Millions of people worldwide are finding out what it means to be stuck. A volcano eruption in Iceland caused plumes of thick ash to limit visibility and ground airplanes. Some travelers found themselves stuck in airports and hotels, unable to get home, or forced to cancel their vacation plans. Turns out, travel insurance may have been a wise purchase.

Jim Grace, President of the US Travel Insurance Association told KOMO that most travel insurance policies cover cancellations due to medication, terrorism or when the travel company goes bankrupt. And you can also add volcanoes to that list. “A typical policy will cover weather-related events which is actually what we’re talking about with this ash plum, they consider that wind carrying the ash, hence weather,” says Grace.

How much will a decent travel insurance policy set you back? Experts say a good rule of thumb is four to eight percent of the cost of your trip. It may not be worth the investment if you’re just taking a weekend getaway, but for that once in a lifetime trip, travel insurance will offer peace of mind. “If you’re buying a travel investment — it’s the trip of a lifetime, a honeymoon … and it’s a big event and you’re investing thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars, it probably would make sense to consider insurance to protect that investment,” said John Pittman in a CNN report, vice president of industry affairs for the American Society of Travel Agents.

Right now, about one in three American travelers bother with purchasing travel insurance, according to statistics from the US Travel Insurance Association. Since September 11, the SARS outbreak and the H1N1 scare, more people are deciding to purchase travel insurance, according to Grace and after the volcano delays, sales may erupt.

If you decide you want travel insurance, you must buy it before a major event happens. For instance, with the volcano, travelers who purchased travel insurance policies before April 13 were likely covered from ash delays, but anyone after that would not have been covered. “It’s kind of like buying homeowner’s insurance after your house is on fire. That wouldn’t be covered,” Dan McGinnity, vice president of travel insurer Travel Guard North America, told CNN.

With guests to entertain, a reception space to decorate and programs to fold, I never bothered to check the weather report for my honeymoon. It wasn’t until I got to the Atlanta airport hours after getting hitched and noticed my gate was abnormally empty that I wondered what was up. A CNN weather report blared, “there’s a category three hurricane heading to Belize.” I pushed my worries aside and my new husband and I boarded the plane. It was us, and a handful of other people including a crew from The Weather Channel. Weather Channel host Jim Cantore sat to our right. “What are you guys doing here?” he asked. “Going on our honeymoon,” we gushed. Cantore proceeded to tell us that we should have driven to Charleston instead. He warned us about impending mud slides in the mountains of  Belize, but we weren’t going to let anything stop us from our dream honeymoon. Perhaps if we’d had travel insurance we wouldn’t have been so set on heading into the eye of the storm.

But often travel insurance seems silly. I mean, nothing’s going to happen, right? Think of your vacation as an investment. Deciding whether you want to protect that investment is up to you, but here are some points to consider:

The more you spend the more you’ll want to protect your trip. If you’ve only spent a couple hundred dollars on a nearby vacation rental, it may not be a big deal to you if the trip gets canceled. But if you’ve saved up for this vacation for ten years, travel insurance may offer peace of mind that you’ll get the vacation you’ve been dreaming of.

If you have a lot of connecting flights you may want to consider travel insurance. Certain types of travel insurance can help you if one of the legs of your trip is canceled. Anyone who has dealt with airlines knows it can be tough to get answers or find help.

Consider when you are traveling. If your trip is in the middle of an active hurricane season you may want to spring for insurance. If you’re heading to a place where hurricanes aren’t likely you may be OK skipping it.

Are you traveling with or planning to buy anything expensive? Certain types of travel insurance will cover your belongings. If they get lost or stolen your insurance will pay for them to be replaced.

If you prefer to have peace of mind when you travel, then travel insurance can be a great buy. But if you prefer to live life on the edge, then you may want to skip it and see what happens just like we did for our honeymoon.

Travel insurance is one type of insurance that many people gloss over. They make sure that they have enough clothes and enough money for activities during their vacation and then they travel without another thought to what could go wrong.

Travel insurance, like other types of insurance, is a necessary expense. Without it you could end up paying a lot more if something goes wrong. Travel insurance includes many different types of coverage, but there are details that you need to know before buying any policy.