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When plans change, there's help. Expedia Cancellation Plan from Berkely can cover your expenses if you need to cancel or change your flight. Don't leave home without it!

• Includes trip cancellation coverage
• Interruption coverage can provide reimbursement for airfare home
• Coverage for travel in the continental U.S. only

Booking a hotel along with your flight? Get broader coverage with the Expedia Package Protection Plan

Please see Terms and Conditions for full terms, including limitations and exclusions.

• Plan Coverage
• What's Not Covered
• Claim Instructions
• Terms Of Coverage
• Definitions

Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Company Policy Number MZ0911076H0000A

DESCRIPTION OF COVERAGE

• Schedule: Expedia, Inc Maximum Benefit Amount

PART A. TRAVEL ARRANGEMENT PROTECTION

• Trip Cancellation Up to Total Flight Cost
• Trip Interruption Up to Total Flight Cost

Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption Benefits Pre-Departure Trip Cancellation

We will pay a Pre-Departure Trip Cancellation Benefit, up to the amount in the Schedule if you are prevented from taking your Covered Trip due to your, an Immediate Family Member's, Traveling Companion's, or Business Partner's Sickness, Injury or death or Other Covered Events as defined, that occur(s) before departure on your Covered Trip. The Sickness or Injury must: a) commence while your coverage is in effect under the plan; b) require the examination and treatment by a Physician at the time the Covered Trip is cancelled; and c) in the written opinion of the treating Physician, be so disabling as to prevent you from taking your Covered Trip.

Pre-Departure Trip Cancellation Benefits

Post-departure trip interruption, post-departure trip interruption benefits.

• 1. the additional transportation expenses by the most direct route from the point you interrupted your Covered Trip: a) to the next scheduled destination where you can catch up to your Covered Trip; or (b) to the final destination of your Covered Trip;
• 2. the additional transportation expenses incurred by you by the most direct route to reach your original Covered Trip destination if you are delayed and leave after the Scheduled Departure Date. However, the benefit payable under (1) and (2) above will not exceed the cost of a one-way economy air fare by the most direct route less any refunds paid or payable for your unused original tickets.
• being directly involved in a documented traffic accident while en route to departure;
• being hijacked, Quarantined, required to serve on a jury, or required by a court order to appear as a witness in a legal action, provided you, an Immediate Family Member traveling with you or a Traveling Companion is not: 1) a party to the legal action, or 2) appearing as a law enforcement officer;
• having your Home made uninhabitable by fire, flood, volcano, earthquake, hurricane or other natural disaster;
• Your involuntary termination of employment or layoff which occurs after your effective date of coverage and was not under your control. You must have been continuously employed with the same employer for 1 year prior to the termination or layoff. This provision is not applicable to temporary employment, independent contractors or self-employed persons.

Contact Information

This program was designed and is administered by Aon Affinity Berkely Travel. Aon Affinity is the brand name for the brokerage and program administration operations of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.; (AR 244489); in CA, MN & OK , AIS Affinity Insurance Agency, Inc. (CA 0795465); in CA, Aon Affinity Insurance Services, Inc., (CA 0G94493), Aon Direct Insurance Administrators and Berkely Insurance Agency and in NY and NH, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency. Affinity Insurance Services is acting as a Managing General Agent as that term is defined in section 626.015(14) of the Florida Insurance Code. As an MGA we are acting on behalf of our carrier partner.

Please see Terms and Conditions for full details include plan terms, conditions and exclusions.

WE WILL NOT PAY FOR ANY LOSS CAUSED BY OR INCURRED RESULTING FROM:

• mental, nervous, or psychological disorders, except if hospitalized;
• being under the influence of drugs or intoxicants, unless prescribed by a Physician;
• normal pregnancy, except if hospitalized; or elective abortion;
• declared or undeclared war, or any act of war;
• service in the armed forces of any country;
• operating or learning to operate any aircraft, as pilot or crew;
• any unlawful acts, committed by you or a Traveling Companion (whether insured or not);
• any amount paid or payable under any Worker's Compensation, Disability Benefit or similar law;
• Elective Treatment and Procedures;
• medical treatment during or arising from a Covered Trip undertaken for the purpose or intent of securing medical treatment;
• business, contractual or educational obligations of you, an Immediate Family Member or Traveling Companion;
• failure of any tour operator, Common Carrier, or other travel supplier, person or agency to provide the bargained-for travel arrangements;
• a loss that results from an illness, disease, or other condition, event or circumstance which occurs at a time when the plan is not in effect for you.

Policy Number MZ0911076H0000A

• TRIP CANCELLATION CLAIMS: Contact Expedia, Inc. and Berkely IMMEDIATELY to notify them of your cancellation and to avoid any non-covered expenses due to late reporting. Berkely will then forward the appropriate claim form which must be completed by you AND THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, if applicable. If you are cancelling due to a death, a death certificate will be required.
• ALL OTHER CLAIMS: Report your claim as soon as possible to Berkely. Provide the policy number, your travel dates, and details describing the nature of your loss. Upon receipt of this information, Berkely will promptly forward you the appropriate claim form to complete. If you are interrupting due to a death, a death certificate will be required.

Online: www.travelclaim.com Phone: 1-877-718-4651 or 1-(516) 342-2720 Mail: Berkely 300 Jericho Quadrangle, P.O. Box 9022, Jericho, NY 11753 Office Hours: 8:00 am - 10:00 pm ET, Monday - Friday; 9:00 am - 5:00 pm ET, Saturday IMPORTANT: In order to facilitate prompt claims settlement upon your return, be sure to obtain as applicable: detailed medical statements from Physicians in attendance where the Accident or Sickness occurred. These statements should give complete diagnosis, stating that the Sickness or Injury prevented traveling on dates contracted. Provide all unused transportation tickets, official receipts, etc.

Claims Provisions

Payment of Claims Claims for benefits provided by the plan will be paid as soon as written proof is received. Benefits are paid directly to you, unless otherwise directed. Any accrued benefits unpaid at your death will be paid to your estate, or if no estate, to your beneficiary. If you have assigned your benefits, we will honor the assignment if a signed copy has been filed with us. We are not responsible for the validity of any assignment. Travel Insurance is underwritten by Stonebridge Casualty Insurance Company, a Transamerica company, Columbus, Ohio; NAIC # 10952 (all states except as otherwise noted) under Policy/Certificate Form series TAHC5000. In CA, HI, NE, NH, PA, TN and TX Policy/Certificate Form series TAHC5100 and TAHC5200. In IL, IN, KS, LA, OR, OH, VT, WA and WY Policy Form #’s TAHC5100IPS and TAHC5200IPS. Certain coverages are under series TAHC6000 and TAHC7000. This is a brief Description of Coverage which outlines benefits and amounts of coverage that may be available to you. If you are a resident of one of the following states (IL, IN, KS, LA, OH, OR, VT, WA, or WY), your Policy is provided on an individual form. You can request a copy of your Individual Policy or Group Policy for all other states by calling 1-800-453-4090. Your Individual Policy or Group Policy will govern the final interpretation of any provision or claim. Notice to California residents: This plan provides cancellation coverage for your trip and other insurance coverages that apply only 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 policies. If you have any questions about your current coverage, call your insurer, insurance agent or broker. The purchase of this plan is not required in order to purchase any other travel product or service offered to you by your travel retailers. Unless individually licensed as an insurance agent, your travel agent is not qualified or authorized to answer your technical questions about the benefits, exclusions or conditions of this plan or to evaluate the adequacy of any existing insurance coverage you may have. Questions should be directed to the plan administrator at the toll-free number provided.

For questions or claims, please contact Berkely. Call: 1-800-453-4079 Email: [email protected] Office Hours: 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM EST Mon-Fri, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST Sat.

• the date the Covered Trip is completed;
• the Scheduled Return Date;
• your arrival at the return destination on a round-trip, or the destination on a one-way trip;
• cancellation of the Covered Trip covered by the plan.

In the certificate, "you", "your" and "yours" refer to the Insured. "We", "us" and "our" refer to the company providing the coverage. In addition certain words and phrases are defined as follows: Accident means a sudden, unexpected, unintended and external event, which causes Injury. Business Partner means an individual who is involved, as a partner, with you in a legal general partnership and shares in the management of the business. Covered Trip means a period of travel away from Home to a destination outside your city of residence; the purpose of the Trip is business or pleasure and is not to obtain health care or treatment of any kind; the Trip has defined departure and return dates specified when the Insured enrolls; and the Trip does not exceed 31 consecutive days in length. Common Carrier means any land, water or air conveyance operated under a license for the transportation of passengers for hire. Domestic Partner means a person who is at least eighteen years of age and you can show: 1) evidence of financial interdependence, such as joint bank accounts or credit cards, jointly owned property, and mutual life insurance or pension beneficiary designations; 2) evidence of cohabitation for at least the previous 6 months; and 3) an affidavit of domestic partnership if recognized by the jurisdiction within which they reside. Flight means a scheduled trip for which coverage has been elected and the plan payment paid and all travel arrangements are arranged by Expedia, Inc. prior to the Scheduled Departure Date of the trip. Home means your primary or secondary residence. Hospital means an institution, which meets all of the following requirements

• it must be operated according to law;
• it must give 24 hour medical care, diagnosis and treatment to the sick or injured on an inpatient basis;
• it must provide diagnostic and surgical facilities supervised by Physicians;
• registered nurses must be on 24 hour call or duty; and
• the care must be given either on the hospital's premises or in facilities available to the hospital on a pre-arranged basis.

Why should I purchase Expedia Cancellation Plan? You've saved, you've waited, and now you're all set to go on the trip of your life. Preparing for your trip should include covering yourself against unfortunate occurrences that may interfere with even your best-laid plans. By purchasing Expedia Cancellation Plan, you may be reimbursed for covered cancellation or interruption penalties. Unexpected situations can happen to anyone, even immediate family members that are not traveling with you, and provide you with a reason you might need to cancel or interrupt your trip. Did you know that Expedia Cancellation Plan can reimburse covered expenses if:

• You become ill and can't travel.
• Someone in your immediate family has an illness or injury and you must cancel or interrupt your trip, even if he or she is not scheduled to travel with you.
• Involuntary job loss
• Your house becomes uninhabitable due to a hurricane.
• An immediate family member back home passes away and you must return from your trip early.
• You are injured and must visit a doctor while traveling.
• Many other unforeseeable events as listed in the Description of Coverage.

