When checking out travel insurance either online or through a third party, always make sure you get the term definitions. Most travel insurance packages will recompense you for ?trip cancellations? ? but do you know what that really means? Look into it, because a ?cancellation? could be caused by anything from a sick child to an act of terrorism.

Also check your travel dates. Some travel insurance policies end on the day you've scheduled yourself to return. If you change your mind and decide to return home a few days late, you may no longer be covered by your insurance package. Make sure your insurance will cover you right up to the time you come home.

If you're going to be traveling to a more dangerous part of the world, the fine print is especially important. Standard travel insurance packages rarely cover things like war, items confiscated in customs, or injuries arising from extreme sports like skydiving or rock climbing. You may have to look into getting more specialized forms of insurance, if any of these apply to you.

You may have to plow through a few pages of text buried somewhere within your provider's website, but knowing the fine print under which you'll be traveling is well worth the trouble. If you're going to take risks anyway, you might as well know which ones are covered by your travel insurance policy.