Should you get travel insurance for your next trip?

For many Americans planning a summer trip after COVID-19 scuttled vacation season the last two years, there remains a key financial question: Should I buy travel insurance?

Consider a family of four living in Cleveland, Ohio, that must fly to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to board a cruise bound for the Caribbean. Without trip insurance, if their flight is delayed or cancelled and causes them to miss their ship, they would typically be on the hook for the cost of the cruise and other paid-for activities. 

"They won't hold the boat for you, so having insurance for the cost of the cruise is going to be a good use of it. Without it, you would be out of pocket," Scott Keyes, founder of Scott's Cheap Flights, a flight deals site, told CBS MoneyWatch.