How To Get Trip Insurance

Trip insurance, also called trip cancellation insurance, is a type of insurance coverage that can provide some financial protection if a traveler experiences a covered emergency. Covered emergencies vary by policy, but may include problems such as injuries, illnesses, lost luggage, unexpected trip interruptions, and trip cancellations.

Trip insurance is provided by many travel insurance organizations, and types of coverage vary from one policy to the next. When choosing a policy, take into consideration which types of events are covered by the policy, the reputation of the travel insurance company, the cost of the policy versus cost of the trip, the allowable upgrades, and more.

Customize Your Coverage With Optional Upgrades

Some companies allow travelers to customize their coverage by allowing them to upgrade their base plan to cover additional events. This means travelers can focus their insurance coverage in areas where they feel their trip presents the most risk.

For example, the Atlas Journey® Elevate and Atlas Journey® Explore trip protection plans from WorldTrips® offer a Trip Cancellation for Any Reason benefit upgrade that reimburses 50% or 75% of your trip—whichever you choose upon purchase—if you cancel your trip for any reason not covered by your Trip Cancellation benefit.

Planning to partake in adventurous activities? Add an Adventure Sports upgrade to extend coverage to sports such as safari, bungee jumping, hang gliding, and more. Concerned about your senior pet? Add a Pet Care upgrade that adds cancellation coverage due to the death or critical illness of your dog or cat—or coverage for vet care if your pet is traveling with you.

Travelers who may benefit from travel insurance should shop around and read the full details of their policies to find the right plan for them. To get a quote and purchase a plan, you'll need information such as departure date, return date, state of residence, ages of travelers, total trip cost, and initial trip payment date. Many travel insurance companies offer different types of trip protection plans with varying levels of coverage, so you can right-size your trip cancellation insurance to your trip.

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How To Get Travel Insurance for COVID-19

COVID-19 can cause disruption to travel plans because it can strike before you leave on your trip, or it can impact you while you're on your trip. The best travel insurance for COVID-19 include coverage for medical expenses related to COVID-19, such as hospitalization and physician care, if you are diagnosed and require hospitalization during your trip.

But what about COVID concerns before your trip? You’ll likely find that most travel insurance coverages do not automatically include COVID-19 concerns as a covered reason for canceling a trip under the Trip Cancellation benefit.

However, many plans include illness as a covered reason for cancellation, as long as it occurs prior to your trip, requires physician treatment, and your physician certifies that you are sick and should not travel. Therefore, you may be covered for a canceled trip if you contract COVID-19 prior to your departure date and meet these conditions and any other conditions required under your policy.

Trip Cancellation for Any Reason Benefit and COVID-19

If you’re looking for coverage that would allow you to cancel your trip due to concerns about COVID in your destination, look for travel insurance coverage that offers an optional Trip Cancellation for Any Reason (CFAR) benefit upgrade.

This is a benefit that you can add to your base plan if you purchase the policy within a certain period after making the first payment toward your trip. It can provide you with some reimbursement—usually not 100%—if you cancel your trip for any reason, such as concerns about COVID in your destination.

If you have questions about the policy coverage for COVID-19, ask the licensed sales representative from your preferred travel insurance agency about the specific protections relating to COVID-19 in the policy you're considering purchasing.

Cancel for Any Reason Travel Insurance

The Trip Cancellation for Any Reason (CFAR) benefit is an optional benefit upgrade that will reimburse you for a percentage of the nonrefundable, prepaid payments made toward your trip if you must cancel for any reason not already covered by your Trip Cancellation benefit.

The CFAR benefit is a way to expand your travel insurance protection if you have a specific concern that isn't covered by the travel protection plan you're considering purchasing. For example, you may be thinking about taking a trip one year from now. Your best friend is trying to become pregnant, and if she succeeds, you would like to be there to assist in the last stages of her pregnancy. You would like to schedule your trip now, but want a CFAR benefit that would allow you to cancel your trip in the event that you would choose not to travel because of your friend's health status.

How much of your trip will be reimbursed depends on your travel insurance company and the plan you choose. You may even have a choice of percentage. Cancel for any reason travel insurance can often be purchased for 50% or 75% of your total trip cost—look for this when you're making your purchase.

It’s important to know that many travel insurance companies that offer this benefit require you to purchase this benefit upgrade within a certain period of time after making the first deposit for your trip—often 21 days. This benefit upgrade may not be available for all plans and in all circumstances.

In addition, the CFAR benefit may have stipulations that require you to cancel your trip a certain number of days or hours prior to your scheduled departure.

Cancel for any reason travel insurance is an excellent way to get reimbursed for lost expenses if you need to cancel your trip. But remember: it may not be available after 21 days of making the first payment toward your trip, so start looking for travel insurance quickly after making your travel reservation.

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When Is It Too Late To Buy Travel Insurance?

Wondering how to get travel insurance after booking a trip? It’s probably not too late. Each travel insurance plan has its own stipulations regarding when you must purchase and when it's too late to buy a plan. For WorldTrips’ Atlas Journey travel protection plans, you must be traveling tomorrow or later. You can purchase days, weeks, or several months in advance.

A common question that travelers ask is when is it too late to buy travel insurance? Travelers who are looking to purchase travel insurance the same day they are leaving can purchase our Atlas On-the-GoTM plan instead. The Atlas On-The-Go trip protection plan does not include a Trip Cancellation benefit. However, this plan does include a Trip Interruption benefit in case the traveler must end their trip early for a covered reason.

