> Do I take travel insurance for routine trips that might involve me losing $200 for having to cancel a plane flight and maybe some hotels. Nope.
The cost of the flight and hotels is irrelevant though.
If you have a medical emergency while in a foreign country you could be looking at millions of dollars of costs to treat and repatriate you. That would bankrupt most people. Even if you're just popping to another city for a day - if it's in another country I think you really must be insured.
I do have health insurance (which one might need to get money back from after the fact) which does cover when traveling and good luck getting just about any travel insurance policy to pay out "millions of dollars."
Most of the time I'd be covered by my company anyway and I do buy travel insurance when doing activities with greater than normal risk. But I'd be surprised if anyone I know routinely bought travel insurance for foreign travel. I literally have never heard it come up in a conversation.
The cost of the flight and hotels is irrelevant though.
If you have a medical emergency while in a foreign country you could be looking at millions of dollars of costs to treat and repatriate you. That would bankrupt most people. Even if you're just popping to another city for a day - if it's in another country I think you really must be insured.