For me, the goal of a vacation is to fully unplug and recharge. So when my husband and I experienced travel issues during our recent vacation, it was stressful and led to unexpected expenses, which led to even more stress! The irony is that we spent a year planning and saving up for this big vacation so debt wouldn’t follow us home.

We planned not only the obvious things like airfare and hotel but also estimated food and entertainment costs for each day of the trip. We even bought travel insurance, which is designed to ease stress on a traveler’s trip and wallet should issues arise. Given the travel delay issues in the news and the investment we made toward this trip, we felt buying insurance was a wise move for us.

So, when the first flight cancellation happened, I felt relatively comfortable knowing we could recoup the extra costs it created. But travel hiccups kept mounting, as did the costs of our carefully budgeted vacation!

I found out that while trip insurance did reimburse for some things such as the clothes we had to purchase due to delayed luggage, it didn’t fully protect us from all the costs. For example, it did not cover the expenses that came from our flight cancelation due to a pilot shortage since that was not a covered reason for cancellation in our policy.

Whether you decide travel insurance is right for you or not, know it’s not as simple as saying “yes” to the offer of trip coverage. Here are a few lessons we learned from this experience:

• Before you purchase any trip insurance, read the fine print! The covered reasons for flight cancellations are specific to your policy, and if you experience a non-covered cancellation, you are responsible for the costs. An airline may cover things such as a hotel when there’s a cancellation; however, it’s not guaranteed. For us, we missed a connecting flight, which wreaked more havoc that wasn’t covered.
• Save your receipts. Filing for reimbursement from your trip insurance carrier will require detailed receipts, so be sure to safeguard all receipts so they aren’t lost in the shuffle.
• Plan for lost luggage. It’s helpful to have basic toiletries and a change of clothes in your carry-on if your bags are lost — or delayed after you arrived at your destination. This helps you avoid paying for unnecessary and pricey items. Even with insurance, policies have a maximum daily limit for reimbursement that may not be enough to cover all expenses for lost or delayed luggage.
• Prepare for additional meals in transit. If you experience delays, you may need to buy additional meals in the airport, which are NOT cheap. We had only planned for smooth travel — after all, who wants to wargame a bunch of travel fiascos when you’re excited about a trip? So, keep it simple and just build in a little extra buffer in the food budget for any delays.
• Check for travel coverage in disguise! Many credit cards offer travel benefits, so be sure to check coverage terms and conditions to see what, if any, additional coverage you may need.
• Consider military orders. Trip insurance could be a way to cover any losses if you have to cancel a trip due to your spouse getting orders. Be sure to confirm it is a covered loss in your policy prior to purchase.

Whether you purchase trip insurance or not, planning and saving for a major expense like a vacation is key to enjoying well-deserved time away. Do your homework up-front to minimize having to put extra expenses on your credit card when the only souvenir you get from your vacation is the added interest charges if you don’t pay it off in a month!

MilSpouse Money Mission® is a Department of Defense resource that offers FREE personal financial education specifically geared toward military spouses. There is a Money Ready guide for various stages of financial life, a MilLife Milestones section to help you through the big moments in your military journey, a blog, spouse videos, quizzes, calculators and more!