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Protect Yourself Abroad: Best Medical Evacuation Insurance [2024]

Jessica Merritt

Editor & Content Contributor

79 Published Articles 452 Edited Articles

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Keri Stooksbury

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Best Medical Evacuation Travel Insurance for Europe: IMG

Best medical evacuation travel insurance for antarctica: aegis, best medical evacuation travel insurance for costa rica: worldtrips, best medical evacuation travel insurance for $1 million coverage: travelsafe , best medical evacuation travel insurance for cruises: seven corners, what is medical evacuation travel insurance, medical evacuation is costly, credit card travel insurance may limit medical evacuation coverage, what medical evacuation travel insurance costs, what medical evacuation travel insurance covers, types of medical evacuation travel insurance, what to look for in a medical evacuation travel insurance policy, how to get medical evacuation travel insurance, final thoughts.

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Leaving your destination in a medevac helicopter probably isn’t in your travel plans. But if you need emergency medical evacuation, it will be costly and may be difficult to coordinate without help. A medical evacuation travel insurance plan can cover some or all of the costs of emergency medical evacuation and help you get the medical care you need when it matters most.

If you’re considering a medical evacuation travel insurance policy, read this guide to learn how this type of travel insurance coverage can help you, when it’s worth it, what it costs, and how to choose the best plan for your needs.

The 5 Best Medical Evacuation Travel Insurance Plans

Many travel insurance policies offer emergency medical evacuation benefits, so you have many options to compare. We considered travel insurance plans with at least $500,000 in emergency medical evacuation benefits and coverage for emergency medical care, trip cancellation, and trip interruption.

Consider these medical evacuation travel insurance plans with a good value for the coverage provided:

With IMG’s iTravelInsured Travel SE , your medical evacuation benefits are up to $500,000 if a local attending physician and IMG’s travel assistance services provider determine your condition is acute, severe, or life-threatening and medically necessary treatment isn’t available where you are. IMG will pay to return you to your point of origin, your primary residence, or a hospital or medical facility closest to your home. 

If applicable, costs covered include air and land transportation, including an air ambulance and medical escort. IMG pays covered expenses directly to the service provider if payment is required upfront — so you don’t have to think about paying a huge bill before getting home safely. 

In addition to medical evacuation coverage, you’ll get trip cancellation and interruption insurance. The $250,000 medical benefits offer primary coverage, so you don’t have to go through regular insurance first. For this plan, we got a $53.49 quote for a 35-year-old visiting Switzerland .

The Aegis Go Ready Choice plan offers medical evacuation coverage even when traveling to far-flung Antarctica with limited services. This plan offers evacuation to the nearest adequate medical facility if you experience a medical emergency during your trip. 

It covers medically appropriate transportation and medical care en route to the nearest suitable hospital if the on-site attending physician certifies that you’re medically able to travel and there is no suitable local care available. Aegis will also fly 1 person of your choice — subject to a maximum of $3,000 — to your place of hospitalization and provide lodging and meals up to $300 per day for 15 days.

On top of medical evacuation coverage, this plan covers 100% of your costs for trip cancellation and 150% for trip interruption. Emergency medical coverage is for up to $500,000, though it’s secondary coverage, so you’ll have to exhaust other available insurance options first. This plan was quoted to us for $100.57 for a 35-year-old visiting Antarctica.

Using the WorldTrips Atlas Journey Economy plan, you’ll get up to $500,000 in medical evacuation benefits if you need a physician-ordered medical evacuation. That includes medically appropriate transportation and necessary medical care en route to the nearest suitable hospital. 

The coverage applies if you’re critically ill or injured and no suitable local care is available. It also covers non-emergency repatriation to get you to your home or hospital in the U.S. for proper care, plus transportation, hotel, meals, phone calls, and local transportation for 1 person of your choice if you’re hospitalized for 24 hours or more. 

While the medical evacuation coverage is comprehensive, emergency medical coverage is limited to only $10,000 of secondary coverage. But you also will be covered for up to 100% of your total cost with trip cancellation and interruption benefits. Our quote for a 35-year-old visiting Costa Rica came to $114.

If you need up to $1 million in medical evacuation coverage, you can get it from TravelSafe’s Classic plan. You can use this benefit to get to the nearest suitable medical facility if your condition is acute, severe, or life-threatening, and adequate medically necessary treatment isn’t available in your immediate area. It also covers medical evacuation expenses to return you to your point of origin or a medical facility closest to your primary residence.

This plan also includes up to $25,000 for non-medical evacuation, which applies if you need transportation due to natural disasters or civil or political unrest. And emergency medical coverage offers up to $100,000 per person. 

Trip cancellation covers up to 100% of your trip cost and trip interruption up to 150%. For a 35-year-old visiting Costa Rica, this plan came out to $122.

Read our Travelsafe insurance review for more information on all of their plans.

On a Seven Corners Trip Protection Choice plan, you’ll get up to $1 million in medical evacuation coverage. It applies if you have a severe, acute, or life-threatening condition and can’t get medically necessary treatment in your immediate area. It can include a medical escort who can provide medical care during transportation. You can also get transportation back to your point of origin, primary residence, or a hospital or medical facility closest to your primary residence.

If you’re traveling alone and will be hospitalized for more than 7 consecutive days or unable to travel after your evacuation, Seven Corners will pay airfare for a person of your choice to support you. Or, you can get reimbursed for a traveling companion’s expenses if you’re hospitalized for at least 3 days.

Emergency medical coverage offers up to $500,000 in primary coverage benefits with no medical deductible. Trip cancellation benefits cover up to 100% of your trip cost, and trip interruption covers up to 150%. Our quote for this plan came to $139 for a 35-year-old cruising Mexico.

Medical evacuation travel insurance is a type of travel insurance that can cover the costs of medically necessary emergency evacuation . It applies if you become seriously injured or ill on your trip and there are no appropriate medical facilities where you are. 

With medical evacuation coverage, your insurance generally pays for transportation costs to get to a medical facility with adequate care, which may include land and air ambulance . It also covers the price of a medical escort and may provide coverage for a companion to help you during a hospitalization. Medical evacuation policies frequently offer repatriation benefits, which can get you home after emergency medical treatment.

Medical evacuation travel insurance is crucial if you plan to visit a remote destination or an area with limited medical facilities. With this coverage, you can travel confidently, knowing you can be transported to appropriate medical care without overwhelming costs. 

Is Medical Evacuation Travel Insurance Worth It?

Medical evacuation travel insurance could save your life, and that’s priceless. Prompt medical care from a capable medical facility could be a matter of life and death, particularly if you’ve experienced trauma and need critical care as soon as possible .

Getting medical evacuation travel insurance is often worth it compared to the out-of-pocket cost of medical evacuation. Sure, you might travel your entire life and never need an emergency medical evacuation. But if you do need medical evacuation, the costs can be catastrophic. 

Don’t overlook the value of the support offered by an insurance company’s assistance hotline. If you’re seriously injured or ill, you may struggle to coordinate care and may face language barriers or unfamiliarity with local and regional medical care. An assistance hotline to coordinate care could be crucial in getting the lifesaving medical care you need.

How much medical evacuation travel insurance is worth to you depends on your health conditions, where you plan to travel, and what you plan to do when you travel. If you travel domestically or to locations with robust healthcare facilities, medical evacuation travel insurance might not be beneficial to you. 

On the other hand, if you plan to visit remote locations or destinations with limited access to medical care, medical evacuation travel insurance is probably worth getting. It’s also a good idea if you plan to engage in activities with a high risk of accidents or injuries, such as backcountry skiing or mountaineering.

Consider these factors as you determine whether medical evacuation travel insurance is worth it for you:

• Your destination and its medical infrastructure
• Planned travel activities
• Preexisting health conditions
• Your financial ability to pay for evacuation expenses
• How far you’re traveling from home

If you need medical evacuation, you should expect it to cost at least $20,000 just for transportation , according to Allianz Travel Insurance . That number can increase exponentially to $200,000 or more if evacuation is complicated, such as needing a medevac from a remote mountain. 

Emergency transportation can also cover the cost of getting you home once you’re stable. That might be more complicated than you’d think. You may need to ride home on a stretcher with a medical escort who can monitor your condition and administer care. This type of flight generally costs about $25,000 to $30,000, and an air ambulance may cost up to $50,000.

These costs are only for transporting you to and from the hospital , as evacuation is just part of the cost of emergency medical treatment. It’s also best to get medical evacuation coverage as part of a comprehensive travel insurance plan with emergency medical coverage. 

Don’t count on Medicare to cover medical evacuation on a cruise ship or while traveling abroad. Medicare medical evacuation coverage is limited to particular circumstances. For example, Medicare may pay when you have a medical emergency in the U.S., and a foreign hospital that can treat you is closer than any hospital in the U.S.

Credit cards with travel insurance coverage may provide medical evacuation benefits, but not all do. Check the limits on your medical evacuation benefit and understand that actual medical evacuation costs could exceed your benefits. 

For example, Chase Sapphire Reserve ® covers up to $100,000 in emergency evacuation and transportation costs . That might be enough if you’re not too far from adequate medical care, but it’s probably not enough coverage to get you out of a remote area with a severe injury.

Some credit cards offer medical evacuation coverage with no limit. The Platinum Card ® from American Express is one of the best travel cards and offers emergency evacuation with no specified limit under its Premium Global Assistance coverage. 

If your credit card’s emergency medical evacuation coverage isn’t adequate for your needs, travel insurance with medical evacuation benefits may be worth it.

Medical evacuation travel insurance is often part of a comprehensive travel insurance policy. All of the quotes we got were about $50 to $140. You should expect comprehensive travel insurance with medical evacuation coverage costs of about 5% to 10% of your trip. 

Your cost of medical evacuation travel insurance may vary depending on factors including:

• Age: Your age is a significant factor in medical evacuation travel insurance costs, as older travelers are considered more at high risk for travel insurance coverage.
• Health Conditions: You may pay more for your policy if you need coverage for preexisting conditions.
• Destination: Traveling to a location with limited medical facilities, high health care costs, or travel advisories may require paying a higher premium for medical evacuation travel insurance.
• Travel Duration: The longer you plan to travel, the greater the risk, so you’ll pay more to insure an extended travel period.
• Activities: The activities you plan on your trip, such as adventure sports, can increase the cost of your medical evacuation travel insurance premium.
• Policy Details: Your policy’s coverage limits, deductibles, copayments, and features, such as emergency assistance services, will influence how much you pay to carry a medical evacuation travel insurance policy.

Adventure travel insurance policies may cost more but deliver the coverage you need if risky activities are in your travel plans.

Your coverage with a medical evacuation travel insurance policy depends on the travel insurance company, plan, coverage selections, and other policy details. Still, you can generally expect a medical evacuation travel insurance policy to at least cover emergency medical evacuation along with medical treatment, monitoring, and coordination.

