Best Travel Insurance Plans
Planning a trip can be a lot of fun: researching bucket-list activities, daydreaming about picture-perfect beaches and booking cheap flights to far-flung destinations. But shopping for travel insurance is a bit less fun: comparing plans, reading fine print and trying to find the best deal can be a time-consuming and frustrating process. Thankfully, there are some helpful tools available that can help you make the right choice in a fraction of the time.
travel insurance plans is a service that reimburses you for the costs of a canceled or interrupted vacation, and provides medical coverage and evacuation services while you’re abroad. Typically, it is sold as a package that includes trip cancellation and interruption, baggage, accidental death and dismemberment and medical and dental coverage. There are also supplemental policies that focus on specific concerns, such as identity theft and political evacuation.
To determine what are the best travel insurance providers, TPG editors considered customer ratings from The Points Guy Lounge and other online reviews, the availability of details about policy benefits and the claims process online, the ability to purchase a plan in most U.S. states and the existence of a 24-hour hotline for assistance with travel emergencies. We also considered which companies offer plans for business travelers, and whether they provide policies that meet the needs of expats and long-term travelers.
What Are the Best Travel Insurance Plans?
Allianz Global Assistance is a TPG favorite for its affordable, comprehensive plans that include both trip cancellation and interruption and medical coverage. Its AllTrips Executive plan is particularly well suited for business travelers, with coverage for things like business equipment rental, lost or stolen commercial property and rental car damage. The company offers single-trip and annual plans for international and domestic travel.
American Express Travel Insurance offers four different package plans and a build-your-own coverage option, and it doesn’t require you to be an Amex cardholder to buy its insurance. Its Travel Basic plan is a great value, covering basics like lost baggage and emergency medical and dental coverage. Its more premium plans offer additional benefits, including free children’s coverage and license fee reimbursement.
Medjet is another excellent provider for both single-trip and annual travel insurance, with plans that begin at $315 per person for a weeklong trip. Its most expensive plan, the Medjet Platinum, adds non-medical evacuation coverage that will transport you home if a country is in an active state of civil unrest or natural disaster, or if a government expels you.
Some credit cards offer a form of travel insurance as a benefit for their cardholders, but these typically have limited compensation and are only useful if you have a prepaid, nonrefundable trip. A standalone travel insurance policy is a much better option, and you can easily compare plans using an online insurance aggregator. To save time, check out InsureMyTrip, which allows you to search for a variety of policies from many different travel insurance providers at once. It also lists the specifics of each policy, and you can easily compare coverage limits, deductibles, exclusions and other important factors.