How To Calculate Your Ideal Travel Insurance Coverage

Calculating coverage limits is a critical stage of choosing your travel insurance.

Overbuying cuts into your daiquiri and sombrero budget; skimping out can lead to huge hospital bills and a crash course in bankruptcy law.

But selecting the right coverage amounts is easier once you have some reliable guidelines and relatable examples. 

Choose Must-Have Coverage Limits

There are two types of travel insurance you should never travel internationally without: emergency medical and emergency evacuation coverage. 

Emergency medical

Most U.S. health insurance plans won’t cover foreign medical care, and uninsured treatment for overseas medical emergencies can be devastatingly expensive:

• Resetting your dislocated wrist after slipping in Singapore could cost up to $12,000.
• A heart attack while hiking Mt. Fuji might require $42,000 for cardiovascular surgery. 
• Treating severe COVID-19 cases in Switzerland may cost $114,000 or more.

We recommend at least $50,000 of emergency medical coverage as a good middle-ground option for most travelers. 

Young, healthy travelers might get by with less coverage in countries with low medical care costs and high-quality private hospitals, like Thailand, India, or Mexico. 

Seniors and folks with pre-existing medical conditions should increase their coverage level to $100,000+ when traveling in countries with expensive medical care. 

Emergency evacuation

Emergency evacuation insurance covers the cost of getting you to a qualified medical facility during a medical emergency and returning you home after stabilization. Recommended coverage minimums are destination-dependent.

For instance, an allergic reaction to a jellyfish sting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach may require a ground ambulance (about $900) to a public hospital, where you’ll be treated in one of the world’s best healthcare systems. An eight-seat “stretcher flight” with medical escorts (about $40,000) can repatriate you once your condition stabilizes. 

But a similar debacle on Indonesia’s isolated Pink Beach would require a medevac helicopter (about $175,0000) to transport you to the nearest private hospital, followed by multiple stretcher flights to get you home (about $63,000). 

For city travel in a country with advanced healthcare, $50,000 should be enough emergency evacuation coverage. But you’ll want at least $250,000 for rural adventures, cruises, or urban travel in countries with limited medical resources. 

Consider Nice-to-Have Coverages

After figuring out your ideal medical coverage limits, it’s time to focus on less essential coverages, like baggage insurance and cancellation insurance. A policy that includes all of these is called comprehensive insurance. 

Comprehensive travel insurance is pricier than standalone travel medical insurance. The higher premium for comprehensive coverage is generally worth it for travelers who have:

1. Significant nonrefundable trip expenses
2. Pre-existing medical conditions, which increase your chances of canceling or interrupting your trip
3. Dependents

If you decide comprehensive coverage is worth its higher price tag, you’ll need to consider your trip’s timing, group size, and the value of your packed suitcase to calculate your ideal coverage levels.

Trip cancellation and interruption 

Trip cancellation coverage typically pays 100% of your nonrefundable trip cost when you cancel your trip for a covered reason. 

Trip interruption coverage limits, however, can range from 100% to 200% of nonrefundable expenses, depending on which policy you choose. 

We recommend 150% interruption coverage, which should be enough for:

• Reimbursing prepaid experiences you’ll miss out on due to the interruption
• Extra hotel nights if you need to stay in your destination longer than expected
• A last-minute flight home

Bumping interruption coverage up to 175% or 200% may be wise if: 

• Your trip coincides with your destination or home city’s peak travel season or hosting of a special event, which may drive up prices for last-minute flights and hotel rooms.
• You’re taking a cruise, which may force you to fly home from a remote, expensive location.
• Your destination is prone to disruptive events like natural disasters or terrorism, which increase demand for last-minute, outbound flights.
• You’re traveling through a business capital, like London or Tokyo. Last-minute flights through these cities tend to be particularly expensive. 

Trip delay

Comprehensive insurance should cover necessary expenses (hotels, food, etc.) you incur during long common carrier delays. 

There are three limits to look out for when comparing policies’ trip delay benefits:

• Minimum benefit-qualifying delay lengths range from 3 to 12 hours.
• Daily benefit maximums range from $100 to $300.
• Per-trip benefit maximums range from $300 to $3,000.