What does Expedia Cancellation Plan cover? Expedia Cancellation Plan includes coverage for Trip Cancellations and Trip Interruptions. If you must cancel or interrupt your trip for a covered reason, the plan provides coverage for covered penalties and expenses up to the cost of your originally booked flight. In the event of an interruption, covered benefits include the new airfare paid, less the value of an unused return travel ticket, to return home or rejoin your trip (up to a maximum of the cost of the originally booked flight). Covered reasons include illness, injury or death to you, a traveling companion or an immediate family member. Additional covered reasons for cancellation include jury duty, the issuance of a subpoena for court or administrative hearing, involuntary job loss, having a home made uninhabitable by a natural disaster, hijacking, quarantine, and being involved in a documented traffic accident en route to departure. Please refer to the Description of Coverage for full details. There is no Pre-existing Condition Exclusion in Expedia Cancellation Plan. Will my current home, renters, or credit card policies cover me during my trip? Most people don't have any insurance coverage at all for penalties incurred when they need to cancel their flight. It is not a typical coverage found in homeowners and renters policies. Likewise, most credit cards do not offer trip cancellation coverage; however, check your documentation carefully to see if yours might. Who can I contact for more information? You may call Berkely, the plan administrator, with any questions regarding Expedia Cancellation Plan. Their CustomerCare representatives will be happy to assist you. Hide Via email: [email protected] Via phone: 1-877-718-4651 or 516-342-2720 Via mail: Berkely P.O. Box 9022 300 Jericho Quadrangle Jericho, NY 11753 Office Hours:8AM-10PM (EST), Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM (EST), Saturday This program was designed and is administered by Aon Affinity Berkely Travel. Aon Affinity is the brand name for the brokerage and program administration operations of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.; (AR 244489); in CA, MN & OK, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency, Inc. (CA 0795465); in CA, Aon Affinity Insurance Services, Inc., (CA 0G94493), Aon Direct Insurance Administrators and Berkely Insurance Agency and in NY and NH, AIS Affinity Insurance Agency. Affinity Insurance Services is acting as a Managing General Agent as that term is defined in section 626.015(14) of the Florida Insurance Code. As an MGA we are acting on behalf of our carrier partner. ` When is payment for the plan due? The plan must be purchased when your flight is purchased. How do I enroll in Expedia Cancellation Plan? The option to enroll is presented to you while booking your ticket. If you would like to purchase Expedia Cancellation Plan, simply select it and the cost of the plan is automatically included in the total amount due for your trip. Simply pay the amount indicated to purchase the plan. When does coverage go into effect and will it cover me for the entire length of my trip? The Trip Cancellation coverage takes effect upon receipt of the required plan cost by Expedia. The Trip Interruption Coverage takes effect at 12:01 AM on your scheduled departure date and location. The plan will cover you for the entire length of your Expedia-booked ticket. I am not a resident of the U.S. or Canada. Can I purchase the plan? Expedia Cancellation Plan is available only to U.S. residents and non-U.S. residents traveling to the U.S. who book their travel arrangements with Expedia. What happens if I need to cancel my trip? Please contact Expedia and Berkely as soon as possible in the event of a claim, as the insurer will not reimburse you for any additional charges incurred due to a delay in notifying Expedia of your cancellation. Berkely will then forward you the appropriate claim form in order to file a claim. How do I file a claim? You may request a claim form online via www.travelclaim.com or alternatively, call Berkely, the plan administrator, at 1-877-718-4651 from 8:00 am to 10:00 pm EST Mon-Fri or 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST Sat. Please note that you may want to have a copy of your Expedia invoice handy as there are some details that will be needed in order to initiate your claim. This information includes your travel dates, date of cancellation, booking number, and some brief information regarding your reason for cancellation or interruption. Important: Be sure to also contact Expedia to notify them of cancellations, as well as to avoid additional expenses due to late reporting. Who is considered an "Immediate Family" member under the plan? Our definition of "Immediate Family" is quite broad. It's not just the family members who reside with you. "Immediate Family" includes: parents, spouses, domestic partners, grandparents, siblings, siblings-in-law, children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and business partners. See the Definitions section of the Description of Coverage for a full listing. Are there exclusions? Certain restrictions do apply. For example, the coverage in the plan does not provide duplicate payments if there are other sources of reimbursement available. Please see the Terms and Conditions for a full list of exclusions. Is there a Pre-Existing Condition exclusion? Expedia Cancellation Plan does not have a pre-existing condition exclusion.

Expedia Flight Cancellation & Insurance (7 Important Facts)

If you want to cancel a flight that you booked through Expedia, you need to know 7 things so that you don’t get frustrated and get every penny you owe from Expedia or your airlines.

This article also talks in-depth about Expedia travel insurance. The information outlined here will help you save money on your next trip.

Can Expedia Flights be Canceled?

The US Department of Transportation requires every airline to provide a 24-hour free cancellation option upon booking an airline ticket. Expedia honors this law.

It doesn’t matter whatever type of plane ticket you purchase from Expedia; your flight can be freely canceled within 24 hours of your ticket purchase, and you can get a full refund without any fees.

However, once the 24 window passes, Expedia will apply the airline ticket cancellation policy.

If you bought a refundable ticket, airlines would allow you to cancel your flights and refund you, but they would cut the cancellation fee from your refund money.

Budget airlines such as RyanAir, Frontier, and Spirit handle all the cancellation by themselves, and most of the time, they sell non-refundable tickets. Therefore, contact your airline directly if you want to cancel these tickets. 

Sometimes, they can cancel a non-refundable ticket and give you travel credits which you can use at a future date with the same airline. However, they will not refund your full money; they will charge you a cancellation fee.

Can You Get a Refund from Expedia if Your Flight is Canceled?

Expedia offers two types of airlines on its platform for booking. 

• Low-Cost Airlines
• Full Service Airlines

RyanAir, Frontier, AirAsia, Spirit, EasyJet, or Jetstar are low-cost airlines. If you hold tickets from any of these airlines and it gets canceled, you have to talk to the airlines for a refund or future alternatives directly. Expedia can’t help you get a refund with these airlines.

However, if the full-service airline cancels your flight, Expedia will handle all the refunds, and you don’t have to call the airline. Expedia will refund your money in original form to your bank or credit card. It may take up to 7 days to process the refund.

Related : 8 Reasons Why Expedia Is So Cheap (In-Depth Explanation) 

Does Expedia Travel Insurance Cover Cancellation?

The Expedia travel insurance will not cover your flight cancellation either by you or your airline carrier. Travel insurance has strict claim guidelines, which we discussed below.

There are two types of Expedia flight insurance:

• Flight cancellation plan
• Flight protection plan

The flight cancellation plan is for domestic flights within the USA except for Alaska and Hawaii. The flight protection plan is for international flights, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Expedia doesn’t give these insurances. A third-party company named “AIG” provides this insurance. It’s similar to the car’s extended warranty that auto dealers sell. It costs a lot of money but isn’t that helpful.

Both of these travel insurance will refund your flight cancellation money if and only if the following criteria are met:

• You or your travel companion becomes seriously sick or injured and needs hospitalization. If the Physician says that your or your travel companion’s injury is life-threatening and you can’t travel, you can file a claim with AIG. However, you must submit a certified paper from your Physician when you file a claim. AIG will call your Physician to find the authenticity of your claim. Your claim will be denied if your hospital or Physician doesn’t receive the call.
• You or your travel companion receive a jury duty subpoena, or you are required to visit court as a witness in legal action.
• If you lose your job and were employed with the same employer for the last 12 months.
• You get into an accident while going to the airport and need medical attention. When filing your claim, you must submit a police report and certified hospitalization paper.
• You lose your passport. You must submit a police report with your claim.

As you can see, the travel insurance will refund you if and only if any of these things happen to you. 

Expedia flight insurance will not refund your money if you cancel for any other reason.

However, please remember that criterion 4 and 5 doesn’t apply to all state residents. For example, for Indiana residents, these two criteria don’t apply. Therefore, if you lose your passport, AIG will not refund you.

Read the flight insurance policy from AIG here .

Related : Expedia Refunds (8 Things You Must Know For Quick Refund)  

Is Expedia Cancellation Plan Worth It?

The Expedia flight cancellation plan does very little to protect a consumer. The claim criteria are ridiculously challenging and apply to almost no one. For most airline passengers, the cancellation plan is a waste of money.

In five rare circumstances, Expedia travel insurance will refund your money. Those circumstances are not only rare, but you will also have a hard time filing your claim successfully because of paperwork and verification.

It is not only an expensive plan, but it’s also useless. 

We highly recommend you not buy the cancellation plan because AIG will usually deny your claim outright. This is how these insurances work. 

The Expedia cancellation plan isn’t worth your hard-earned money.

Is Expedia Free Cancellation Really Free?

Expedia, on their website, advertises that they offer free cancellation. However, these cancellations aren’t really free. 

Expedia is saying that they don’t charge the customer for cancellation. But the airlines or hotels might charge you a cancellation fee. If they do, Expedia will pass the cancellation fee to you. 

Why Did Expedia Cancel My Flight?

Airline cancellation is common due to bad weather, pilot shortage, airline maintenance, or other reasons.

Expedia doesn’t cancel flights; airlines do. If you get your flight cancellation email or notification, call Expedia immediately.

Even though you have booked your flight through Expedia, it’s better to contact the airlines and ask for a refund. Or ask them to give you another ticket for your trip.

Sometimes Expedia proactively will book another flight for you. 

Remember that Expedia will not reimburse you if you need to stay extra a few days in a hotel, nor will they refund you any money if you must leave early due to flight schedule changes.

If you need hotel accommodations due to flight cancellations, you have to talk to airline customer support.

If either Expedia or your airlines refuse to give you another flight ticket or refuse you a full refund, call your credit card company and put a chargeback claim. It’s because Expedia failed to provide you with a service for which they took the money.

How to Cancel Expedia Flight Insurance?

If you purchased the flight insurance, you have 15 days to cancel it to get a full refund of your insurance premium. However, if you already filed a claim with the insurance, you can’t cancel it.

To cancel the flight insurance, follow the steps outlined below:

• Go to My Trips on the Expedia website.
• Select Cancel insurance and follow the instructions.

You can also call Expedia to cancel your flight insurance.

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Protect Your Travel Plans: Trip Cancellation Insurance Explained and the 5 Best Policies

Jessica Merritt

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Table of Contents

The 5 best trip cancellation insurance policies, what is trip cancellation insurance, how trip cancellation insurance works, is trip cancellation insurance worth it, what trip cancellation insurance costs, choosing trip cancellation insurance , final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our  Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

You’ve booked your flight, hotel, and tours and are ready to go on your trip — but what happens if you can’t make it? Unexpected circumstances can pop up that force you to cancel your trip, such as illness or natural disasters. If you can’t get refunds from travel suppliers, trip cancellation insurance can help.

Let’s look at what trip cancellation covers, whether you need a trip cancellation policy, and what you should know before shopping for a plan.

You’ll have plenty of options if you want a cheap, standalone trip cancellation policy, comprehensive travel coverage, or Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) coverage.

Consider these trip cancellation insurance policies that offer good value and coverage, quoted for a 35-year-old visiting Mexico on a $1,500 trip in September 2023:

Best Cheap Trip Cancellation Insurance: battleface

We were quoted just $20 for a battleface Discovery Plan with trip cancellation benefits up to $1,500. But that’s all it offers — you won’t get trip interruption coverage, medical coverage, evacuation, loss or delay, or other benefits offered by comprehensive travel insurance plans.

Best Extensive Trip Cancellation Reasons: IMG

IMG’s iTravelnsured Travel Essential plan isn’t CFAR coverage, but it has multiple covered reasons for cancellation. You’re covered for foreign and domestic terrorism, financial default, medical reasons, and accommodations made uninhabitable. Our $35.92 quote offered up to 100% of the total trip cost for trip cancellation and 125% for trip interruption. 

Best Comprehensive Trip Cancellation Coverage: TinLeg

TinLeg’s Basic travel insurance plan covers up to 100% of your total trip cost for trip cancellation , but you’ll also get other major travel insurance coverages. This plan we were quoted $41 for offers trip interruption, travel delay, baggage delay, emergency medical, evacuation and repatriation, and more. 

Best Layoff Protection: Aegis

Like the battleface plan, Aegis Go Ready Trip Cancellation insurance covers up to 100% of your trip cost if you need to cancel — but not much else. But a big value-add is employment layoff coverage , which allows you to get reimbursed if you need to cancel your trip due to involuntary layoff or termination of employment. We were quoted $45 for this plan.

Best Cancel for Any Reason: Seven Corners

The Seven Corners Trip Protection Basic plan offers optional CFAR coverage, which reimburses up to 75% of your trip cost for reasons not otherwise covered by your policy. Regular trip cancellation and interruption coverage offer reimbursement of up to 100% of your trip cost. Our quoted cost for this plan came to $58.

Trip cancellation insurance is a type of travel insurance. With trip cancellation coverage, you can get reimbursement for nonrefundable prepaid travel expenses if you need to cancel your trip before departure. Trip cancellation is one of the main coverage areas for travel insurance, the other being medical emergency coverage.

Many comprehensive travel insurance policies offer trip cancellation coverage; standalone trip cancellation insurance is less common than comprehensive travel policies. Travel credit cards may offer trip cancellation coverage as a cardholder benefit, as well.

Trip cancellation insurance kicks in if you must cancel your trip due to unforeseen circumstances such as an illness, injury, or other covered reasons. You can get reimbursed for nonrefundable expenses if you have travel cancellation insurance and need to cancel your trip.

Covered nonrefundable expenses typically include:

• Hotels and vacation rentals
• Rental cars

Travel insurance policies with trip cancellation coverage often include trip interruption benefits. Similar to trip cancellation coverage, trip interruption benefits can help you recoup your costs if you need to delay or cut your trip short due to covered reasons.

