Can insurance help if you cancel a trip out of fear?

Standard travel insurance may cover trip cancellations if a terror attack takes place shortly before your arrival, according to Rachael Taft of SquareMouth.com, a travel insurance comparison site.

Typically, illness, injury, death in the family, natural disasters or other major events that prevent you from traveling.

If a hurricane cancels flights to your destination for 24 hours or makes your home or destination uninhabitable, you're covered, said Daniel Durazo, spokesman for the travel insurer Allianz Global Assistance.

Standard insurance also helps if you get sick or injured while traveling, covering medical treatment, reimbursements for unused prepaid trip costs and travel home.

Airlines often charge hefty fees to change flights, but that can change in a crisis, especially if airports close or governments issue warnings.

Following the coup attempt in Turkey, British Airways allowed customers with bookings through July 24 to rebook to a later date or use the value of their ticket toward an alternative destination.

Hotel chains and car rental companies often allow cancellations with no penalty until a day or two before arrival.

Some credit cards offer protection if used to book a trip that's disrupted by an event like the terror attacks that closed the Brussels airport, according to Brian Karimzad, director of MileCards.com, which compares credit card travel rewards.

Travel to many European countries from June through August is also "underperforming" compared to last year, ForwardKeys said, likely reflecting the impact of terror attacks, the migrant crisis and other bad news.