Let’s look at some of the coverages common among medical evacuation travel insurance policies:

• Emergency Medical Evacuation: This coverage covers the cost of transportation to the nearest suitable medical facility, which could require air, land, or sea emergency transportation with ambulance services.
• Medical Escort: Medical escort coverage provides medical care and monitoring while you’re en route to a medical facility. For example, you may be escorted and treated by doctors and nurses on a medevac helicopter to a hospital.
• Care Coordination: Travel insurance companies generally offer an emergency assistance line and coordination that can help you find and coordinate with local healthcare providers, monitor your situation, and communicate between you, the medical staff, and your family. They may facilitate admission to hospitals with financial guarantees.
• Support Travel: Whether you’re traveling alone and need a support person to meet you or you have a traveling companion who needs to come with you, medical evacuation travel insurance may pay for transportation and other costs for a support person so you don’t have to be hospitalized without a trusted friend or family member.
• Repatriation: Emergency medical evacuation travel insurance may pay to get you home or to a medical facility near your home after you’re stable.

Comprehensive travel insurance plans are the most common type with emergency medical evacuation coverage. However, you may have access to specialized plans that focus mainly on emergency medical treatment and evacuation. These plans may offer higher coverage limits and more specialized services.

You can also look for specialized travel insurance policies. For example, you’d want adventure travel insurance with medical evacuation if you plan to climb a remote mountain or cruise travel insurance with medical evacuation coverage if you’re concerned you may need medical evacuation from a cruise ship. 

It’s also worth considering an annual travel insurance policy or multi-trip coverage, which can cover all your travel within a year.

Read our travel insurance introductory guide to learn more about travel insurance options, which frequently include emergency medical evacuation coverage.

As you compare emergency medical evacuation travel insurance policies, consider these factors:

• Cost: While the price of a medical evacuation travel insurance policy may pale compared to actual evacuation costs, you still want to be mindful of how much you pay for coverage. Consider adjusting coverage levels, deductibles, and copays to get the right coverage at a reasonable price.
• Coverage Limits: Compare how much coverage you get from one policy to another. A policy may be more expensive but offer greater coverage. You should also look at the emergency medical coverage limits of each policy.
• Covered Benefits: The features of medical evacuation travel insurance policies vary between companies and plans. Confirm that the plans you’re considering offer the benefits you want, such as transportation for a support person to join you in the hospital.
• Policy Limitations: Make sure your policy doesn’t place limitations that would restrict key coverage, such as not covering the region or country you’re visiting, your trip exceeding the allowed duration, or your age or preexisting conditions excluding you from receiving full benefits.
• Additional Coverage: Medical evacuation coverage may be a major consideration, but consider the complete package when choosing a travel insurance policy. Trip interruption and cancellation, emergency hotlines, and other coverage can be valuable features for protecting your trip.
• Customer Service and Claims: Read customer reviews to learn about the claims process, how well the company delivers on claims and services, and what you can expect if you buy a policy.

You can usually get medical evacuation travel insurance as part of a comprehensive travel insurance plan . Start by getting quotes from travel insurance companies directly, or use a travel insurance comparison website such as Squaremouth to get quotes for multiple policies simultaneously. 

Another option is looking at the coverage offered when you book travel. For example, an airline or online travel agency may allow you to add travel insurance to your booking. Read the fine print to find out if it covers medical evacuation and learn about the coverage details. It makes sense to compare policies offered at booking to the quotes you can get independently from travel insurance companies.

You may have travel protection, including medical evacuation coverage, available with your credit card. Check your benefits guide to see what’s covered, how much coverage you get, and when it applies.

Emergency medical evacuation travel insurance can be critical coverage if you experience a medical emergency while traveling. Getting a travel insurance policy with medical evacuation coverage can offer a financial safety net and the assurance of lifesaving support in case of a medical crisis. While medical evacuation insurance can add to your travel costs, the savings can be exponential if you need to use your coverage.

For rates and fees of The Platinum Card ® from American Express, click here .

Frequently Asked Questions

Does insurance cover medical evacuation.

Regular health insurance and Medicare may cover medical evacuation under limited circumstances, but in most cases, your plan won’t cover it. Comprehensive travel insurance policies commonly offer medical evacuation coverage.

How much medical evacuation insurance should I get?

You should get at least $100,000 in medical evacuation insurance. If you’re traveling to a particularly remote or dangerous location, you may opt for medical evacuation insurance of up to $1 million.

How much does it cost to be medically evacuated?

Medical evacuation costs vary depending on the complexity of your evacuation but generally range from $20,000 to $200,000 just for transportation costs.

What is the difference between medical evacuation and repatriation?

Medical evacuation gets you to the closest medical facility that can treat you effectively, while repatriation brings you home. For example, you may get a medical evacuation to a regional hospital for critical care, then repatriation to a medical facility near your home once your condition is stable enough for travel.

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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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Travel Insurance

What is medical evacuation insurance? 

Jennifer Simonson

Jennifer Lobb

“Verified by an expert” means that this article has been thoroughly reviewed and evaluated for accuracy.

Updated 9:22 a.m. UTC Nov. 13, 2023

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• Medical evacuation insurance provides coverage for emergency medical transportation to the nearest adequate treatment center if you become seriously injured or ill while traveling. 
• If your attending physician determines you should be transported home for care, the cost of emergency medical transportation could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
• Medical evacuation insurance can pay to transport your children home if you require a lengthy hospital stay. 

Imagine you are on your dream vacation skiing through the Swiss Alps and you take a serious tumble that shatters your femur. To make matters worse, the healthcare facility in the remote town you are visiting doesn’t have adequate doctors, equipment or supplies to treat you. What do you do? 

To pay out of pocket to be transported to a proper medical facility could potentially cost you tens of thousands of dollars. That is where a comprehensive travel insurance plan with emergency medical evacuation benefits comes into play. 

While every plan is different, buying enough medical evacuation insurance coverage can give you peace of mind that you will be taken care of no matter what happens when you are away from home. And that an outrageous medical bill isn’t one of the souvenirs you bring home.

Compare the best travel insurance offers

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Worldwide Trip Protector

Covers COVID?

Medical & evacuation limits per person

$100,000/$1 million

Atlas Journey Preferred

Seven Corners

RoundTrip Basic

$500,000/$1 million

What is medical evacuation insurance?

Medical evacuation insurance is often found in comprehensive travel insurance policies in the form of a benefit called emergency medical evacuation, medical evacuation or repatriation insurance. This benefit covers the cost of emergency medical transportation to the nearest adequate treatment center if you become seriously injured or ill while traveling. If a qualified facility is not available, it may even cover the cost of transporting you back home. 

A physician generally certifies that the severity of the accidental injury or illness warrants the move. The ultimate objective is to save your life, arm, or leg by ensuring you receive the emergency treatment you require. 

Do I need medical evacuation insurance? 

If you’re traveling in a location not covered by your domestic health care plan and are not prepared to pay for medical bills out of pocket, travel insurance that includes emergency medical coverage is crucial, says Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners.

Emergency medical treatment overseas can be challenging to navigate. Most providers do not accept U.S. health insurance plans, Medicare or Medicaid. Travel insurance companies can help by coordinating with doctors, providing translation services, arranging emergency transportation and handling billing, says Durazo.  

How much does medical evacuation cost? 

Medical evacuation charges are not cheap, especially in remote locations.

“The cost of emergency medical transportation can run into the tens of thousands of dollars or more, and varies based on the traveler’s health condition, care required and their location,” Durazo said. 

Medical evacuations are logistically challenging to coordinate leading to the high cost of transportation. According to Durazo, if you need emergency medical transportation back to the U.S., it can cost the following.

How much medical evacuation insurance do I need? 

Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison site, recommends at least $100,000 in medical evacuation insurance if you are traveling internationally. If traveling to a remote location or going on a cruise, Squaremouth recommends $250,000 in coverage.

You can buy medical evacuation insurance coverage for up to $1 million, depending on the travel insurance plan you buy. 

What does medical evacuation insurance cover?

Medical evacuation insurance typically covers emergency transportation, medical escorts, the cost of a companion to be by your side and the cost to send your children home if there is no one available to care for them. 

Emergency transportation 

If you become seriously ill or injured while traveling, medical evacuation insurance can cover the cost of transportation to the nearest adequate facility for treatment. If medically necessary, it may even cover the cost of your flight back home.

Should emergency medical transportation be deemed necessary, options may include air ambulance or commercial carrier, Durazo said. 

While some might assume an air ambulance is the best mode of transportation, most patients report a better experience on a commercial carrier. Commercial airlines not only offer more options for direct flights, better overall flight quality and more room for medical staff and travel companions, but they also allow patients to travel in either first or business class where they can lay flat if medically necessary. 

Medical escort 

Medical evacuation insurance can pay for the cost of medical escort services should you need a medical professional to assist you on the trip home. In-flight medical teams could include nurses, paramedics or doctors that monitor vital signs, manage pain and assist with medication administration. 

Transport to bedside 

If you become seriously ill or injured or develop a medical condition while on your trip requiring hospitalization for more than a predetermined amount of time, the insurance might arrange and pay for round-trip transportation for a family member or friend to stay with you. 

Some plans also provide compensation for food, hotel and other expenses your bedside companion incurs while remaining close to you is also available on certain plans. 

Return of dependents

Insurance companies may also pay for the transportation of traveling companions who are under the age of 18 to their primary residence or a location of your choice if you do not have an adult family member traveling with you who can care for them. 

You typically need to be told by the treating doctor that you will be in the hospital for a minimum number of days before you can claim this benefit.

What does medical evacuation not cover? 

While medical evacuation insurance covers most illnesses and accidents, be aware that injuries resulting from extreme, high-risk sports and activities like bungee jumping, skiing in areas accessed by helicopter, free climbing and skydiving are often excluded from coverage. 

If you are planning risky activities, look into a travel insurance plan that offers an adventure bundle. The Travel Guard Deluxe plan, for example, comes with up to $1 million in coverage for emergency evacuation and repatriation of remains and offers an Adventure Sports upgrade that removes the exclusions for adventure and extreme activities. 

Other exclusions to medical evacuation coverage may include: 

• Transportation not pre-approved by the travel insurance company.
• Transportation that goes against the advice of your physician.
• Pre-existing medical conditions.
• Mental or psychological disorder.
• Normal pregnancy or childbirth (complications are generally not excluded).
• Intentional injury, suicide or attempted suicide.
• Loss that occurs within 100 miles of your home.

Make sure you read and understand the exclusions listed in your travel insurance policy. Travel insurance companies typically offer 14 or 15 days to review your plan. During this “free look” period, you can request a refund if you’re not satisfied with the coverage. 

When would I need medical evacuation insurance?

While it is always a good idea to travel with medical evacuation insurance, it is even more important to do so when you are traveling off the beaten path such as on safaris, Antarctic expeditions or car trips through remote countryside. 

“Slips and falls that result in broken legs, broken hips and head injuries are some of the most frequent things we transport for,” said John Gobbels, chief operating officer of air medical transport company Medjet. “We also see a lot of cardiovascular episodes such as heart attacks and strokes as well as infections that have progressed to sepsis.”

Other medical transport options 

Most medical evacuation insurance plans stipulate that you are flown to the nearest adequate facility for treatment. Once you reach that “acceptable facility,” you are often required to stay there until you’ve recovered to the fullest extent possible before being flown home via a commercial carrier. If you are unhappy with that facility because the most modern equipment is not available, the language barrier is frustrating or simply because you do not want to have corrective surgery so far from home, you are often out of luck. 

