When you’re busy packing your hiking boots for trekking up The Andes, travel insurance is the furthest thing from your mind. But getting travel insurance is as important as bringing mosquito repellant to Southeast Asia. Should the unthinkable happen -- or maybe your flight gets cancelled -- insurance companies make sure that you don’t have to shoulder extra expenses and sometimes even save you the hassle of booking a new flight. That sea urchin you had for lunch not working for you? Rest assured that your insurance provider makes sure that you can immediately find a doctor or hospital and are covered for the medical expenses. Travel insurance covers evacuations and sometimes even provides bail bond assistance, just in case you get caught in a brawl in an Irish pub over the Real Madrid. Travmed.com This is a most helpful site, providing you with everything you need to know about staying healthy while traveling. Travel Medicine gives travelers with a wide selection of clinics all over the U.S. that provide the necessary vaccinations and advisories for your trip. Not quite sure what vaccinations you need? Search through their disease risk database that provides information about diseases for over 200 countries and regions. A travel checklist for medical and personal care items makes it easy for travelers to know exactly what to shop for and Travel Medicine sells most of these items such as antibiotics, water purifiers to sterile needle kits. Travel Insuranceon BootsnAll The A to Z of travel insurance, BootsnAll Travel Insurance has consolidated every type of travel insurance to give you a comprehensive list of the top travel insurance polices. With the vast number of insurance policies available, you can find the best insurance on everything from theft, and trip cancellation and protection to much, much more. Accessamerica.com Named one of Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine’s Top 50 Service Agencies, Access America provides travelers with a broad spectrum of insurance plans. They offer specially designed plans that cater to road trips, luxury and basic traveling. For the last-minute traveler, who won’t need coverage for trip cancellation, Access America offers the “Quick Trip Protector” to cover your health and belongings while traveling. Each plan can be tailored to your needs from basic to the comprehensive. Claims can be easily filed online, by mail or phone. Access America also provides users with referrals to legal services. SquareMouth.com Formerly QuoteTravelInsurance.com, this site claims to provide the world’s number one multi-insurer online travel insurance. Carrying 10 different insurance companies and offering more than 60 travel plans, it guarantees users quotes only from companies that meet their standards, provide competitive prices and excellent service. They also have the policy that companies who receive complaints that cannot be resolved with total satisfaction will be removed from their carrier list. Once you purchase a plan they respond swiftly by sending you a confirmation e-mail with your policy number, as well as a hard copy in the mail. With these criteria, travelers should rest assured that they are dealing only with the best. QuoteWright.com Quote Wright lets you compare over 50 insurance plans side-by-side. With the information that you provide they generate a chart that lists the specific benefits each plan provides. You can then sort through the quotes by price or by benefits that are most important to you. Quote Wright gives you the convenient feature of allowing you to bookmark your quotes or e-mail them to yourself or friends. Although they don’t have any plans specifically for students, their robust selection of plans from 8 insurance providers ensures that their rates are reasonable. Now called squaremouth.com, this site claims to provide the world’s number one multi-insurer online travel insurance. Carrying 10 different insurance companies and offering more than 60 travel plans, it guarantees users quotes only from companies that meet their standards, provide competitive prices and excellent service. They also have the policy that companies who receive complaints that cannot be resolved with total satisfaction will be removed from their carrier list. Once you purchase a plan they respond swiftly by sending you a confirmation e-mail with your policy number, as well as a hard copy in the mail. With these criteria, travelers should rest assured that they are dealing only with the best. quotewright.com Quote Wright lets you compare over 50 insurance plans side-by-side. With the information that you provide they generate a chart that lists the specific benefits each plan provides. You can then sort through the quotes by price or by benefits that are most important to you. Quote Wright gives you the convenient feature of allowing you to bookmark your quotes or e-mail them to yourself or friends. But they have only four insurance providers onboard and no specially tailored plans for the student traveler. In short, Quote Wright might not provide the competitive rates that you are looking for. Travelguard.com Travel Guard International provides a Student/Young Adult plan that caters to US and international students under 29 years old. In addition to regular medical and travel coverage, Travel Guard offers services that make your trip a lot easier. Live Travel is a 24-hour travel agent that helps travelers arrange emergency trips or last-minute changes such as booking or rebooking flights, ground