See "The Difference Between Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Insurance" to learn more about the Trip Interruption benefit and what it covers.

Best Travel Insurance 2024

When determining the best travel insurance in 2024 for your needs, take into consideration the following factors:

  • What qualifies as covered events? Different plans offer different levels of coverage, but many plans will reimburse your prepaid, nonrefundable expenses if you cancel because of unforeseen circumstances such as sickness, injury, death, hospitalization, a traffic accident while en route to your destination, the delay or cancellation of your flight due to a natural disaster or mechanical breakdown, or a terrorist incident. All of these are covered reasons for trip cancellation under Atlas Journey travel protection plans.

    View policy documents for your plan and state of residency to understand the specific conditions and exclusions for your policy.

  • Level of coverage. The level of coverage may vary from one plan to another. For example, one plan may offer up to 125% of costs for the Trip Interruption benefit, while another plan may offer up to 150% of trip costs for Trip Interruption. 

    For example, the Atlas Journey Escape trip protection plan offers up to 125% of trip costs for Trip Interruption, while the Atlas Journey Explore and Atlas Journey Elevate trip protection plans offer up to 150% of trip costs for Trip Interruption. If you're having a hard time deciding which level of coverage is right for you, work with your licensed sales representative to determine the level of coverage you need.

Atlas Journey Elevate, Atlas Journey Explore, and Atlas Journey Escape trip protection plans from WorldTrips offer benefits like Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption, Travel Delay, Emergency Accident & Sickness Medical Expense, and more. Each option offers a different level of coverage and comes at a different cost.

What About Travel Health Insurance?

Travel medical insurance, also known as travel health insurance, is an alternative to travel insurance for those who don't need or prioritize a Trip Cancellation benefit. Travel medical insurance may also an option for travelers who are not eligible for plans with travel insurance such as Atlas Journey trip protection plans because they are not U.S. citizens or residents.

The main difference between travel medical insurance and standard travel insurance is that travel medical insurance does not include a Trip Cancellation benefit, so there's no coverage for a canceled trip. For some people, travel medical insurance is an attractive option because the plans can be more budget friendly. Travel medical insurance places more emphasis on medical benefits, which often have higher maximum limits than travel insurance medical benefits. Note that the best travel medical insurance plans still include some travel-related benefits, such as Trip Interruption and Travel Delay, as well as travel assistance services.

The other main difference is that many travel medical insurance plans can cover individuals from most countries, but only for travel abroad, whereas a U.S.-based travel insurance can only cover U.S. citizens or residents, but they can be traveling domestically and/or abroad.

Travel Medical Insurance Plans Available From WorldTrips

WorldTrips' most popular travel medical insurance plan, Atlas Travel®, can cover you for single trips for up to one year. If you need travel health insurance for multiple international trips in a one-year period, you can purchase Atlas MultiTripTM and make one convenient payment for up to 12 months of coverage. 

Been searching for “travel health insurance Europe”? See our Schengen Visa Insurance page. Searching for “travel health insurance USA”? See our Atlas America® page.

Travel Health Insurance Cost

The cost of Atlas Travel medical insurance varies depending on your age, length of travel, whether your trip includes U.S. coverage, and the deductible and overall maximum limit you choose. For example, a thirty year old traveling to a destination outside the U.S., with a $1,000,000 maximum coverage limit and a $100 deductible, would pay as little as $2.08* per day for an Atlas Travel plan.

*Cost as of August 2024. 

CNN Editors' Pick 2023

"Of the top eight travel insurance companies in our review, WorldTrips’ underwriting company is the only one to have an A++ (Superior) financial strength rating from AM Best."

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“WorldTrips is the best travel insurance company of 2024, based on our analysis of cost and coverage options.” 

Why WorldTrips

Who is insuring you is just as important as the insurance plan you choose. For the past 25 years, WorldTrips has provided travel insurance and compassionate service to help our customers travel fearlessly. Our knowledgeable customer representatives are available 24/7 to respond to your travel emergencies, no matter the situation, time zone, or spoken language.

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WorldTrips is a service company and a member of the Tokio Marine HCC group of companies.

WorldTrips’ Atlas Journey, Atlas Cruiser, and Atlas On-The-Go trip protection insurance products are underwritten by Tokio Marine HCC’s U.S. Specialty Insurance Company (USSIC). USSIC is a Texas-domiciled insurance company operating on an admitted basis throughout the United States. Coverage is available to U.S. residents of the U.S. states and District of Columbia only. This plan provides insurance coverage that only applies during the covered trip. You may have coverage from other sources that provides you with similar benefits but may be subject to different restrictions depending upon your other coverages. You may wish to compare the terms of this policy with your existing life, health, home, and automobile insurance policies. Coverage may not be available in all states.

In the State of California, operating as WorldTrips Insurance Services. California Non-Resident Producer License Number: 0G39705

WorldTrips’ Atlas Travel Series and StudentSecure international travel medical insurance products are underwritten by Lloyd's. WorldTrips has authority to enter into contracts of insurance on behalf of the Lloyd's underwriting members of Lloyd's Syndicate 4141, which is managed by HCC Underwriting Agency, Ltd.