Cancel-for-any-reason insurance is quite expensive. Do you have a reason to think you are more likely than "average" to cancel a trip? If not, it may cost you less in the long run to self-insure for most things, and save the insurance premiums for big-ticket items.
I don't have chronic health issues or other unusual situations that might lead me to cancel trips compared to a "typical" person. So I don't buy insurance on most of my travel. The exceptions are things like cruises, package tours, etc. that have (a) costs that push into five figures and (b) stiff cancellation penalties that start as early as months in advance of the trip. For most other things, I will either be able to salvage some value, or the cost is low enough that if I lose it I am disappointed, but not heartbroken.
RCI exchanges are a good example of this. You can buy the "trade power protection" feature almost right up until check-in, which allows you to salvage all of your trade power/points, at a cost of the exchange fee plus the protection: about $400. That's not so much more than
the cost of a CFAR policy, and that policy is only going to return 75% of the costs (and none of the premiums). Over the years, it has been less expensive to just eat a few non-refundable costs here and there than it would have been to buy insurance on each trip.
And, if you think about it, that makes sense. The average person
has to lose money on insurance, otherwise the insurance company goes broke.
But, if you think for some reason you are more likely to cancel than average, then maybe it makes sense. That Forbes article I linked to above has some good options.
