How to Purchase Travel Insurance for Your Pet

With many vet bills totaling thousands of dollars, purchasing insurance for your favorite feline or pooch often makes sense, especially since policies are available for less than $10 a month. Did you know, however, that your pet might not be covered while you travel? This is especially true if you travel internationally, but could also be the case if you're traveling in your home country, depending on your policy. If you wan to protect your pet while traveling, here's how to purchase the best insurance plan:

Step One: Check your current policy.

If you currently have insurance for your pet, check your policy to see what, if anything, it covers during travel. Like insurance for the two-legged members of your family, some policies do provide some coverage while traveling, while others don't cover you at all. Until you know what's included in your current plan, though, you can't purchase the best additional plan.

Step Two: Determine how much you can spend with your deductible.

Like human plans, you'll have to pay a deductible for your pet's care before the policy kicks in. A higher deductible means that you'll pay a lower amount upfront, but make sure you can afford it should something happen or your pet could be refused care or you could find yourself having to pay the entire amount instead of just your deductible.

Step Three: Check out what else is covered.

Along with health insurance, your pet travel insurance could cover other things, such as the cost of your pet's flight should your vacation get canceled, costs associated with your pet running away or otherwise getting lost while on vacation, and more. Basically, anything that can be covered in a human's insurance policy could also be covered in a pet insurance policy. Remember, the more "extras" you add, the more expensive your policy will be – but peace of mind may be worth the cost.

Traveling with your pet can be fun, but make sure that your entire family is covered by a great travel insurance policy. That way, all members of your family will have a great time, no matter what happens while you're on vacation.

Allison works with TravelInsurance.org, where you can go to learn more about when and how to purchase travel insurance.