How to Find the Best All-in-One Travel Protection Plan

Travel insurance protects your trip, but juggling multiple policies can be a hassle.

An all-in-one travel protection plan bundles medical coverage, trip cancellation, and travel assistance services, simplifying your coverage while reducing gaps. 

Here’s how to find the best all-in-one travel protection plan for your next trip.

What Is All-in-one Travel Protection?

All-in-one travel protection simplifies insuring a trip. By combining multiple policies, you mitigate risks like sudden illness or unplanned travel disruptions.

Key features of all-in-one plans 

These policies include coverage for:

• Trip cancellation or interruption
• Medical emergencies
• Evacuations
• Lost or damaged luggage
• Travel assistance services

By bundling policies into one plan, a single provider handles your claims instead of multiple companies with different policies and processes.

It also reduces any gaps in coverage. For example, let’s say you get injured at the end of a trip and miss your flight home. An all-in-one plan would cover your hospital stay and help you rebook a new flight.

Travel assistance services are also included in all-in-one plans, providing 24/7 support during emergencies. If you’re injured, they can recommend local hospitals, or help you get a new passport if it’s lost or stolen.

They can also act as a concierge to help you book local excursions, and take care of the hassle of rebooking travel accommodations.

READ MORE: What Is Comprehensive Travel Protection?

Advantages of bundled coverage

Bundled coverage simplifies your insurance. It makes it easier to process claims and can often be cheaper than purchasing individual, standalone policies.

Let’s say you’re a digital nomad planning on spending several months traveling abroad. You decide to get a Nomad insurance policy with SafetyWing to provide comprehensive coverage during your trip.

When you arrive at your first destination, you realize your baggage has been lost. A few weeks later, you get food poisoning and have to visit a local doctor. Your policy covers your lost bag up to $3,000 and your medical expenses.

Instead of working with one provider to make a claim for your lost bag and another provider to get reimbursed for your doctor’s visit, everything is processed by SafetyWing. 

This is convenient for you and minimizes disruptions to your travel plans.

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Tips for Evaluating All-in-one Travel Protection Plans 

While an all-in-one travel protection plan is a good idea for expensive trips or extended travel, different plans come with different costs and benefits. 

It’s important to evaluate the coverage of each plan to make sure you’re getting what you need.

Compare coverage limits 

Take an inventory of your personal belongings and research medical expenses in the areas you plan to visit to get a sense of what you might need coverage for.

Let’s say you checked your new MacBook and a bunch of camera equipment in your luggage that got lost when you started your trip. SafetyWing’s plans cover up to $3,000 total, while other providers may only cover $1,000 or $2,000 worth of your gear, depending on the policy you choose.

Some plans may cover your belongings if an airline loses your bag but you might not be covered if you leave your bags unattended at a hostel. 

Other plans may offer supplemental coverage for expensive electronics at a higher rate.

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Check exclusions and restrictions 

Before purchasing a policy, read the policy’s fine print. Plans may limit health coverage for pre-existing conditions or may exclude coverage in certain countries due to travel advisories.

For example, let’s say you love skiing and plan to take a trip to the Alps. During your trip you want to explore backcountry trails. All policies with World Nomads cover skiing within the boundaries of a resort while the Explorer Plan covers backcountry skiing. 

You can’t upgrade your coverage during your trip so you’ll want to understand what’s covered and what isn’t to make sure you choose the right plan.

Assess customer support and claims process 

Make sure whatever provider you go with provides the level of care you expect. If they claim they provide 24/7 support, you want to make sure they actually do.

Read customer reviews to evaluate how responsive travel assistance teams are. Use Google Reviews, Trustpilot, and Reddit to get a sense of how a provider handles claims.

Common Add-ons for All-in-one Plans

All-in-one plans cover a lot but they may not cover everything you need. You can add on coverage to tailor your plan for your trip.

Adventure sports coverage 

Standard policies cover basic activities but they exclude high-risk ones like backcountry camping or scuba diving.

If you plan on engaging in a high-risk activity during your trip, look for additional coverage. 

World Nomads has a list of what is covered for each of their offerings, allowing you to upgrade to a plan that aligns with your planned activities. 

SafetyWing allows you to pay an extra $10 fee to add adventure sports to your plan.

Cancel for any reason (CFAR) 

Cancel for any reason (CFAR) insurance gives you the flexibility to cancel a trip beyond what’s covered in a standard policy. This includes a personal decision to cancel a trip or a scheduling conflict.

CFAR comes with a higher premium but it typically will reimburse 50-75% of the nonrefundable costs associated with your trip. 

This can be good to add if you’re planning a trip well into the future or if your trip is expensive and you want to make sure you can recover some of your costs should something come up.

Rental car protection 

Rental car protection is supplemental coverage that covers vehicle damage or theft, liability, and loss-of-use charges. 

While some credit cards offer rental car protection, it might not apply to certain areas or certain types of rentals.

World Nomads offers rental car protection in its Explorer Plan. This can cover car rentals if you plan to rent a vehicle outside of the U.S.

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Pros and Cons of All-in-one Travel Protection

All-in-one travel protection insures the cost of a trip and provides peace of mind when you travel but there are some things to consider before purchasing a policy.

Pros 

• All-in-one plans combine coverage into one policy, simplifying the claims process.
• They reduce coverage gaps, mitigating risk. If you go to the hospital and miss a flight, an all-in-one plan will cover everything.
• If you plan to travel for a long time or are active in certain adventure sports, an all-in-one plan makes sure all your bases are covered.

Cons 

• Comprehensive coverage often comes with higher premiums than standalone policies.
• All-in-one plans still have some restrictions. Certain activities might be covered on one type of plan but not another. Some plans might provide limited health coverage depending on where you are traveling.
• You might end up overpaying for insurance to get a top-tier policy or underinsuring if you can’t get the additional coverage you need.

FAQs About All-in-one Travel Protection

TL;DR: Getting All-in-one Travel Protection

All-in-one travel protection anticipates that anything could go wrong during a trip. It simplifies the claims process and provides peace of mind that you’ll be covered in an emergency. 

When looking for a plan, compare providers to see which plan best suits your needs. Read your policy thoroughly to make sure you get the coverage you need and have the option to tailor your policy if you need to.

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