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Buying trip cancellation insurance doesn’t have to be difficult. Most travel insurance that isn’t just travel medical insurance includes some kind of cancellation coverage for unexpected situations, such as illness, injury, or inclement weather. Other travel insurance companies also offer optional upgrades for trip cancellation insurance.
While travel insurance for trip cancellation is helpful for any traveler to have, not all cancellation reasons are covered by trip insurance cancellation policies. This article will explain what trip cancellation insurance is, what it covers, and how much it costs.
I will also cover the best travel insurance for trip cancellation, which is definitely Heymondo. Their trip cancellation coverage includes job termination, illness, injury, unexpected death, legal summons, and more, and their coverage-to-price ratio for trip cancellation coverage and emergency medical expense coverage is outstanding.
You can even save 5% on Heymondo insurance plans just for being a CTA reader.
What is trip cancellation insurance?
You never know when something unexpected is going to occur and cause you to cancel your travel plans. Trip cancellation insurance allows you to cancel your trip and get reimbursed for 100% of your travel costs, as long as the reason you cancel is covered by your trip insurance cancellation policy.
Covered reasons generally include serious and unexpected events, such as the death of a family member, a sudden illness, or an uninhabitable home.
Trip cancellation coverage is a part of most travel insurance, but you can also get optional trip cancellation insurance upgrades, including cancel for work reasons and cancel for any reason. Travel insurance with cancel for any reason is especially useful if you want to make sure that you can cancel your trip for absolutely any reason, even if it’s not covered by your policy.
What is a covered reason for trip cancellation?
As I mentioned above, covered reasons for trip cancellation are generally restricted to severe, pressing, and unforeseen events. Most trip cancellation insurance policies allow cancellation for the following reasons:
- Unexpected illness/injury that makes you or your travel companion unable to travel, per doctor’s orders.
- Unexpected illness/death/hospitalization of a non-traveling family member.
- Severe weather conditions that affect your ability to travel, whether they’re in your residential area or at your destination.
- Unanticipated natural disaster at home or at your destination.
- Legal obligation (jury duty, subpoena, etc.).
Nowadays, “unexpected illness” usually includes COVID-19, but make sure that you have COVID-19 travel insurance so you’re covered if you contract the coronavirus.
Some trip cancellation insurance companies also cover cancellation for work reasons (termination, work issue, etc.) in their general trip insurance cancellation policies, but some only offer it as an upgrade.
Cancellation reasons that are usually not covered by trip cancellation insurance include:
- Self-inflicted injuries
- Pregnancy and related issues
- Substance abuse
- Mental health issues
- Military duty
- Sports events/training
- Travel carrier’s bankruptcy
If you want to ensure that these reasons or any others are covered by your travel insurance cancellation policy, get travel insurance with cancel for any reason instead of trip cancellation insurance.
How much does trip cancellation insurance cost?
The cost of your trip cancellation insurance will be based on a number of factors, including your home country/state (if you live in the US) and your destination. Your age will significantly affect your trip insurance cancellation price since the older you are, the more expensive your travel insurance for trip cancellation will be.
Similarly, the length and cost of your trip will have a major impact on the price of your vacation cancellation insurance, since the longer and more expensive your trip is, the more expensive your trip cancellation insurance will be.
To help you get an idea of how much trip insurance cancellation costs, below is a chart comparing five different types of travel insurance for trip cancellation. To get the trip cancellation insurance prices, I used the example of a 30-year-old American male citizen from Pennsylvania who is traveling to Mexico for two weeks and whose trip costs $2,500.
Price | $70.75 | $68.63 | $69 | $116.48 | $90 |
COVID Coverage | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Emergency Medical Expenses | $250,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $15,000 | $10,000 |
Trip Cancellation | $3,500 | $2,500 | 100% of $2,500* | 100% of $2,500* | $2,500 |
Cancellation Reasons Covered | Injury/death/illness; “Do Not Travel” travel advisory; uninhabitable home; legal reasons; police summons for robbery; termination | Injury/death/illness; natural disaster; work reasons; military duty; inclement weather; terrorism; legal reasons; carrier default | Injury/death/illness; uninhabitable home; passport/visa theft; work reasons; strike; inclement weather; natural disaster; terrorism; legal reasons | Injury/death/illness; legal reasons; military duty; work reasons; uninhabitable home; natural disaster; strike; inclement weather; terrorism | Injury/death/illness; legal reasons; uninhabitable home; uninhabitable destination; natural disaster; inclement weather; terrorism |
Coverage for Work Reasons | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Covered when Trip is Cancelled | Before departure | Before scheduled departure date; within 72 hours of event that causes cancellation | Before scheduled departure date; within 72 hours of event that causes cancellation | Before 11:59 PM on day before departure date | Before departure; within 72 hours of event that causes cancellation |
BEST TRIP CANCELLATION INSURANCE |
*Price used for example.