“People need to understand what the ‘acceptable facility’ and ‘medically necessary’ terms in their coverage really mean. When you read about people with very good travel insurance ‘stuck’ in foreign hospitals, it’s usually because of those terms,” said Gobbels. “The insurance company gets to decide what’s acceptable and whether it’s medically necessary to move you.”

That’s where “medical transport memberships” like Medjet can help. They pick up where insurance leaves off. With a medical transport membership, you can choose the hospital where you are treated even if it is not the same one deemed the closest adequate hospital by the insurance company.

“We move you just because you want to be moved home. It doesn’t have to be “medically necessary” to move you,” he said about medical transport memberships. “You get to choose whether you want to go home or not. That’s the difference.”

What if I am traveling within the United States? 

If you are traveling within the United States or to U.S. territories like Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands, the need for medical evacuation insurance is less dire. 

If you are traveling to a remote location like the Rocky Mountain backcountry or an adventure-oriented trip like hiking the Grand Canyon, purchasing a travel insurance plan that includes medical evacuation might still be the smart choice. 

While your domestic health care plan likely covers transportation to a hospital within the U.S., it probably does not cover a flight home requiring medical equipment and a medical escort. In addition, you would still be responsible for copays and deductions. 

How do I buy medical evacuation insurance? 

Medical evacuation insurance is often included in comprehensive travel insurance plans, but you can also buy a stand-alone travel medical plan. 

One such option is the OneTrip Emergency Medical plan from Allianz, which includes up to $250,000 in emergency medical transportation, $50,000 for medical and dental emergencies and $10,000 in travel accident coverage.

Blueprint is an independent publisher and comparison service, not an investment advisor. The information provided is for educational purposes only and we encourage you to seek personalized advice from qualified professionals regarding specific financial decisions. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Blueprint has an advertiser disclosure policy . The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Blueprint editorial staff alone. Blueprint adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.

Jennifer Simonson covers everything from business to the wine industry to international travel. Outdoor adventure, water parks and all things Texas are by far her favorite beats. Her work has appeared in Forbes, Travel + Leisure, Texas Monthly, Smithsonian Magazine, Fodor's, Lonely Planet, Slate and more. You can follow her on Instagram at @storiestoldwell.

Jennifer Lobb is deputy editor at USA TODAY Blueprint and is an experienced insurance and personal finance writer. Jennifer served as an insurance staff writer and editor at U.S. News and World Report and deputy editor of insurance at Forbes Advisor. She also spent several years covering finance and insurance for various financial media sites, including LendingTree and Investopedia. For nearly a decade, she’s helped consumers make educated decisions about the products that protect their finances, families and homes.

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Medical Evacuation Insurance – an Overview of Medevac Plans

Medical evacuation insurance plans, often called Medevac plans, are focused on emergency medical evacuations, international security evacuations and repatriation.

What is Medical Evacuation Coverage

Just because you get injured and require medical transportation doesn’t mean you will be sent all the way back to your home. When a well-planned trip goes awry and you, or someone you love, desperately needs immediate medical attention, this is where medical evacuation coverage comes through.

Most travel insurance policies cover transportation to the nearest facility and leave you there for treatment. They decide where you go, not you. They decide what is considered an acceptable medical facility for your care, not you. Once they get you to the hospital, their obligation is finished. You will then be liable to cover the cost of getting home or getting transported to a hospital at home that can complete your treatment.

Medical evacuation coverage gets you transported to the hospital of your choice and then, after you are well enough to be repatriated, it transports you to your hospital at home.

How does Medical Evacuation Insurance Work?

Most travel insurance plans include basic coverage for medical evacuation. According to the terms of your contract with them, they take you to the nearest facility that can handle your emergency.

This means you have:

• No choice in where you go
• No guarantee of going to the best medical facility
• No one to walk you through the process or translate the language for you

Medical evacuation insurance is important because each year over 10 million travelers are hospitalized abroad and over two million require emergency medical transportation. And medical transport is not cheap.

When you need a medical evacuation, you will contact your plan provider and they will coordinate your medical evacuation, handle family communications, provide translation services, and provide support every step of the way. When you’re well enough to travel home, they will arrange for medical transportation to your choice of hospital back home.

Different types of Evacuation Coverage

There are essentially two types of evacuation coverage:

• Medical evacuation coverage (also called medevac)
• Security/political evacuation coverage

Medical evacuation covers the coordination and cost of transportation to a medical facility. Depending on your need for treatment, it will also transport you either to your home or to a medical facility at home that can continue your care.

Security and political evacuation covers your transportation away from an unsafe place to a safe one. Depending on how the situation develops, you and your dependents can be returned to your trip destination or back home.

What makes Medical Evacuation unique?

A medical evacuation insurance plan provides coverage for evacuations and repatriation for individuals who travel either internationally and/or for business reasons on a regular basis.

Focuses on all types of evacuations

Medevac plans focus on emergency medical evacuations, international security evacuations, and repatriation. The travel insurance company must handle the coordination of these efforts and they usually take care of payments to the rescue team as well. Evacuations are covered up to the policy limits and only for covered reasons listed in the policy document.

Care for the important people in your life

Medevac plans often include emergency medical reunion benefits and return of minor children benefits, so you can care for the people who are important to you as well.

Often includes AD&D or term life benefits

Many medevac plans include AD&D and/or term life benefits as well. These are paid regardless of whether the insured has other AD&D or life insurance benefits to the beneficiary(ies) listed on the application form.

May include extra benefits

A few medical evacuation plans include  some package-like benefits, including:

• Trip interruption
• Lost baggage
• Optional adventure sports coverage

Why do you need a Medical Evacuation Coverage Plan?

• You are working on a volunteer project in the middle of the jungle and have a heart attack.
• Your teenage son has an accident with a jet ski while on a family cruise and suffers a severe concussion at sea.
• On a hike to a waterfall in Costa Rica, your wife slips off the trail and breaks her leg.
• Your parents are traveling with you to Rome when your father experiences a stroke.
• Your daughter’s graduation trip ends in a horrific traffic accident miles from home.

What coverage is included?

The following coverage is typically found in a Medical Evacuation travel insurance plan.

• Coordination and payment for emergency medical transportation to get you to a medical facility or return you home where you can obtain medical care.
• Language translation services when you are traveling in a foreign country and don’t understand what the local medical team is saying.
• Communication to family members and business partners back home who are worried about you.
• Repatriation arrangements, including proper handling, negotiations and payments necessary to return your body to your home or a nearby funeral home if you are killed or die on your trip.

Who should buy Medical Evacuation travel insurance?

Travelers like these should purchase medical evacuation travel insurance:

• Individuals and families on a cruise. The medical facilities on a cruise ship are limited and if you experience a medical emergency, you’ll want coverage to coordinate and pay for your evacuation to obtain proper medical care.
• Travelers headed to remote destinations. If you are planning to travel to remote regions of the globe, where medical care may be non existent, you’ll want assistance if you are severely ill or injured.
• Missionaries and foreign aid workers. Often missionaries and foreign aid workers travel to politically dangerous areas or regions that are damaged by natural disasters. Be sure you can save yourself if something happens to you so you can continue doing important work.
• Business travelers working abroad. When you work in a foreign country, you may have access to  your own health care or universal health care, but you won’t have coverage to be returned home if something truly terrible happens without medical evacuation insurance.

How much does Medical Evacuation cost?

The factors that affect the cost of a medical evacuation plan include:

• The age of the travelers
• Individual or family plan
• Annual or single-trip
• The length of the trip
• Optional coverage

An annual medical evacuation plan will cost a traveler around $200.00 and cover all the trips taken during the year. A single-trip medevac plan will cost a traveler between $45 and $68 (depending on the factors above).

• 4 Steps to 100% confidence in your travel insurance plan

Where should you buy your Medical Evacuation travel insurance?

You have two options for buying travel insurance – the best option is to compare plans from all companies, get quotes, and purchase your travel insurance plan online:

• Compare plans from all companies: Compare travel insurance plans from all companies, get quotes, and buy online.
• Quote and buy direct: Review the travel insurance companies and plans and purchase directly from the company.

All travel insurance companies include a free look period with a refund that lets you review the plan documentation. If you decide you need something a little different, you can make changes to your policy or cancel it for a refund (minus a small fee).

Which companies offer Medical Evacuation travel insurance plans?

• Medevac plans focus on all types of evacuations – emergency medical, security, etc.
• Often includes coverage for emergency medical reunion and return of minor children if you are hospitalized
• Sometimes includes coverage for medical expenses and package-like benefits
• Use a travel insurance comparison tool to find medevac plans and compare prices

Damian Tysdal is the founder of CoverTrip, and is a licensed agent for travel insurance (MA 1883287). He believes travel insurance should be easier to understand, and started the first travel insurance blog in 2006.

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Best Medical Evacuation Insurance Plans 2024

On This Page

• Key takeaways

Compare the best medical evacuation insurance companies

What is emergency medical evacuation insurance, medical evacuation insurance vs. travel medical insurance, our top picks for the best medical evacuation insurance plans, do i need medical evacuation insurance, what does emergency medical evacuation insurance cover, how much does a medical evacuation cost without insurance, how much emergency evacuation insurance coverage should you have, when is medical evacuation coverage recommended, tips for choosing the best medevac insurance, how to use emergency medical evacuation insurance, air ambulance insurance and other alternatives, medical evacuation insurance faq.

• Recommended articles

Related topics

• The CDC recommends buying medical evacuation insurance if you are traveling to a remote area or to somewhere that has low-quality medical care that may not be up to U.S. standards.
• Based on our research, the best emergency medical evacuation insurance plans come from: AXA Assistance USA, Seven Corners, Tin Leg, & Cat 70. ( skip ahead to view these plans )
• Emergency medical evacuation insurance is built to cover the cost of transporting you to a high-quality hospital via air ambulance or other suitable arrangements and can cost as little as $2 per day.
• Many medevac plans also cover the repatriation of remains, which means if you or a travel companion pass away during a trip, you can be transported home for a proper burial.
• We recommend opting for medical evacuation limits between $250,000 - $1,000,000 because evacuation costs can easily exceed $100,000 in most parts of the world - as outlined here by the CDC .
• We recommend using a comparison tool to compare plans and prices from multiple providers at once.

Emergency medical evacuation insurance, also known as medevac insurance or air ambulance insurance, can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars in case of an emergency while traveling.

For this reason, we consider medevac insurance as one of our most basic coverages to look for when buying travel insurance .

In this guide, we’ll cover:

• What it covers
• How much it costs
• What to look for when you go to buy
• How to use it if you need it

Not all evacuation coverage is made equal, and many factors can influence whether the plan you purchase will cover you or not.

To help you make the best decision when buying medevac insurance, we have reviewed plans from some of America’s best providers and highlighted our top picks.

So without further delay, here is our selection of the best medical evacuation insurance.

Our top picks for the best medical evacuation insurance

• MedjetAssist: Best Medical Evacuation Membership
• Tin Leg: Best for Budget Friendly Travelers
• AXA Assistance USA: Best for Premium Comprehensive Coverage
• Seven Corners: Best Value
• Cat 70: Best for Affordable Comprehensive Coverage

Emergency medical evacuation insurance, or medevac insurance, is a type of travel insurance coverage that pays for emergency transportation home or to a suitable medical facility when you become sick or injured while traveling.

