Cheapest Travel Insurance Companies of August 2024
Travel insurance can be a valuable protection if your domestic or international trip doesn’t quite go to plan. But, after booking flights, hotels, rental cars and experiences, you probably don’t want to spend much more on your trip.
Luckily, travel insurance isn’t a huge expense, and some companies offer surprisingly affordable rates to insure your trip. CNBC Select gathered data on dozens of the top travel insurance companies and found several that stand out for their strong coverage at low prices.
Here are the best cheap travel insurance companies if you’re looking to cover your upcoming adventures. (See our methodology for more information on how we made this list.)
Best for road trips: Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection
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Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
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Policy highlights
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has multiple plans to cover vacations from luxury travel to adventure travel. The brand’s LuxuryCare offers the highest limits of travel insurance coverage offered by the company. Quotes and policies are available online.
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24/7 assistance available
Pros
- Wide variety of policies available
- Strong financial strength rating by AM Best
Cons
- Cancel for any reason only provides reimbursement for up to 50% of non-refundable trip payments
Who’s this for? Berkshire Hathaway is ideal if you’re looking for strong coverage at a reasonable price point that’s backed by an insurer with a strong reputation and history.
Standout benefits: This company offers travel insurance that’s tailored to a variety of different modes of transportation and travel styles. It offers additional Cancel For any reason (CFAR) coverage and rental car collision coverage
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Best for trip delay: Faye
Faye Travel Insurance
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Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
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Policy highlights
Faye’s intuitive website and app offer a digital claims process and real-time travel alerts. Its one plan includes generous trip delay coverage and optional add-ons for pet care, sports equipment and vacation rental damage. Coverage for pre-existing conditions is available for plans purchased within 14 days of your initial trip deposit.
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24/7 assistance available
Pros
- Generous $4,500 per person trip delay coverage after six hours.
- 100% digital claims process
- CFAR is available for up to 75% of trip costs for an additional cost.
- Adds include coverage for pet care and vacation rental damage
Cons
- Only one plan is available
- Rates are higher than some competitors
Who’s this for? Faye’s trip delay coverage has the most generous limits of the companies we’ve reviewed — up to $300 a day and $4,500 per trip standard.
Standout benefits: The company’s inconvenience benefit covers delays at airport security, hotel late arrivals, lockouts at rental properties and more. Coverage is capped at $200 per incident up to $600 per trip per person.
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Best for build-your-own policy: Travel Guard from AIG
Travel Guard® Travel Insurance
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Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
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Policy highlights
Travel Guard offers five plans to suit travel ranging from road trips to long cruises. Deluxe policies include coverage for missed connections, security evacuations and accidental death and dismemberment. Add-ons include coverage for adventure sports, wedding cancellation and pet companions
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24/7 assistance available
Pros
- Adult policies come with coverage for one child under 17
- 24/7 customer assistance
- Travel delay coverage of $1,000 available after delay of just five hours.
- Emergency medical care and evacuation limits can be doubled
Cons
- Cancel For Any Reason policies only reimburse up to 50% of trip cost.
- Standard medical emergency coverage limit is lower than some competitors
- Not all products are available for purchase online
Who’s this for? Travel Guard from AIG is a strong option if you want to customize your coverage. It has three base packages available online and even more if you work with an agent.
Standout benefits: Travel Guard’s Preferred plan has optional bundle upgrades for weddings, adventure travel, pets and even security and quarantine benefits. The medical bundle allows you to select the hospital of your choice and raises the medical expense payout to $100,000 and the emergency evacuation benefit to $1 million.
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Best for adventure travel: World Nomads
World Nomads Travel Insurance
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Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
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Policy highlights
World Nomads offers protection for all kinds of travelers, from solo adventurers to families. Policies are underwritten by Nationwide and include robust coverage for medical expenses and emergency evacuation.
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24/7 assistance available
Pros
- Affordable rates for many kinds of travelers
- Coverage can be extended midtrip
- Covers 200+ adventure activities like scuba diving and bungee jumping
Cons
- Lower trip cancellation limits than other companies
- No option for Cancel for Any Reason coverage
- No waiver for pre-existing medical conditions
Who’s this for? World Nomads Travel Insurance is a good choice for travelers looking for affordable coverage of adventure activities, which can be excluded by other providers.
Standout benefits: World Nomads offers coverage for stolen sports gear and other equipment, and has higher coverage limits for emergency medical insurance than other providers we reviewed.
