How To Choose the Best Travel Insurance for Your Trip

Buying travel insurance seems like an easy box to tick off your pre-trip checklist. But confusing coverage options, sneaky exclusions, and the financial risks of picking the wrong insurer make it a weightier decision than shopping for sunhats. 

Knowing where and what to look for when comparing providers ensures you'll be covered if your adventures take an unexpected turn.

Pause Before Policy-Shopping

If you’ve already started looking at travel insurers, take a step back and ask yourself these questions first:

Do I need standalone medical or comprehensive coverage?

We recommend emergency medical coverage to all international travelers for two reasons:

1. Emergency medical expenses are unpredictable and can spiral out of control. GoFundMe is filled with campaigns for uninsured travelers facing staggering bills due to an overseas medical emergency.
2. “Standalone” travel medical policies that cover emergency medical evacuation and treatment are affordable. Thorough medical benefits will probably cost less than an airport Caesar salad. 

But comprehensive travel insurance, which bundles emergency medical coverage with coverage for stuff like trip cancellation or interruption, is much more expensive than a standalone medical policy. 

A comprehensive policy usually costs about 4% to 10% of your nonrefundable trip expenses — i.e., the flights, hotels, and activities travel companies won’t refund if you need to cancel or interrupt your trip. For senior travelers, that figure can jump above 20%. 

While there’s no hard-and-fast rule for who should get comprehensive coverage, it’s advised for travelers who’ve invested a lot in their trip or whose personal circumstances make them more likely to cancel or interrupt their travel plans. 

Strongly consider comprehensive coverage if:

• Your nonrefundable trip expenses exceed your monthly salary.
• Your travel companion’s health may influence your interest in or ability to travel.
• You have dependents. 
• You have pre-existing medical conditions.

Is my destination a factor?

Your ideal coverage types and limits may also vary based on where your adventures take you.

Trip cancellation and interruption coverage can pay off when traveling to countries with frequent security concerns or natural disasters. 

Consider insuring nonrefundable trip expenses for destinations with a 2+ Global Peace Index score (e.g., China, Peru, Egypt) or a 25+ natural disaster exposure score (Mexico, Japan, Australia, etc.) according to WorldRiskIndex. 

Trip delay coverage is worthwhile if you’re flying from a country with weak flight delay regulations, like the U.S. 

It’s less essential in Europe, where regulations are more passenger-friendly. 

Finally, emergency transportation coverage, which pays for your evacuation to a high-quality medical facility during a medical emergency, is necessary for any overseas travel. 

But you’ll need more coverage in rural areas ($250,000+) than urban destinations with advanced healthcare infrastructure ($50,000+). 

How adventurous will I be?

Common vacation activities — like snorkeling, recreational surfing, and resort skiing — are usually covered by mainstream insurers’ basic travel policies. 

Less conventional pursuits — bungee jumping, deep scuba diving, Muay Thai lessons, etc. — usually require specialized policies or riders.

Whether your travel style is relaxed or adrenaline-filled, assuming all your activities will be covered can lead to your claim being denied. Check your travel itinerary and make a list of keywords for your plans (examples: “climb,” “motorcycle,” “caving,” etc.) to zero in on when comparing policies later.

Do I have pre-existing medical conditions? 

Folks who’ve dealt with recent health challenges should take extra care when selecting travel insurance.

Low-cost policies often exclude financial losses related to a medical condition that was symptomatic or treated within a specific time range (the “look-back period”) before the policy’s purchase. 

More extensive policies provide pre-existing condition coverage when purchased within one to three weeks of the first nonrefundable payment toward a trip component, like a flight or hotel (your “initial trip deposit date”).

Review your recent medical history, treatment dates, and initial trip deposit date so you can identify inclusive policies that will cover you if a medical issue resurfaces during your trip.

How often do I travel?

Buying “single-trip” travel insurance — separate policies for each trip you take — is usually the most cost-effective approach for occasional travelers. 

Folks who travel at least four times annually may save money with multi-trip policies, which typically cover unlimited trips during one year. 

Check Your Current Coverage

U.S. health insurance rarely covers medical care abroad, and plans that do work overseas may be subject to out-of-network rates. But you might have non-medical travel coverage from other sources without realizing it.

Homeowners and renters insurance often includes “off-premises” coverage for theft or damage to your belongings anywhere in the world, eliminating the need for baggage coverage. 

Your travel credit card probably provides at least some insurance for travel purchases, though the extent of that coverage depends on its annual fee. 

Some no-annual-fee cards include basic coverage for rental car theft and collision; standouts like the Chase Freedom Unlimited® also offer trip cancellation and interruption benefits. 

On the other end of the spectrum, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, a luxury card with a high annual fee, offers eight travel insurance coverage types, including trip delay benefits that activate after delays over six hours.

Check your credit card’s benefits guide and other insurers’ policy certificates to see what travel insurance you’re already covered by. This way, you can avoid buying duplicate coverage.

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Compare Policies

After considering your coverage needs and reviewing your existing insurance, it’s time to buy a policy that closes your coverage gaps.

Use insurance marketplaces

Insurance marketplaces like VisitorsCoverage and SquareMouth let you compare standalone medical or comprehensive policies from dozens of partner travel insurers. 

