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Getting domestic travel insurance for the US is just as important as purchasing travel insurance for all of your international travels. Travel mishaps, such as missed flights, lost luggage, and sudden illness, can happen no matter where you’re traveling, so it’s always good to have insurance coverage, even if you’re just traveling domestically within the US.
Domestic travel insurance for the USA covers you for trips you take within the US and provides coverage for many of the same things that international travel insurance does, such as trip interruptions and delays or medical emergencies. Travel insurance with COVID-19 coverage is also useful for domestic travel.
Since the pandemic outbreak, we have been traveling only within the US and we have compared all the options to determine which is the best domestic travel insurance. For our trips to Utah, California, and Alaska, we purchased the World Nomads plan since this company provides the best domestic travel insurance for the USA. They offer excellent coverage that is as good as other, much more expensive policies, while still being affordable.
If you’re traveling abroad, then check our guide on best travel insurance for Americans.
What Is Domestic Travel Insurance?
You may be wondering, what is domestic travel insurance? US domestic travel insurance is travel insurance for American citizens and residents who are traveling within the US. Domestic trip insurance ensures that you’re still covered for common travel situations that may arise, such as trip cancellation, baggage loss, and more.
What Is Domestic Travel Insurance?
So what’s the difference between domestic insurance and general travel insurance? Both cover baggage loss; trip cancellation, delay, and interruption; emergency medical expenses; and evacuation and repatriation. However, domestic travel insurance is for trips within the US that are at least 100 miles away from your residence, while general travel insurance is for international travel.
Does travel insurance cover domestic travel? The best travel insurance companies offer policies that cover both domestic and international travel.
Do I need travel insurance for domestic travel within the USA?
Having domestic travel insurance is always a good idea. Your flight might be delayed due to bad weather. You may twist an ankle as you’re hiking on a steep path. Your luggage might get lost or delayed on its way to your destination.
Do I need travel insurance for domestic travel within the USA?
Plenty of unexpected things can happen, no matter where you’re traveling, so it’s always safer to have domestic travel insurance for the USA.
What Does Domestic Travel Insurance Cover?
There are many different coverage aspects to domestic travel insurance, including:
Domestic Trip Cancellation Insurance
One of the most important things domestic insurance provides coverage for is domestic trip cancellation insurance, which covers trip cancellation, interruption, and delay.
That means if you need to cancel, interrupt, or delay your trip because of circumstances that are out of your control, such as sudden illness, death, bad weather, or more, you will be covered.
Some domestic travel insurance also allows you to add Cancel for Any Reason coverage, which gives you even more flexibility. With Cancel for Any Reason coverage, you can cancel your trip for any reason up to 48 hours before the trip and get reimbursed up to 75% of your insured trip cost.
Domestic Flight Cancellation Insurance
Flights can get interrupted, canceled, or delayed due to bad weather, or sudden, severe illness may necessitate changing your travel plans.
There’s no point in paying for any of these expenses yourself when domestic flight cancellation insurance can cover any flight cancellations, interruptions, or delays and any fees associated with them, such as accommodation and food expenses.
Domestic flight cancellation insurance can also give you the peace of mind that comes with knowing that you’re covered no matter what happens with your flights. Don’t take the risk of assuming that nothing will go wrong with a domestic flight – make sure you’re covered by domestic flight cancellation insurance.
Domestic Air Travel Insurance
There’s nothing more inconvenient when you’re traveling than losing your suitcase and having to scramble to buy new toiletries and clothes. Luckily, besides flight interruptions, cancellations, and delays, domestic air travel insurance also covers baggage loss and delays.
Domestic travel insurance can also cover lost or stolen baggage that is not a result of air travel, so even if you’re road-tripping or taking a bus and you lose your expensive laptop and favorite summer clothes, you’ll be covered.
Domestic Travel Health Insurance
Don’t underestimate the value of having domestic travel health insurance with emergency medical expense coverage. Sprained ankles, broken bones, and food poisoning can happen anytime and anywhere.
As you probably know, medical treatment can be very expensive in the US. Unfortunately, it may be the case that your primary insurance provider does not provide coverage outside your local area, or that the state where you receive treatment does not accept your insurance.
Without domestic travel health insurance, you could be treated as out-of-network and have to pay large fees out of pocket.
However, if you purchase domestic travel medical insurance, you will always have that coverage in case your primary insurance provider doesn’t cover you where you are in the US. Additionally, if your primary insurance only covers part of your medical fees, domestic travel medical insurance can help you cover the rest of them.
Domestic Travel Dental Insurance for the USA
Maybe you trip, fall, and lose a couple of teeth. Or you’re playing volleyball, the ball hits your face hard, and you chip your tooth. Either way, domestic travel dental insurance has got you covered if any dental emergencies arise.
As with domestic travel health insurance, domestic travel dental insurance for the USA can cover you whether your primary insurance partially covers you or doesn’t cover you at all.
Domestic Travel Insurance Comparison
Your domestic travel insurance quote depends entirely on several factors: your age, your state of residence, the length of your trip, and the cost of your trip. In general, the younger you are and the shorter and less expensive your trip is, the cheaper your domestic travel insurance will be.
In order to help you buy domestic travel insurance, I’ve created a domestic travel insurance comparison chart to show you insurance policies’ different prices and features. In order to get the quotes for the comparison, I’ve used the example of a 30-year-old American male who lives in Pennsylvania and is traveling around the US for two weeks, with a trip cost of $2,500.