Medevac coverage is different from travel medical insurance in that it focuses on paying for the journey to a medical facility or transport home after an incident whereas travel health insurance is made to reimburse you for the costs of medical treatment you receive while traveling.

If you plan to take a trip that’s far from where you live, it’s best to have both travel evacuation insurance & travel medical coverage in place.

These insurances work in tandem to cover essential services and treatments while offering entirely separate types of benefits.

• Emergency travel medical insurance: pays for the emergency medical care you receive while you’re away – including doctor bills, lab tests, emergency surgery, etc.
• Emergency medical evacuation insurance:  pays for you to be rescued or evacuated mid-travel and will ensure you are transported to a proper medical center for treatment. Also repatriates remains in the event of your death.
• Combining both coverages:  The  best travel insurance plans  combine both of the above coverages into one comprehensive travel insurance package and can also include extras like baggage coverage.

Search for comprehensive plans with combined coverage

Best Medical Evacuation Membership

Medjetassist, why we like it.

Editor's take

MedJet Assist is a membership plan that ensures individuals get the medical evacuation help they need when they need it. Paying for membership ensures travelers get help arranging medical transfers regardless of medical necessity, and it lets members determine which medical facility they want to be moved to. This plan works for medical evacuation within the United States and abroad, and it can be purchased for short-term travel or longer trips.

While the traditional MedJet Assist plan includes coverage for medical evacuation, the upgraded MedJetHorizon plan also adds in worldwide travel security, crisis response, and evacuation services powered by FocusPoint International. This add-on coverage can help pay for evacuation in the event of terrorism, natural disasters, and violent crime.

Read our full review

• Available for short-term or long-term travel
• Can cover pricey evacuation expenses when you need medical care
• Covers both personal and business travel
• Membership covers each trip you take during its term
• Short-term memberships start at just $99
• Does not include traditional travel insurance benefits
• Does not cover transportation from the site of an accident (medical facility transfers only)
• Covers up to two transport events per year

Best for Budget Friendly Travelers

The Tin Leg Gold plan is one of the top-selling plans offered by the acclaimed budget insurance provider Tin Leg. Despite being one of the most affordable insurance providers on the market, Tin Leg is renowned for its high-quality travel insurance coverage at competitive and reasonable prices. The gold plan is an ideal plan for medical evacuation thanks to its extremely high limits and the complementary medical coverage it offers for accidents and illnesses while traveling.

The Gold plan provides up to $500,000 in coverage for emergency medical evacuation & medically necessary repatriation, guaranteeing a safe return in case of emergencies.

Here’s a look at the coverage:

• Expenses for evacuation to a medical facility – including medically necessary transportation, related medical services, and supplies.
• Cost to send one person (chosen by you) to come and accompany you in the hospital if you are hospitalized for an extended time.
• Return transportation costs for dependent children, domestic partner, or spouse.
• Return transportation costs for you once you are healed and can leave the medical facility.
• Medical escort to accompany you back home if you are disabled during your trip.
• Escort to return your dependent children back home if you’re incapacitated or deceased.
• Repatriation of remains in case of death. This can include embalming or cremation before sending, temporary storage costs, shipping of the remains, necessary documentation, consular proceedings, transfer to final destination.

Apart from the extensive medical evacuation coverage, this plan offers up to $500,000 in primary emergency medical treatment coverage, ensuring you receive emergency medical care without deductibles or out-of-pocket expenses. The plan’s medical coverage includes COVID-19 sickness.

Tin Leg Gold also covers pre-existing conditions when purchased within 14 days of booking your trip and insuring the full trip cost. This feature is valuable for older travelers or those with pre-existing health concerns.

This plan also includes comprehensive travel protection in the form of trip cancellation and interruption coverage for various circumstances, including COVID-19.

The plan includes other essential benefits such as coverage for accidental death and dismemberment, as well as sports and adventure activities (with some exclusions). Additionally, it offers coverage for travel delays, missed connections, baggage delays, damage, loss, and sports gear or equipment issues.

While this plan has slightly lower limits for travel delay and baggage coverage compared to other plans, its outstanding medical coverage at an affordable price makes it a compelling choice. With a 14-day money-back guarantee and 24-hour travel assistance service, Tin Leg Gold prioritizes customer satisfaction and support, making it a top pick for travelers who value their well-being and seek comprehensive coverage for their trips.

• Excellent primary coverage for medical expenses
• High limit for emergency evacuation coverage
• Optional cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage available
• Comes with coverage for hurricanes and inclement weather
• Coverage for pre-existing conditions is available if purchased within 14 days of the trip deposit
• Baggage delay coverage requires a 24-hour waiting period
• Low coverage limits for baggage and personal effects

Best for Premium Comprehensive Coverage

Axa assistance usa.

AXA Assistance USA is a highly-rated travel insurance company that offers comprehensive travel insurance plans with a ton of benefits. This means the coverage you purchase from them includes medical evacuation protection as well as baggage insurance, trip cancellation insurance, trip interruption coverage, travel delay coverage, and more. The company also offers three tiers of coverage you can choose from based on your needs and your budget.

We recommend the Platinum plan from AXA Assistance USA due to its superior medical evacuation coverage and robust limits in other categories. This plan comes with up to $1 million in protection for emergency medical evacuation and repatriation of remains, up to $250,000 in coverage for emergency medical expenses, $300 per day (maximum of $1,250) in trip delay coverage, $3,000 in insurance for baggage and personal effects, and more. Optional cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage is also available as an add-on with this plan.

• High coverage limits in every category. Extremely comprehensive
• Includes identity theft coverage & non-medical evacuation coverage
• CFAR coverage reimburses 75% of prepaid travel expenses
• Coverage cannot be extended unlike other plans
• Medical limit is lower than other cheaper plans, but still sufficient

Seven Corners

The Trip Protection Choice plan from Seven Corners is an excellent choice for a comprehensive plan and offers robust coverage at a great price. In fact, the Trip Protection Choice plan is our top-selling travel insurance policy thanks to its high coverage limits, customizable add-ons, excellent 24-hour customer service, and a 14-day money-back guarantee. This plan is neither the cheapest nor the most expensive, but it offers solid coverage for an affordable price.

Regarding medical coverage, Seven Corners’ Trip Protection Choice plan offers $500,000 for emergency medical coverage and $1m in medical evacuation and repatriation coverage per person. It also covers medical expenses related to Covid-19. The plan’s primary medical coverage also means there is no deductible, and you won’t have to pay out of pocket if any medical emergencies occur during your trip.

The Trip Protection Choice offers extensive medical evacuation and repatriation coverage. Here is what it includes at a glance:

• Emergency Medical Evacuation: Covers transportation expenses for evacuating you to the nearest suitable hospital or medical facility for necessary treatment.
• Medical Repatriation: Covers expenses for sending you back home or to a hospital or medical facility closest to your home for continued treatment.
• Medical Escort: Covers expenses for a medical professional to escort you back to the U.S. and provide medical care during the trip, if necessary.
• Repatriation of Remains: If you die while on the trip this will cover expenses for sending your body back home and can include embalming or local cremation before sending, temporary storage costs, transportation of the remains, and necessary documentation.
• Transportation of Children/Child: Covers the cost of returning your dependent children or minors left unattended due to your hospitalization for 7+ consecutive days or death during the trip. It also ensures they are accompanied and attended to until they arrive home.
• Transportation to Join You: Covers the cost of someone you know to visit your bedside if you are hospitalized for 7+ consecutive days. A daily benefit of up to $1,000 is available for bedside traveling companions.

Apart from this, the Trip Protection Choice plan can easily cover and reimburse you for things like:

• Overall trip cost
• Travel delays & stipends
• Baggage & equipment loss/damage
• Accidental death or dismemberment

You will also be covered for trip cancellations (up to 100%) and interruptions (up to 150%) including a wide range of valid reasons for claiming trip cancellation and interruption benefits. Optional add-ons include coverage for Cancel for Any Reason, Interruption for Any Reason, rental car damage, sports equipment rental, and event ticket protection.

• Offers coverage for pre-existing conditions
• Money-back guarantee
• Cancellation & Interruption coverage standard
• Covers action sports & equipment
• Cancel for any reason not included standard
• Must meet waiver for pre-existing conditions to be covered

Best for Affordable Comprehensive Coverage

Cat 70 offers affordable comprehensive travel coverage with high limits for emergency medical evacuation. This plan is exclusively available through platforms like LA Times Compare.

The Cat 70 Travel Plan is a solid and affordable option for comprehensive travel insurance that also includes ample coverage for medical evacuation. In fact, this plan comes with $500,000 in coverage for emergency medical expenses and up to $500,000 in insurance for emergency medical evacuation. Other benefits include trip cancellation coverage, baggage insurance, travel delay coverage, protection for missed connections, and more.

• High limits for emergency medical expenses
• Affordable travel insurance with high limits for medical evacuation
• Includes extras like trip cancellation coverage & baggage insurance
• Not available in all destinations

The US Government’s travel.state.gov website highlights that most traditional health insurance plans will not cover repatriation costs back to the U.S. making evacuation insurance all the more useful to travelers.

Travelex travel insurance reports that medical evacuation costs can average close to $25,000 in North America, or as much as $100,000 in Europe or $250,000 on a global level.

These two factors alone are enough to warrant travel insurance that includes medevac coverage. Without emergency medical evacuation insurance, you could be forced to bear the brunt of these costs by paying out-of-pocket if you needed to be transported by a medevac helicopter, plane, or ambulance for medical treatment.

You should consider opting for medical evacuation coverage if:

• You plan to travel to a remote area where medical facilities may be far away or inadequate
• You have pre-existing health conditions that could flare up and require hospitalization
• You have special healthcare needs that certain facilities may not be able to adequately treat
• There is a higher-than-average risk of you dying or falling seriously ill while away
• You cannot afford to pay the out-of-pocket costs associated with an unexpected medical evacuation

Medical evacuation travel insurance will pay for a range of non-medical and even non-emergency services that can help you overcome an injury or illness when you travel.

The following services are typically covered with emergency medevac coverage:

Emergency transportation to a hospital of your choice

All medical evacuation plans offer coverage to the nearest suitable medical facility equipped to handle your condition. However, most plans allow you to be sent to a hospital of your choice. Transport method depends on your condition but can include a specialized medical plane equipped with a mobile ICU, commercial airplane, helicopter, or ambulance.

COVID coverage & transport care

Most emergency evacuation plans include coverage for COVID-19. If you become severely ill with coronavirus and need to be hospitalized or intubated, you can receive emergency medical transportation in a specialized mobile COVID quarantine unit that will provide adequate care throughout transport to a proper medical facility.

A medical escort for returning home

Your coverage may pay for a medical escort, such as a doctor, to accompany you home safely if you need surgery or medical care as a result of your emergency. This means you won’t be stuck traveling home alone, which can be a major blessing when you’re sick or injured and require extra assistance.

Return travel costs for your children

If you pass away or become hospitalized and require care during your trip, evacuation coverage can pay for a return ticket for your dependent children who were traveling with you. Your plan can also provide them with a travel escort if one is required.

Bedside companion’s room and board

If you are ill or injured and require hospitalization, **some emergency medical evacuation plans cover non-medical expenses** like your bedside companion’s room and board so your travel companion can accompany you as you receive proper treatment. It’s important to read over your policy and check to make sure coverage extends to travel companions and not just the patient.

