example, if your airline ticket is refundable, you would not be able to make a claim for it under travel insurance—you would get the refund from the airline.

Not all reasons for canceling your trip are covered. For example, if you check the weather forecast and the app shows rain for five of the seven days of your trip, this is not a covered reason.

If weather or seasonality will affect your decision-making, and you want the most flexibility to cancel, consider buying “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) travel insurance, which will allow you to cancel your trip for any reason up to 48 hours before you are scheduled to go. This upgrade costs about 50% more than a typical policy and generally provides 50% or 75% reimbursement of trip costs.

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Travel Delay Insurance for Iceland Trips

If a trip delay causes you to miss part of your trip for a reason covered by the policy, and you lose money because of the trip delay, your travel delay insurance will reimburse you. Covered reasons include severe weather, a transportation strike, missing your connecting flight and airline maintenance issues.

For example, if your flight to Reykjavik is canceled due to severe fog and thunderstorms, and you miss a pre-paid tour that is non-refundable, you can file a claim to recover the costs.

Trip Interruption Travel Insurance

While visiting Iceland, you may not anticipate having to return home early, but emergencies happen, so having a plan in place is always a good idea.

Trip interruption insurance can help if you need to cut your trip short and return home. For example, if you’re traveling with your sister and she learns that one of her children is hospitalized, that is a covered reason to interrupt your trip.

Trip interruption benefits will cover the cost of a last-minute flight home, plus will reimburse you for unused and pre-paid expenses such as hotels and excursions that you miss.

Travel Medical Insurance and Medical Evacuation Insurance

When you travel beyond the U.S. and its territories, your U.S. medical health care plan likely has limited or no coverage. Seniors should note that Medicare will not pay for health care outside the U.S.

When traveling to Iceland, or any country abroad, it’s vital to have a travel insurance plan with travel medical insurance.

Scott Adamski, spokesperson with AIG Travel, says many tourists in Iceland rent cars, but the countryside can be treacherous to drive because of mountainous terrain. If you are involved in a car accident and need to be treated for an injury, your travel medical insurance will pay for doctor and hospital bills, medication, diagnostic tests and X-rays.

Some of the rural areas of Iceland boast sprawling countryside and majestic views. “Horseback riding is also very popular in the country, and accidents can happen,” says Adamski. If you suffer a fall from a horse during an excursion and the trails are quite a distance to a trauma unit, your travel insurance company can coordinate medical transport from the remote area to a hospital that can treat you.

If you don’t have both medical expense coverage and emergency medical evacuation coverage, you would be responsible for thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs.

Baggage Insurance for Luggage and Belongings

Baggage insurance can reimburse you the depreciated value for lost, damaged or stolen personal belongings. Find out whether the baggage coverage in your policy is primary or secondary. If it’s secondary, you’ll need to make a claim on any other applicable coverage first, like your home insurance.

Baggage delay insurance can compensate you for necessities you buy to tide you over until your luggage arrives. Note that baggage delay benefits kick in after a specified time listed in your policy, such as six or 12 hours.