When To Buy Trip Cancellation Insurance

You can usually purchase trip cancellation insurance up to the day before your scheduled departure. Still, you’ll get more value if you purchase insurance as soon as you make your first trip deposit . That way, your travel plans are covered from the start.

Trip Cancellation Insurance Covered Reasons

Unless you opt for Cancel for Any Reason travel insurance, trip cancellation insurance only applies to covered cancellation reasons. For example, you can’t use trip cancellation insurance to cancel your trip for a refund because there’s rain forecasted for your beach vacation. But, you could get reimbursement if a named hurricane forms after you purchased your policy.

Common reasons covered by trip cancellation insurance include:

• Death, including the death of a family member or traveling companion
• Government travel warnings or evacuation orders for your destination
• Home damage or burglary
• Illness, injury, or quarantine that makes you or a covered travel companion unfit to travel
• Legal obligations such as jury duty or subpoena
• Natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or floods affect travel operations at your destination
• Terrorist incidents at home or your destination
• Travel supplier cancellation
• Unexpected military duty
• Unexpected pregnancy complications
• Unexpected work obligations

These are common covered reasons for trip cancellation insurance, but policies vary in coverage . Reviewing the terms and conditions of your trip cancellation insurance is a good idea so you understand what’s covered.

You should also understand what’s explicitly not covered. For example, changing your mind is not a covered reason on a standard trip cancellation insurance policy. And trip cancellation insurance typically doesn’t cover foreseeable events, routine health treatments, substance abuse, sporting events, mental health, acts of war, self-harm, or dangerous activities such as skydiving.

Cancel for Any Reason Trip Cancellation Coverage

Need to expand your list of covered cancellation reasons? Cancel for Any Reason trip cancellation insurance is an option. 

You can use CFAR to cancel your trip for reasons not covered by trip cancellation insurance, such as changing your mind, fear of travel, unexpected obligations, weather, or budget concerns.

The catch? You’ll pay more for CFAR coverage , and it only reimburses up to 50% to 75% of your nonrefundable travel expenses. Generally, trip cancellation insurance offers 100% reimbursement for covered expenses. 

The other main stipulation is that you’ll need to purchase your coverage within a specified period , usually within 10 to 21 days of your first trip deposit. And to get reimbursement under CFAR, you must cancel your travel within the cancellation timeframe, usually at least 48 hours from your scheduled departure.

Annual Travel Insurance

Most annual travel insurance policies, also known as multi-trip policies, cover trip cancellation for multiple trips taken within the policy period, usually 12 months. You’ll also typically get coverage for medical expenses.

Trip Cancellation vs. Trip Interruption

Trip cancellation insurance covers your nonrefundable travel expenses if you have to cancel before departure, while trip interruption covers your trip costs after departure . For example, trip interruption coverage kicks in if you get injured while traveling and have to go home early.

Trip cancellation insurance can be worth it if you have nonrefundable travel expenses and there’s a risk you’ll have to cancel your travel due to unforeseen events. It offers financial protection if you’re traveling to a destination with potential risks such as natural disasters or political instability — or if you have risk factors at home, such as unpredictable work commitments or family members with health conditions that could interfere with travel. 

If you plan an expensive trip with nonrefundable bookings or deposits, trip cancellation is probably worth it. But if your travel is inexpensive, or most of your travel expenses are refundable, you might not need trip cancellation insurance.

Consider the cost of insurance, the likelihood you’ll need to cancel, and the cost of nonrefundable travel at stake when you decide if trip cancellation is worth it.

A basic travel insurance policy with trip cancellation coverage generally costs between 5% to 10% of your trip costs . So a travel insurance policy for a $5,000 trip would cost $250 to $500. Your costs will be higher if you opt for CFAR coverage.

Factors that influence how much your trip cancellation insurance costs include traveler age, trip expenses, trip length, coverage options, and how many people you need to cover.

A comprehensive travel insurance policy with emergency medical or lost baggage coverage and trip cancellation coverage can offer additional value.

If you’re mainly concerned with trip cancellation coverage, look for cheap travel insurance policies that still offer this coverage, but have either nonexistent or low coverage limits for other coverage areas, such as lost baggage or medical evacuation .

Credit Cards With Trip Cancellation Insurance

You might not have to pay for trip cancellation insurance if you have the right credit card. Some credit cards offer trip cancellation and interruption coverage as a cardholder benefit. 

Credit cards with trip cancellation coverage generally provide between $2,000 to $10,000 per person in trip cancellation benefits, often covering trip interruption. 

For example, the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card offers cardholders $2,000 in trip cancellation or interruption benefits per person. With the Chase Sapphire Reserve ® , cardholders get up to $10,000 per person in trip cancellation coverage with a maximum of $20,000 per trip and a $40,000 limit per 12-month period.

If your nonrefundable travel costs exceed the covered benefit offered by your credit card, you may prefer to purchase separate trip cancellation insurance.

If you only need trip cancellation and interruption coverage, your credit card may have adequate protection benefits.

Consider these factors as you shop for a trip cancellation insurance policy:

• Cost: Compare policy premiums and consider how the cost fits into your overall travel budget.
• Coverage Amount: Your trip cancellation coverage should cover all of your nonrefundable prepaid trip expenses. But a policy with too much coverage could be more costly than necessary.
• Policy Limits: Know the policy’s limits, including deductibles, exclusions, and limitations.
• Covered Reasons: A policy that offers a variety of covered cancellation reasons offers the most protection.
• CFAR Coverage: Understand whether CFAR coverage is included in the policy and its additional cost.
• Reputation and Customer Service: Read travel insurance reviews to learn about the experiences policyholders have had, whether they’re good or bad.
• Refund Policies: Understand what happens if you cancel your policy before the trip.

Travel insurance comparison sites such as Squaremouth make it easy to enter your trip details and get quotes from multiple insurance providers.

Trip cancellation coverage can provide valuable peace of mind if you’re concerned about losing nonrefundable prepaid travel expenses. It can be worth it if there’s a chance you’ll have to cancel your travel plans, and you’ll lose money on nonrefundable costs. Before you choose a trip cancellation policy, consider factors including cost, coverage, and cancellation reasons, and look at what’s covered with any credit cards you hold.

For Capital One products listed on this page, some of the above benefits are provided by Visa ® or Mastercard ® and may vary by product. See the respective Guide to Benefits for details, as terms and exclusions apply.

The information regarding the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is trip cancellation insurance for.

Trip cancellation coverage offers financial protection if you need to cancel or interrupt your trip due to unexpected circumstances. You can get reimbursement for nonrefundable prepaid expenses related to covered travel if you have to cancel your trip.

Is trip cancellation covered in travel insurance?

Most travel insurance policies cover trip cancellation coverage. Other common coverage areas include trip interruption and medical emergencies.

Does trip insurance cover cancellation for any reason?

Travel insurance can offer CFAR coverage, usually as an optional add-on. You can select a CFAR policy if you want more flexibility in canceling your trip and receiving reimbursement.

When should I buy trip cancellation insurance?

It’s best to purchase trip cancellation as soon as you have any money at risk on your trip, usually as soon as you book travel. Buying trip cancellation insurance after booking covers you for unexpected circumstances that could cause you to cancel your trip.

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About Jessica Merritt

A long-time points and miles student, Jessica is the former Personal Finance Managing Editor at U.S. News and World Report and is passionate about helping consumers fund their travels for as little cash as possible.

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Explore > New Destinations > Expedia Quick Guide to Cancelling a Flight or Hotel

Expedia Quick Guide to Cancelling a Flight or Hotel

If you’re looking to cancel an upcoming trip due to COVID-19, we understand and are here to help. Knowing your options and the right steps can sometimes require reading a lot of fine print, so we’ve taken the guesswork out of it and created a quick guide that tackles some of the most common questions customers have when cancelling their flight or hotel on Expedia.

Use the flowcharts below to find out what options and resources will be the most applicable to your specific travel plans.

More Customer Resources

For the most up-to-date traveller advisories and information on cancellations and refunds from Expedia, visit the customer service portal.

• Customer Service Portal

For answers to some of the most asked COVID-19 traveller questions including steps you should take to plan future trips, visit the Expedia FAQ page.

• Coronavirus Travel Advice

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Expedia Cancellation Policy: How to get a Refund from Expedia

Booking travel with expedia, expedia cancellation policies, how to cancel a flight you booked with expedia, expedia flight cancellation within 24 hours of booking, changing flights, expedia flight refund: how long before expedia issues my flight refund, are all flights reservations subject to refunds, steps to cancel or change an expedia hotel booking, non-refundable hotel bookings, will i get charged for canceling or changing a hotel room, expedia rental car cancellation & refund policy, expedia vacation package cancellation policy, priceline cancellation policy: how to cancel & get a refund from priceline, american airlines refund policy: how to get a refund on aa.com, united airlines refund policy: how to get a refund from united, delta airlines refund policy: how to get a refund from delta, how to get a refund from spirit airlines.

These days, with the help of online travel agencies (OTA’s) like Expedia, Orbitz, and Priceline , the process of booking tickets and coming up with a vacation plan is not so complicated. With just a few clicks, you can easily book the vacation of your dreams.

But what happens if you have to cancel? How does that work? Can you still get a refund, or is your money lost forever? Many travelers are unsure of the specific rules and regulations regarding cancelations, changes, and refunds when booking with an online travel agent.

In this article, we’ll take an in-depth look at the Expedia cancellation policy for all types of travel, including its terms and conditions, fees, and how to make changes or cancel your reservation. Whether you’re planning a trip or have already made a booking, this guide will help you navigate Expedia’s cancelation policy with ease.

For those of you who aren’t that familiar with Expedia , it’s an online travel agency used to book airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, cruise ships, vacation packages, and more.

Expedia provides travelers with a convenient way to find the best deals on flights, hotels, cruises, and vacation packages. With Expedia, you can quickly search and book travel, often at lower prices than when booking direct with the travel provider.

On top of that, you can earn Expedia Rewards points, buy travel insurance, and even spread your payments out over a longer time period with a payment plan. There are a lot of positives when booking with Expedia.

However, booking with any third-party site has its drawbacks, and Expedia’s cancellation policy is one of them. Not because of a policy Expedia created. Rather, canceling or making changes to any itinerary booked with a third party involves a lot of back and forth regarding who you have your booking relationship with.

Airlines and hotels, in particular, will tell you that they cannot help you with your reservation, cancellation, or refund. You will have to go back to the party that booked your travel.

Here’s a detailed guide on Expedia’s cancellation and refund policy for each type of travel you can book with them. This includes airfare, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and vacation packages.

Expedia has different policies depending on the type of vacation service you get with them. Some require signing in to your account and canceling the service from there (hotels, flights, and rental cars) while others require getting in touch with someone from their customer service department (cruises and travel packages).

Expedia Flight Cancellation & Refund Policy

The cancellation process with a flight reservation with Expedia is very straightforward. Below I will walk you through the steps to process your Expedia flight cancellation along with screenshots.

1. Go to expedia.com on your web browser and sign in to your account. On you are signed in, select the Trips button at the top right corner of the page.

2. Click on the itinerary that contains the flight reservation you want to cancel from your list of upcoming trips.

3. Select the booking you want to cancel

4. Click Manage Booking .

5. Click Cancel Booking .

6. Review the refund details and the amount to be refunded. (In this example the flight is canceled within 24 hours of booking so a full refund will be applied).

After you select the “cancel my flight” button, you will receive a confirmation summary that will be sent to you via email.

If you cancel a flight booked through Expedia within 24 hours of booking that flight, you will be eligible to get a full refund. This is a rule mandated by the Department of Transportation .

If you booked the wrong flight or decide to change flights, you may still end up getting charged by the airline. Airlines may also have other rules and restrictions in place, such as requiring you to book a new ticket on the same airline and paying the difference in ticket costs if the cost of the new flight is more expensive than that of the old one.

Many, but not all, airlines have made “no change fees” a part of their policy since COVID-19. However, the “no change policy” usually doesn’t apply to bargain fares, such as Basic Economy or Saver fares. They also typically apply to domestic travel only and not international travel.

