How I learned Travel Insurance doesn’t cover civil unrest or war after waking up in Israel to this headline: Breaking News on CNN: Iranian leader killed by US operation, Israel targeted for being an ally.
I took a solo trip to Israel and Jordan from Dec 22, 2019 to Jan 5, 2020. Israel wasn’t on the top of my list, but my friend Jumana was getting married in Jordan and she told us last minute. None of our college friends could make it, but she kept asking to see if I can figure it out. I told her financially I was strapped due to my car accident, but I would try to make it.
Tickets to Amman was close to $1700, while going to Tel Aviv was only $800. Why not? I would get to knock off two countries on my checklist. I booked my tickets and started planning my trip. I was nearing the end of my trip, I was at a hotel in Tel Aviv and I had fallen asleep with CNN on. When I woke up on Jan 3, 2020, I saw “Breaking news that Iran’s Leader Qasem Soleimani had been assassinated.” At first, I didn’t think too much about it and I started to scroll my social media. Then I heard CNN say Iran would strike at Israel to get back at the US. I went into panic mode.
During my travels, I have faced various situations, but nothing as extreme as a possible war. My flight wasn’t leaving for two days, so I quickly called my Nomad Travel Insurance to see if I could get on the next flight out and if they would reimburse it.
That’s when I learned that travel insurance will not cover expenses due to civil unrest or acts of war while traveling. Who would have ever read the fine print on that?
On top of that, I also learned due to Shabbat and everything closing at sunset there weren’t any flights out anyways until Saturday. I just kept telling myself I just needed to survive two more days. Luckily nothing happened but remember that stipulation the next time you go to a country with any possibility of civil unrest.