Is Travel Insurance Worth It In 2024? (2024)

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Most travel insurance policies offer multiple types of coverage for travel-related events, such as flight cancellations, medical emergencies and lost baggage. If you’re on a tight budget, even cheap insurance policies can provide a wide range of protection options. In the sections below, we provide an overview of what travel insurance typically covers.

Trip Cancellations and Trip Interruptions

Trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance reimburse you for nonrefundable costs when a trip is canceled or cut short due to a covered reason. Covered reasons are generally emergencies or events that are out of your control, which may include:

• Acts of terrorism
• Severe weather or a natural disaster
• Sickness or hospitalization
• Death of a family member
• Jury duty

If you’re worried about booking a trip and then catching coronavirus, some insurers may count a COVID-19 diagnosis as a covered event. However, canceling due to fears of the virus may not be covered. As an alternative, many providers allow you to purchase cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage, a policy add-on that reimburses costs if you cancel a trip for personal reasons.

Maybe you decide to call off a trip because you have second thoughts about traveling during a pandemic or have other business to attend to. With CFAR coverage, you can get money back with fewer questions asked. However, the amount you receive is typically limited to between 50% and 75% of your prepaid expenses.

Travel Delays

Coverage for trip delays helps pay for costs incurred if you don’t make it to your destination on time. This includes meals and accommodations while waiting for a delayed flight. Your insurer might also reimburse you for the portion of your trip impacted by the delay.

For example, if a late flight causes you to miss a night of a prepaid resort stay, your provider might repay you for that sunk cost. However, insurance companies may have conditions for how long a delay has to last for your expenses to be covered. Your travel insurance provider should clearly outline these coverage rules in your policy’s fine print.

Lost, Delayed or Stolen Luggage

The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires that airlines compensate travelers for delayed, lost or damaged bags up to $3,800 for domestic flights and $1,700 for international trips. However, it could take days for the airline to locate your bag or deem it officially untraceable. Until then, a baggage delay could cause you to incur unplanned costs for clothes or toiletries, and insurance benefits may help cover incidentals the airline won’t pay for.

Travel insurance also protects your belongings at other points of your trip and can mitigate tasks like helping to replace important travel documents. However, coverage is typically limited per bag or lost item. Alternatively, possessions that travel insurance won’t pay for might be covered by homeowners or renters insurance.

Medical Expenses

If you travel abroad, your state-side health insurance may not travel with you. Medicare and Medicaid, for example, generally don’t follow and protect you out of the country. To minimize out-of-pocket costs, trip insurance may cover medical expenses like hospital visits if you get sick or injured while away.

Medical Evacuation Expenses

Travel insurance may cover transportation costs if you or someone covered by the policy falls gravely ill or becomes seriously injured and needs to be evacuated. In addition to emergency evacuation, most travel insurance plans also cover repatriation if a traveler dies during a trip and their remains need to be transported back home.

Accidental Death or Dismemberment

If you or another covered travel companion dies during a trip or loses a limb or vision, travel insurance may provide a benefit payout that goes to you or your beneficiary.

“When you’ve made a financial investment in your trip or need to protect your health when you travel, travel insurance is 100% worth it. Travel insurance can reimburse you for prepaid, nonrefundable trip expenses if you need to cancel or interrupt your trip for a covered reason.“

– Angela Borden, Product Marketing Specialist at Seven Corners

Travel insurance can cover unexpected trip expenses due to unforeseen circ*mstances, but a policy won’t cover everything. Here are examples of what your travel protection might not include:

• Preexisting conditions: Medical expenses due to preexisting conditions are typically not covered unless your doctor clears you for travel and you purchased insurance within a certain number of days of paying for your trip.

• Pregnancy: While your policy may cover medical emergencies related to pregnancy, it likely won’t include trip cancellations due to normal pregnancy symptoms.

• Political unrest: If your visit is canceled or interrupted due to war, the resulting costs might not be covered.

• High-risk travel: Your policy may not provide coverage for high-risk activities like skydiving or traveling to destinations that are considered unsafe.

Buying travel insurance for longer trips and nonrefundable bookings is usually worth it since policies are often affordable. According to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association, travel insurance typically costs between 4% to 8% of your total trip. And if you’ve saved up for a dream trip to Bora Bora, for example, paying a little extra to protect your travel investment makes sense.

The exact cost of travel insurance depends on where you’re going, the age of the travelers and how many people are on the policy. For example, a 35-year-old woman going to Spain for two weeks on a $5,000 trip would pay $216 for OneTrip Basic coverage with Allianz Travel. In comparison, a 25-year-old woman on the same trip would pay $171 for the same coverage. Many companies let you pull quotes on their website within seconds, so it’s easy to shop around.

Travel insurance may not be worthwhile if your bookings are refundable or you’re booking inexpensive trips throughout the U.S. In these situations, you can request a refund from the travel company, and if a refund isn’t possible, money lost from a cheap hotel stay could be very low.

If you book a trip with a travel rewards card, you could also forgo insurance since those cards might already offer coverage for lost baggage, trip cancellation and rental cars. It’s always a good idea to understand coverage limits before relying on trip protection through a credit card. For luxury trips or extended travel, card coverage limits may not be enough to protect your entire trip. But buying additional travel insurance coverage can fill in the gaps.

Select your destination to find a travel insurance provider:

Travel insurance may seem unnecessary, but when an emergency happens, chances are you’ll wish you had it. A travel insurance plan can help you recoup trip costs due to unforeseen events, offering benefits such as emergency medical care and trip cancellation coverage. If you saved up cash and plan to book a big trip several months from now, shopping for insurance can provide financial security and protection if travel plans change or an unexpected event disrupts your trip.

While most companies offer basic and comprehensive travel insurance plans, some providers also offer coverage for specific situations such as cruises, students studying abroad or travel medical insurance. We recommend you check out our list of the top providers and compare quotes from at least three companies before you purchase travel insurance.

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