Best Travel Insurance Companies

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September 13, 2023

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A vacation is an investment of your time and money. If a medical emergency happens (remember the pandemic?), your flight is canceled, or several other last-minute problems pop up, travel insurance can help protect your investment.

Travel insurance plans can be worth shopping for long before you leave for vacation and can give you peace of mind on expensive international trips. From mundane problems such as lost luggage to extreme issues such as medical evacuation, travel insurance can help save the day.

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Overview of the best travel insurance companies

Company	Best for
Faye Travel Insurance	Whole trip coverage
Allianz Travel	Cancel at anytime for any reason
AIG	Last-minute trips
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection	Airline travel-only plan
Seven Corners	Foreigners traveling to U.S.
Travelex	Medical emergencies
World Nomads	Adventure sports activities
AXA Assistance USA	Baggage and personal items
SquareMouth	Comparison shopping
Nationwide	Last-minute purchase

Figuring out your costs

When comparing travel insurance policies, look for the types of coverage that are most important to you. Coverage ranges from simple issues such as baggage delay, to more complex ones like trip interruption and evacuation coverage for adventure activities. Adding more options can increase the cost of travel insurance.

Your trip cost is a big factor in determining the levels of coverage you need. Many insurance sites have calculators to help you figure out how much travel insurance you need, though you’ll need to get a quote for the cost to insure your specific trip. To calculate your costs, consider factors such as:

Pre-paid expenses you’ve already put money down for that you could lose if your trip is canceled at the last minute.
Costs you’re obligated to pay, even if you cancel.
Non-refundable trip costs that should be insured.
Increased trip costs if your travel plans change.
Whether you’re insuring the full cost of your trip, or only the most expensive parts, such as nonrefundable hotel reservations.

Best travel insurance companies

Faye Travel Insurance

Faye Travel Insurance offers a comprehensive range of travel insurance plans designed with a digital-first approach, ensuring easy access and management through their mobile app. Their offerings are quite diverse and cater to different needs, including:

Emergency medical coverage. Up to $250,000 for international trips, including for COVID-19-related medical issues. This also covers pre-existing medical conditions under specific conditions.
Trip cancellation and interruption. Up to 100% of non-refundable trip costs can be reimbursed for various covered reasons, including illness and provider bankruptcy.
Trip convenience issues. Compensation for travel inconveniences like delays and cancellations, with specific amounts for issues such as missed connections or non-medical emergency evacuations up to $100,000.
Baggage and personal effects. Coverage for lost, stolen, or damaged luggage and personal items.
24/7 assistance. Round-the-clock support for travel-related inquiries and emergencies, including real-time flight alerts and help with medical or logistical issues.
Add-ons. Faye offers additional coverages like Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR), pet care, rental car damage, and vacation rental damage protection.

Faye is praised for its user-friendly app, which allows travelers to manage their insurance, file claims, and even access funds through a digital payment card directly linked to their insurance claims, enhancing the convenience for travelers.

Read a full review of Faye Travel Insurance

Allianz Travel

Allianz Travel offers 10 kinds of travel insurance policies, from rental car protection and coverage for one trip, to multi-trip protection for an entire year for frequent travelers.

One of its highest-level plans, called AllTrips Premier, provides comprehensive travel insurance for everyone in a household, with many types of benefits, including:

Epidemic coverage
Trip cancellation of up to $15,000 for reimbursement of non-refundable expenses if you cancel a trip for a covered reason.
Trip interruption of up to $15,000 if you need to return home.
Emergency medical care of $50,000.
Emergency medical transportation of $500,000.
Baggage loss/damage of $2,000.
Baggage delay of $2,000.
Travel delay of $1,500, up to $300 daily.
Rental car damage and theft coverage of $45,000.
Travel accident coverage of $50,000.
Pre-existing medical conditions covered.
Concierge to help with restaurant reservations, tee times and tickets to events.

Allianz offers a generous cancel anytime upgrade that can reimburse 80% of lost non-refundable trip costs if you cancel your trip for almost any unforeseeable reason that your plan doesn’t already cover.

