Travel Insurance Is Not a Magic Refund Button

In November 2024, I was supposed to leave the next morning for a Princess travel-advisor sailing aboard Regal Princess out of Galveston.

That Saturday began like any ordinary day. I was on a call with clients discussing the Alaska group I would be hosting the following summer. When we finished, my back began hurting. I have dealt with back problems before, so I assumed I had simply been sitting wrong during the call.

But the pain kept getting worse. Then I began feeling sick. I went to lie down, and when I started throwing up, I knew this was not normal for me.

Because we were scheduled to leave the next day, I told my husband, Lloyd, that we should go ahead and visit the emergency room. I honestly thought I had an infection, would be given antibiotics and could go home to finish packing.

Instead, the medical team immediately started an IV and sent me for imaging. While I was talking about getting home and preparing for the cruise, the technician said something I have never forgotten:

“I hope you have travel insurance.”

My kidney was severely enlarged. A kidney stone had become lodged and caused a serious infection. The doctor told me I was not going home and asked which hospital I wanted to be transferred to.

I left in an ambulance.

That night, after being admitted to the hospital, I became septic. There are parts of that night I do not remember. I woke up later, noticed another IV and asked Lloyd where it had come from. He looked at me and said, “You don’t remember?”

I ultimately underwent two procedures. The cruise we were supposed to board the next morning was no longer even a possibility.

Less than 24 hours earlier, I had been conducting business, talking about Alaska and preparing to pack for a cruise. I had no idea that I was seriously ill.

That is why I will never treat travel insurance as an unnecessary little add-on.

It did not prevent the medical emergency. It did not make those frightening hours disappear. And it was not a “magic refund button.”

But I had protected the trip before I knew I would need that protection.

Once I was home and recovering, I submitted the insurance claim online. My doctor completed the required form confirming what had happened, I scanned and uploaded the documentation, and that was it.

There was no fight. There was no long, drawn-out ordeal. The insurance reimbursed the full covered cost of our trip, and the money was deposited directly into my checking account approximately ten days later.

That does not mean every claim will be paid, every situation will be covered or every traveler will have the same experience. A claim must meet the terms of the individual policy, and documentation matters.

But mine did exactly what travel insurance is supposed to do.

Less than 24 hours before I was scheduled to board a ship, I went from preparing for a cruise to being transported by ambulance, undergoing two procedures and fighting a life-threatening infection.

There was no warning. There was no time to plan around it.

Travel insurance could not protect me from becoming sick, but it protected us from losing the money we had invested in a trip we could no longer take.

So when I discuss travel insurance with my clients, it is not a scare tactic, and it is not an attempt to squeeze more money out of their vacation.

I bring it up because I have personally experienced how quickly life can change.

Travel insurance is not a magic refund button. It is a contract with specific terms, covered reasons and documentation requirements. But when the unexpected falls within those terms, that protection can matter enormously.

Insurance is always your decision.

My responsibility as your travel advisor is to make sure you understand what you could be risking before you decide whether to protect it.

That experience is why I discuss travel insurance with my clients today, not because I expect something to go wrong and not because I am trying to frighten anyone into spending more money.

I discuss it because sometimes life does not give you advance notice.