Chapter 1:
What Is Travel Insurance?
A trip is a sizable investment, so it should be insured, just like a car or a new boat. You probably know all about home and car insurance, but what is travel insurance – and how can it help you?
What Is Travel Insurance (Also Called Trip Insurance)?
Travel insurance is coverage that’s effective starting the day after you purchase to while you’re on a trip. It is designed to protect you, your things, and your experiences when you travel. Components of travel insurance include emergency medical insurance; coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, delays, missed connections, medical emergencies and evacuation, and lost, damaged, or stolen luggage; and emergency travel assistance.
What Is The Purpose of Travel Insurance?
Travel insurance is there to protect you if travel emergencies strike, but also to reimburse you for nonrefundable money you’ve already spent on your trip – on plane tickets, hotel rooms, tours, luggage, and personal items – if you have to cancel before it’s even time to leave.
If you think you won’t have travel issues when you travel, consider that:
How Does Travel Insurance Work?
Every traveler won’t choose the same kind of insurance. In general, the best travel insurance for you is going to depend upon a few variables:
- Where you're going
- How you're getting there
- How much you're spending
- What you're doing
And those variables have to be matched up with the different types of travel insurance:
Flight Protection
Plans like AirCare®, that just cover your flights.
Basic Plans
Inexpensive trip policies that cover trip interruption and cancellation, medical emergencies, and luggage, but may not pay out as much as higher-priced plans.
Comprehensive Plans
Mid-priced plans that can offer standard limits for trip interruption/cancellation, medical evacuation, and medical expenses; coverage for pre-existing conditions; and coverage for things like missed connections not covered in basic plans.
Luxury Plans
More expensive plans that offer higher limits of coverage for medical expenses and medical evacuation.
Specialty Plans
Medical-only, evacuation-only, cruise vacation or adventure plans, often with higher limits than might be found in similar coverages in comprehensive or luxury plans. Many times these plans are bought in cases of obvious need – for instance, a traveler venturing deep into the Amazonian bush who decides she needs an adventure travel insurance policy to cover those extreme activities usually excluded in basic travel insurance plans; or the avid cruiser who wants a traditional travel insurance plan that also includes cruise diversion or disruption coverage.
We offer different travel insurance for different types of trips:
FOR:
- Basic or flight
- Domestic destinations
- One or two flights, road trips
- Road trips in US, Canada and Mexico
FOR:
- Comprehensive, specialty
- Simple international destinations
- Multiple flights, general international
- Sightseeing plus a few basic activities
FOR:
- Luxury or specialty
- Complex international destinations, around the world tours
- Multiple international flights and complex ground or water transportation
- Multiple activities, some danger
Note that this is a highly simplified guide, and if you’re serious about travel insurance you need to look at the advantages of individual travel insurance plans in much more detail.
To get into coverage specifics, visit Chapter 2: "What does travel insurance cover?".
* 2023 USDOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics (transtats.bts.gov)
