Have you ever noticed when booking a vacation you’re almost always offered the opportunity to buy travel insurance? It doesn’t matter if you’re buying direct from the airline or through an online travel agent, you can easily tack on the price of the travel insurance premium to your trip purchase. It sure is convenient, but is it a good deal? A quick comparison of leading financial institutions, airlines and travel agents shows that often you’re paying a hefty premium for this convenience.

Take a look at the prices below for a basic emergency medical plan for a single 40-year old, travelling Friday to Friday (for a total of 8 days) with similar coverage:

Quotes obtained for a basic medical plan for an individual travelling to the U.S.*
Kanetix.ca	Financial Institution	Airline	Online Travel Agent
$13.60	$25.06	$29.00	$30.00

The range in rates is more than double.

If you take a look at family plans, the difference in price is even more startling:

Quotes obtained for a basic medical plan for a family of four; 2 adults and 2 children*
Kanetix.ca	Financial Institution	Airline	Online Travel Agent
$24.00	$56.39	$112.00	$105.00

In no time, you can shop, compare and save

You too can easily uncover the price discrepancies, for similar products, to see how much you’re actually paying for that so-called opportunity.

Why pay more than you have to? Because, if it’s about convenience and ease in getting covered, you’ve got better options for getting the travel insurance you need at a better price.

See if you can cut your travel insurance premium in half by comparing and buying travel insurance using the Kanetix.ca travel insurance shopping service today!.

Looking for more information about travel insurance? Don’t forget to:

• Read: Year-in-review: 2008's travel insurance tips that helped Canadians save
• Read: Zoom, Jetsgo, and Canada3000: Three reasons why you might need trip cancellation insurance
• Read: Travel insurance tips for 2009 that’ll help you save

*The basic medical plan, and corresponding rate, was pulled from the websites of a major Canadian financial institution, airline, online travel agent, and Kanetix.ca-an online quote comparison service. In each case, the lowest price is published and is accurate as of December 3, 2008, but may be subject to change at any time.