Travel insurance plans have become increasingly popular in the US since the tragedy that struck during 9/11, but before you decide if travel insurance is something that you need to spend your money on, it would help to know what is typically covered by these protective plans.

What's covered?

Lost or stolen bags:

Some companies offer different grades of travel insurance, much like you can get with your homeowners or auto insurance. Depending upon the level of protection that you choose to pay for, a lost or stolen bag may garner a reimbursement of five hundred to a thousand dollars each. This is a potentially good feature if your bags are stolen, but all airlines have reimbursements for lost luggage which has just been recently raised to three thousand dollars per traveler.

Delayed luggage:

We all travel with things that are absolute necessities; clothes, razors, deodorants and other toiletries - with travelers insurance, if your bags end up at your destination more than twenty four hours after you do, you may be eligible for a reimbursement of up to two hundred dollars or more to purchase these types of items to hold you over until your bags arrive.

What's not covered?

Under each type of travelers insurance policy that you may invest in, be wary of exclusions. Items that are difficult to prove may not be covered under your policy - things like contact lenses, eyeglasses, and cash are usually among the lists of items that are not covered.

Do you need travelers insurance?

This can be a pretty tough call in some cases, if having the extra protection is going to make you feel safer and able to relax and enjoy your vacation more, and the money isn't a very big concern, than by all means - invest in the travelers insurance, just be wary that you may already be covered.

Some travelers are eligible for coverage under their homeowner's insurance policies. If you take the time to check your homeowners policy you may find that you are protected up to a certain dollar amount on lost or stolen possessions.

If you paid for your trip with plastic as many travelers do these days, your particular credit card may offer you certain protections. In fact many cards geared towards business people and frequent travelers have a built in insurance that is far greater than what you would get with a purchased policy - and you won't have to pay out anything to get that coverage.

If you book your trip through a service you may have some extra protection as well. Online services in which you book your entire trip - from flight to hotel to rental car, often offer some coverage for just using the service and many offer the chance to purchase some additional coverage for a small fee. Though you probably wouldn't get as great a level of coverage with this method it will often come at a lower price.

With all of the things that we take along with us as we travel these days - expensive clothes, laptop computers, digital cameras and portable electronics - it only makes sense for us to be safe. Traveler's insurance can be a very good thing to have in the event that one of your bags that contains a very important possession gets lost or stolen, just be sure that you don't already have coverage for a similar event through another avenue before you spend some of your hard earned money that could potentially have been used elsewhere in your journey.