Expedia tries to do its best to get any refund owed to you as soon as it can. Nevertheless, while they are the ones who process your cancellation, acting as the mediator between you and their travel partners (e.g. airlines, hotels, cruise ships), it’s still up to the travel partners to process your refund.

For flight cancellations, most refunds are issued within 3-6 weeks. Depending on the airline, however, some refunds may take longer, especially with the high volume of cancellations due to COVID-19.

However, if you cancel your flight within 24 hours, you will get your refund within 7 business days if paid by credit card, and within 20 days if paid by cash or check.

Even if you cancel your flight within 24 hours of buying it or even several days or weeks before your trip, some flights aren’t subject to refunds—even a partial one. Before you book the flight through Expedia, it’s best to check the terms and conditions of the itinerary so you can find out if it’s subject to a refund or not.

Some flights, though they aren’t subject to a refund, have other options so that, even if you cancel, you aren’t at a complete loss. Instead of getting a full or partial refund, you may be able to receive credit for a future flight from the same airline. If you have to cancel your flight, it’s best to cancel as soon as possible so you can still get a refund or travel credit.

For future trips, you may want to apply the “Free Cancellation” and “No change fee filters” when you’re looking to book flights, hotel accommodations, or other trip packages.

Expedia Hotel Cancellation & Refund Policy

The cancellation process with a hotel booking is very straightforward and very similar to canceling a flight with Expedia. Below I will walk you through the steps to cancel along with screenshots.

1. Go to expedia.com on your web browser and sign into your account. Then click on the trips button in the upper right-hand corner to find all of your open trips and bookings.

2. Select the trip you want to cancel or change

3. Go to the reservation details and click on the “Change or cancel hotel booking” button

4. In the “Manage Booking” section you will find 2 buttons. One to change your hotel booking and one to cancel the hotel booking. Either way, you will be directed to a chatbot to work with a virtual agent.

5. The virtual agent will communicate with you in a chat box and help you make the change or cancellation. If you have a non-refundable hotel booking, this is when you will find out you cannot cancel. If the reservation is fully refundable they will finalize the cancellation.

Expedia Hotel Cancellations: The Fine Print

Most of the time, whether or not you can get a refund for a canceled hotel room depends on the rules and restrictions of the hotel. This may also depend on the specific room or type of room you booked. Before booking, it’s always best to read the fine print of your bookings and itinerary and know if your rate is refundable or non-refundable.

One of the biggest problems you can run into when trying to cancel a hotel reservation is if you booked a non-refundable room rate. In an effort to show the lowest price first, Expedia will default to the non-refundable room reservation. If you’re not paying attention, you can book a non-refundable room reservation and not even know it. (Trust me, I have done it before…)

If you accidentally (or intentionally) book a non-refundable room reservation, don’t plan on getting a refund. Hotels are very strict on this policy and very rarely will they even consider the option of a refund when you have a non-refundable reservation.

Expedia will not charge you any money for changing or canceling a hotel room. Some hotels, however, may do so, depending on their rules and regulations. Some hotels might charge a fee for changing or canceling your booking any time between the moment you booked it to within 48 hours of checking in. If you know you plan to cancel, it’s best to act as soon as possible, so you don’t have to pay for all those extra fees.

While most hotels will allow you to change several things free of charge, some changes, including the type of room, the new date of stay, the number of guests, and even check-in and check-out dates, may end up with the hotel charging you additional fees.

The process for canceling rental car reservations is similar to canceling a flight or hotel. You will log into your account, go to “my trips” and manage it from there. Below are the steps you need to follow.

How to Cancel a Rental Car on Expedia

• Go to expedia.com on your web browser.
• Sign in to your account.
• On the menu, click on My Trips .
• Click on the travel itinerary with the car reservation you wish to cancel.
• Click Manage Booking .
• Click Cancel this Car .

Canceling Your Car Reservation Any Time

Unlike flights and hotel room reservations, most rental car reservations allow you to cancel at any time, and they won’t charge you an extra fee or enforce some sort of penalty. However, if you need to make some changes to the car reservation you booked, you will not be able to do so. Instead, you can cancel it and book a new reservation.

In order to cancel an entire vacation package, you will need to contact the customer service department directly at 1-800-551-2534. These trips cannot be canceled online. For canceling or changing individual parts of your vacation, see the sections above.

Expedia will not charge a fee to cancel a hotel, rental car, or activity as part of a vacation package. However, the companies that provide these services may charge you fees to change or cancel them, as per their rules and restrictions (which you can read in your itinerary). These fees are applied on a per-item basis, rather than on the whole general itinerary, so keep that in mind.

Expedia Cruise Cancellation and Refund Policy

Canceling a cruise booked with Expedia is a little more complicated than a flight, hotel, or rental car booking, so you cannot cancel online like you can with those bookings.

If you want to cancel an Expedia cruise, you will have to call the cruise division’s customer support department. Their phone number is 1-888-249-3978. You may also want to contact the specific cruise line that you’re booked with directly since it is ultimately their cancelation policy that will drive the decisions.

When you cancel a cruise, you may have to pay fees for canceling, depending on how far in advance you cancel, what kind of reservation you have, and which cruise line you booked with. You can check the specific cruise lines’ cancellation policies in your itinerary on Expedia.com.

Here is a summary of the cancellation policies for all of the cruise lines that work with Expedia:

AmaWaterways

• For the most up-to-date information on suspended sailings  click here .
• If the recent advisory or relaxed policies do not cover your cruise please refer to these  Cancelation Policies  and  General Conditions, Rules & Regulations .

Avalon Waterways

Carnival Cruise Lines

Celebrity Cruises

Costa Cruise Lines

Crystal Cruises

Disney Cruise Line

Emerald Waterways

Holland America Line

MSC Cruises

Norwegian Cruise Line

• If the recent advisory or relaxed policies do not cover your cruise please refer to these Cancelation Policies and  General Conditions, Rules & Regulations .

Oceania Cruises

• Please refer to these  Cancelation Policies  and  General Conditions, Rules & Regulations .

Princess Cruises

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Royal Caribbean International

Seabourn Cruise Line

Uniworld River Cruises

Viking Ocean Cruises

Viking River Cruises

Summing Up: Expedia’s Cancellation and Refund Policies

When it comes to canceling or changing trips, Expedia’s policies are pretty straightforward. It’s easy to book with them, and it’s also easy to cancel in case you can’t push through with your trip. If you have an account, you can navigate to the itineraries you’ve booked and change or cancel them accordingly. If all else fails, contact their customer service to have things straightened out.

Frequently Asked Questions

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. If you booked a vacation package, canceling the whole package requires canceling your flight and hotel reservation and everything else you booked separately.

If you don’t have an account, you can use the itinerary or confirmation number in your order. You will find this in the email you received when you booked your trip.

No, “Unpublished Rate” hotel rooms can never be changed or canceled.

For hotel accommodations, car rentals, and activities, it may take up to 48 hours to receive your refund. If the hotel is the one that processed the charge, the refund timeline is up to them. For complete vacation packages, since you need to cancel each item separately, each part of the vacation package is also processed separately. Expect the refund to take a little longer than usual.

No. When you book travel with Expedia, you will have to work with them throughout the process including changes and cancellations. The travel provider will just refer you back to Expedia.

Related Content:

Tim is a business road warrior and avid leisure traveler who has flown over two million miles in the air and spent well over a thousand nights in hotels. He enjoys sharing tips, tricks, and hacks to help readers get the most out of their travel experience and learn how to “travel like a pro”!

Reader Interactions

May 14, 2024 at 9:38 am

I booked a 4 night stay in Marrakech through Expedia. Property was advertised as non-smoking and non-refundable. Upon arrival, I was affronted by smoke everywhere. I’ve asked the riad (4+ rating) for a refund, which was refused. I have requested a refund with Expedia, given the circumstances and given that we needed to book other accommodations as I am allergic to smoke (at a vastly increase in $), and have been told by Expedia that they are unable and unwilling to help. Can you suggest another recourse? This laisser-faire attitude on behalf of both parties is unacceptable! Would appreciate any suggestions you can provide.

May 15, 2024 at 8:25 am

Sorry to hear about your experience. There is nothing worse than the smell of smoke in a hotel. One other option you may have is via the credit card you used to book the hotel. If you use a Chase Sapphire card or an AMEX Platinum or another travel credit card, they are generally very good about working with the provider to get a refund. What card did you use?

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Get a quote today., expedia travel insurance: plans, costs, reputation, & services.

Expedia markets itself as “the world’s travel platform.”

In business since 1996, the company has grown to be one of the biggest travel insurance providers in the world.

It has several plans with different coverage levels suitable for a variety of travelers, helping keep its spot as a leading travel insurance company in the industry.

Expedia’s plans can be customized with a variety of add-ons and extra benefits that let travelers make sure they get the best travel insurance for their needs and budget.

Travelers can find out more about the costs of an Expedia travel insurance plan by visiting its website and inputting their personal information, with the details of their planned trip.

The company routinely provides flights and hotels, bundling travel insurance as part of this main offering.

Expedia’s travel insurance is only available for purchase when you book your trip and accommodation with the company.

Aon Affinity Travel Practice, who administers Expedia’s travel insurance policies, has a rating of A+ from the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

This is an indicator of the efficient way this company deals with complaints that are filed against it.

While it had 49 logged complaints within the last 12 months, according to the BBB, the company’s prompt response time is reflected in its A+ rating.

Expedia provides a mobile app which gives its customers the ability to file a claim from anywhere in the world.

It also offers 24/7 telephone support.

While this is a pretty standard offering in the travel insurance industry, it’s a great relief knowing that if you need to talk to your travel insurance provider from a different time zone, you’ll be able to.

An insurance company’s financial stability is regularly overlooked by potential customers, but can often be just as important as analyzing travel insurance reviews.

Expedia’s underwriting company, Stonebridge Casualty, has received a rating of “A” by A. M. Best through its parent organization Transamerica Casualty.

Financial stability should always be something to consider when you’re looking at travel insurance providers .

Expedia Travel Insurance Coverage & Plans

Expedia travel insurance offers a wide variety of coverage plans to ensure protection across a variety of situations.

Each offering has several available levels of coverage, so there’s a big chance you can find something that’s right for you to protect you when you’re away from home.

Expedia travel insurance provides the following types of coverage:

• Comprehensive
• Trip Cancellation/ Interruption
• Accidental Death

Expedia Package Protection

This plan provides trip cancellation and interruption coverage.

It also includes reimbursement for any expenses incurred if your travel is delayed due to mechanical failure, strike, or adverse weather conditions.

This plan also protects you in the event of medical emergencies and can help with the costs of medical expenses and medical transportation.

Baggage and personal property is covered, so any lost, stolen, or damaged items during travel can be replaced.

If a hurricane warning has been issued and you need to change the specifics of your trip, the company may waive cancellation fees and liaise with its partnering companies to waive its associated fees as well.

You can also receive assistance with re-booking the entirety of your trip, including your flight and any activities you may have booked.

Though Expedia only offers one travel insurance plan, the company has a wide range of add-ons.

These include coverage for lost passport and document assistance, emergency cash, translation services, medical case management, and concierge services such as restaurant or event referrals and reservations.

While these add-ons may understandably increase the cost of your travel insurance, they also provide you with a greater degree of protection and offer added value.

Expedia Travel Insurance Costs

Travel insurance generally costs between 4 and 8 percent of the total trip.

While this is the industry standard, the actual costs of your travel insurance usually depend on the level of coverage you select and how comprehensive your plan is.

Travel insurance companies base their actuarial math on several factors.

The length of the trip is a significant determiner, as the longer you’re traveling, the more likely adverse calamities could occur. Destination dramatically impacts the price as well.

If you’re visiting an area with a high crime rates, political unrest, or poor infrastructure, to name just a few, insurance providers may view you as a higher risk. The age of the policyholder can also influence the price of the premium.

Generally, consumers aged 70 or over can expect to pay considerably more for their travel insurance.

The price of travel insurance is calculated based on risk, and the older you are, the more your risk increases in the eyes of the insurance providers.

Travelers can get a quote from Expedia by visiting its website and providing precise details of the trip that they plan on making.

