How much does travel insurance costs is the first thing that comes to the mind of people when suggested to buy one.
Travel insurance is crucial, especially if you are going on an international trip.
The average cost of travel insurance in the United States is around 5% to 6% of your total trip expense.
In other words, the cost of your trip plays a major and significant role in determining your cost of travel insurance. Plus, other factors aid in determining the price.
Having travel insurance is like owning a safety shield that can protect you from any danger. You should have one to protect yourself and enjoy your trip.
But many people refrain from getting one because either they are not well aware of it or they find the process too complicated.
We understand the dilemma and thus bring you this travel insurance guide. With this guide, you will learn about the average cost of travel insurance, various factors affecting it, types of coverage, and more.
So, let us get started and help you learn about travel insurance in 2023.
What Is Travel Insurance?
Traveling is food for the soul. It is an activity that fills your heart and helps you grow. Thus, there should be no surprise if you find people around you going on trips every now & then.
Traveling to new places can be one of the best experiences of your life. However, this dream can become a dreadful nightmare if you are not well prepared.
Thus, you must own travel insurance before planning your next trip.
Travel insurance is like a safety blanket offering financial protection during your travel period. It covers everything from something small like losing your baggage to something big like a medical emergency.
Owning travel insurance will keep you protected from all the uncertainties of your trips. Having one is not mandatory, but it is wise to have one.
If you want to ensure your leisure time does not put a hole in your pocket, you should ask how much trip insurance costs, how you can find the right one, & more.
What Does Travel Insurance Cover?
Travel insurance offers different coverage that usually varies from insurer to insurer and the type of coverage you purchase. It generally helps you handle the nonrefundable parts of your trip or cover any emergency you encounter during your trip.
Different insurers have different policies & options, meaning the feature you might get with one may or may not be available with the other.
Thus, to ensure you get the right thing, you need to understand the standard coverage of any travel insurance. You sure do not want to pay extra for something basic.
Here we have listed six main things which almost every travel insurance in the US offers coverage:
- Trip cancellations or interruptions
- Flight cancellations or Travel delays
- Lost, stolen, damaged, or delayed baggage
- Medical expenses
- Emergency medical evacuation
- Rental car coverage
Also, there are a few things that are excluded from travel insurance. For example, travel insurance typically does not cover risky pre-existing health conditions & actions.
7 Different Types Of Travel Insurance You Can Get In 2023
Travel insurance is like any other insurance you buy for yourself or your family. You will find a wide range of protection plans from which you can choose.
Generally, travel insurance comes in a package like a comprehensive plan, including various coverage.
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Some insurers let you customize your plans, while others have predefined plans.
Here we have the seven most common types of travel insurance coverage you can choose for your next trip.
1. Travel Medical Insurance
These travel plans provide health insurance while you are away from home enjoying your trip. Incidents can happen anytime; thus, having the plan to cover your medical expenses is a must.
Travel medical insurance does not cover your routine medical events or checkups. Also, these policies have limitations on coverage and exclude pre-existing medical conditions.
In addition, most travel insurance plans cover recreational activities like skiing, horseback riding & more but exclude adventure sports like parasailing, skydiving, & others.
So, if you plan to try adventure or competitive sports, you must buy a particular travel policy designed for them.
Furthermore, your US-based medical insurance does not cover the cost of international travel insurance. Thus to ensure safety, buying travel medical insurance is your best bet.
2. Baggage And Personal Belongings
This travel insurance coverage plan will reimburse you if you lose or damage your baggage and other personal belongings.
Some plans even cover extra expenses if you experience baggage delay for more than a certain period, like 12 hours.
If you own renters or homeowners insurance, we advise you to check it out again. Many homeowners’ & renters’ insurances provide coverage for personal belongings while traveling.
Thus, reviewing your current insurance will let you know the level of coverage you can get. Doing this will save you from buying a benefit that you already have.
3. Trip Cancellation, Interruption, & Delay
This type of coverage will compensate you for prepaid & nonrefundable expenses if, under covered circumstances, you have to cancel your trip.
The usually covered reasons for trip cancellation are:
- Your Illness
- The illness or death of a family member who was not traveling with you
- Natural disasters
In addition, trip interruption insurance also covers the prepaid cost of the unused portion of your trip. You will be safe if your trip gets interrupted for any reason mentioned in your policy.
If your trip gets delayed like due to, the trip delay coverage will recompense you for lodging & meals during the trip.
Not only this, several policies cover all these three matters of cancellation, interruption, & delay.
If you are wondering how much is airline ticket insurance or if you have to buy it separately, don’t worry.
This type of insurance coverage usually covers your air ticket price too. The premium sure will depend on the class of your ticket.
4. Emergency Medical Assistance, Evacuation, & Repatriation
This travel insurance covers your medical expenses if you get sick or injured on your trip. You can get proper medical assistance, and your insurance will take care of it.
The medical evacuation coverage pays for transporting you to the nearest hospital.
In addition, the medical repatriation coverage pays for flying you to your home country if you are on an international trip.
5. Accidental Death & Dismemberment
This travel insurance coverage pays a handsome sum to your beneficiary if you die under any covered circumstances while on the trip.