Commonly called Cancel for Any Reason Coverage, or CFAR, this type of coverage differs from trip cancellation benefits, which can reimburse up to 100% of prepaid non-refundable expenses if you cancel a trip for a covered reason such as a serious illness. CFAR is for any reason outside of the covered reasons.

The company’s Cancel Anytime upgrade reimburses up to $16,000 in travel costs when canceling for a reason not covered in two of its most popular plans, called OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier. The add-on can’t be bought online, but only through a travel agent.

Read a full review of Allianz Travel Insurance

AIG Travel Guard

Insurance company AIG offers a trip insurance plan called Travel Guard that has five options, along with many add-ons of coverage options.

It has an annual plan, one for budget-minded travelers, immediate coverage for unplanned trips, and two higher level plans. It also has add-ons for rental vehicle damage coverage, security evacuations in case of a riot or civil disorder, and waivers for pre-existing medical conditions.

Its Pack N’ Go plan is good to have if you’re making a spontaneous trip and don’t need trip cancellation coverage. The insurance includes up to $1,000 in trip interruption coverage to reimburse nonrefundable, unused payments or deposits if you must interrupt a trip due to an illness, injury or death, or for other covered reasons. It also pays up to $500 if you miss an airplane connection or your plane was delayed by bad weather or a carrier delay.

AIG doesn’t allow leisure travelers to use its app, but customers can file a claim or check the status of a travel insurance claim online.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection

Warren Buffett started Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection in 2014. It offers eight types of travel insurance policies, from comprehensive coverage specifically for high-end travel, to adventure activities, cruises and flights.

Its AirCare plan protects you from annoying airline inconveniences such as:

Flight cancellation: $150
Flight departure delay: $50
Tarmac delay: $1,000
Missed connection: $100
Flight diversion: $150
Lost baggage: $500
Baggage delay: $200
Late night delay: $100

All of its plans include emergency travel assistance with a live person. They can help you book a last-minute flight, hotel or car; find or replace lost luggage; passport assistance; find a doctor and replace prescription medication; language translation services; and return travel arrangements in an emergency, among other things.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection touts that it makes the fastest claim payments in the industry, including same-day compensation through electronic payment. It doesn’t have a phone app to file a claim, but claims can be filed through its online portal, where you can also manage your policy.

Seven Corners

“Trip happens,” as comprehensive travel insurance company Seven Corners says on its website. Its six products and several add-ons run from covering sporting equipment rentals to medical evacuations and repatriations if a covered person dies on a trip.

Two of its plans stand out: A comprehensive plan for visitors traveling to the United States, and trip interruption coverage called Trip Interruption for Any Reason.

The trip interruption plan allows you to interrupt a trip 48 hours after the scheduled departure date for any reason and receive a refund of up to 75% of your unused nonrefundable deposits.

Two plans are offered to visitors and immigrants traveling to the U.S. The plans cover medical expenses in the U.S., where medical treatments are some of the most expensive in the world, the site says. Up to $150,000 in medical care is provided, including up to $2,000 per day for hospital care and related expenses.

Travelex

The highest amount of insurance from travel insurers is for emergency medical evacuation and repatriation. Slip off a cliff while hiking in a remote area of the world, and you could die. All of the travel insurance providers we found sell extra medical insurance in case you’re injured and need treatment at a hospital. Travelex Insurance Services, however, seems to go well beyond that by offering a lot of assistance in emergencies.

An emergency evacuation can be needed if you suffer a serious injury while far away from home, and can provide safe transportation to a medical facility. If you or a traveling companion die while on vacation, repatriation benefits can cover the cost of transporting remains home or to the intended place of rest.

All of this can be expensive without evacuation coverage insurance. Travelex cites costs averaging $25,000 in North America, $100,000 in Europe, and $250,000 globally, depending on location.

Travelex provides from $100,000 to $500,000 in emergency evacuation benefits, depending on which plan you choose. Additional benefits apply if you’re hospitalized for a long time and need continuing medical care.

Also, the benefits can help pay for your children to return home with an escort, bringing someone to be at your bedside, and covering the expenses of that person. That person could be your spouse, who had the good sense not to go on that faraway, thrill-seeking adventure in the Amazon with you. And repatriation of your remains is included if you die while on vacation.