Expedia doesn’t have annual options available, so it may not be possible to get a standard rate year in year out.

There’s no minimum age limit for insuring children via this company, though dependents are covered under their parents’ policy.

Expedia only refunds policies purchased ten days before the trip, provided no claims have been made.

Customer Reviews & Reputation

Before purchasing any travel insurance policy, it’s important to look at the insurer’s reviews, to gain insight into the company should you need its services on your trip.

Expedia (through Aon Affinity) has been awarded the Better Business Bureau’s highest rating of A+.

Though this rating is not uncommon, it is noteworthy that Aon Affinity has closed 49 complaints in the past 12 months.

This high volume of complaints can be attributed to the fact that this company is quite a large insurance provider.

Customer Assistance Services

When you take out a travel insurance plan with Expedia, you benefit from 24/7 support and access to its mobile app, with paperless claim filing available.

Choosing a travel insurance company that has modern interfaces is always a good choice, as instant access can significantly reduce your stress should something go wrong on your trip.

Another critical aspect to consider, and one which may not initially cross your mind, is whether the insurance company you choose has 24/7 support available.

This is particularly important for travel to far removed time zones from your own.

Expedia also provides additional concierge services such as ground transportation, up to the minute travel advice, and event or restaurant referrals and bookings.

Expedia Travel Insurance Financial Stability

Financial stability is an essential factor to consider when choosing an insurance company.

Dedicated credit rating agencies such as A.M Best, Standard and Poor’s, and Moody’s analyze insurance companies and report their findings, publishing results regularly.

Good ratings with any of these are generally indicative of a company’s ability to meet its obligations.

Expedia is underwritten by Stonebridge Casualty, a subsidiary of Transamerica Casualty, which has received a rating of A from A. M. Best.

This high rating shows that the backing company can meet its ongoing insurance obligations.

If there were any concerns with the quality of the coverage offered by this company, or of its ability to make good on claims, A. M. Best would have a lower rating.

Expedia Travel Insurance Phone Number & Contact Information

• Homepage URL : https://www.expedia.com/
• Provider Phone : (877) 227-7481
• Headquarters Address : 333 108th Ave NE Ste 300, Bellevue, WA 98004-5736
• Year Founded : 1996

Best Alternatives to Expedia Travel Insurance

Not satisfied with what Expedia has to offer? These companies provide great travel insurance alternatives:

Additional Providers

There are several other travel insurance providers that deserve consideration as well which you can see in our Best Travel Insurance Companies article.

These companies didn’t make our list of top providers but we have created some more detailed reviews  that you can view below:

• Allianz Travel Insurance Review
• Aon Travel Insurance Review
• Carnival Travel Insurance Review
• Chubb Travel Insurance Review
• CSA Travel Insurance Review
• Expedia Travel Insurance Review
• Hotwire Travel Insurance Review
• IMG Travel Insurance Review
• InsureMyTrip Travel Insurance Review
• JetBlue Travel Insurance Review
• John Hancock Travel Insurance Review
• Medjet Medical Transport Insurance Review
• Orbitz Travel Insurance Review
• Patriot Travel Insurance Review
• Priceline Travel Insurance Review
• Progressive Travel Insurance Review
• Red Sky Travel Insurance Review
• Ripcord Travel Insurance Review
• Travel Insured International
• Travelex Travel Insurance Review
• USAA Travel Insurance Review
• USI Affinity Travel Insurance Review 
• World Nomads Travel Insurance Review

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Explore > Company > News > Got questions about your travel plans? Here’s what you should know if you’re changing or canceling a trip due to COVID-19

Got questions about your travel plans? Here’s what you should know if you’re changing or canceling a trip due to COVID-19

We’re here to help answer your questions about making changes to your existing travel plans due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Please read the latest updates below and visit our Customer Service Portal for online tools to help you change or cancel travel plans.

Latest Updates

We will keep this page regularly updated to ensure we are providing the latest guidance, travel suggestions, and links to pertinent coronavirus information.

June 26, 2020

Interstate Travel Quarantines:

• The travel quarantine announced on June 24, 2020 by the Governor of New York means travelers returning to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut from 8 U.S. states will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days. Those states are: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Texas.
• Governor of Hawaii announced on June 24, 2020 that all travelers arriving in Hawaii from out-of-state will be required to get a valid COVID-19 test prior to their arrival, and to show proof of a negative test result, to avoid the 14-day quarantine. The pre-travel testing program begins August 1.
• Customers who wish to change or modify travel plans due to these travel quarantines should review the terms and conditions of their air and/or hotel bookings to see what they are eligible for.
• Many airlines are allowing customers to cancel without penalty one time per ticket and receive a flight credit or change the date of their travel. Customers can cancel and view their airline’s policies by heading to their My Trips page and using self-service links in their itineraries.
• In some cases, customers with non-refundable hotel bookings may be eligible for a voucher (based on the property’s policies). Refundable bookings can be canceled in My Trips .

July Travel Dates:

• Customers with air travel booked for the month of July who wish to cancel may be eligible to cancel without penalty and receive a flight credit. Most customers with July travel would have received an email allowing them to cancel for a credit. Travelers can also cancel themselves using self-service tools in My Trips .
• For hotels, many of our travel partners continue to review and update their policies. Check My Trips to see if your reservation qualifies for free cancellation. If your reservation does not qualify, you can still cancel your reservation, but standard cancellation policies will apply.

May 27, 2020

June Travel Dates:

• Customers with international lodging bookings, as well as those with lodging bookings at select domestic properties, who are scheduled to begin their stay on or before June 30, 2020 and booked prior to March 19, 2020, will be eligible for a full refund or, in some cases, a voucher allowing them to rebook the original property at later dates. For options on how to manage your itinerary, head here:  https://www.expedia.com/service
• Customers who booked a non-refundable rate for a stay scheduled to begin after June 30, 2020 , should continue to check our site for updates. As the situation evolves, we will continue working with travel partners as necessary to implement flexible policies.

May 8, 2020

Information for travelers that purchased travel insurance:

• The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared COVID-19 a global emergency and a pandemic. For more information on what may or may not be covered related to COVID-19, please click  here for United States residents , and  here for non-US residents .

If I intend to file a claim, do I still need to cancel my travel booking?

• Yes, if you are not planning to travel due to COVID-19, you should cancel your travel before your travel start date to ensure that you do not forfeit any refunds, vouchers, or credits offered by the travel suppliers. You can initiate cancellations and check booking status by logging in to your online itinerary at   My Trips .
• If your travel is not immediate, please note that you may want to check back closer to your travel date as cancellation policies continue to evolve.

How do I submit a claim?

• Please visit the AIG website to submit a claim directly. Be sure to have your policy or itinerary number handy, as well as the last name the booking is under. Please note that AIG is currently processing insurance claims in order of trip date.

If you have any additional questions regarding your insurance policy, please connect with AIG .

Information for travelers that purchased Vacation Waiver:

• If you purchased Vacation Waiver we’ll reimburse you for any change or cancellation fees you are charged by a travel provider. If there are no change or cancellation fees involved in changing or cancelling your travel plans, then there is nothing additional for Vacation Waiver to provide.

April 24, 2020

May Travel Dates:

• If you are traveling between now and May 31, 2020, we have new options to cancel your trip online at  Expedia.com/trips  or you can submit our cancellation form at  Expedia.com/travel-alert-refunds . If none of the above solutions worked, and your trip begins within the next 10 days, use the “Contact Us” button at the top of expedia.com/service to speak directly with an agent. There are still currently extremely high hold times, so please do not call if you are not departing in the next 10 days so that we can better support travelers with more imminent needs.
• Now that the impacts of COVID-19 on travel plans are more widely known, and our teams have worked hard to ensure customers are able to manage their bookings via robust self-service tools, we are putting some of our previous cancellation policies back into place. For example, if a lodging booking has a cancellation window in May, we expect travelers to abide by that cancellation window to avoid penalties.
• We will continue to notify customers as their cancellation window approaches. We encourage travelers to review their plans and let us know if they intend to travel or not.

Update for travelers with tickets booked on Qantas (travel before July 31):

• For those of you with bookings on Qantas, they have extended and simplified their flight credits for customers with impacted travel plans. If you’re due to travel on a Qantas flight before July 31, 2020 and wish to change your plans, you can cancel your booking and retain the full value as a flight credit. Change fees will also be waived when you are ready to re-book. Flight credits must be requested by April 30, 2020.
• Customers traveling beyond May 31, 2020 who are unable to self-service online—we will reach out to round-trip ticket holders directly via email to give you the option to cancel your flight for credit. Please be sure to keep an eye out and to check your spam/junk mail.

April 17, 2020

Update for travelers with tickets booked on United (June travel and beyond):

• For tickets issued on or before March 2, 2020 with travel scheduled for June 1-Dec 31, 2020, travelers must change or cancel by April 30, 2020 to ensure your change fees are waived and to receive two years to use the airline credit we will issue to you on their behalf. If you aren’t ready to re-book, no worries! Just make sure you cancel the flight for the credit. We’ll be sending out an email to you in the next few days to make it easy for you to do this, so please keep an eye out and check your junk mail. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your request to our Travel Alert Refund form , there’s nothing else you need to do as we’ll process that for you.
• If you booked a round-trip ticket but only one of your flights is with United, you will still need to cancel that individual leg of the flight separately even if the other leg doesn’t currently have a policy in place. Once your other flight qualifies for a flex policy, you’ll be able to cancel that one without a penalty. You can directly cancel that segment of your flight here: expedia.com/trips
• Please note that should you choose to cancel your flight for an airline credit, you waive your right to any potential refund that might have been offered in the event your flight is canceled by the airline later. However, if you wait you may not be able to change your ticket without penalty unless United issues further flex policies.

April 16, 2020

If I booked a non-refundable ticket, am I still eligible for a refund?

• Policies will vary by carrier. Many airlines are issuing flex policies that offer flight credits for non-refundable travel through the end of May and eliminate cancellation and change fees. The easiest way to find out what your travel is eligible for is to check the airline’s website.
• In some cases airlines are required to provide a refund when a flight is canceled or significantly delayed by the airline and no alternate flight is provided. For this to apply, a traveler usually must have an active ticket on that flight at the time it’s canceled by the carrier. If the flights are still operating and the traveler elects to cancel a non-refundable ticket, any refund, credit or voucher will be at the airline’s discretion based on their policies.
• Unfortunately, travelers who are under ‘stay at home’ orders or otherwise prevented from traveling are not entitled to a refund.
• If an airline cancels a flight, our customer service team will reach out to impacted travelers directly to provide an update.
• If you believe you’re eligible for a refund and you received a flight credit instead, you can get in touch with us and we’ll work with you and the airline to determine your eligibility.

When will I get my refund?

• For hotel bookings, please note that refunds may take up to 30 days to process due to the unprecedented volume of travel disruptions. If the hotel processed the charge, they’ll determine the refund timeline. With the significant increase in flight cancellations across the travel industry, most refunds will be issued within 8 weeks. Some refunds could take longer depending on the airline.

General tips for travelers who still need or want to get away despite COVID-19

Travelers should try to adhere to the guidance from government and public health officials to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The U.S. State Department has also warned Americans to no longer travel abroad. Of course, traveler safety is the most important thing so ultimately, it’s up to you to determine what’s best for you and your family. If you still need or want to travel, consider the following:

• Stay informed. As a first step in planning any trip, check the Global Health and Travel Advisories for your intended destination. As the situation continues to evolve, airlines may change or reschedule flights.
• Check your local airport to find out if there is specific travel advice for passengers. Depending on your departure or arrival airport, there may be additional security checks so allow yourself plenty of time to get checked in and to your gate.
• Many airlines are offering flexible change policies for new travel booked. For a limited time due to COVID-19, many trusted airline partners including American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue and United Airlines are waiving change fees on eligible new bookings. Consider filtering for these air carriers and providers when searching on sites like Expedia.
• Book refundable hotels for any trips you are planning. Many hotels on Expedia offer free cancellation, and we’ve made it easy to find refundable hotels vs. non-refundable options. Use the “free cancellation” payment type filter to easily find options within your travel window and price point. Prices can vary, but right now we believe that flexibility matters.
• Check your travel insurance policy to see if changes and cancellations due to unforeseen events like coronavirus are covered. If you purchased travel protection through Expedia, you can learn more about your coverage  here .
• If you’re traveling for an event, double check to see if it’s been postponed or canceled.