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This insurance policy also pays a portion of the sum if you lose a limb, foot, hand, eyesight, speech, or hearing.
But make sure you compare different companies well, as some only cover accidental death in a plane crash.
6. 24-Hour Assistance
Under this type of travel insurance, your insurer provides you with a 24-hour hotline.
You can contact them whenever you need help with your flight booking, missing luggage, finding a doctor, & other scenarios.
Most travel insurers provide a wide range of services within their 24-hour assistance coverage but remember that the specific options can vary.
7. Rental Car Coverage
This type will pay for repairing your rental car if it gets wrecked while using it.
However, the coverage does not include liability insurance. You must pay from your pocket if you damage other vehicles or people.
Please check this with your travel insurance provider. It is better to get this coverage if you travel within the country.
And if you are traveling abroad, finding rental car coverage can be challenging as the car insurance requirements vary from country to country.
Top 9 Factors That Affect The Cost Of Your Travel Insurance
The cost of travel insurance varies from company to company. Along with this, some other crucial factors are at play.
The best way to ensure you get the right travel insurance is to understand the type and level of coverage you might need.
You can always get a quote from different insurers, compare them and go for the one that suits your requirements and budget.
It is common for people like you to wonder what makes up all that cost of your insurance. Below are some of the most common factors that play a significant role in determining the cost of your insurance.
1. Trip Cost
The most common factor that is taken into account by an insurer is the overall cost of your trip. It includes your flights, hotels, car rentals (if any), and all the booked activities.
The costlier your trip, the more it will cost to insure it, as your claims will likely be expensive.
2. Coverage Type
You can get travel insurance with extensive coverage or limited coverage. You can choose the coverage you need by considering all the risks you may face on your trip.
The broader the scope of your insurance coverage, the more it will cost you.
So, you must spend well if you want complete safety while traveling.
3. Coverage Add-ons
Many travel insurers provide add-on features or coverage with their travel insurance packages like “cancel for any reason” coverage, car rental coverage, & more.
The add-ons are not mandatory, but you can choose if you need one and whether they are in your coverage plan or not.
Remember that your premium cost will rise as you include add-ons.
4. Deductible
If you go for a high deductible policy, it will decrease your travel insurance rate to a great extent. It all happens as you will be the one to pay the large amount from your pocket in case of a claim.
5. Age Of Travelers
The age of the people taking the trip plays a significant role in determining the insurance cost.
Travel insurance gets expensive as you get old. It is simply because older travelers (50 yrs or older) possess a higher risk of getting hurt or sick.
6. Number Of Travelers
The number of people going on the trip helps in deciding the cost. The more people are there on the trip, the more it will cost you to insure them all.
7. Duration Of The Trip
Your trip duration can decide if your insurance will be cheaper or more costly.
Longer trips are costly to insure compared to the small ones. The more extended period increases the likelihood of you filing for a claim.
8. Destination
The place to which you are traveling also plays a role in determining insurance costs.
If you travel to a place with high health care costs, the insurance rates will be high and vice versa.
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It is a significant factor if your trip is to an international location. Some locations will charge you more during medical or transportation emergencies.
9. Health Of Travelers
If you and the people traveling with you on the trip are all healthy, then the rates can get lower.
However, suppose any of you have pre-existing conditions. In that case, you will have to either opt for a costlier coverage plan that covers your condition or a policy that does not cover it.
How To Get Travel Insurance For Your Next Trip?
There are different ways that you can opt to get travel insurance for your next trip. You can make the purchase online or go for the traditional offline one-on-one meetings.
Some options are more likely to offer you extra coverage, reward points, and other benefits.
So, it is better to explore your options and choose a way to benefit you.
Below are the top four ways you can obtain your travel insurance, along with their pros & cons. Go through each one to find the most suitable one for you.
A. Credit Cards
You can purchase travel insurance for yourself or your family member via credit cards.
Credit cards are a superior choice as you do not miss your premiums & get rewards. Some credit cards even offer trip cancellation & rental car insurance if you use them to book your trip or rental ride.
B. Travel Agents/Travel Reservation Sites
Another way you can buy yourself that much-needed travel safety net is through a travel agent or well-known travel reservation sites.
You can buy your travel insurance while you book your flight, hotel, & vehicle rental.
C. Travel Insurance Companies
Suppose you are not comfortable dealing with an intermediator. In that case, you can purchase your travel insurance directly from a top insurance provider in your state.
D. Travel Insurance Comparison Sites
If you want to purchase your policy from the comfort of your couch, you can look up the well-known sites that compare, review, & allow you to quote.
5 Key Points That You Should Consider While Purchasing Travel Insurance
The market is filled with insurance providers, each claiming to be better than the other.
So much diversity makes it hard, especially for first-timers, to find answers to questions like how much is travel insurance to Europe and the perfect travel security partner.
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If you want to have all your queries answered & buy an insurance policy that will assist you under any undesirable circumstances, follow the helpful tips below:
- The first thing you need to do is analyze the financial risk associated with your trip.
