Is travel insurance worth it?

The strongest argument for travel insurance is not trip cancellation but medical, and specifically emergency medical evacuation. Most US health plans provide limited or no coverage abroad, Medicare generally does not cover care outside the country, and an air ambulance from a remote destination can run well into six figures. For international travel, cruises, adventure trips, and anywhere with limited local medical infrastructure, a policy with solid medical and evacuation limits is cheap relative to what it protects against, typically a few percent of trip cost.

Cancellation coverage is a narrower calculation. It pays when you cancel for a covered reason, illness, injury, death in the family, certain weather and carrier disruptions, and the list of covered reasons is where policies quietly differ, so read it rather than assuming. Cancel for any reason upgrades cost more and usually reimburse only part. Skip coverage when the trip is cheap, domestic, refundable, or something you could absorb losing. Before buying, check what you already have: many credit cards include trip delay, baggage, and rental car coverage when you pay with the card, some health plans cover limited foreign emergencies, and duplicating that is wasted money. Buy soon after the first deposit if you want pre-existing condition waivers, which usually require purchase within a short window.