Travel expenses for a family member or friend to reach you

If you are alone and become hospitalized at your travel destination for a longer period of time (usually seven nights or longer) your emergency coverage may pay for a family member to travel to visit you . This non-emergency protection can pay for a plane ticket to where you are located, as well as meals, hotel stays, and incidental travel expenses incurred by your companion.

Repatriation of remains

Finally, you should know that your evacuation plan can pay to have your body returned home if you pass away during your vacation. In addition to covering the travel expenses for your remains, medical evacuation and repatriation insurance can also cover embalming, local cremation, and a basic casket for transportation.

The costs for medical evacuations can be astronomical and can add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Travel insurance guidelines from the CDC state the following :

“The total cost of medevac varies by location, ranging from $25,000 for transport within North America to ≥$250,000 for more distant and remote locations. Costs increase when the patient being evacuated is critically ill or needs complex infection control measures.”

It’s best to anticipate that when traveling abroad you could end up paying $250,000 or more for an international transfer to a U.S. facility to receive medical attention.

Ultimately, this is why many travel insurance plans with emergency medical evacuation coverage have limits of up to $500,000 or even $1 million for emergency transport.

With emergency medical evacuation protection in place, there may be zero out-of-pocket expenses associated with this care. In other cases, your costs may be limited to the travel insurance deductible amount or a few hundred dollars.

How much coverage you should have for travel evacuation insurance depends heavily on the destination and traveler profile.

For U.S. domestic travel, it’s good to have at least $25,000 in medical evacuation coverage, but we recommend opting for around $50,000 in coverage – based on information outlined by the U.S. Government and the CDC .

Generally speaking, it’s best to have protection with limits that are robust enough to cover nearly any medical emergency that pops up. That said, medical evacuation limits below $250,000 are likely not enough for international trips.

Travel insurance doesn’t have to break the bank. There are many cheap travel insurance plans that include medical evacuation coverage for extra peace of mind while traveling.

Cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage or annual travel plans can also be added to certain plans for additional coverage.

Medical evacuation insurance is recommended any time you travel out of your home country where your normal health insurance does not apply.

There are other scenarios where you’ll want to ensure your coverage for emergency medical evacuation is especially robust, such as if you plan to participate in high-risk adventure sports or if you’re traveling in an extremely remote area of Spain , for example. In these cases, it is definitely worth it to consider travel insurance specific to medical emergencies.

For example, if you plan to hike the French Alps and you’ll be miles from the largest city on the side of a mountain, having emergency medical evacuation coverage is crucial. The same is true if you plan to go hang gliding or deep sea diving on your trip to Bali , but also if you plan to do nothing more than relax and sightsee on your trip.

We also recommend medical evacuation coverage if you are going on a cruise since being evacuated from a ship is very costly. Check out our recommendations for cruise insurance to make sure you’re covered when setting sail.

The fact is, you never know when you may be in an automobile accident, or if you’ll come down with COVID-19 or another illness during your travels. Your health is one of your biggest assets, so it’s best to provide yourself with adequate protection just in case.

Do you need medevac insurance coverage for trips in the U.S.?

Even if you are traveling within the United States, medical evacuation insurance can come in handy.

This is especially true for the add-ons and additional coverage that medical evacuation insurance provides like repatriation services, and more.

For example, if you’re traveling full-time or part-time in remote areas of the United States, your health insurance plan may pay for your medical care but not necessarily your travel back home.

Imagine hiking in Yellowstone National Park and being injured from a fall. Your normal health insurance plan would likely cover an ambulance ride to the nearest hospital and your immediate medical care. However, your health insurance plan would not cover your plane ride home, or an escort if you need help with the journey due to your condition. This is particularly important for those who are at a higher risk of injury or illness, like senior citizens .

This is true whether you have health insurance through a private provider, or if you get insurance through a federal plan such as Medicare or Medicaid. If you aren’t covered by health insurance in the United States, then medical evacuation insurance becomes even more important.

By having adequate emergency medical insurance and medical evacuation insurance in place, you can enjoy your travels and worry less about unforeseen accidents.

As with anything, it helps to know what to look for as some plans and providers are better than others.

To help you choose, we have come up with the main things to look for when buying medical evacuation insurance.

Read over the fine print

Travel insurance is notorious for including many exceptions for coverage in the fine print. While it may be a pain, make sure to read over the fine print and all details of the policy from start to finish. Ensure the company offers adequate limits for each type of insurance you want to buy. It can also help to look for companies that offer travel assistance, such as 24-hour emergency assistance services.

Check what is excluded from the policy

If you plan to participate in high-risk adventure sports during your trip, make sure your travel insurance plan covers these activities. Each plan has different requirements relating to action sports, so check that it does not list your sport as an exclusion. Also, note that some plans exclude coverage in certain countries or regions of the world.

Opt for plans that also cover medical expenses

Make sure your policy has robust limits for medical expenses that might appear during travel, including expenses caused by accidents, illness, emergency dental treatment, and any other care you receive.

Check coverage for pre-existing conditions

Many plans will cover pre-existing conditions if you meet certain criteria – such as booking within a certain time frame. That said, pre-existing conditions are commonly excluded from travel insurance coverage or come with strings attached. Make sure you understand if you can be fully covered before buying.

Understand the dollar limits

Make sure you have a full understanding of all the limits listed in your travel insurance policy, and determine what the specific limits are on the emergency evacuation coverage for plans you’re considering. Ideally, you’ll select a high-quality policy that offers generous limits for emergency evacuation and medical expenses.

Review the hospital selection policy

Note that most emergency medical evacuation plans will pay for necessary transportation to the nearest appropriate medical facility, which may not be the hospital of your choice. Others allow you to choose where you want to be sent. Be sure you know and understand your plan’s policy ahead of time, and don’t be afraid to consider alternatives if you want to choose where you receive care.

Use a comparison tool

Using a comparison tool allows you to see many plans all at once. This can also allow you to filter and sort plans based on the types of coverage you find most appealing. By using a comparison tool, you’ll be able to quickly eliminate plans that don’t meet your needs and narrow down which ones are the best options.

The first step involved in benefiting from this coverage is making sure you have it, and checking to confirm your medevac insurance has adequate limits that can protect you financially when you need it most.

Steps required to use emergency medical evacuation insurance include the following:

Call for approval immediately

Each provider offers a 24-hour hotline you or the in-house doctor or medical professional can call to expedite the process, and you’ll want to do this right away. If you become sick or injured during a trip and require emergency medical transportation, you’ll need to get approval from your travel insurance provider first before using this service.

Wait for evacuation

Your provider will proceed to assist you and manage your medical evacuation and repatriation. They will coordinate with local doctors to monitor your condition and provide adequate medical support for evacuating you home to the US. As an example, this could include an air ambulance equipped with an on-board ICU, or a business class ticket with a medical escort.

Save all bills and receipts

In some cases, your travel insurance plan will pay your medical transportation bills directly. In others, you may have to pay for some of your care upfront and then wait to be reimbursed afterward. Either way, you’ll want to save all documents and receipts relating to your incident or illness, including all bills and paperwork that prove your medical expenses.

File a claim online or over the phone

Once you arrive home, you should call your travel insurance provider to find out where you’re at in the claims process. You may need to file an individual claim for the emergency medical evacuation and other services you used from your plan, or you may only need to provide the company with supporting documentation to use your coverage.

If you want comprehensive medical evacuation coverage but you’re not thrilled with the options you’re finding online, consider these alternatives.

Medjet: Medjet Assist is primarily an evacuation and air ambulance insurance. This company only covers medical evacuations and it can be purchased in addition to a traditional travel insurance plan. One of the biggest benefits of Medjet is the fact you get to select the hospital you’re transported to for medical treatment. See our full MedJet insurance review for more info.

Global Rescue: Global Rescue is another air ambulance insurance provider that offers standalone coverage for emergency evacuation, which can include ambulance transportation, commercial air travel, and more. Worldwide field rescue, 24-7 travel emergency assistance services, and advisory services are also included in this coverage based on eligibility.

Premium Travel Insurance Plans: The cost of travel insurance will vary by many factors, one of which being the level of coverage you choose. Comprehensive travel insurance plans tend to cost more, but you may get a higher level of emergency evacuation coverage with more options and benefits in exchange. These plans can be purchased for long-term travel, or on a short-term basis for individual trips.

Travel Credit Card Coverage: Finally, you may be able to get medical evacuation insurance with a credit card if you’re eligible. While a handful of travel credit cards offer this coverage, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® offers one of the most comprehensive plans with coverage for medical services and transportation in amounts up to $100,000.

Do I need medical evacuation and travel medical insurance?

If you are traveling to a location where you don’t have health insurance, purchasing medical evacuation coverage and insurance for medical expenses is crucial.

It’s best to have evacuation coverage and travel medical insurance if you become injured or come down with an illness and require care when you’re away from home. Having both types of coverage ensures your evacuation is handled adequately, and that you receive professional medical attention from a licensed provider or doctor in a medical facility.

Do credit cards have medical evacuation insurance included?

Some credit cards come with emergency medical evacuation coverage, but these protections usually have limitations. For example, the insurance coverage you get through a credit card typically comes with lower limits than if you were to purchase from a travel insurance provider.

Also, credit card insurance requires you to pay for your trip, including all prepaid travel expenses, with the credit card for their coverage to apply. In other words, just carrying the credit card or having it in your name isn’t enough to be covered by the card’s insurance policy.

Is Medjet Assist any good?

Medjet Assist is only an air ambulance insurance service, meaning it only offers evacuation and will not pay for other medical bills relating to treatment of illness or injury. This service is good for people with a high risk of needing evacuations and is apt for long-term trips or annual coverage. That said, a comprehensive travel insurance plan that includes medevac coverage and medical treatment coverage is usually a better fit for most travelers.

Holly D. Johnson is an award-winning personal finance writer who covers topics like insurance, investing, credit and family finance. As a leading voice in the travel and loyalty space, Johnson has traveled with her family to more than 50 countries over the last decade.

The author has also written extensively on the power of household budgeting, and she even co-authored a book on the topic. Zero Down Your Debt: Reclaim Your Income and Build a Life You’ll Love was originally published in 2017, and it teaches families how to use zero-sum budgeting to reach their financial goals. She is also the co-owner and founder of the family finance and travel website, ClubThrifty.com.

Johnson’s 10+ years of writing have focused on helping families make important financial decisions at each stage of their lives. The author also applies the financial principles she teaches to her own life, and she is currently on track to retire in her late 40’s with her partner. She currently lives in Central Indiana with her husband and children, and she is a regular contributor for Bankrate, CNN, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report Travel and many other notable publications.

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Emergency Medical Evacuation Coverage | Travel Insurance Guide

Sarah Horvath is one of the home service industry’s most accomplished writers. Her specialties include writing about home warranties, insurance, home improvement and household finances. You can find her writing published through distributors like HouseMethod, Architectural Digest, Good Housekeeping and more. When not writing, she enjoys spending time in her home in Orlando with her fiance and parrot.

Tori Addison is an editor who has worked in the digital marketing industry for over five years. Her experience includes communications and marketing work in the nonprofit, governmental and academic sectors. A journalist by trade, she started her career covering politics and news in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her work included coverage of local and state budgets, federal financial regulations and health care legislation.