What is the best trip cancellation insurance?
As you can see from the chart above, the best travel insurance for trip cancellation is Heymondo. Not only is it one of the most affordable trip cancellation insurance plans, but it also has the highest amount of emergency medical expense and trip cancellation coverage.
Still, all five plans have their own benefits, so keep reading to find out more about each travel insurance for trip cancellation plan and figure out which one is best for you.
1. Heymondo, the best travel insurance for trip cancellation
If you want the best travel insurance for trip cancellation, Heymondo is the perfect option for you. Their Top plan covers all the main trip cancellation reasons you’ll need, such as a government advisory against traveling, legal summons, and job termination, while still being affordable.
Also, their emergency medical expense coverage is unmatched, so if you do end up traveling, you won’t have to worry about having enough coverage. Best of all, you will never have to deal with the stress of filing a claim to get reimbursed for medical expenses. Heymondo pays all of your medical expenses upfront for you.
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We have used Heymondo insurance for all our trips during the last two years and so far, everything’s been great. That said, we’ve been lucky enough not to have to cancel any trips in that time. However, we have used their medical assistance a couple of times and the service has always been superb.
If you want to get Heymondo insurance for an even more affordable price, you can save 5% on their plans with the discount link below.
2. World Nomads, a cheap travel insurance for trip cancellation
World Nomads is a fantastic choice if you want the most affordable trip cancellation insurance. Their Standard plan offers coverage for a range of work-related reasons, including a requirement to work, merger, acquisition, and bankruptcy, so it’s ideal if you have a high-powered job where one of these situations could easily come up.
World Nomads also provides coverage for many different cancellation reasons, including burglary, jury duty, inclement weather, and terrorism.
However, World Nomads’ maximum trip cancellation coverage limit is rather low since it only reimburses trip costs up to $2,500. Its emergency medical expense coverage is also rather low, particularly in relation to its price, so if you want a higher trip cancellation coverage maximum limit and higher emergency medical expense coverage, go with Heymondo.
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3. IMG, an affordable vacation cancellation insurance
If you want affordable travel insurance for trip cancellation, look no further than IMG. Their iTravelInsured Travel Lite trip cancellation insurance provides an excellent coverage-to-price ratio, since a wide range of reasons is covered, from passport theft and quarantine to financial default of a travel carrier and work transfers.
Trip cancellation coverage is up to a maximum limit of $25,000. You can even get Cancel for Work Reasons coverage as an optional upgrade with the iTravelInsured Travel SE and iTravelInsured Travel LX plans.
One limitation of IMG’s trip insurance cancellation plan is its rather low emergency medical expense coverage for its price. You can get much higher emergency medical expense coverage from Heymondo for about the same price, so IMG is better suited for travelers who don’t mind having lower medical coverage.
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4. AIG, a reliable insurance for trip cancellation only
AIG offers excellent travel insurance for trip cancellation. You can cancel your trip for any of the reasons listed in the policy and be reimbursed for insured trip costs up to a maximum limit of $100,000.
Even better, if you buy your AIG trip cancellation insurance policy within 15 days of your initial trip payment, cancellation due to the financial default of a travel carrier is included in your policy at no extra cost.
AIG’s trip insurance cancellation policy already includes many covered cancellation reasons, such as work transfers, military duty, and traffic accidents. You can also upgrade your policy to include cancellation due to civil disorder or riot.
However, AIG’s plan is the most expensive of all the trip insurance cancellation plans I compared, and it has very low emergency medical expense coverage, especially for the plan’s price. If you want to save money, you can easily get similar coverage with a plan like Heymondo’s.
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5. Allianz, a good trip insurance cancellation
Another good trip cancellation insurance is Allianz. Their trip cancellation coverage includes a wide variety of reasons, from natural disasters and inclement weather to terrorism and termination. If you purchase their OneTrip Prime plan, you can even get Required to Work cancellation coverage as an optional upgrade.
Keep in mind that you will only get reimbursed for canceling your trip if you cancel it before you have left. You must also inform all your travel suppliers that you will be canceling within 72 hours of deciding to cancel, or else you may not be fully reimbursed.
While Allianz’s trip insurance cancellation policy is pretty solid, their emergency medical expense coverage is very low, so if you do end up traveling, you might not have the coverage you need. You can also get similar or better trip cancellation coverage, like Heymondo’s, for a more affordable price.
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Is trip cancellation insurance worth it?
Ultimately, trip cancellation insurance is worth having as part of general travel insurance. Most travel insurance already covers a lot of cancellation reasons, so there’s no need to shell out for optional upgrades unless you really think you’ll need them.
You’ll be all set and get great coverage if you go for the best travel insurance for trip cancellation, Heymondo. Plus, you can even save 5% on their insurance with the discount link below.