adminA robust travel insurance plan can help pay trip medical expenses, reimburse you for deposits lost if you have to cancel the trip and much more. But you don’t want the travel insurance purchase to break the bank.
The biggest price factors in travel insurance are the total trip cost, your age, number of travelers and the length of your trip. The average travel insurance cost is between 5% to 6% of your trip cost, according to a Forbes Advisor analysis of travel insurance rates.
Here’s some advice about finding cheap travel insurance that still has good coverage.
Be a Savvy Travel Insurance Comparison Shopper
As with most insurance, comparing policies from multiple companies can potentially save you hundreds of dollars. Travel insurance policies often include most of the same benefits, but the price and coverage amounts can vary considerably by policy, says Steven Benna, a spokesperson for Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison provider.
A good place to start is to check out Forbes Advisor’s rankings of the best travel insurance companies.
A travel insurance agent can also be helpful. That person can help identify the coverage you want and then price-shop the options.
Understand Exactly What Can be Insured Under Travel Insurance
You can avoid overspending on a travel insurance plan by understanding exactly what you should insure, says Benna. For example, it’s important to understand that trip cancellation insurance will only reimburse you for prepaid and non-refundable trip expenses. So don’t buy coverage for the refundable parts of your trip, advises Benna.
For example, if you’ve booked a hotel for five nights for a total of $5,000, but the cancellation penalty is $1,000, you would insure the $1,000. You can’t make a travel insurance claim for amounts that are refundable.
Avoid Unnecessary Travel Insurance Coverage
Be cautious about buying coverage or upgrades that you likely don’t need.
For example, many travelers buy a “cancel for any reason” upgrade in addition to standard trip cancellation insurance. It adds an average of 50% to the cost of your travel insurance plan. The upgrade gives you partial reimbursement for trip costs if you cancel for a reason not listed in the base policy—for example, canceling because you’ve had a falling out with your traveling companion.
“However, if your primary concern is covered by trip cancellation, such as canceling due to an illness or a family member’s illness, you can be covered without spending the additional money to add ‘cancel for any reason,’” says Benna.
Another example: you don’t need baggage insurance of $2,500 if you’re packing $200 worth of T-shirts, shorts and a swimsuit.
You also may not need travel medical insurance if you’re not leaving the country during your trip. This may be especially true if you’ll primarily be shopping, dining out and sightseeing and not participating in a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and biking. Your U.S. health plan will usually cover you if you become ill or injured during a domestic vacation.
And if you’re booking a trip last-minute, trip cancellation may be less important.
That’s why it’s a good idea to think about why you want travel insurance. Don’t go with the policy with the most bells and whistles that you won’t need. Instead, explore which coverage would benefit you the most.
Consider Buying an Annual Travel Insurance Policy
If you’re taking one or two trips a year, buying travel insurance for each one makes sense. But if you’re planning multiple trips, buying a policy for each one gets inconvenient and expensive.
Annual travel insurance policies are primarily designed to provide travel medical insurance for multiple trips, and at a better overall price.
These types of annual policies can make it easier to buy just one policy instead of multiple ones and could be a travel insurance solution for people who plan to take multiple domestic flights. However, annual travel policies may not make sense if you’re taking road trips.
Basic annual policies also offer limited trip cancellation insurance and trip interruption coverage.
Check Your Credit Card’s Travel Insurance Benefits
Your credit card may offer travel insurance as a built-in perk. The key here is that you must charge the entire trip on that credit card.
“This benefit can include some cancellation coverage for trip expenses paid for with that card, in addition to coverage for luggage,” says Benna. He points out that instead of paying for a travel insurance policy, you can save money by relying on a credit card’s cancellation benefits.
If your trip expenses exceed the credit card’s coverage limit, you can buy travel insurance for the remaining amount, notes Benna. This will make the policy less expensive than insuring the entire trip cost.
Related: Best credit cards for travel insurance benefits
Value of Travel Insurance Should be More Important than Cost
Cost should not be the only factor when you’re buying travel insurance. A cheap travel insurance policy that lacks good benefits won’t pay off in the end.
“Shop for value,” says Lisa Cheng, a spokesperson for World Nomads, a travel insurance company. “Some plans are priced low for a reason—they could come with high deductibles and low benefit limits.”
For example, Cheng says, you could buy cheap travel insurance and find there’s only $5,000 for medical expenses when you have an $8,000 hospital bill from your trip. Comparison shop but don’t skimp on coverage that is important to you, such as trip cancellation or travel medical insurance.
For some people, medical coverage matters most, and baggage insurance is less important, especially if they’re not planning to pack anything valuable, Cheng says. Medical coverage is especially important if you’re traveling overseas, because U.S. health plans may provide no coverage outside the U.S., and Medicare is not accepted outside the U.S.
Travel medical insurance limits vary by travel insurance policy. For instance, GoReady offers $50,000 in medical coverage for travel per person, while Cat 70, HTH Worldwide, Seven Corners, Tin Leg and USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services provide $500,000 in medical coverage, depending on the policy.
Of course, there’s a lot more that goes into travel insurance than medical protection, so make sure you get a policy that’s right for you.
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