No one wants to think about the possibility of being involved in a major accident or having a medical emergency during a vacation. However, it’s important to plan for the worst-case scenario — especially if you’re traveling to a country where you do not speak the primary language or an area with a less robust medical system.

Medical evacuation coverage can provide financial protection if a traveler experiences an emergency and requires evacuation to a medical facility. You can buy medical evacuation coverage alone or as part of a travel insurance policy. Read on to learn more about medical evacuation coverage, what it is and how much it costs, and the best travel insurance companies offering coverage. 

What Is Emergency Medical Evacuation Coverage?

Medical evacuation coverage is a type of travel medical insurance that covers the cost of transportation if you experience an emergency while traveling. For example, if you need an ambulance ride after breaking your leg in Paris or require a helicopter evacuation if you are seriously hurt while hiking Mount Fuji in Japan. If you’re visiting an area with limited medical services, medical evacuation coverage could also include transportation home or to an international hospital with sufficient resources to treat your condition. 

Medical evacuation coverage is worth considering if you’re traveling abroad without sufficient health insurance. American-issued health care, notably Medicaid, does not always extend coverage outside the country. Without coverage, you could end up with a final bill ranging between $25,000 to $100,000 or more for the cost of medical evacuation services.

Evacuation insurance is usually included as part of a travel insurance policy’s medical coverage. Other coverage found alongside medical evacuation includes the cost of emergency care you receive abroad and the repatriation of your remains if you pass away in another country. You can also purchase independent medical evacuation coverage on its own with select providers. 

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What Does Medical Evacuation Insurance Cover?

Medical evacuation insurance covers the cost of medical evacuation to a medical facility elsewhere in the area you’re traveling to or back in the U.S. However, there are other factors to consider during a medical evacuation or emergency, like what will happen to the rest of your family or travel companions. We’ve included specifics below as to what medical evacuation insurance covers:

Emergency Transportation

First and foremost, medical evacuation covers the cost if you sustain a serious or life-threatening injury while traveling and need urgent transportation to a medical facility. It can also cover transport to a U.S.-based facility if deemed necessary.

Medical Escort Upon Arrival

If the medical professionals treating you deem it necessary for you to return to the U.S. for continued treatment, medical evacuation coverage will cover the costs if you require specialized care on the flight home. A medical escort may be on hand to administer intravenous antibiotics or supply oxygen during your flight.

Support Person Expenses

Medical evacuation insurance can pay for a round-trip flight for a family member to accompany you if you need to be hospitalized due to your illness or injury. However, this coverage can vary between policies and usually has a minimum hospital stay requirement before kicking in.

Certain policies will include additional benefits such as compensation for hotel stays, meals and other costs a support person may incur.

Flights for Children

Your medical evacuation insurance can arrange to have your children flown home if you are hospitalized while on vacation with your family. Coverage benefits will compensate for related costs, minus any refunds for unused airfare if your initial trip is cut short.

Repatriation of Remains

In the event of your or a travel companion’s death, evacuation coverage includes repatriation benefits or the cost of transporting remains back to your home country.

Checking Fine Print for Evacuation Coverage

As is the case with any type of insurance, it’s important to check the fine print and details of what a policy does and does not cover when you purchase medical evacuation coverage. Start by taking a look at the details of situations that warrant emergency evacuation coverage compared to the details of your trip. For example, you usually need to be at least 100 miles away from your departure point to qualify for evacuation coverage. Trip length restrictions are also common — if you plan to be away from home for more than 60 days, you may need a special policy or coverage rider. 

Next, read a policy’s fine details and note any medical exclusions in which the company waives liability. For example, some medical coverage is listed as “secondary,” which means you’ll need to first exhaust your health insurance benefits before travel medical insurance will pay a portion of the remaining expenses. 

Some medical evacuation policies also include limitations on benefits if you participate in extreme sports or other dangerous activities abroad, such as skydiving. Some companies may allow you to add a waiver or extend benefits to include certain circumstances if you plan on playing sports, snorkeling, scuba diving or participating in another commonly excluded recreational activity. 

It is also important to familiarize yourself with your insurance provider’s claims submission policy. In most cases, providers limit the use of coverage unless a return home or other transportation is determined medically necessary by local physicians or other healthcare providers. Be sure to keep every form of documentation of medical services and treatments you receive to submit to your insurance provider. You can also keep your medical evacuation provider’s number in your list of important travel documents so it’s accessible in the event of an accident. 

How Much Medical Evacuation Travel Insurance Is Necessary?

Travel insurance coverage limits, or the amount your provider will cover, vary by plan and provider. Most medical evacuation plans provide $1 million in medical evacuation coverage per person, although limits may be lower depending on the provider.

It’s up to you to decide how much coverage you need depending on where you are going and what you may be doing — higher allowances naturally offer more financial protection in the event of an emergency.

Some insurance companies offer a grace period of around two weeks to look over your policy and be sure it is right for you. Companies may offer reimbursement if you decide to cancel the plan or decide you need more coverage.

When Should You Get Medical Evacuation Insurance?

While you can purchase medical evacuation insurance for general peace of mind, there are certain situations in which it could be useful — like if you’re traveling to a remote area or participating in certain sporting activities. As a traveler or an expatriate, you may find yourself in a location without high-quality healthcare facilities. Likewise, remote locations can have limited transport infrastructure to support you in an emergency. Medical evacuation insurance can ensure you receive the care you need if you or your travel companion get hurt and require immediate care.

We suggest you compare medical evacuation coverage options as early as possible. While medical evacuation coverage typically does not have purchase time limits in the same way as coverage for pre-existing conditions , shopping early leaves you more time to review policy choices. We recommend shopping for travel insurance in the early stages of your travel planning to gain access to the most comprehensive medical benefits. 

Do You Need Medical Evacuation and Travel Medical Insurance?

When deciding if you need medical evacuation and travel medical insurance, consider your destination first and planned activities. Familiarize yourself with local hospitals near where you are staying and the location of major medical facilities nearby. You can also look into average medical facility staffing and quality — if you’re traveling to an area with less funded medical facilities and plan to participate in sporting events, consider investing in travel medical insurance.

We also recommend looking into the health insurance coverage you already have and how it applies abroad. For example, Medicare will not cover most medical expenses incurred abroad. If your health insurance does not cover services where you are traveling, consider protecting yourself financially with travel insurance that includes medical benefits.

“How much travel medical insurance is needed is unique to every traveler,” said Angela Borden, a product marketing specialist at Seven Corners . “There are several factors to consider.”

Borden also posed some questions worth thinking through when deciding on medical evacuation and travel medical insurance:

“Do you have pre-existing conditions or other health concerns where having additional coverage would be advantageous or give you peace of mind?” she asked. “How long is your trip? The longer you’re away from home, the higher the chances you could get sick or hurt while traveling. What is your budget? Would you have the financial resources to cover a medical emergency out of pocket? Do you have other insurance?” 

Answering these questions can help make deciding on a policy easier.

How Much Does Medical Evacuation Travel Insurance Cost?

The cost of medical evacuation insurance depends on your provider and coverage type. Companies like Medjet offer annual, membership-based medical evacuation and transport services for around $315 to $500 or more, depending on your selected coverage.

You can also obtain single-trip coverage by purchasing a travel insurance policy. Travel insurance premiums vary depending on your plan, coverage limits and provider. Based on quotes we gathered for companies like Seven Corners and Tin Leg, a comprehensive policy with $500,000 to $1 million in evacuation coverage plus emergency medical coverage and trip cancellation benefits costs between $52 to $79 .

Keep in mind that your travel insurance costs may vary depending on your trip details and coverage needs.

How To Use Medical Evacuation Coverage

In the event of a medical emergency, it’s important to know how to use your coverage. These general steps can help you in knowing how to use your travel medical evacuation coverage. 

Contact local emergency services: If you or someone you’re traveling with requires medical attention, call local emergency services for immediate assistance. Ensure you or your companion receive any necessary initial medical attention before trying to navigate your insurance coverage.

Call your insurance provider’s emergency line: As soon as it’s safe to do so, inform your travel insurance company’s 24/7 emergency services hotline about the situation. Utilize the company’s dedicated assistance line for real-time support and include any current documentation you have for your claim. For example, if there is a police report in progress when you call for medical attention, you may want to request a copy to submit to your insurer later on.

Insurance case review and physician consultation: Your insurance provider will initiate a comprehensive case review, potentially contacting a physician to evaluate your medical condition where you are located. This consultation is crucial in determining the necessity of emergency medical transport and is required for reimbursement and coverage of services in most cases. 

Physician certification: To validate your medical evacuation coverage, your attending physician must certify the severity of your case and endorse the need for the service. Ideally, this certification occurs in advance of the evacuation but depending on the situation, may need to be submitted after the fact. You can request that your attending physician submit this information to your insurance provider using online claims submission or by contacting the emergency line. 

Ideally, aim to notify your insurance provider of your need for emergency medical evacuation and transport before it occurs. While this might not always be possible depending on the circumstances and the type of emergency you’re experiencing, notifying your insurance provider can help streamline the claims process. 

How Does Evacuation Transportation Work?

Initially, you will be transported to the nearest acceptable medical facility for treatment. Depending on the severity of your injury, you will stay at the facility until you can travel home. 

The circumstances surrounding the medical emergency will dictate how you’re transported home following an injury or illness abroad. In most circumstances, your travel insurance provider will arrange a commercial flight home for you and your traveling companions as soon as your physician deems it medically safe for you to leave. If you have a medical condition that requires you to lie down, you’ll likely be flown first or business class home. 

If commercial air transport is not safe or viable, an air ambulance may be used to provide a direct flight back home. However, this option is not preferred for several reasons. First, the ambulance must stop every four to six hours to re-fuel, delaying the total transit time. These vehicles can also usually only accommodate the patient, a companion and medical professionals in tight quarters and may not have a bathroom. Whenever possible, it’s better to opt for a commercial flight home, even if a direct route is not available. 

Benefits of Medical Evacuation Coverage

There are multiple benefits to investing in medical evacuation coverage. This type of insurance ensures you will receive transportation to an adequate facility if you experience a life-threatening emergency while traveling. You will also have peace of mind that if the worst were to happen while traveling, you have a plan in place and financial protection from medical evacuation costs.

How To Purchase Medical Evacuation Coverage

When looking into purchasing medical evacuation insurance, you may find it is usually part of a comprehensive travel plan. Comprehensive travel insurance also includes emergency medical care and trip interruption, cancellation and delays .

If you don’t need the additional coverage a comprehensive plan provides, you can purchase a standalone travel medical plan with medical evacuation coverage. You can also opt for a membership or service that provides travel medical evacuation and transport services, such as Global Rescue or Medjet.

Factors To Consider When Selecting Medical Evacuation Insurance

There are certain factors to consider when evaluating medical evacuation insurance plans, especially if coverage is part of a comprehensive travel policy. Understanding the policy exclusions and limitations is important to ensure you have adequate coverage in the event of an emergency.