Suggested policies can be filtered by preferred coverages and sorted by premium.

A few policies can be selected for a side-by-side view of their limits, deductibles, and other features.

Although these tools speed up the policy search process, note that insurance marketplaces don’t partner with every insurer available to you.

Get quotes directly from insurers

We recommend supplementing your search with quotes from direct insurers like Allianz Travel Insurance and Travel Guard, which might not appear in many marketplaces’ results.

These insurers’ premiums are higher than some competing policies with comparable coverage, so it might be tempting to dismiss them for budget alternatives. But a higher premium is worth paying for an insurer with excellent customer service and a strong claim approval record. 

Read customer feedback

Some comparison platforms, like SquareMouth, display policyholder reviews for their partner insurers.

When a comparison platform doesn’t display reviews or an insurer you’re interested in isn’t among the marketplace’s suggested policies, look for customer feedback in travel forums like Reddit, Tripadvisor, and FlyerTalk.

Unhappy customers are more likely to leave reviews than satisfied ones. But if an insurer’s reviews are disproportionately negative, with few reports of successful claims and helpful assistance, consider competitors, even if they cost more.  

Finalize Your Choice

After identifying an insurer that balances affordable premiums with good feedback, the last step is choosing your coverage limits and reviewing your new policy’s certificate.

Pick limits

Insurers typically offer multiple plans with different coverage limits — the maximum they’ll pay for covered events.

Limits and qualifying delay periods for different travel insurance coverage types range from:

• Emergency medical: $10,000 to $8 million
• Emergency transportation: $50,000 to $8 million
• Trip cancellation: 100% of nonrefundable trip expenses
• Trip interruption: 100% to 200% of nonrefundable trip expenses
• Trip delays: Qualifying minimum delays range from three to 12 hours, with maximum reimbursements from $100 to $300 daily and $300 to $3,000 per person, per trip 
• Delayed baggage: Qualifying minimum delays range from three to 24 hours, with maximum reimbursements from $100 to $2,500 per person (lower daily limits may apply)
• Lost/damaged baggage: $100 to $2,500 per item; $500 to $3,000 per person

We generally recommend at least $50,000 and $250,000 of emergency medical and evacuation coverage, respectively, for international travel. 

Your ideal limits for essential medical coverages and nice-to-have trip and baggage protections will depend on your travel destination, medical history, and packing list, among other considerations. 

Select a deductible

Some insurers offer plans with deductibles — a minimum you pay for covered expenses before the insurer pays — in exchange for a lower premium. 

The savings on your premium for deductible-based travel insurance are usually small, so we recommend no-deductible policies. 

Focus on fine print

Whether you find your insurance from a marketplace or directly from an insurer’s website, you should be able to view its certificate — the document with your policy’s full terms and conditions — before buying.

Reading a policy from start to finish is a feat of endurance. But thankfully, you don’t have to. Instead, you can do your due diligence by strategically searching the certificate for its pre-existing conditions clauses and any trip activity keywords you came up with earlier. 

Pay close attention to the “exclusions” section, which lists events the policy doesn’t cover. Phrasing nuances are critical here.

For example, Allianz Travel Insurance excludes “high-altitude activities”… 

… which it defines as activities above 15,000 feet. 

This covers broken ankles and altitude sickness in Cusco, Peru, which is about 11,000 feet above sea level. But if you plan to hike nearby Rainbow Mountain (17,000+ feet), you should pivot to a specialist insurer like World Nomads, which covers more epic adventure activities: 

FAQs About Choosing Travel Insurance

What is a rider in insurance?

Insurance riders add coverage to your base insurance policy for an increased premium. Common travel insurance riders include:

• Cancel for any reason (CFAR), which allows you to cancel your travel plans for reasons excluded by your policy’s trip cancellation terms 
• Emergency medical coverage for adventure activities and sports excluded by the policy
• Coverage for damage to and theft of a rental car

How far in advance should I buy travel insurance before my trip?

You can usually buy travel insurance until the day of your trip departure. But buying earlier maximizes your benefits eligibility.

For instance, pre-existing condition coverage applies if you buy your policy within a limited period (usually one to three weeks) after your first trip payment, like a flight or hotel.

If you make additional trip purchases after buying your policy, your insurer should allow you to increase your coverage levels. 

Can I buy travel insurance after departure?

You can buy travel insurance after departure from a limited pool of insurers, like World Nomads and SafetyWing. A waiting period may apply before full coverage starts. 

However, many insurers, including Allianz and Travel Guard, won’t sell you insurance if you’ve already started your trip. 

Can you cancel travel insurance?

You can cancel travel insurance and get your premium refunded, provided you cancel within your policy’s “free look” period. 

The free look period ends 10 to 30 days after your policy purchase, depending on where you live. It also ends automatically if you file a claim or start your trip.

TL;DR: Finding the Right Travel Insurance

To choose the best travel insurance, first assess your trip’s risks — where you’re traveling to, how much it costs, and what activities you’ll be doing there.

Then, check what insurance you might already have through your credit card or homeowners or renters insurance. These might already cover things like lost luggage.

Take your time to compare different policies on price and benefits (remember, cheaper isn’t always better!), and read the fine print to make an informed decision.

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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.