There's a moment every June in the UAE when airport lounges start to feel like school corridors. During the summer break, travel patterns typically include Europe for milder weather, the UK and US for family visits, and Southeast Asia for short-haul monsoon getaways. Travel insurance purchases rise accordingly. This year, there's also a noticeable shift in the questions being asked.

Travel insurance has gone from being a checklist item to a more deliberate choice. People are asking what happens if they get admitted to a hospital abroad. They're wondering if the free insurance on their credit card actually works. They're asking about pre-existing conditions, outpatient care, medical evacuations, and, increasingly, apps that let them upload a claim and forget about it. That change in mindset has been long overdue.

Credit card insurance has limits

Ask ten people in an airport security line if they've bought travel insurance, and a few will tell you they didn't need to because their card“comes with it.” What that actually means is rarely clear to them.

There is a version of travel insurance built into some credit cards. But it's often light on detail, rarely covers pre-existing conditions, and almost never helps when the situation is non-life-threatening. Most people holding those cards don't know this and think they're covered for anything. They're not.

Outpatient treatment abroad and coverage for pre-existing conditions, in most cases, need to be specifically added, often at extra cost. Travel insurance is designed to handle emergencies. If you need proper coverage for chronic conditions, regular prescriptions, or anything less urgent than a life-threatening event, you're better off looking elsewhere.

Annual plans and IPMI make more sense

As travel has become more accessible, so has the logic behind annual multi-trip insurance. It's particularly popular with families, not just because it reduces admin, but because it prevents the kind of lapses that come from booking things last-minute and forgetting to add insurance until the night before departure.

But annual travel insurance has its own limits, especially when it comes to healthcare. The rise of IPMI (International Private Medical Insurance) is filling that gap. It's being driven by a very simple need: comprehensive medical care across borders, including coverage for pre-existing conditions, outpatient care, and cashless access to hospitals worldwide.

This is particularly relevant for digital nomads, remote-working families, and anyone who splits time between countries. More people now realise that travel insurance is for emergencies. If you want to be treated, not just airlifted, you need something more robust. That's where IPMI comes in.

Digital expectations are finally shaping the industry

If there's one clear shift being led by Gen Z and millennial traveller's, it's in how they expect insurance to work. They don't want paper forms, email threads, or waiting three weeks for a response. If they can order groceries and transfer money from an app, they expect to file a claim the same way.

Some health insurers in the UAE are already doing this well by allowing users to upload claims and get direct reimbursements within days. Travel insurance has been slower to catch up, but the demand is there. The more forward-thinking providers are now rolling out app-based claims processing, and it's starting to shape how policies are evaluated - especially by younger buyers.

But while convenience plays a role, what really drives retention is reliability. A family is more likely to renew a policy they've seen actually work - quickly, digitally, without chasing down signatures or scanning documents on holiday.

Travellers are asking better questions

Schengen states have long required proof of travel insurance. Now the UK, US, Singapore, and others are upping their scrutiny as well. And as entry requirements get stricter, we're seeing fewer people looking for the cheapest product to get a visa stamped. And more of them asking what's actually covered.

That's a good thing. Because the real risks rarely lie in what's printed on the visa form. They appear when someone needs treatment in a country where the public health system doesn't include tourists. Or when an insurer denies a claim because a condition wasn't disclosed or wasn't covered.

We've seen this go wrong, and we've seen it work. The difference usually comes down to whether the traveller knew what they were covered for, not what they assumed.

This summer, we've been seeing better questions:“Will this work when I need it to?” That question is showing up more often, and earlier in the buying process. It's changing what clients choose, how they use it, and what they expect when things go wrong abroad. The best insurers are already treating it as the first thing that deserves a straight answer.

The writer is Vice President - EB & General Insurance, The Continental Group

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