Common travel insurance exclusions include the following:

• Extreme sports: Some coverage plans exclude medical coverage if you are hurt from participating in extreme sports, such as rock climbing or skydiving. However, some providers offer coverage add-ons to cover extreme sporting events.
• Hospital-stay requirements: If you are hurt while traveling and need transport to a hospital, your policy may require you to stay for a certain number of days before support benefits kick in. For example, your policy may only cover flying your children home or out to visit you once you are in the hospital for an extended period.
• Hospital of choice: Most travel insurance plans will fly you to the nearest adequate facility if you need further care, not allowing you to choose the location. Some plans offer add-on coverage that allows you to choose a different hospital for further treatment, and membership services such as Medjet allow you to select the hospital or go back home for care.

Medical Evacuation Insurance for Domestic Trips

If you are a permanent resident of the U.S. and have an active health insurance policy, you may not need to purchase additional medical evacuation coverage while traveling domestically. The country requires long-term health insurance providers to cover all emergency medical services that require immediate attention, regardless of whether the incident occurs within your local insurance network. 

The Affordable Care Act introduced a series of services and treatments that insurance companies must cover as a condition of selling insurance policies. One of these requirements is all types of ambulatory medical services, including transportation to a local medical facility using whatever means medical and safety professionals deem necessary. Coverage also includes emergency services, hospitalization and laboratory services. As a result, medical evacuation insurance will often act as supplemental coverage to your health insurance policy and provide more limited benefits. 

However, in certain circumstances, you might want to consider a medical evacuation policy for a trip within the U.S. If you don’t have health insurance, you could owe tens of thousands of dollars if you require medical transportation and evacuation services. You might also want to buy coverage if you have a health insurance policy with a higher out-of-pocket maximum — sometimes, evacuation coverage is more affordable than relying on less comprehensive health insurance. 

Alternatives To Medical Evacuation Insurance

In addition to purchasing a comprehensive travel insurance policy with medical evacuation coverage, you can also subscribe to a rescue-only plan. The following companies offer additional options for medical evacuation assistance and coverage. 

Medjet 

If you take multiple adventurous vacations a year, you might consider protecting yourself with annual medical evacuation coverage from a provider like Medjet. Medjet is a subscription-based, global medical transportation and evacuation service. After signing up for coverage, you’ll receive protection throughout the year, which you can use if you’re ever injured abroad. 

Medjet’s most popular policy option is the MedjetAssist coverage, which has the added benefit of returning you to your preferred hospital domestically. While most medical evacuation policies will transport you to the nearest facility equipped to care for your condition, Medjet gives you the option to go straight home so long as you’re at least 150 miles away from your departure point. Medjet also allows you to return to the U.S. regardless of medical necessity, offering more control over your care. 

Medjet offers the option to add MedjetHorizon benefits to your standard coverage for travel security and crisis response services. For example, this policy extends your evacuation services to include non-medical emergencies such as kidnapping, political threats and wrongful detention. MedjetHorizon members also have access to up to $60,000 in upfront cash benefits, as some international hospitals in underdeveloped areas may only have the capacity to accept cash. 

Travelers can purchase Medjet coverage for as little as eight days or as long as five years. Coverage costs start at $314 per year for standard Medjet medical evacuation benefits and $474 annually for MedjetHorizon extended benefits. Travelers can choose coverage limits of 90 to 365 days maximum, which offers an option for expats living abroad full-time. 

Read our full Medjet review to learn more.

Global Rescue

Global Rescue is another worldwide medical evacuation service provider offering international medical and security rescue. Global Rescue maintains multiple teams of rescue professionals at stations around the world, allowing a quicker intervention should a crisis strike. It also maintains partnerships with the Johns Hopkins Emergency Medicine Division of Special Operations, Elite Medical Group and affiliates of Harvard Medical School. 

Like Medjet, Global Rescue allows you to upgrade your medical evacuation insurance to include coverage for political and security-related evacuations. Global Rescue’s security team is staffed by military special operations veterans, and policies protect you against non-medical related hazards like political unrest, natural disasters and terrorist attacks. 

Policies with Global Rescue are available for periods as short as seven days and as long as five years. Policies start at $139 for a seven-day trip and $380 for basic annual coverage. Upgrading to include security evacuation benefits increases your pricing to $260 for a seven-day trip or $790 for annual coverage. Global Rescue also allows you to add coverage for high-altitude excursions and sports, which standard travel insurance policies often exclude. 

Is Medical Evacuation Insurance Worth It?

While we never want to consider the worst when planning a vacation, medical evacuation insurance can protect travelers in the event of an emergency circumstance. Purchasing travel insurance with evacuation coverage can ensure your transport to a local hospital to receive medical attention. It can also prevent you from paying expensive evacuation bills out-of-pocket.

Borden, quoted earlier, makes the case for a well-rounded travel medical insurance plan. 

“While evacuation and repatriation coverage is important, you’re more likely to use the accident and sickness benefits in your plan for things like an unexpected case of the flu or a sprained ankle,” she said. “A plan that provides only medical evacuation may not include coverage for these more common events, leaving you with the medical bills.”

Ultimately, deciding if travel insurance is worth it is up to you. If medical evacuation insurance seems like it would offer you peace of mind while traveling abroad, we recommend requesting free quotes from at least three insurance providers.

Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Evacuation Coverage

What is emergency evacuation travel insurance.

Emergency evacuation insurance covers the cost of transportation to the closest medical facility if you become seriously ill or injured while on vacation.

Does travel insurance cover medical repatriation?

A comprehensive travel insurance plan usually covers medical repatriation, or the cost of returning your remains home if you die abroad. While some insurance companies include this coverage automatically, others may offer it as an add-on that costs extra.

Does travel insurance cover your medical bills?

Most comprehensive travel insurance plans include the cost of emergency medical treatment expenses up to a certain limit. Some policies may also include expenses to get you home if you are injured or fall ill overseas. But every policy is different so we suggest checking your provider’s coverage for more information.

More Travel Insurance Resources

NEVER assume your health plan provides protection when you travel internationally.

Understand your risk. Not sure? Read the FAQs below!

• $1,000,000 Emergency Medical Evacuation
• $150,000 International Medical Health Coverage
• Trip cancellation, delay and interruption
• COVID-19 health and quarantine coverage
• Underwritten by Nationwide ®

Affordable Peace of Mind for the International Traveler

The world of travel insurance can be confusing. Too many choices with plans that offer inadequate coverage for health and safety emergencies or are simply too complex or expensive. At TravelCare, we've done the work for you. You can buy with the confidence that comes from TravelCare's over 20 years of experience in the travel health industry and our relationship with one of the most trusted brands in insurance, Nationwide ® . 

Nationwide and the Nationwide N and Eagle are service marks of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company.

TravelCare plans cost around $5 per day. Coverage highlights are as follows. Scroll down for more FAQs and to see full plan details.

TravelCare's Emergency Evacuation and Assistance and Travel Medical plans are underwritten by Nationwide combining the strength of TravelCare's experience with Nationwide's financial strength to offer unparalleled peace of mind for the International traveler.

Frequently Asked Questions

General questions  (16).

All you need to know to understand why you should never leave the U.S. without a TravelCare protection plan.

• Many U.S. health plans do not provide adequate – if any – coverage overseas.
• U.S. health plans generally do not cover emergency evacuations, which can cost you up to $200,000 or more, depending upon your circumstance and location.
• Medicare does not provide coverage for hospital or medical costs outside the United States (except in rare emergency circumstances on our borders with Canada and Mexico) or emergency evacuations.

Yes. If medical treatment or evacuation is necessary for an insured with COVID-19 during their trip, the plan covers related expenses. Make sure to purchase both the TravelCare evacuation plan and the optional medical plan to cover both evacuation and medical expenses.

Unfortunately, that situation is not uncommon. Here in the U.S., where most our healthcare is financed by private insurance, people can receive medical treatment and admission to a hospital by presenting their health plan ID card. In other countries, where healthcare is generally provided under state-financed or state-provided health systems, that is not the case. Their financial infrastructure is not set up to provide care and then send a bill to a third-party to pay the costs after-the-fact. That is why it is common for foreign hospitals to require an up-front payment – often ten thousand dollars or more – or a "guarantee of payment" from a travel insurance provider they are familiar with, like Nationwide. You do not want treatment delayed or denied because you are having difficulty quickly coming up with the cash or sufficient credit balances on your credit cards.

It is highly unlikely that your regular medical plan will:

• know the best place to get treatment in your foreign location;
• pay a hospital in advance if necessary to assure your admission or treatment;
• immediately speak with your treating doctor in his/her language to assess your condition, your treatment plans, and their ability to provide appropriate care;
• pay tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars to evacuate you to a higher level of care if you cannot receive adequate care where you are;
• accept medical records in a foreign language or pay claims in foreign currencies;
• be available 24/7 to receive calls to assist you and advocate for you in any language.

Most people need emergency travel assistance and evacuation services, and Travel Medical insurance, to get proper protection – even if they have great health coverage here in the U.S.

Medicare does not cover medical expenses incurred while traveling abroad except in rare circumstances. (Medicare may cover you if you're in the U.S., but the closest hospital is across the border, or if you have a medical emergency while traveling through Canada between Alaska and another state).

Only some Medicare Supplement plans cover emergency health care provided in a foreign country. For those that do, the coverage: (1) is limited to 80% of $50,000 after you pay either a $250 or $2,000 deductible, (2) does not apply for emergencies after you have been on a trip for 60 or more days, and (3) does not provide any coverage at all for emergency medical evacuations.

The government does not take financial responsibility to cover the costs of Americans that become ill or that are seriously injured abroad. While a consular officer can assist in the transfer of funds from the United States, payment of emergency services including evacuation, repatriation, hospitalization and other expenses is the responsibility of the traveler.

Before selecting Nationwide as our preferred carrier, we considered most of the top U.S. providers of international travel medical insurance. We feel Nationwide offers the best combination of broad benefits, affordable rates, financial strength and high-quality customer service. People know and trust the Nationwide brand.

We selected United Healthcare Global as our preferred travel assistance provider as they are a worldwide leader in their field and provide services to many of the U.S. leading multinational and global companies. We feel UHG offers the best combination of financial strength, operational excellence and medical and security expertise to manage any situation that a traveler may experience while in a foreign country. People know and trust the United Healthcare brand.

United Healthcare Global is a global medical, safety and security travel assistance company that delivers:

• a fully integrated solution focused on prevention, intervention and response
• a world-class, worldwide assistance infrastructure
• first-world standards of primary and emergency medical care in remote and hazardous locations
• a strengthened global network of practicing medical specialists and resources
• robust medical, safety and security protocols
• emergency medical and security evacuation and crisis response capabilities
• extensive travel intelligence, insurance and protection services
• specialized technical and operational health and safety expertise

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the U.S. and is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's. The company provides customers a full range of insurance and financial services, including auto insurance, motorcycle, boat, homeowners, pet, life insurance, farm, commercial insurance, annuities, mortgages, mutual funds, public and private sector retirement plans, long-term savings plans and specialty health services.

The assistance company is a 24/7 multilingual service available to assist you when you are traveling internationality. They have the expertise and resources to help you when you are faced with travel, medical, legal, personal security and other emergencies or concerns when traveling internationally, regardless of the severity. You simply call a toll-free phone number from within the country (or you can call them collect from anywhere in the world), and they will assist you.