- Check if the place you are visiting or the activities you are going to do are dangerous or have a high chance of you getting hurt.
- Analyze if something terrible were to happen; could you bear the costs alone?
- Going through these sorts of questions will let you know how much coverage is ideal for you.
- Check if you have any kind of coverage on you already. Some credit cards offer some form of travel insurance. Also, go through the coverage your healthcare provider offers for traveling.
- Explore if your trip is refundable or not. If yes, then check how much is not refundable. Also, check if you get any flexibility on the booking & cancellation of hotels in your policy.
- Get quotes from different insurers, compare the rates & services provided, and choose the one that suits you the best.
- Before making the final purchase, review the policy details thoroughly to ensure you do not miss out on anything.
- It will decrease your chances of getting any surprises during your trip.
- Lastly, remember that the cheaper policy will not provide as much coverage as an exclusive policy.
How To Find The Best Travel Insurance For You?
One of the best and most efficient ways to find the best travel insurance for you and your family is by comparing different policies available in the market.
By comparing the insurance policies from different insurers, you can find a policy customized to your needs and at a price acceptable to you.
And the easiest way to make the comparison is to look for an online platform specially designed for performing such a task.
- It compares travel insurance policies from over the top 30 providers in the US industry.
- It has a specific filter option that helps you find the policies offering COVID coverage.
- The site has more than 86,000 customer reviews for insurers.
- The site has a “Zero Complaint Guarantee,” under which it will remove a provider if any customer complaint is not resolved to satisfaction.
SquareMouth is one of the most popular and best travel insurance comparison sites.
It helps travelers like you find the best policy for your trip, national or international, at the lowest possible rates.
Using SquareMouth’s search engine, you can instantly search, compare, and buy policies online. You can perform all the actions from the comfort of your house.
All you need to do is enter all your trip-related details on the site. According to your trip plans, the website will show you the most suitable policies from the most reputable companies in the industry.
You can easily compare top policies side by side and choose the one with the best price for your trip.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are taking an international trip in 2022, we found that it will cost you around $100 a week.
But, if your trip is national, you own credit cards & insurance, your travel insurance requirement & cost will be cheaper.
When should I skip travel insurance?
Buying travel insurance every time you decide to take a trip is not a wise decision. There are times when you do not need to bare this extra expense.
Check out the few scenarios under which buying travel insurance does not make sense.
- Your airline tickets offer flexibility
- Your hotel room offers an acceptable cancellation policy
- You have one on your credit card
- You have not signed up for any nonrefundable activities in your trip
How much is the travel insurance cost for six months?
On average, your travel insurance costs around five to six percent of your trip expenses.
So, the longer your trip, the more you will have to pay for your insurance.
However, you should only go for insurance for such a long period if you are a frequent traveler. Otherwise, purchasing expensive insurance for a one-time trip is a massive waste of money.
What is the difference between Single and Long-Term insurance policies?
The Single-Term Insurance Policies are ideal for people who are going on a single trip for a particular period (like a one or two-week vacation) and then returning home.
The cost of the trip usually determines the policy’s price.
Whereas, Long-Term Insurance Policies are ideal if you take multiple trips. It saves you from buying travel insurance every time you take a trip.
Long-term policies have limitations on how long you can be away from home, how many trips you can take, and whether you can come home during your travels or not.
Thus, single-term policies are ideal for people who travel once in a blue moon, while long-term ones are ideal for the ones who travel often.
How much will travel insurance cost me after a heart attack?
Finding cheaper travel insurance will be hard for you if you have a severe health condition. The chances of older & unhealthy people filing for a claim are higher than young people. Thus plans for them are expensive.
So, suppose you or the person traveling with you have had a heart attack or any other serious medical condition before the trip. In that case, your travel insurance cost will be higher than average.
Generally, the insurance costs around 5-6% of your trip’s expense. But a severe medical condition can quickly escalate the cost to 11-12%.
Is getting travel insurance worth it?
If you can not afford to lose your deposit money & prepaid payments if anything goes wrong before or during the trip, you need to buy travel insurance.
The costlier your trip is, the more critical it is for you to have insurance security.
Travel insurance will compensate you for any damage, medical expense, and even trip cancellations.
Can I purchase travel insurance after booking my trip?
YES. You can purchase travel insurance before or after confirming all the bookings related to your trip.
However, we would suggest you do it as soon as possible. The chances are that the more you delay, the costlier the premiums will be.
Travel insurance will protect you if you are unable to take your trip & get all your nonrefundable deposits back.
Is travel insurance for cruises different from others?
Not really. If you are thinking about how much does travel insurance cost for a cruise, then it is not different from your other trips.
Cruise travel insurance would generally cost you 5-7% of your cruise expense.
For example, if your cruise trip costs you around $3000, you can expect to pay around $200 for your travel insurance.
Conclusion
Travel insurance is a must if you want to protect yourself from any loss & unforeseen expenses during your trip. You can refund your money if you do not take the trip only with insurance.
So, explore different insurers, get quotes, compare different policies and find the one most suitable for you.
Lastly, no matter what, do not travel without insurance, especially if you are going on an international trip.
