Should I buy travel insurance for domestic trips?

Assuming you're covered by Medicare, you don't need to worry about your health but there are still plenty of good reasons to buy travel insurance when you venture forth within our borders.

Lost luggage, damage to a rental car, flight delays and cancellations and theft are all situations that could bring major pocket pain your way even when you travel within Australia.

Suppose you're travelling with the family, one of the kids gets sick and you have to rebook your flights home, which could be a major expense?

Even a flight to catch a weekend footy game in another city can lead to a situation that calls for travel insurance.

Since including domestic travel along with international trips is likely to bump up the number of trips you make in a year, it would be a good idea to take advantage of the cost savings as well as the peace of mind of an annual travel insurance policy.

Compared with the cost of cover for a one-off trip, annual travel insurance is the bargain of the century. For example Bupa's international website (global.ihi.com) advertises an annual travel insurance policy for $240.

This is a bargain, and there are plenty of other travel insurers that provide an annual policy at a big discount compared with the cost of taking out cover every time you travel.

See also: 11 common mistakes first-time travellers make