We recommend policies with at least $200 daily and $800 per-trip benefits activated by minimum delays of eight hours. Those benefits should cover hotels, meals, and ground transit for delays at most major airports. 

Scale this coverage up or down depending on:

• Local prices: You’ll need a higher daily limit when flying out of cities with exceptionally expensive lodging, like Boston or New York. Lower limits fit most of Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
• Regional regulations: Robust delay coverage is less critical in places with stronger passenger protections than the U.S., like Europe.
• Group dynamics: If you’re traveling as a family, you want a lower qualifying delay period, since meal costs for several people can add up quickly.

Baggage delay

When a common carrier delivers your checked luggage late, baggage delay coverage reimburses you for essential items and services you buy in the interim. 

Minimum qualifying baggage delays range from 3 to 24 hours; maximum benefits from $100 to $2,500 per person.

We recommend policies with a 12-hour minimum delay period and $500 of coverage, which should be enough for a change of outerwear, underwear, and shoes purchased from a mid-priced department store, as well as laundry fees and toiletries.

Adjust that recommended coverage if you’re traveling:

• For a wedding or business: Urgency and formalwear require a shorter qualifying delay length and a higher benefit limit. 
• For sport or adventure: Special gear may require a higher benefit limit or a rider (policy add-on) for sports equipment delays.
• With a carry-on: This makes baggage delay coverage less crucial.
• With an overly bureaucratic airline: Passengers of airlines like Delta, which may consider a bag delayed for up to 21 days before declaring it lost, should consider a higher maximum delay benefit to keep comfortable until baggage loss coverage kicks in.

Baggage loss or damage

Airlines must reimburse you up to $4,700 for the value of baggage lost or damaged while in their care on a domestic flight. Bags on international flights are covered up to $1,700.

But that liability ends once your bags arrive safely at your destination, so you may need insurance to protect your stuff for the rest of your trip.

We recommend about $1,000 of lost or damaged baggage benefits, which should cover the depreciated value of items packed for a 10-day trip. 

Higher or lower limits make sense if:

• You’re bringing jewelry, musical instruments, or new electronics — replacing these may easily exceed a standard policy’s limit for high-value items.
• You’re traveling for an extended period and packing lots of stuff.
• Your items are globally covered by other insurance sources, like homeowners or renters insurance, credit card cellphone insurance, or purchase protection. This may make lost baggage coverage redundant.

Where to Find Coverage

Here are some examples of travel insurance plans from reputable insurers that meet our recommended coverage minimums:*

	Emergency Medical	Emergency Evacuation	Cancellation/Interruption	Trip Delay	Baggage Delay	Lost Baggage
Travelex Ultimate	$250,000	$1,000,000	100% / 150% nonrefundable trip cost	$250 daily, $2,000 total for 6-hour min. delay	$500 for 12-hour min. delay	$2,000 total, $500 per item
Allianz Travel Insurance OneTrip Premier	$75,000	$1,000,000	100% / 150% nonrefundable trip cost	$200 daily, $1,600 total for 3-hour min. delay	$600 for 12-hour min. delay	$2,000 total, $500 for high-value items
Travel Guard Deluxe	$150,000	$1,000,000	100% / 150% nonrefundable trip cost	$200 daily, $1,000 total for 5-hour min. delay	$500 for 12-hour min. delay	$2,500 total, $500 for high-value items

* Benefits may vary depending on your state of residence.

But your travel activities, destinations, and dates may require more or less coverage than these benchmarks. You can compare other policies through insurance marketplaces like VisitorsCoverage or SquareMouth.

FAQs About Calculating Travel Insurance

TL;DR: How Much Travel Insurance Do You Need?

You want to make sure your travel insurance covers you without overpaying for extras you don’t need. 

At the very least, aim for $50,000 of emergency medical coverage. Beyond that, 150% interruption coverage, $200 trip delay, $500 baggage delay, and $1,000 for lost or damaged baggage should have you sufficiently covered for a standard vacation.

But consider your trip’s specifics, personal risks, and activities so you can tailor your coverage for maximum value.

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Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.