Plans to purchase travel insurance should accompany your daydreams of Rome, Florence, pizza and wine. If you’re planning on visiting Italy this summer, you should know that your domestic health insurance may not fully protect you in the event of a medical or dental emergency abroad. Travel insurance with emergency medical benefits can help fill the gaps during a covered medical emergency. Travel insurance can also reimburse covered expenses if your luggage is lost or your trip is canceled or delayed for a covered reason, and many travel insurance benefits extend to immediate family members and dependents traveling with you.

While planning your dream vacation to Italy, you may have read that U.S. citizens don’t need a Schengen visa – which requires holders to purchase travel insurance – to visit the Mediterranean country and other EU member nations. But travel insurance is still a wise investment ahead of your trip to Italy.

Here’s why it’s essential:

Medical Emergencies

Car accidents can happen anywhere, but did you know that Rome is rated as the worst European city for traffic accidents? And Italy has one of the highest traffic accident death rates in Europe – 6.1 per thousand. Well before you ever think to download the BlaBlaCar and Scooterino rideshare apps, you’ll want to purchase a travel insurance plan that offers benefits for medical emergencies you may experience abroad. Allianz Global Assistance offers benefits for a range of budgets, some of which are critical in emergency situations. Depending on your plan, we can provide medically necessary emergency transportation to the nearest healthcare facility, and emergency medical benefits for losses due to covered emergencies.

If you’re traveling with your spouse, children or other dependents you’ll want to make sure the whole family is covered. One Trip Prime and One Trip Premier plans from Allianz Global Assistance cover kids 17 and under for no additional cost when they’re traveling with a parent or grandparent. Both plans also provide emergency medical and trip interruption benefits. If you’re traveling alone on a budget, a more affordable option may be our OneTrip Emergency Medical plan, an economic plan that includes emergency medical protection and other essentials, without trip cancellation and interruption benefits. 

And our Allianz TravelSmart™ mobile app can assist with health needs such as providing the locations of medical facilities and the best way to get to them, international emergency numbers and translations in 18 languages, including Italian, for popular prescription and first aid items. The app also connects you to on-call travel experts who can help get emergency claims started. 

Trip Cancellation and Interruption

Many factors can put a stop to a perfectly planned trip, especially when kids are involved. Imagine that you and your partner have spent months planning an ideal vacation in Rome with your child, who has always been a mature little history buff and is proud to have had a say on much of the itinerary. The entire family is anticipating the educational experience. But the flu and other bugs still lingering in kids’ summer camps and school could derail your plans by infecting the household. Allianz Travel Insurance plans with Trip Cancellation benefits may reimburse you for certain nonrefundable, prepaid trip costs in the event of a covered illness. Italy is known to be one of the most earthquake-prone countries in Europe. As recently as March 9, a severe earthquake struck central Italy. Let’s say you’ve booked a villa in Puglia and an earthquake hit after you purchased a plan from Allianz Global Assistance with trip cancellation benefits, and your accommodations are not uninhabitable due to the natural disaster. If you cancel your reservations, you may be reimbursed for certain non-refundable expenses within the limits of your policy. Keep in mind that this doesn’t extend to destinations that are dealing with minor inconveniences due to natural disasters or if you purchase your travel insurance plan after a natural disaster is considered known and foreseeable. 

Baggage Loss

If you love high fashion, you may want visit Via dei Condotti while in Rome, a walkable thoroughfare lined with prestigious fashion houses. Let’s say you decide to live a little by updating your closet with a beautiful statement piece – a bright, linen blazer by Dolce & Gabbana, perfect for summer evenings. And score! You also found some gorgeous Jimmy Choos to complete the look. On your return trip, you checked a bag containing your glamorous goods only to find out when you land that it’s been lost by the airline.

Unfortunately, you found out the airline will only reimburse half the value of the lost luggage. For international flights, airlines' maximum liability for lost, damaged or delayed bags is about $1,780. Airlines' maximum baggage liability for domestic flights is $3,800. 

Travel insurance may make up the difference. If your baggage is lost or damaged, Allianz Travel Insurance can reimburse you for the actual price, cash value, repair or replacement of your luggage, – whichever is less, based on the limits of your policy.

Get a quote to find out how Allianz Travel Insurance can help make your Italian get-away blissfully stress-free.

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