More Customer Resources

For the most up-to-date traveler advisories and information on cancellations and refunds from Expedia, visit the customer service portal.

• Customer Service Portal: Expedia

For answers to some of the most asked COVID-19 traveler questions including steps you should take to plan future trips, visit the Expedia FAQ page.

• FAQ Page: Expedia

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Expedia's so-called Trip Protection package is a scam. It's expensive and its coverage is limited to health emergencies.

I made the mistake of buying it, and it cost me dearly.

Don't buy it!

175 replies to this topic

you bought a policy without reading what was included??

What did you expect that you did not get? Please clarify

Another case of an OP not reading what he bought and calling it a scam. Blaming someone else is the true American pastime, not baseball. Last time I bought trip insurance, it covered health, jury duty, job layoff, terrorism, environmental issues, carrier no longer providing the service, etc. Just read it again to make sure.

Expedia's policy would never be a "cancel for any reason you please" policy.

Those are VERY expensive!! Most policies cover cancelling for very specific reasons that are always listed before you buy.

I don’t doubt that the insurance provided by Expedia was very limited. The real problem is not reading the policy before purchasing the insurance.

So not a scam. Just not very good value.

A bit like champagne.

Expensive is a matter of perspective. A health emergency in a foreign country can indeed be very expensive. You would be singing quite a bit different tune if you did in fact have a health emergency and the insurance covered the health insurance.

A health emergency in a foreign country can indeed be very expensive.

----------------

It would be less expensive than in the US for sure.

They are talking about cancelling for a health emergency prior, not getting emergency medical insurance while in destination.

Unless your elderly, spending a ton of money on travel, or don't have health insurance I would recommend avoiding trip insurance. Most travel insurance is hard to get reimbursement for and they require very specific things to warrant paying out.

I have Kaiser health insurance and they cover me inside and outside the United States. My Visa travel credit card offers trip protection and baggage protection. I also travel alone, so I only have to worry about myself.

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After a last-minute flight cancellation last year, I'm making travel insurance a priority this summer

Affiliate links for the products on this page are from partners that compensate us (see our advertiser disclosure with our list of partners for more details). However, our opinions are our own. See how we rate insurance products to write unbiased product reviews.

• When my flight was canceled last year, I had to get a layover and lost my more expensive seat.
• This year, I'm getting travel insurance, which will cover me if my flight is canceled.
• My travel insurance was just $36, and I'll get hundreds back if something goes wrong.

Last year, I got the chance to attend the charity video game marathon Summer Games Done Quick in person for the first time. I had been a longtime viewer of the event through its online streams, and I was excited to finally go there in person.

The event was held in downtown Minneapolis, and I decided to fly there from my home in Virginia. I knew that travel insurance was valuable, but I opted to forgo it. I've never felt comfortable squeezing into most airplane seats, and I was happy to pay a bit extra for several more inches of legroom, but I didn't really want another expense on top of that.

That turned out to be a big mistake.

My flight got canceled at the last minute

Games Done Quick — which hosts two major events each year, one in the winter and one in the summer — is a weeklong event raising money for charity, running from the afternoon on a Sunday to the end of the following Saturday. I planned on flying out on Saturday and returning on Monday, so I'd have a little bit of time to get settled in before the event started and time to recuperate once it was over, and I had direct flights for both legs of the trip.

The first leg of the trip went great. I arrived right on time, and I caught a ride to the hotel where one of several friends I was sharing a room with had already checked in. I had a great week, even if my sleep schedule suffered. And I figured since I'd given myself an extra day after the end of the event to recover, I'd be fully refreshed once I got back home. When Sunday rolled around and the final tally for the event came in — over $2.2 million raised for Doctors Without Borders — I was sad that the week was over but ready to get home.

On Monday morning, while I was packing, I got an email letting me know that my flight had been canceled, and the flight suggested as a replacement wouldn't leave until Tuesday. There was no way that would work. Thankfully, the employee I spoke to over the phone was very helpful, but the only available flight had a long layover in Dallas — and no open seats in the section I had originally planned on sitting in.

I didn't really have much of a choice at that point. I couldn't spring for a last-minute extra night at a hotel. I had to take the layover and sacrifice the leg room.

This year, I'm getting travel insurance

I was thankful to finally get home close to midnight, but I was barely functional the next day, and I was frustrated that there wasn't a better solution. The fee for the section where I had booked my ticket wasn't very expensive at $43, but it was less about the money and more about the fact that I had more or less been locked into a bad deal with no real way out.

That's why, when I bought my plane tickets for this year's event, I opted to get travel insurance. I booked my flight through Delta, and while checking out, the website quoted a price of $36 for Allianz travel insurance . I opted to take that offer.

My coverage includes up to $300 if my trip is delayed, and I can get a full refund if it's canceled. If I have another flight cancellation, instead of having to take whatever replacement is available to me, I'll be able to take some time to figure out my best option. My travel insurance also means the trip is fully covered if it's canceled outright due to illness, and I'm also covered if my luggage is lost or damaged.

Obviously, there's never any guarantee that travel will go perfectly — any number of unforeseen problems could make a trip go poorly, and travel insurance won't cover all of them. But there's nothing quite as frustrating as a last-minute flight mishap, and I'm relieved to know that if anything goes wrong, I'll have a bit more leeway to make sure I'm getting the best solution.

Watch: Thousands of bags pile up at US airports after flight cancellations

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11 Best Travel Insurance Companies in June 2024

Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us. This influences which products we write about and where and how the product appears on a page. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money .

If the past few years have shown us anything, it’s that travelers need to be prepared for the unexpected — from a pandemic to flight troubles to the crowded airport terminals so many of us have encountered.

If you don't have sufficient travel insurance coverage via your credit card , you can supplement your policies with third-party plans.

Whether you’re looking for an international travel insurance plan, emergency medical care or a policy that includes extreme sports, these are the best travel insurance providers to get you covered.

How we found the best travel insurance

We looked at quotes from various companies for a 10-day trip to Mexico in September 2024. The traveler was a 55-year-old woman from Florida who spent $3,000 total on the trip, including airfare.

On average, the price of each company’s most basic coverage plan was $126.53. The costs displayed below do not include optional add-ons, such as Cancel For Any Reason coverage or pre-existing medical condition coverage.

Read our full analysis about the average cost of travel insurance so you can budget better for your next trip.

However, depending on the plan, you may be able to customize at an added cost.

As we continue to evaluate more travel insurance companies and receive fresh market data, this collection of best travel insurance companies is likely to change. See our full methodology for more details.

Best insurance companies

Types of travel insurance

What does travel insurance cover, what’s not covered, how much does it cost, do i need travel insurance, how to choose the best travel insurance policy, what are the top travel destinations in 2024, more resources for travel insurance shoppers.

Top credit cards with travel insurance

Methodology

Best travel insurance overall: berkshire hathaway travel protection.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection

• ExactCare Value (basic) plan is among the least expensive we surveyed.
• Speciality plans available for road trips, luxury travel, adventure activities, flights and cruises.
• Company may reimburse claimants faster than average, including possible same-day compensation.
• Multiple "Trip Delay" coverage types might make claims confusing.
• Cheapest plan only includes fixed amounts for its coverage.

Under the direction of chair and CEO Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has been around since 2014. Its plans provide numerous opportunities for travelers to customize coverage to their needs.

At $135 for our sample trip, the ExactCare Value (basic) plan from Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection offers protection roughly $10 above the average price.

Want something cheaper? Air travelers looking for inexpensive, less comprehensive protections might opt for a basic AirCare plan that includes fixed amounts for its coverage .

Read our full review of Berkshire Hathaway .

What else makes Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection great:

Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waivers available at nearly all plan levels. 

Plans available for travelers going on a cruise, participating in extreme sports or taking a luxury trip.

ExactCare Value (basic) plan was among the least expensive we surveyed.

Best for emergency medical coverage: Allianz Global Assistance

Annual or single-trip policies are available.

• Multiple types of insurance available.
• All plans include access to a 24/7 assistance hotline.
• More expensive than average.
• CFAR upgrades are not available.
• Rental car protection is only available by adding the One Trip Rental Car protector to your plan or by purchasing a standalone rental car plan.

Allianz Global Assistance is a reputable travel insurance company offering plans for over 25 years. Customers can choose from a variety of single and annual policies to fit their needs. On top of comprehensive coverage, some travelers might opt for the more affordable OneTrip Cancellation Plus, which is geared toward domestic travelers looking for trip protections but don’t need post-departure benefits like emergency medical or baggage lost.

For our test trip, Allianz Global Assistance’s basic coverage cost $149, about $22 above average.

What else makes Allianz Global Assistance great:

Annual and single-trip plans.

Plans are available for international and domestic trips.

Stand-alone and add-on rental car damage product available.

Read our full review of Allianz Global Assistance .

Best for travelers with pre-existing medical conditions: Travel Guard by AIG

Travel Guard by AIG

• Offers last-minute coverage.
• Pre-Existing Medical Conditions Exclusion Waiver available at all plan levels.
• Plan available for business travelers.
• Cancel For Any reason coverage only available for higher-level plans, and only reimburses up to 50% of the trip cost.
• Trip interruption coverage doesn't apply to trips paid for with points and miles.

Travel Guard by AIG offers a variety of plans and coverages to fit travelers’ needs. On top of more standard trip protections like trip cancellation, interruption, baggage and medical coverage, the Cancel For Any Reason upgrade is available on certain Travel Guard plans, which allows you to cancel a trip for any reason and get 50% of your nonrefundable deposit back as long as the trip is canceled at least two days before the scheduled departure date.

At $107 for our sample trip, the Essential plan was below average, saving roughly $20.

What else makes Travel Guard by AIG great:

Three comprehensive plans and a Pack N' Go plan for last-minute travelers who don't need cancellation benefits.

Flight protection, car rental, and medical evacuation coverage, as well as annual plans available.

Pre-existing medical conditions exclusion waiver available on all plan levels, as long as it's purchased within 15 days.

Read our full review of Travel Guard by AIG .

Best for those who pack expensive equipment: Travel Insured International

Travel Insured International

• Higher-level plan include optional add-ons for event tickets and for electronic equipment
• Rental car protection add-on for just $8 per day, even on lower-level plan.
• Many of the customizations are only available on the higher-tier plan.
• Coverage cost comes in above average in our latest analysis.

Travel Insured International offers several customization options. For instance, those going to see a show may want to add on event ticket registration fee protection. Traveling with expensive gear?Consider adding on coverage for electronic equipment for up to $2,000 in coverage.

Be sure to check which policies are available in your state. You will need to input your destination, residence, trip dates and the number of travelers to get a quote and see coverages.

What else makes Travel Insured International great:

Comprehensive plans include medical expense reimbursement accidents, sickness, evacuation and pre-existing conditions, depending on the plan.

Flight plans include coverage for missed and canceled flights and lost or stolen baggage.

Read our full review of Travel Insured International .

Best for adventurous travelers: World Nomads

World Nomads

• Travelers can extend coverage mid-trip.
• The standard plan covers up to $300,000 in emergency evacuation costs.
• Plans automatically cover 200+ adventurous activities.
• No Cancel For Any Reason upgrades are available.
• No pre-existing medical condition waivers are available.

Many travel insurance plans contain exclusions for adventure sports activities. If you plan to ski, bungee jump, windsurf or parasail, this might be a plan to consider.

Note that the Standard plan ($72 for our sample trip), while the most affordable, provides less coverage than other plans. But it can be a good choice for travelers who are satisfied with trip cancellation and interruption coverage of $2,500 or less, do not need rental car damage protection, find the limits to be sufficient and do not need coverage for certain more adventurous activities.

What else makes World Nomads great:

Comprehensive international travel insurance plans.

Coverage available for adventure activities, such as trekking, mountain biking and scuba diving.

