I purchase travel insurance based on a risk assessment. I've bought insurance for every safari I've been on - Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, and Botswana. I don't want to be stuck someplace with poor or limited medical care. And, you never know what sorts of accidents and whatnot can happen out there. When I climbed Kilimanjaro, the guides suggested we have a certain amount of cash since the hospitals wouldn't take credit cards or trust our insurance to pay - everything at the hospital had to be paid up front. I've also taken out insurance for trips to Southeast Asia - I don't want to be stuck in a hospital in Vietnam or Cambodia or China. I didn't bother with insurance for trips to Singapore and Japan because I knew I could get a good standard of care. The same for Europe - I figure I can get good medical care that won't necessarily put me in the poor house, and that evacuation is unlikely to be needed.

I also take out insurance when I know the cost of evacuation would be insanely expensive - cruises to Antarctica, the Arctic, the Galapagos Islands, backpacking in Alaska, river rafting trips, etc. Anything involving a helicopter rescue is going to be crazy expensive.

Does Covid and the potential for things to get locked down change my calculations? I figure they should, but I'm not sure how to assess the risk, which is why I haven't traveled internationally in the last 2.5 years. I have a trip to Portugal planned this summer - super high vaccination rate, excellent health care system. Will I take out travel insurance? I'm not sure yet. I figure the risk is getting sick and having to quarantine in-country for a week, or perhaps some sort of government lockdown. So, perhaps some medical treatment, hotel, and rebooking of flights. So, what is the probability of the risk occurring, what are the consequences of the risk occurring, and what is the cost of the insurance? Too early to tell.

I have filed one claim for travel insurance and that was for a garden variety trip delay. The insurance paid for itself as I was compensated for a hotel stay I needed for missing an airline connection and I was reimbursed for one night at a safari lodge.