Price | $73.20 | $130.00 | $60.00 | $148.55 | $84.00 |
COVID coverage | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Emergency Medical | $100,000 | $500,000 | $50,000 | $50,000 | $100,000 |
Trip Cancellation | $2,500 | 100% of $2,500* | 100% of trip cost up to $750 | 100% of $2,500* | 100% of $2,500* |
Trip Interruption | $2,500 | 150% of $2,500* | 150% of trip cost up to $1,125 | 150% of $2,500* | 150% of $2,500* |
Baggage Loss | $1,000 | $2,500 | $2,000 | $1,000 | $1,500 |
DOMESTIC TRAVEL INSURANCE COMPARISON |
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* Price used for example. Price of the domestic travel insurance will vary depending on the trip cost selected.
Best Domestic Travel Insurance USA
Now that you’ve seen the domestic travel insurance comparison, you’ll know that World Nomads is the best domestic travel insurance for the USA. Their policy has the best coverage-to-price ratio since they offer the same amount of coverage as other, more expensive policies while still being affordable.
Also, I have needed to use their over-the-phone customer support a couple of times, and they have always been very responsive and easy to deal with claims.
Now, let’s get into each domestic insurance company and what their policies cover.
1. World Nomads, the best domestic travel insurance for the USA
The best domestic travel insurance for the USA is definitely World Nomads. They offer excellent coverage that is as good as other, much more expensive policies, while still being affordable.
Their Standard plan was the one I used for the comparison and for my last trips, but they also have an Explorer Plan, which is more expensive but has higher coverage. Both plans include emergency medical and dental coverage, evacuation and repatriation, trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, and baggage coverage.
Both World Nomads plans also include adventure sports and activities coverage, so it’s the perfect domestic travel insurance for adrenaline junkies and adventurous folks. However, neither plan offers Cancel for Any Reason coverage.
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2. IMG, the best domestic travel medical insurance
IMG is the option for you if you want the best domestic travel medical insurance. Their iTravelInsured Travel LX plan offers the highest amount of Emergency Medical coverage. It also allows you to add optional Cancel and Interruption for Any Reason coverage, which means that you can cancel or interrupt your trip for any reason 48 hours or more before departure and be reimbursed 75% of your insured trip cost.
Their iTravelInsured Travel LX plan even includes Cancel for Work Reasons coverage, so you can get reimbursed if you have to cancel your trip due to getting transferred, terminated, or other work-related reasons.
However, the iTravelInsured Travel LX plan is expensive and you can get similar coverage from World Nomads for much cheaper. On top of that, adding Cancel or Interruption for Any Reason coverage will make your plan even more expensive.
IMG offers two other plans, iTravelInsured Travel Lite and iTravelInsured Travel SE, which are both cheaper but provide lower coverage and don’t include the Cancel and Interruption for Any Reason coverage option.
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3. Travelex, the cheapest domestic travel insurance for the USA
If you want the cheapest domestic travel insurance for the USA, Travelex is for you. Their Travel America plan is affordable, basic, and gets the job done.
The Travel America plan offers Trip Inconvenience coverage and even includes a Frequent Traveler Benefit. It also offers good Baggage Loss coverage. However, their coverage for Emergency Medical Expenses, Trip Cancellation, and Trip Interruption is very low, especially compared to World Nomads, which is similarly priced.
Travelex’s two other plans, Travel Basic and Travel Select, are both more expensive but offer a higher amount of coverage, particularly for Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption. Still, none of these plans offers a Cancel for Any Reason upgrade.
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4. AIG, the best domestic travel insurance USA for flexibility
AIG is a great domestic travel insurance if you want flexibility. If you plan on taking a cruise instead of flying, their Travel Guard Preferred plan offers Cruise coverage. The plan comes with Cancel for Work Reason coverage and Missed Connection coverage, and can also be upgraded to include Cancel for Any Reason coverage.
However, AIG is the most expensive domestic travel insurance by far, and adding Cancel for Any Reason coverage will only make it more expensive. World Nomads offers similar or better coverage for a much more affordable price.
AIG also has the more affordable Travel Guard Essential plan, with even more basic coverage, and the more expensive Travel Guard Deluxe plan with a higher amount of coverage.
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5. World Trips, the best domestic travel insurance USA for seniors
The best domestic travel insurance for seniors is World Trips, which includes good coverage for Emergency Medical Expenses. It’s also one of the best travel insurance for pre-existing conditions.
Like AIG, World Trips’ Atlas Journey Preferred Plan includes Cruise coverage and the option of Cancel for Any Reason coverage. It also includes Travel Inconvenience coverage. However, World Nomads offers pretty much equivalent coverage in terms of Emergency Medical, Trip Interruption, Trip Cancellation, and Baggage Loss for a more affordable price.
Other plans include Atlas Journey Economy and Atlas Journey Premier. World Trips’ Atlas Journey Economy is their most affordable plan, while Atlas Journey Premier is their most expensive.
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Conclusion: Is Domestic Travel Insurance Worth It?
The ultimate question about domestic insurance is probably: is domestic travel insurance worth it? The answer is: yes, it is.
It’s easy to believe that nothing will go wrong because you’re traveling within your own country, but accidents and unforeseen events can happen anywhere. With any of the best domestic travel insurance for the USA that I’ve discussed, you can rest assured that you’ll be covered should any travel mishap arise while you’re traveling around the US.
I have traveled with World Nomads for my most recent domestic trips. However, feel free to do your research and decide which is the best domestic travel insurance for you.
I hope this article helped you learn more about domestic travel insurance for the USA. If you have any questions, leave a comment below and I’ll happily answer your question!