Read our full review of World Nomads .

Best for medical coverage: Travelex Insurance Services

Travelex Insurance Services

• Top-tier plan doesn’t break the bank and provides more customization opportunities.
• Offers a plan specifically for domestic travel.
• Sells a post-departure medical coverage plan.
• Fewer customization opportunities on the Basic plan.
• Though perhaps a plus for domestic travelers, keep in mind the Travel America plan only covers domestic trips.

For starters, basic coverage from Travelex Insurance Services came in at $125, almost exactly average for our sample trip.

Travelex’s plans focus heavily on providing protections that are personalized to your travel style and trip type.

While the company does offer comprehensive plans that include medical benefits, you can also choose between cheaper plans that don’t provide cancellation coverage but do offer protections during your travels.

Read our full review of Travelex Insurance Services .

What else makes Travelex Insurance Services great:

Three comprehensive plans available, two of which cover international trips.

Offers a post-departure plan geared exclusively toward disruptions after you leave home.

Two flight insurance plans available.

Best if you have travel credit card coverage: Seven Corners

Seven Corners

• Annual, medical-only and backpacker plans are available.
• Cancel For Any Reason upgrade is available for the cheapest plan.
• Cheapest plan also features a much less costly Interruption for Any Reason add-on.
• Offers only one annual policy option.

Each Seven Corners plan offers several optional add-ons. Among the more unique is a Trip Interruption for Any Reason, which allows you to interrupt a trip 48 hours after the scheduled departure date (for any reason) and receive a refund of up to 75% of your unused nonrefundable deposits.

» Jump to the best cards with travel insurance

The basic coverage plan for our trip to Mexico costs $124 — right around the average.

What else makes Seven Corners great:

Comprehensive plans for U.S. residents and foreigners, including travelers visiting the U.S.

Cheap add-ons for rental car damage, sporting equipment rental or trip interruption for any reason.

Read our full review of Seven Corners .

Best for long-term travelers: IMG

• Coverage available for adventure travelers.
• Offers direct billing.
• Claim approval can be lengthy.

While some travel insurance companies offer just a handful of plans, with IMG, you’ll really have your pick. Though this requires a bit more research, it allows you to search for coverage that fits your travel needs.

However, travelers will want to be aware that IMG’s iTravelInsured Travel Lite is expensive. Coming in at $149.85, it’s the costliest plan on our list.

Read our full review of IMG .

What else makes IMG great:

More affordable than average.

Many plans to choose from to fit your needs.

Best for travelers with unpredictable work demands: Tin Leg

• In addition Cancel For Any Reason, some plans offer cancel for work reason coverage.
• Adventure sports-specific coverage is available.
• Plans have overlap that can be hard to distinguish.
• Only one plan includes Rental Car Damage coverage available as an add-on.

Tin Leg’s Basic plan came in at $134 for our sample trip, adding about $8 onto the average basic policy cost. Note that you’ll pay a lot more if you shop for the most comprehensive coverage, and there are eight plans to choose from for trips abroad.

The multitude of plans can help you find coverage that fits your needs, but with so many to choose from, deciding can be daunting.

The only real way to figure out your ideal plan is to compare them all, look at the plan details and decide which features and coverage suit you and your travel style best.

Read our full Tin Leg review .

Best for booking travel with points and miles: TravelSafe

• Covers up to $300 redepositing points and miles on eligible canceled award flights.
• Optional add-on protection for business equipment or sports rentals.
• Multi-trip or year-long plans aren’t available.

Selecting your travel insurance plan with TravelSafe is a fairly straightforward process. The company’s website also makes it easy to visualize how optional add-on elements influence the total cost, displaying the final price as soon as you click the coverage.

However, at $136, the Basic plan was among the more expensive for our trip to Mexico.

What else makes TravelSafe great:

Rental car damage coverage add-on is available on both plans.

Cancel For Any Reason coverage available on the TravelSafe Classic plan.

Read our full TravelSafe review .

Best for group travel insurance: HTH Insurance

HTH Travel Insurance

• Covers travelers up to 95 years old.
• Includes direct pay option so members can avoid having to pay up front for services.
• A 24-hour delay is required for baggage delay coverage on the TripProtector Economy plan.
• No waivers for pre-existing conditions on the lower-level plan.

HTH offers single-trip and multitrip medical insurance coverage as well as trip protection plans.

At around $125, the Trip Protector Economy policy is at the average mark for plans we reviewed.

You can choose to insure group trips for educators, crew, religious missionaries and corporate travelers.

What else makes HTH Insurance great:

Medical-only coverage and trip protection coverage.

Lots of options for group travelers.

Read our full review of HTH Insurance .

As you shop for travel insurance, you’ll find many of the same coverage categories across numerous plans.

Trip cancellation

This covers the prepaid costs you make for your trip in cases when you need to cancel for a covered reason. This coverage helps you recoup upfront costs paid for flights and nonrefundable hotel reservations.

Trip interruption

Trip interruption benefits generally involve disruptions after you depart. It helps reimburse costs incurred for flight delays, cancellations and plenty of other covered disruptions you might encounter during your travels.

This coverage can cover the costs for you to return home or reimburse unexpected expenses like an extra hotel stay, meals and ground transportation.

Trip delay coverage helps cover unexpected costs when your trip is delayed. This is another coverage that helps offset the costs of flight trouble or other travel disruptions.

Note that many policies have a total amount a traveler can claim, with caps on per diem benefits, too.

Cancel For Any Reason

Cancel For Any Reason coverage allows you to recoup some of the upfront costs you paid for a trip even if you’re canceling for a reason not otherwise covered by your standard travel insurance policy.

Typically, adding this protection to your plan costs extra.

Baggage delay

This coverage helps cover the costs of essential items you might need when your luggage is delayed. Think toiletries, clothing and other immediate items you might need if your luggage didn’t make it on your flight.

Many travel insurance plans with baggage delay protection will specify how long (six, 12, 24 hours, etc.) your luggage must be delayed before you can make a claim.

Lost baggage

Used for travelers whose luggage is lost or stolen, this helps recoup the lost value of the items in your bag.

You’ll want to make sure you closely follow the correct procedures for your plan. Many plans include a maximum total amount you can claim under this coverage and a per-item cap.

Travel medical insurance

This covers out-of-pocket medical costs when travelers run into an emergency.

Because many travelers’ health insurance plans don’t cover medical care overseas, travel medical insurance can help offset out-of-pocket health care costs.

In addition to emergency medical coverage, many plans have medical evacuation or repatriation coverage for costs incurred when you must be taken to a hospital or return to your home country because of a medical situation.

Most travel insurance plans cover many trip protections that can help you be prepared for unexpected travel disruptions and expenses.

These coverages are generally aimed at protecting the money you put into your trip, expenses you incur because of travel trouble and costs incurred if you have a medical emergency overseas.

On top of core coverages like trip cancellation and interruption and travel medical coverage, some plans offer add-on options like waivers for pre-existing conditions, rental car collision damage waivers or adventure sports riders. These usually cost extra or must be added within a specified timeframe.

Typical travel insurance policies offer coverage for many unforeseen events, but as you research to select a plan, consider your needs. Though every plan differs, there are some commonly excluded coverages.

For instance, you typically can’t get coverage for a named storm if you bought the coverage after the storm was named. In other words, if you have a trip to the Caribbean booked for Sept. 25 and on Sept. 20 a hurricane develops and is named, you generally won’t be able to buy a travel insurance plan Sept. 21 in hopes of getting your money back.

Many plans also don’t cover activities performed under the influence of drugs or alcohol or any extreme sports. If the latter applies to you, you might want to consider a plan with specific coverages for adventure-seekers.

For numerous plans, a few other situations don’t qualify as an acceptable reason to cancel and make a claim, such as fear of travel, medical tourism or pregnancies (unless you booked a trip and bought insurance before you became pregnant or there are complications with the pregnancy). This is where a Cancel For Any Reason add-on to your coverage can be helpful.

You can also run into trouble if you give up on a trip too soon: a minor (or even multihour) flight delay likely isn’t sufficient to cancel your entire trip and get reimbursed through your plan. Be sure to review what requirements your specific plan has when it comes to canceling a trip, claiming trip interruption, etc.

Travel insurance costs vary widely. The final price of your plan will fluctuate based on your age, length of trip and destination.

It will also depend on how much coverage you need, whether you add on specialized policies (like Cancel For Any Reason or pre-existing conditions coverage), whether you plan to participate in extreme sports and other factors.

In our examples above, for instance, the 35-year-old traveler taking a $2,000 trip to Italy would have spent an average $76 for a basic plan to get coverage for things like trip cancellation and interruption, baggage protection, etc. That’s a little less than 4% of the total trip cost — lower than average.

If there were multiple members in a traveling party or if they were going on, say, a rock-climbing or bungee-jumping excursion, the costs would go up.

On average, travel insurance comes to about 5% to 10% of the trip cost. However, considering many of the plans reimburse up to 100% of the trip cost (or more) for disruptions like trip cancellation or interruption, it can be a worthwhile expense if something goes wrong.

It depends. Consider the following factors that might affect your decision: You’re young and healthy, all your bookings are refundable or cancelable without a penalty, your flights are nonstop, you’re not checking bags and a credit card you carry offers some travel protections . In that case, travel insurance might not be necessary.

On the other hand, if you prepaid a large chunk of money for a nonrefundable African safari, you’re going on a Caribbean cruise in the middle of a hurricane season or you’re going somewhere where the cost of health care is high, it’s not a bad idea to buy a travel insurance plan. Here’s how to find the best travel insurance coverage for you.

If you’re thinking of booking a trip and not planning to buy travel insurance, you may want to consider at least booking refundable airfare and not prepaying for hotel, rental car and activity reservations. That way, if something goes wrong, you can cancel without losing any money.

Selecting the best travel insurance policy comes down to your needs, concerns, preferences and budget.

As you book, take a few minutes to consider what most concerns you. Is it getting stranded because of flight trouble? Having the ability to cancel for any reason you see fit without losing money? Getting sick or injured right before departure and needing to postpone the trip? Injuring yourself or falling ill while overseas?

Ultimately, you want a plan that protects you, your money and the large investment in your trip — but doesn’t cost too much, either.

Medical coverage. If your priority is having adequate medical coverage abroad, you might want to look for plans with high limits for medical emergencies and medical evacuation.

Complex travel itinerary. If your itinerary has lots of flight connections, prepaid hotels and deposits for activities you can’t get back, prioritizing a plan with the best coverage for trip cancellations or interruptions may land at the top of your list.

Travel uncertainty. If you’re on the fence about a trip and have nonrefundable reservations, you may want to select a plan with a Cancel For Any Reason coverage option, which can help you recoup about 50% to 75% of the costs. This helps provide peace of mind, placing the decision on whether to travel entirely in your hands.

Car rentals. If you’re renting a car, a collision damage waiver is often worth looking into.

The following destinations are the top insured destinations in 2024, according to Squaremouth (a NerdWallet partner).

The Bahamas.

Costa Rica.

Antarctica.

In 2022, travelers spent about 25.53% more on trips than they did before the pandemic.

As of December, NerdWallet analysis determined travel prices are 10% higher than pre-pandemic. Each statistic makes a strong case for protecting your travel investment as you plan your next trip.

Bookmark these resources to help you make smart money moves as you shop for travel insurance.

What is travel insurance?

CFAR explained.

Is travel insurance worth getting?

10 credit cards that provide travel insurance.

We used the following factors to choose insurance providers to highlight:

Breadth of coverage: We looked at how many plans each company offered plus the range of their standard plans. 

Depth of coverage: We considered two data points to get a sense of how much each company pays out for common travel issues — the maximum caps for trip cancellation and trip interruption claims.

Cost: By looking at the costs for basic coverage across multiple companies, we determined an average cost for shoppers to benchmark plan prices against.

Customizability: While standard plans can cover a lot of ground, sometimes you need something a little more personal.

Customer satisfaction. Using data from Squaremouth when available, and Google Reviews as a backup, we can give kudos to companies with better track records from their clients.

No, it doesn’t necessarily get more expensive the longer you wait to purchase. However, as you put off buying insurance, you may lose access to potential plans and coverage options.