Travelex only offers three policies, but they all include comprehensive coverage. Its plans should meet the needs of domestic and international travelers, including long or just weekend trips. It also offers five add-ons: accidental death and dismemberment on a flight, adventure sports, cancel for any reason, car rental collision, and additional medical coverage.

World Nomads

If you’re planning on doing some adventure activities while on vacation, World Nomads could be a good choice for travel insurance.

More than 200 activities are covered in just about any type of terrain, including activities in the snow, water, air, land, and sports and experiences such as bungee jumping, air guitar, jetpacking and cliff diving.

World Nomads offers only two plans, but either should fit a traveler’s needs. The Standard Plan covers the basics, and the Explorer Plan adds on more potentially dangerous activities such as snowboarding by helicopter, shark cage diving, wingsuit flying, cage fighting, and rickshaw racing.

If you’re injured in any of the covered activities, both plans provide $100,000 in emergency medical insurance. Emergency evacuation for up to $300,000 or $500,000 is provided, depending on the policy.

Your gear is also protected from loss, theft or damage, for up to $1,000 on the Standard Plan and $3,000 on the Explorer Plan. If your vacation is unexpectedly canceled, the top plan pays $10,000 and the other pays $2,500 through trip protection.

AXA Assistance USA

AXA Assistance USA offers three travel plans — Silver, Gold and Platinum — that are easy to compare and work for domestic or international travel. The Gold plan offers an add-on for rental car coverage of $35,000, and the Platinum plan’s add-ons are $50,000 in rental car coverage, and reimbursement of 75% of the trip cost through a CFAR benefit.

If your personal items or anything in your luggage is valuable, AXA Assistance USA offers high coverages of $750, $1,500 or $3,000 in insurance for your baggage and personal effects. If your baggage is delayed, you receive $200, $300 or $600 in reimbursement. Even with the basic plan, travelers could get more than enough baggage coverage to pay for any lost or stolen items.

The Platinum Plan offers the highest coverage: trip cancellation protection for 100% of the trip cost, and 150% for trip interruption.

It’s important to know the difference between trip interruption coverage and a travel insurance. The latter is also called trip insurance, or trip protection, and it generally covers you in case you need to cancel a trip before it starts, but only for listed causes.

Trip interruption coverage happens during a trip and can refund a percentage of the cost in case your vacation is interrupted by a natural disaster or other listed cause.

If you want to cancel a trip before it starts for any reason, that’s called Cancel For Any Reason, or CFAR. It’s different from coverage for a trip cancellation, trip interruption, or trip delay. CFAR is usually an optional add-on that you pay for, and AXA only offers it for its Premium Plan for coverage of 75% of the trip cost.

SquareMouth

SquareMouth is a comparison site where travelers can check prices at 21 travel insurance companies. They can compare premiums, coverage amounts, and read reviews when comparing up to 102 policies on SquareMouth. Shoppers can then buy a policy directly from a provider.

SquareMouth doesn’t provide travel insurance.

Users can also use the site to learn about different types of travel insurance, and which insurance options may benefit them the most.

Along with travel insurance policies, SquareMouth provides quotes for annual policies, cruise insurance, adventure and sports policies, and group policies. It ranks the best providers based on a user’s trip information and coverage needs.

The site says that in general, a comprehensive travel insurance policy with trip cancellation will cost 5-10% of the total trip cost. Travel medical policies without cancellation coverage are much less expensive, it says.

Nationwide

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. sells auto, home and other types of insurance, including travel insurance. It offers multi-trip and single-trip plans, and insurance for cruises.

A key feature is that Nationwide’s plans can be bought up to a day before your trip begins, allowing last-minute trips to be insured. So if you’re a last-minute traveler, then Nationwide can sell you a travel insurance policy that should put your mind at ease about any potential mishaps without having to have cancellation coverage.

Nationwide has three cruise insurance plans, two single-trip plans, and three multi-trip travel plans good for travel within one year.

For last-minute travelers who don’t need trip cancellation coverage because they’re starting their trip a few days after buying a policy, its basic policy, called Travel Pro Plan, starts at $59 per year. For the top annual plan, called Travel Pro Deluxe Plan, the cost is only $20 more.

