Traveling this holiday season? Here's why you should consider travel insurance

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Do you have plans to travel this holiday season? Experts are predicting travel will reach pre-pandemic levels all while the airlines and hotels deal with labor shortages that could impact your holiday trip.

Now more than ever, when booking any trip, you should consider travel insurance. Travel issues involving Southwest and Spirit Airlines left thousands of fliers stranded recently. If you have travel insurance, you could be protected.

When booking a flight, hotel, rental, or vacation package, it's key to look at what's refundable and what's not. For anything not refundable, take a look at travel insurance. One website, insuremytrip.com allows you to compare trip insurance options, which includes "canceling-for-any-reason" policies, or insurance that covers unexpected delays.

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Suzanne Morrow with Insuremytrip.com says, "You want to insure those pieces that are non-refundable. So if you're going to get back 100% of your money, that's not something you are going to be able to collect insurance on, but sometimes you can still buy a fully comprehensive plan, meaning you get the trip delay, the baggage, all of it, with very little to no trip cost, so now you are just buying it for those inconvenience benefits."

Morrow said some policies cover COVID-19, but you should always read the fine print and see exactly what you're paying for. She adds, "A lot of times it comes down to what are you most concerned about, and what are you actually doing on your trip, how much do you have at risk."

Before you book travel, take a look if your credit card offers protection if you pay for the trip with that card. Some cards provide coverage if you have problems like loss of delayed luggage, a medical emergency, and even rental car coverage. It's worth it to do your research.