In general, buying travel insurance within a few days to two weeks of prepaying or making an initial deposit for your trip is your best bet. Assuming you’re not booking last-minute, this will provide you with access to the widest possible range of coverage options. It also helps prevent any medical conditions or storms that pop up between booking and buying a plan from ending up as excluded situations, which won’t be covered by your plan.

But, generally, many plans do allow you to buy coverage quite close to your departure date.

To get the most out of your travel insurance plan, buy it soon after making your initial prepayment or deposit to ensure you have access to the biggest menu of plans possible.

Select a plan that’s comprehensive enough to cover the travel scenarios you’re most concerned about or likely to encounter but not too expensive or laden with protections you’d never likely need.

Whatever your coverage, thoroughly review the plan so you understand what’s covered and what’s not, plus how to adhere to the plan’s rules for making a claim.

Travelers frequently use phrases like “trip insurance” and “travel insurance,” as well as “trip protection,” interchangeably, but they do mean different things, according to Stan Sandberg, founder of insurance comparison site TravelInsurance.com.

Trip insurance, or trip protection, generally refers to predeparture (or preevent) coverage if you need to cancel. You may see these plans sold by airlines, online travel agencies or even ticketed event sellers.

“You could refer to it as the portion that protects the investment in the trip,” Sandberg says.

A travel insurance plan typically includes that — plus more comprehensive benefits to protect you during your trip, from medical coverage to trip delay and lost baggage protections, and many more elements, depending on the plan.

Though travel insurance is typically not required for international trips, your personal circumstances will play a key role in whether it’s a good investment.

For instance, young, healthy travelers with few prepaid trip expenses embarking on a relatively risk-free trip may not see a need to buy a plan.

Older travelers with complicated itineraries who are visiting destinations where they could potentially fall ill or get injured — or who could encounter bad weather or some other disrupting factor along the way — may want to buy coverage.

Consider a few key questions:

How well would your health insurance plan cover you if you needed to visit a hospital overseas?

How much did you prepay for a hotel or rental car?

How much money would you be out if weather or some other flight issue derailed your itinerary?

Could you afford an unexpected night in a city where you have a connecting flight?

Do you already have a credit card that provides some travel protections?

Your answers to these questions can help you decide whether you need travel insurance for your international trip.

In general, buying travel insurance

within a few days to two weeks of prepaying or making an initial deposit

for your trip is your best bet. Assuming you’re not booking last-minute, this will provide you with access to the widest possible range of coverage options. It also helps prevent any medical conditions or storms that pop up between booking and buying a plan from ending up as excluded situations, which won’t be covered by your plan.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

On a similar note...

When to book, fly: Expedia's booking tips can help make your trip more carefree

A new survey by Expedia shows what you probably already know: Americans find air travel stressful. 

According to data released Wednesday, travel is a top stressor for 55% of respondents, with some saying the thought of booking a flight and going to the airport makes them more anxious than filing their taxes or even going to the dentist.

“People, according to the research, are really stressed about the possibility of their flights being canceled and experience those disruptions,” Christie Hudson, head of Expedia public relations in the U.S., told USA TODAY. “There’s some stress that’s happening even just from the planning process,” especially around getting the best possible deal on tickets.

With that in mind, she highlighted some of the survey’s findings and offered some of her top tips for reducing stress and getting the best deal when you travel.

What’s the best day to book your flights?

The best day to book is a constant topic of debate among travelers. According to Hudson, Expedia’s data suggests that Sunday is the likely answer.

While she acknowledged that airline prices are extremely dynamic and booking on Sunday doesn’t guarantee you the best price every time, on average it is when the cheapest fares are available.

“We’re looking at billions of data points of actual booked and flown flights,” Hudson said. 

According to Expedia’s research, booking on Sunday can save you around 6% on domestic flights and 13% on international flights compared to what you’d pay if you booked on a Friday.

How long before your trip should you book your flights?

Another key element to getting the best deal is booking with the right amount of time before your flight.

For domestic flights, the best deals are typically available around a month before departure, when fares are 24% cheaper than they are at the last minute. For international itineraries, 60 days prior to takeoff is the ideal booking window. Expedia found prices for international flights peak about four months before departure, and come down about 10% around the 60-day mark.

“We really recommend that 60-day window because that’s when you’re going to be able to save around 10% but you’re also going to be far enough out that you can get the right route and the seat you want on that airplane,” Hudson said.

She added that with those windows in mind, it’s a good time to start researching your fall and winter holiday travel.

What is the best day to fly?

Aside from the week of Thanksgiving when Wednesday is especially busy, middle-of-the-week flights tend to be the least expensive and the least crowded.

Expedia’s research found Thursdays are typically the cheapest, around 16% less expensive than Sundays, which is usually the most expensive day to depart.

“Book on a Sunday, leave on a Thursday, and make sure you lock in your plans around 28 days out,” Hudson said. “That should be your bible.” 

What is the best time to fly?

Another major stressor for travelers, Expedia found, was flight delays and cancellations.

Hudson said to reduce the chances of issues with your flight, it’s best to travel early in the day.

“The tip there is you need to take a morning flight,” Hudson said. “Around a third of travelers try to avoid morning flights because the whole getting up early and getting to the airport thing stresses them out.” But, she added, Expedia’s research showed flights are less likely to get canceled if they’re scheduled to depart before 3 p.m.

On the plus side, Hudson added, the cancellation rate is improving compared to last year, even as episodes of poor airline reliability continue to generate headlines. 

Flight canceled or delayed? Here's what you're owed.

How else can you reduce stress in air travel?

One other tip Hudson had was to take advantage of price protections when they’re available. These include things like Expedia’s Price Drop Protection and Google Flights’ price guarantee will both refund you the difference if airfare drops on eligible itineraries after you’ve purchased through the platform.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at [email protected]

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Here It Comes: Another Hot Summer in Europe

Extreme heat and other weather challenges are in the forecast this summer, and travel advisers, tourists and local officials are getting prepared.

By Ceylan Yeğinsu

Europe, the world’s fastest-warming continent, is headed for another scorching summer, meteorologists warn. And travelers, once again, are heading to the hot spots.

Last year, large parts of southern Europe experienced prolonged periods of extreme heat with temperatures reaching 118 degrees and lasting up to two weeks or more. The sweltering conditions upended vacations throughout the summer season as visitors collapsed from heat exhaustion at crowded tourist sites, and wildfires led to evacuations in Greece, Italy and Spain.

“Our computer models are in good agreement that it’s going to be another unusually hot summer, especially during late July through August,” said Todd Crawford, vice president of meteorology at Atmospheric G2 , a weather and climate intelligence firm based in Manchester, N.H. The company expects the magnitude of the heat to be similar to 2022, the hottest summer ever recorded in Europe, with the most anomalous heat projected in the south, in popular countries for travelers like Greece, Croatia and Italy.

Since 1991, Europe has been warming at twice the global average, and 23 of the 30 most severe heat waves in Europe since 1950 have occurred since 2000, with five in the last three years, according to the World Meteorological Organization. The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said several factors contribute to the continent’s vulnerability, including the proportion of European land in the Arctic — the fastest-warming region on earth — and changes in atmospheric circulation.

Yet despite the forecast and increasing trend of excessive summer heat, demand is still high for destinations where temperatures reached 100 degrees or higher in recent summers. Overall, U.S. demand for travel to Europe has increased since last year, according to the travel site Hopper . Rome, Paris and Athens are among the most searched cities out of billions of annual searches for summer vacations on Kayak and Expedia.

“The destinations are being booked again, and what really characterizes people is how quickly they forget and push back negative experiences,” said Stefan Gössling, a professor who researches tourism and climate change at Linnaeus University in Sweden. “People who were caught in life-threatening situations like the wildfires may reconsider where they travel, but for the broader population, we are not yet seeing a big change in decision-making because of the heat.”

Green spaces and heat officers: Cities adapt

As the summer approaches, popular destinations that were hit hard last year are working on protocols to make residents and tourists safe and more comfortable. In 2021, Athens became the first European city to appoint a chief heat officer to oversee those efforts. One of the first steps was to categorize heat waves by severity, like hurricanes, as an early warning system for the potential impact on human health. It is also naming heat waves to emphasize their potential risks.

“Heat is a silent killer and projections for the coming years show that it will only get worse, so we are redesigning our city and making changes to adapt,” said Elissavet Bargianni, the chief heat officer for Athens. Beyond raising awareness, the city plans to implement additional measures, which include increasing the number of green spaces and creating cool public areas.

For visitors planning to visit Athens this summer, Ms. Bargianni advises using the Extrema Global app that calculates the coolest route for getting from point A to point B according to the current temperature and density of the trees. The city already has several air-conditioned cooling centers that are free.

During last July’s heat wave, the Acropolis was forced to close between midday and the early evening to protect visitors after some of them collapsed from the heat. The ministry of culture could make the same decision this year, Ms. Bargianni said, if the heat is severe.

Heat and tours: Travel advisers get creative

Travel advisers are also factoring heat into flexible itineraries. In cities like Rome, Barcelona, Paris and Athens, they are scheduling sightseeing in the cooler morning and evening hours, and arranging air-conditioned transportation.

“We tend to do activities and tours in the morning, then stop for lunch, and in the mid- to late afternoon you either go back to the hotel to sit by the pool or go to the beach,” said Gary Portuesi, a co-managing partner at Authentic Explorations, a New York-based travel company that specializes in Europe.

If clients insist on taking midday tours, the company will work with local partners to make the experience as comfortable as possible. “If there is a six-hour tour, for example, they will cut it down to four and take them to an air-conditioned gelateria for a break,” Mr. Portuesi said.

It is not only the heat that travel advisers have had to grapple with, but also other unpredictable weather events. Last summer, while some parts of the continent were hot and dry, others were cold and wet. “There was a period during the summer peak when it was hotter in the Dolomites than it was in Sicily,” said Jennifer Schwartz, the Italy-based partner of Authentic Explorations. “The most important aspect of our job is to set expectations about the variables and guide people instead of saying it’s too hot, don’t come.”

Heat insurance?

To help travelers book with more confidence, Sensible Weather, a Los Angeles-based start-up that provides a weather guarantee for vacations and outdoor experiences, has recently added high heat protection to its coverage. When booking through a Sensible partner, travelers will be able to add daily protection and if the temperature exceeds a threshold — usually set between 90 and 100 degrees — they can claim reimbursement. Currently, the insurance is only available in the United States, but, the company said, will gradually be rolled out in Europe and elsewhere.

“The goal of the company is to cover everything that can ruin a trip, and usually it’s rain, but temperature is number two,” said Nick Cavanaugh, the company’s founder who was developing the product while caught in a heat wave in Barcelona last year.

Customers do not need to cancel their trip in order to be reimbursed. Those on package tours are reimbursed for the average daily rate of their entire trip for each day that surpassed the heat threshold. “Our customers can still go on their vacations, but if it’s too hot for some hours of the day and unpleasant to go outside, you can hang out in the air-conditioning and we will reimburse you,” Mr. Cavanaugh said.

Heading to cooler climes

Some travelers who were caught in Europe’s heat waves last summer are seeking cooler destinations this summer in places like Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland. Flight searches for Tromsø, Norway, for example, have increased by 85 percent over 2023, according to Kayak.

Joanna Walker, a 43-year-old recruiter from Boston, was caught in a blistering heat wave with her family in Italy last July and vowed never to return during the summer. She said she had been advised to travel during the shoulder season, but couldn’t because her children were in school.

“We couldn’t even cool off in the pool because there was no shade and the water was hot,” Ms. Walker recalled. “We wanted to see the sights in Florence and have long lunches in the piazzas, but instead we were stuck in our overpriced villas under the air-conditioning.”

This year her family has booked a tour of Norway’s fjords in July, where temperatures linger in the high 60s. “It’s going to be a different vibe to Italy for sure, lots of nature and not as much history, but at least it will be cool enough to experience something.”

Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our weekly Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2024 .

Ceylan Yeginsu is a travel reporter for The Times who frequently writes about the cruise industry and Europe, where she is based. More about Ceylan Yeğinsu

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