transportation and hotel reservations. Emergency Relay Message makes sure your important phone calls and e-mails reach your friends and family. Their basic Student Guard plan offers unique services such as translation, legal referrals and even bail bond assistance for those really wild spring breaks in Cancun. Travelinsured.com Travel Insured International provides student travelers with the comprehensive Student Trip Protector. This policy makes sure that you are covered for medical and dental emergencies as well as trip cancellations or delays. Worldwide Travel Assistance Services guarantees hospital admittance and provides travelers with emergency cash advances, bail bonds and even eyeglass replacement. After all, what good is it to venture out and see the world if it’s all blurry? Totaltravelinsurance.com Total Travel Insurance provides travelers with side-by-side comparisons of plans from major US travel insurance companies. Travelers can compare over 60 plans that are divided into 21 coverage types. Their quotes are sorted by what travelers similar to your age and travel category have purchased in the past. Check out their Travel Insurance Products page to choose which coverage is most important to you. Chose from flight only protection to the comprehensive trip insurance to just baggage protection -- you can custom fit your plan to your traveling needs. TripInsuranceStore.com Trip Insurance Store offers travelers 9 different insurance policies from 5 reputable providers. Although they do provide a good overall package, their home page generally compares trips for 35 and 70-year-old travelers, so they do not offer plans that are specially designed for a student traveler. But they do provide side-by-side comparisons to make it easier for you to choose the right plan for your special travel needs. They also provide a live chat in which users can ask questions via instant message during business hours. Trip Insurance Store also has special plans for those who have pre-existing medical conditions. Mnui.com If you are studying abroad for 4 or more years, MNUI is worth checking out. MultiNational Underwriters Inc., A Travel Guard International company, provides economical insurance policies for individuals, families and corporations alike. MNUI’s Atlas Series insures trips that range from seven days to up to a year. The IC+ International Term Life covers travelers who are relocating or just traveling long term for up to ten years. MNUI provides users with a network of hospitals and doctors all over the world. Worldnomads.com Looking to go down under to dive the Great Barrier Reef? Or motorbike through South America like the late, great Che Guevara? Then World Nomads is the insurance provider that you are looking for. Their Backpacker Travel Insurance covers the adventurous types in their quests for the next big thrill. Just search World Nomads’ “A to Z of Adventure” and find out if your sporting enterprise is covered. Their extensive list pretty much covers anything from white-water rafting to zorbing (think giant plastic ball you roll around in) -- they even cover camel and elephant riding. Insuremytrip.com Insure My Trip makes it easy for travelers to obtain and compare over 75 different plans from 14 different insurance companies. Just input specifics like trip cost, what kind of coverage you want, dates of travel, type of travel and your age and the site generates a list of competitive quotes for side-by-side comparison. Insure My Trip breaks down each company’s coverage from medical to accidental death or even baggage delay. You can choose how little or how much coverage you need for your trip. They also provide links to group and cruise insurance. Insureandgo.com For adventure travelers looking to travel long-term or multiple times a year, Insure and Go is the site to check out. Their Annual Multi Trip policy lets you travel as many times as you want in the course of a year. This policy includes free coverage for winter sports as well as over 40 other adventure sports. The Backpackers Travel Insurance covers trips ranging from 31 days to 18 months. It provides immediate coverage for sports such as bungee jumping, white and black water rafting and even hot air ballooning. At an additional cost you can get covered for higher-risk sports, like paragliding and skydiving. Now all you need to worry about is if you’ve packed your helmet. Worldtravelcenter.com I find Now Travel Insurance Center to be easier on the eyes than the rest of the side-by-side comparison sites. They provide users with a list of plans on the left side, next to just one overview of the benefits that these plans provide, which is much less overwhelming than full-paged charts loaded with notes and checkmarks that are standard to comparison sites. Their Student Travel Protection plan is certainly very competitive at $96 for a $3,200 international trip -- it covers students age 26 and under for medical emergencies, trip delay or cancellation, baggage loss or damage and other unforeseeable events. Travelinsurance.com Are you a foreign student studying in the US or an American going abroad to study? Travel Insurance Services provides insurance plans to students studying abroad for as little as $39 a month. With $250 to $200,000 in coverage, students can rest assured that they are prepared for any medical emergency outside of their home country. To ease users' minds further, Travel Insurance Services will make sure to help students find a doctor or hospital wherever they are in the world.