Summary of the best travel insurance companies

Company	No. of plans	Phone app	Highest coverage amount
Faye Travel Insurance	NA	Yes	$250,000 emergency medical coverage
Allianz Travel	10	Yes	$500,000 in emergency medical transportation
AIG Travel Guard	5	No	$1 million MedEvac
Berkshire Hathaway	8	No	$1 million emergency evacuation and repatriation of remains
Seven Corners	6	No	$150,000 medical coverage
Travelex	3	No	$500,000 in emergency evacuation
World Nomads	2	No	$500,000 in emergency evacuation
AXA Assistance USA	3	No	$1 million in emergency evacuation
SquareMouth	0	No	N/A
Nationwide	8	No	$1 million in emergency evacuation

FAQs

What’s not covered by travel insurance?

Reading the fine print of the coverage limits in any travel insurance policy you’re considering buying is very important. You don’t want to have a mishap on your vacation or need to cancel a trip before it starts and try to file a claim, only to learn that it’s not covered. To cancel a trip you’ll likely need to follow the list of covered reasons in the fine print of a policy. The same goes for activities that are covered where something could go wrong. World Nomads, for example, covers more than 200 activities, so chances are anything you’re doing on vacation is covered. Others may have much shorter lists, such as limiting covered activities to golf tee times and snow skiing. If you’re under the influence of drugs or alcohol and get into an accident, you may not be covered. A Cancel For Any Reason add-on can be worth buying if the trip cancellation coverage doesn’t cover everything you want it to.

When should I buy a policy?

Since only unforeseen events can be covered in order to cancel a trip, it makes sense to buy a policy with cancellation benefits as soon as possible. Some can be bought until the day before you leave, but it can seem like a waste of money to buy cancellation insurance for one day of use. If you mainly want travel health insurance, you can often buy it up until the day before you leave. Unlike hotel rooms or airfares, the price of travel insurance normally doesn’t increase as your travel date gets closer. So waiting until a day or two before you leave can make sense, especially if you don’t need cancellation insurance.

Why do I need health or auto insurance on a travel policy?

If the insurance you have at home transfers overseas, then you don’t need health or auto insurance added on to a travel policy. But chances are that they don’t transfer, or only cover up to a certain amount, so add-ons can be worth the cost. Check with your insurer when planning a trip abroad.

Can I cancel a travel insurance policy that I’ve bought?

Cancellation policies vary by provider, of course, so check how and when you can cancel before buying a policy. Some offer full refunds of your premium if canceled within 15 days of purchase, and some limit it to a few days. To cancel a policy, no claim can be filed or you can’t depart on your trip.

Why you should (or shouldn’t) use travel insurance

Travel insurance is a smart purchase if you want peace of mind before going on a trip that you may have spent months planning and paying for. If you choose a policy that covers everything you want to avoid, including canceling for any reason, then it can be worth the cost.

The potential problems of travel are numerous. They include:

Lost luggage
Baggage delay
Trip interruption
Trip delay
Medical expenses
Medical evacuation
Medical emergencies
Natural disasters
Last-minute changes to flights
Missed connections
Rental car breakdown

Any of those, and others, could be strong reasons for you to buy a policy.

You shouldn’t use travel insurance if you’re going on a short trip in your home state, especially if you’re not taking a flight. Still, it can be worth considering if your expenses are high.

Most travel insurance is worth the cost if you’re spending a lot of money on a trip and want to avoid losing any money you’ve spent if you have to cancel a trip for an illness, family emergency or other unforeseen event.

The bottom line

Planning a trip can be fun, but it can also be stressful. One way to lessen some of the anxiety is to buy travel insurance to cover unforeseen events.

Whether you’re worried about lost luggage, delays, COVID-19, or a family member getting seriously injured and needing an emergency evacuation in a faraway country, shopping for travel insurance policies can help you decide if you need it and what you can afford.

It can also make your trip a lot more enjoyable, which is the whole point of a vacation.

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Aaron Crowe is a freelance journalist who specializes in personal finance writing and editing. He has worked at newspapers, where he won a Pulitzer Prize, and has written for numerous online publications. These include AOL, US News & World Report, WiseBread, Bankrate, AARP, and many websites focusing on housing, credit and insurance. He lives in California with his wife and daughter.

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