Many travelers are left questioning whether or not they should travel after fears of the coronavirus hijacked headlines.
At the normally bustling O'Hare International Terminal Tuesday, some travelers said they considered canceling their trips, while others said they didn't think twice.
Many of the travelers headed out of town Tuesday booked their trips well before COVID-19 became a worldwide worry. They told NBC 5 they did not seriously consider buying travel insurance - and that's good news for them.
If they had forked over those fees, they would still likely be out of luck for any coronavirus-related cancellation on their end.
"Big problem with trip insurance is most of the policies sold don't actually cover you for things like epidemics and pandemics. They're explicitly excluded from coverage," Consumers' Checkbook CEO Kevin Brasler told NBC 5.
The only ironclad refund protection for passengers at this point is for those who purchased tickets to hard-hit regions, like China, South Korea or Italy. In a list that is growing, airlines including American, Delta and United have issued temporary waivers on cancellation fees.
According to Kasara Barto with travel insurance search engine Squaremouth, those who choose to buy travel insurance will want to get a "cancel for any reason" plan.
This insurance runs much higher in price than average travel insurance, however, said Jesse Neugarten, CEO of Dollar Flight Club.
“These top-tier insurance plans are ideal for the current travel climate,” he said. “The only drawback that you may consider is that these policies can cost as much as 50% more than a standard travel insurance policy.”
