Consider travel insurance before you go

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Many western Massachusetts schools have just started their winter break, but maybe your mind is on spring break or even a summer vacation. But before you book, there is some insurance that you might want to consider.

To protect against problems which could affect your next vacation, many travel agents offer travel insurance. There are various insurance policies to cover your trip.

The idea is to pay some extra money to make sure that in the event that something goes wrong with your trip, you don't lose all your money.

Still, there are some things travel insurance cannot do. Insurance, for instance, probably wouldn't have helped the passengers on the stranded cruise ship Triumph last week.

"It would have had not really too much impact, because the folks are getting all their money back anyways, plus a stipend above and beyond what the cost of the program was plus an additional cruise on top of that,” said Joe Falzone of AAA Pioneer Valley.

While you're unlikely to have the same issues those passengers had in the Gulf, some travel insurance policies cover simple issues like cancelations due to illness, death or weather;  lost baggage, or even emergency situations like requiring medical evacuation from a foreign country.

Insurance on flights can start at around $30, but the higher the cost of your trip, the more expensive the insurance can be.