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Best for families: C&F Travel Insured International
C&F Travel Insured International Travel Insurance
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Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
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Policy highlights
Travel Insurance from this company can include annual travel insurance plans as well as single-trip travel insurance. Optional coverages include cancel for any reason coverage and travel inconvenience coverage. Cruise insurance is available.
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24/7 assistance available
Pros
- Cruise coverage available
- Option to enhance your coverage with additional, optional coverages
Cons
- CFAR not available to New York residents
Who’s this for? For families taking a vacation, C&F Travel Insured International’s Worldwide Trip Protector and Worldwide Trip Protector Edge plans offer customizable coverage to meet your needs, from trip interruptions to missed cruise connections.
Standout benefits: Coverage for a child 17 or younger is included at no extra cost with a policy for a related adult. Cancel For Any Reason coverage and Interrupt For Any Reason (IFAR) coverage are available and you can also get up to 100% reimbursement if you have to cancel because of work.
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Best for cruises: Nationwide
Nationwide Travel Insurance
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Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
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Policy highlights
Nationwide offers single-trip, annual and cruise-specific policies with high coverage limits for missed connections and medical expenses. Pre-existing medical condition waivers are available with some plans
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24/7 assistance available
Pros
- Cruise-specific plans available
- Frequent travelers can save with annual plans
- 10-day review period (not available in New York or Washington)
Cons
- Baggage delay reimbursement requires a 12-hour delay
- Severe weather coverage requires a 24-hour delay
Who’s this for? Nationwide has three unique tiers of cruise-specific coverage to help in case of itinerary changes, mechanical breakdowns or other disruptions.
Standout benefits: Nationwide’s Universal Cruise plan has high medical coverage limits and covers missed excursions. All Nationwide plans come with free 24/7 travel assistance.
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More on our top cheap travel insurance companies
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection
Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage
Yes
24/7 assistance?
Yes
[ Return to summary ]
Faye
Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage
Up to 75% of non-refundable travel expenses
24/7 assistance
Yes
[ Return to summary ]
Travel Guard from AIG
Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage
Available as an upgrade
24/7 assistance
Yes
[ Return to summary ]
World Nomads
Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage
No
24/7 assistance?
Yes
[ Return to summary ]
C&F Travel Insured International
Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage
Yes
24/7 assistance
Yes
[ Return to summary ]
Nationwide
Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage
Yes
24/7 assistance
Yes
[ Return to summary ]
FAQs
What does travel insurance cover?
Travel insurance policies vary, but most basic plans cover travel cancellation and interruption, trip delays and baggage delays and loss. Coverage for medical care and emergency transportation is also commonly available.
How much does travel insurance cost?
A standard travel insurance policy typically costs between 4% and 10% of your trip’s prepaid nonrefundable costs. That can vary greatly, however, depending on if you select optional add-ons like CFAR protection.
Is travel insurance worth it?
Travel insurance can be valuable if your trip is unexpectedly canceled — even if the airline credits the cost of your flight you may be on the hook for hotel reservations, tours and other prepaid, nonrefundable costs. Many top travel credit cards offer travel insurance benefits, so you may already have some coverage.
What’s the best company for travel insurance?
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Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every travel insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of travel insurance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best cheap travel insurance.
Our methodology
To determine the best cheap travel insurance companies, CNBC Select analyzed dozens of U.S. travel insurance companies that come with a wide variety of policies and offer coverage for a number of situations.
When narrowing down the best travel insurance companies, we focused on the coverage available, including the number of plans available, 24/7 assistance availability and cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage availability. We also considered financial strength ratings from AM Best and Better Business Bureau ratings for customer satisfaction.
To consider costs, we gathered quotes from the top travel insurance companies for four sample trips, which included:
1. A two-person trip to Mexico:
- $2,000 per person, $4,000 total
- New York residents
- Travelers aged 35
2. A two-person trip to the United Kingdom:
- $3,000 per person, $6,000 total
- New York residents
- Travelers aged 65
3. A family of four’s trip to the United Kingdom:
- $3,000 per person, $12,000 total
- New York residents
- Two travelers aged 35 with two children, ages 8 and 10
4. A cruise to Alaska for a family of four (including flights):
- $3,000 per person, $12,000 total
- New York residents
- Two travelers aged 35 with two children, ages 8 and 10
Sample quotes assumed that payments were made on the date of quoting. Premiums and policy structures cited for travel insurance companies may fluctuate.
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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
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