What does travel insurance cover?
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Updated 10:49 a.m. UTC Feb. 23, 2024
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Key points
- Travel insurance coverage can protect you from financial losses associated with a trip.
- Most travel insurance plans include trip cancellation insurance and travel medical insurance.
- What is covered, and how much, varies by plan, so it’s important to read your policy and look for exclusions.
Compare the best travel insurance offers
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What is covered by travel insurance?
The best travel insurance plans provide comprehensive benefits to protect your travel investment, both leading up to your trip and while you’re traveling. These trip protections typically include coverages for trip cancellation, delay or interruption, emergency medical and evacuation, baggage delay or loss, and other benefits like missed connection coverage.
Trip cancellation insurance
Trip cancellation insurance generally reimburses up to 100% of your unused, prepaid, nonrefundable travel expenses, as long as you’re canceling your trip for a reason listed in your policy.
Reasons typically covered include:
- Inclement weather or a natural disaster.
- Jury duty.
- Military orders.
- Terrorism.
- Travel supplier going out of business.
- Unexpected job loss.
- Unforeseen illness or death of you, your travel companion or a family member.
If you want to be able to cancel your trip for reasons beyond those listed in your policy, consider adding “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) coverage. This optional upgrade is available with many travel insurance plans, but it adds about 50% to the cost of your policy.
Travel delay insurance
Trip delay insurance reimburses you for unexpected expenses, such as meals, transportation and lodging, if your trip is delayed for a covered reason. For instance, if your flight is delayed or canceled because of plane maintenance or a blizzard, travel delay insurance may cover the cost of a hotel room while you wait for a new flight.
There is generally a waiting period before your travel delay insurance kicks in, often six or 12 hours. This benefit typically has a per day and total maximum benefit, per person.
Know more about flight cancellation: Flight cancellations
Trip interruption insurance
Trip interruption is coverage that can provide reimbursement if you have to end your trip earlier than planned. Common covered reasons for trip interruption are injury or sudden illness to you or a traveling companion, severe weather en route to or at your destination, a family death or a life-threatening emergency at your home.
If your early departure is caused by a covered reason and you forfeit prepaid, unused and nonrefundable trip expenses, you can file a claim for reimbursement. Trip interruption benefits can also cover the cost of a one-way, economy airline ticket home and a taxi to the airport.
Travel medical insurance
Travel medical insurance can cover the cost of medical care, hospitalization, imaging, lab work and prescription medication if you get sick while traveling.
Many U.S. health insurance plans do not provide benefits outside of the country, so travel medical insurance is a good idea when traveling abroad. It can cover your expenses if you experience a medical emergency during your trip.
Medical insurance on travel insurance policies is different from your U.S. health care program in that it’s only intended for emergency care.
Jason Schreier, CEO of GoReady Insurance
Emergency medical evacuation
“Should you suffer a major accident or sickness during your trip and need to be medically transported on an air ambulance, helicopter or other conveyance, [emergency medical evacuation benefits] can cover those expenses,” said Schreier. “Typically, those costs begin at over $10,000 and can grow into the $200,000 to $300,000 range depending on your location and condition.”
You won’t necessarily be transported back to the United States. “Medical evacuation is about transporting you to the closest adequate facility that can stabilize your condition,” said Schreier.
“Typically, this is needed when your current location doesn’t have the adequate medical equipment or expertise to do the job. The benefit not only can cover the costs of the transportation conveyance but also the expense to have a doctor or nurse travel with you bringing oxygen tanks and any other necessary equipment. Once stabilized and fit to travel, most policies will then pay to return you home to the States.”
Baggage loss insurance coverage
Baggage loss insurance is a benefit in your travel insurance policy that can offer some monetary assistance if your personal belongings are lost, damaged or stolen while you’re traveling.
For example, if your camera gets stolen, you can file a travel insurance claim to recover the depreciated value of this item. Just be sure to file a theft report with your hotel manager or the police because you will need to include this documentation with your claim.
Read your policy carefully, as there are usually per item and per person maximum reimbursement limits on baggage loss, such as $250 per item and $1,500 per person. There will also be exclusions like heirloom jewelry or cash.
Note that this coverage is typically secondary to other types of insurance. So if an airline loses your bag, you’ll need to file a claim with the airline first, before you can turn to your travel insurance.
Baggage delay coverage
Baggage delay benefits can reimburse you for extra expenses, such as personal care items, if your luggage doesn’t arrive on schedule. Your policy will outline the waiting time before coverage begins, such as a delay of six, 12 or 24 hours.
This coverage is designed to tide you over until you’re reunited with your luggage, not replace the entire contents of your bags. It will have a per-person limit, such as $300.
What does travel insurance typically not cover?
Travel insurance will not reimburse you if you file a claim for something not listed as a covered reason in your policy.
“The policy also lists circumstances that are not covered, known as exclusions,” said Daniel Durazo, a spokesperson at Allianz Partners USA. “Exclusions include known or foreseeable events — for example, if a storm is named in the destination where you’re traveling to, but you haven’t yet purchased a policy, you can’t buy travel insurance to reimburse your non-refundable trip costs because it’s already a known event.”
Common exclusions include:
- Fear of travel.
- High-risk activities like skydiving.
- Illegal activity.
- Intoxication and drug use.
- Medical tourism.
- Natural disasters that began before you bought the policy.
- Normal pregnancy.
- Pre-existing medical conditions.
Optional travel insurance coverages
Coverage upgrades vary by travel insurance plan, but popular options include:
- “Cancel for any reason” (CFAR).
- “Interruption for any reason” (IFAR).
- “Cancel for work reasons.”
- Adventure sports bundle.
- Medical bundle.
- Pet bundle.
- Rental vehicle damage coverage.
- Travel inconvenience.
- Wedding bundle.
Travel insurance coverage FAQs
Most comprehensive travel insurance plans can cover the cost of flight if it’s canceled, but there may be a required waiting period — such as a 12-hour delay in your trip that is caused by your flight cancellation.
Your flight will also need to be canceled for a reason listed in your policy in order for you to file a claim for reimbursement. These reasons could include mechanical issues, a strike or inclement weather.
Borden of Seven Corners recommends you review your policy documents carefully so you know the covered reasons, as well as any exclusions.
Only want to insure your airfare? Flight cancellation insurance
Although often used interchangeably, there is a difference between trip protection and travel insurance.
Trip protection typically covers your prepaid, nonrefundable trip expenses if you have to cancel, delay or interrupt your trip. It can also include financial protection for your belongings if your luggage is lost, delayed, damaged or destroyed by a common carrier such as the airline.
Travel insurance provides more comprehensive coverage, including travel medical insurance and emergency medical evacuation. These benefits are especially important if you will be traveling outside of the country where your domestic health insurance may not cover you.
A comprehensive travel insurance plan will offer some degree of coverage for the major expenses related to your trip — from the time you book your travel to the time you return home, and all days in between — as long as the appropriate premium is paid for the covered trip costs, said Scott Adamski, a spokesperson with AIG Travel.
In all cases, Adamski cautions it’s important to read your travel insurance plan carefully to learn about any exclusions or limitations that might apply to your trip.
Trip cancellation is the most common reason for a claim among AIG Travel customers, according to Adamski of AIG Travel.
Learn more: Trip cancellation insurance
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