I got an offer from ITA Airways to add travel insurance to my Milano-Roma ticket. It seems like a ripoff to me but I'm not sure. Does anyone know if it's actually worth it or is it better to get external insurance?
After 14 years of seeing people in ambulances, I'm telling you that company insurance is almost always a rip-off 😅 it costs triple compared to external policies and covers less stuff. For Milan-Rome though, a flight that short, it's way better to just get a generic insurance online if you really want to protect yourself, but honestly for domestic routes you don't risk much
It depends on what it covers and how much you're paying. If it's one of those basic packages the airlines offer at checkout, they're often overpriced and cover barely anything - like massive delays or cancellations you'd be covered for anyway under EU regulations. For short routes like Milan-Rome honestly I wouldn't even worry about it, the risk is low. If you really want to protect yourself, a generic external insurance costs less and covers more, but honestly for a domestic Italian flight I think it's pretty much pointless unless you're traveling sick or have some special situation.
Airlines are always a rip-off, you pay double to cover what your credit card or an annual external insurance already covers. For a Milan-Rome flight especially it's pointless, the risk is basically zero.
I personally always prefer to get a quick quote from an external insurance provider before accepting the airline's offer. In 90% of cases I save quite a bit and the coverage is more complete, especially for things like lost baggage, cancellation for personal reasons, or medical assistance. Airlines know perfectly well that people buy their insurance at checkout without thinking about it, so the prices are inflated.
One detail that a lot of people overlook: read carefully what the airline's insurance excludes. Many only cover delays if it's the airline's fault, not third parties'. And then there's the thing with pre-existing conditions - if you have a known medical condition, sometimes you're not covered. With external insurers you often find more favorable terms if you read the fine print properly. For a Milan-Rome flight the risk is genuinely low, but if you then need to catch a connection or have a particular situation, it might be worth having real protection.
Check if your credit card already covers cancellations, and in that case you can really skip it. If you don't have anything, take a look at Ucover, Hype or similar - spending 10-15 euros on a decent policy is different from paying 40-50 to the airline for the exact same service.
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