It is important that the assistance company is notified as soon as possible. They will monitor your care and work through the complex details of foreign hospitalizations. They will immediately speak with your treating doctor to assess your condition, your treatment plans, and whether or not an evacuation is necessary. They will update your family, employer and personal physician as appropriate. In addition, they will coordinate all insurance verifications and admission details.

The assistance company can direct you to the hospital in your locale that is most capable in getting you treatment. If you elected to purchase the TravelCare Travel Medical Insurance, they will coordinate all Nationwide insurance verifications and billing, including making advance payment arrangements with the hospital, like issuing a "guarantee of payment" on behalf of Nationwide. This ensures that there is no delay or denial of medical treatment because you are unable to make the up-front payment or because your regular insurance is not recognized. The assistance company will settle any guarantees of payment with the hospital on Nationwide's behalf.

The assistance company has expertise in knowing the capabilities of international hospitals and clinics. That information, in conjunction with their assessment of the treating physician's diagnosis and treatment plans, will enable the assistance company's physicians to make an evaluation of whether the local hospital is capable of providing you the treatment you need. If the assistance company's doctors are of the opinion that you cannot receive appropriate care there, they will make arrangements to have you evacuated to either: (1) the nearest hospital where adequate treatment can be obtained or (2) to a hospital of your choice near your home in the U.S. to obtain further treatment or recover (or both). The assistance company will consult with all parties involved and fully manage all logistics of the evacuation.

In the event of a security situation, you can call the assistance company for help at any time. Additionally, if the situation is deemed to require Non-medical Emergency Evacuation, you are covered up to $100,000.

You can call the assistance company for help at any time. They will assist you with lost or stolen passports, legal referrals, translation services, emergency transfers of funds and a variety of other travel related issues.

Questions About the Plan  (12)

Answers to the most common TravelCare plan questions are below. More plan questions? Call (866) 223-2835 option 4. (M-F 8:30AM to 5:00PM EST)

As a natural extension of our health and safety expertise, it became increasingly apparent that we also needed to make it easier for the medical community to convey the importance of securing Emergency Evacuation services and Travel Medical Insurance to ensure that our travelers are not left:

• stranded without access to appropriate resources in the event of a medical or security emergency, or
• unable to secure medical treatment or admission to a hospital because their primary insurance at home does not provide adequate coverage or services when overseas

Sure, in plain English, here's a summary of what TravelCare plans cover:

If you need to be evacuated for emergency medical reasons, the Emergency Assistance Services will make all the arrangements and cover the costs of transporting you with appropriate medical supervision to the nearest appropriate medical facility and/or taking you home. Costs for air ambulance services can run over $200,000 depending upon your location and circumstance.

In addition, if you need to be evacuated for political or emergency security reasons, the Emergency Assistance Services will make all the arrangements and cover the costs up to $100,000 to transport you in a secure fashion to the nearest safe place, and when conditions allow, then return you back to your point of origin or take you home.

There are also a variety of additional services included and available 24/7 that help you with the kind of problems international travelers often experience.  Click here  for Complete Emergency Assistance Service details.

When you purchase the optional Travel Medical Insurance, it will make advance payment arrangements to get you into the best foreign hospital in your locale (generally foreign facilities will not agree to provide care, then bill your insurance at home), and then pay your foreign hospital and medical expenses directly, up to $150,000. They deal with the medical records in foreign languages, the foreign currencies, etc., and you have no deductibles or co-pays.  Click here  for Complete Travel Medical Insurance details including plan maximums based on your age at time of purchase.

Coverage may be purchased with VISA, MasterCard or American Express.

A trip can be as short as 1 day or as long as 90 days; however the minimum premium equals 7 days of coverage.

Nationwide will pay your providers directly for your covered expenses, or will reimburse you for covered expenses if you paid the providers directly. If Nationwide then determines the benefits paid under their plan are eligible benefits under any other benefit plan, they may seek to recover expenses from the other plan to the extent the other plan would have covered as well. Any recoveries Nationwide makes helps to keep the cost of their coverage down.

All coverage will begin on the later of the Effective Date, or upon Your departure from Your Home Country

Your coverage will end at 11:59 P.M. local time on the date that is the earliest of the following: (a) upon Your return to Your Home Country; (b) when Your Trip exceeds ninety (90) days.

No. Both the Emergency Evacuation and Assistance plan and Travel Medical Insurance plan will pay 100% of the reasonable and customary charges for the expenses they cover up to the plans' maximums.

Yes. Please  click here  for a complete listing of the Emergency Evacuation Service exclusions and limitations, and all other terms and conditions of the coverage. You can also call TravelCare's insurance plan administrator, at (800) 753 1000 option 6 - Monday to Friday between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern Time. 

Yes. Please  click here  for a complete listing of the Travel Medical Insurance exclusions and limitations, and all other terms and conditions of the coverage. You can also call TravelCare's insurance plan administrator, at (800) 753 1000 option 6 - Monday to Friday between 8:30 am and 5:00 pm Eastern Time.

Plan Details

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• Travel Insurance
• Best Travel Insurance Companies

11 Best Travel Insurance Companies Of March 2024

Updated: Mar 14, 2024, 9:29am

Whether you’re traveling to another continent or to another state, travel insurance can mitigate the amount of money you can lose if unforeseen events disrupt your trip. For example, the best travel insurance policies can compensate you if you have to suddenly cancel your trip, experience delays or have to return home early due to an emergency.

Why you can trust Forbes Advisor

Our editors are committed to bringing you unbiased ratings and information. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate insurance companies, so all companies are measured equally. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and the methodology for the ratings below.

• 39 travel insurance policies evaluated
• 1,482 coverage details analyzed
• 102 years of insurance experience on the editorial team

Considering Travel Insurance?

Via Forbes Advisor's Website

• Cheapest Travel Insurance Plans
• Best Senior Travel Insurance
• Best Covid-19 Travel Insurance Plans
• Best Annual Travel Insurance
• Best Travel Medical Insurance

The Best Travel Insurance Companies

Summary: best travel insurance ratings, what does travel insurance cover, what’s not covered by travel insurance, how much does travel insurance cost, what affects travel insurance costs, how to get travel insurance, do i need travel insurance, how to choose the best travel insurance policy, top travel destinations in march 2024, where are people headed this month.

• List of January 2024 Top Travel Destinations

Travel Insurance Outlook for 2024

Methodology, best travel insurance companies frequently asked questions (faqs), compare travel insurance quotes, compare & buy travel insurance.

• Travel Insured International – Best for Non-Medical Evacuation
• WorldTrips (Atlas Journey Premier and Atlas Journey Preferred) – Great for Add-On Coverage
• Nationwide (Cruise Luxury) – Best for Upgrades
• TravelSafe – Best for Missed Connections
• AIG – Best for Customization
• AXA Assistance USA – Best for Baggage
• Generali Global Assistance – Great for Pre-Existing Medical Condition Coverage
• HTH Worldwide – Best for Trip Interruption
• Nationwide (Cruise Choice) – Great for Cruise Itinerary Change/Inconvenience
• Seven Corners – Best for Medical/Evacuation
• Travelex Insurance Services – Best for Families

BEST FOR NON-MEDICAL EVACUATION

Travel insured international.

Top-scoring plan

Worldwide Trip Protector

Missed Connection benefits per person

Medical & evacuation limits per person

$100,000/$1 million

If lower medical expense coverage limits suffice, Travel Insured’s Worldwide Trip Protector plan offers robust benefits at a competitive price and provides superior non-medical evacuation coverage.

More: Travel Insured International Travel Insurance Review

• “Cancel for any reason” and “interruption for any reason” upgrades available.
• Top-notch non-medical evacuation benefits of $150,000 per person.
• Good travel delay and baggage delay benefits kick in after just a 3-hour delay.
• Medical coverage of $100,000 per person is on the low side compared to top competitors but might be enough for your needs.
• Missed connection benefits of $500 are low compared to other top-rated competitors and for cruise and tours only.

GREAT FOR ADD-ON COVERAGE

Atlas Journey Premier

Missed connection limits per person

$150,000/$1 million

The Atlas Journey Premier plan offers trip cancellation and trip interruption upgrades. Other available upgrades include extra coverage for pets traveling with you, adventure sports, destination weddings, hunting and fishing equipment and more.

The Atlas Journey Premier plan also has very good travel delay and missed connection benefits, and a low average cost compared to competitors.

Another option is the Atlas Journey Preferred plan, but this policy doesn’t offer the “interruption for any reason” upgrade and has lower travel medical benefits of $100,000 per person. Still, it hits all the marks for great benefits at a low price. It also offers lots of choices for add-on coverage.

More: WorldTrips Travel Insurance Review

• “Cancel for any reason” and “interruption for any reason” upgrades available with the Premier policy.
• Very good travel delay benefits of $2,000 per person after only 5 hours.
• Very good missed connection coverage of $2,000 per person after 3 hours.
• Medical coverage level is low compared to some competitors evaluated.
• Baggage delay benefits have a 12-hour waiting period.

BEST FOR UPGRADES

Cruise Luxury

Missed connection benefits per person

Nationwide’s Cruise Luxury plan includes great missed connection benefits and non-medical evacuation coverage, and offers cancellation and interruption upgrades.

More: Nationwide Travel Insurance Review

• Includes $25,000 in non-medical evacuation benefits.
• Good travel delay benefits of $1,000.
• Medical coverage is lower than most other top-rated plans but might be sufficient for your needs.
• 24-hour delay required for hurricane and weather coverage, compared to some competitor policies with only a 12-hour delay requirement.

BEST FOR MISSED CONNECTIONS

Classic Plan

While its medical expenses coverage is low compared to other top plans, TravelSafe’s Classic plan has high limits for most other coverages, including superior missed connection benefits.

More: TravelSafe Travel Insurance Review

• “Cancel for any reason” upgrade available.
• Superior missed connection limits of $2,500, and baggage loss coverage limits of $2,500.
• Great travel delay limits of $2,000 per person, after a 6-hour delay.
• $100,000 in medical benefits is on the low side compared to top competitors but might be sufficient for your needs.
• Baggage delay coverage is a little skimpy at $250 per person after a 12-hour delay.

BEST FOR CUSTOMIZATION

Travel Guard Deluxe

Missed connections benefits per person

Optional pet, wedding, security, baggage, medical, adventures sports and travel inconvenience upgrades allow you to customize this AIG policy to your needs. Additionally, the Travel Guard Deluxe plan includes benefits if, under certain conditions, you must start your trip earlier than planned—a feature not found in all policies.

The Travel Guard Preferred plan also earned 4 stars in our analysis, and comes with a lower price, but also with lower coverage amounts. It provides $50,000 for medical expenses and $500,000 for medical evacuation benefits.

More: AIG Travel Insurance Review

• Offers upgrades to meet the needs and budgets of many different kinds of travelers.
• Includes $100,000 for security evacuation and superior medical evacuation coverage of $1 million.
• Provides up to $750 for “travel inconveniences,” such as flight delay to your return destination, runway delays and cruise diversions.
• Has good travel delay coverage of $1,000, with a short waiting period of 5 hours.
• The Travel Guard Deluxe policy has robust coverage across the board but also a high average cost compared to other top-rated policies.
• Medical expense coverage of $100,000 is on the low side, but might be adequate for your needs.

BEST FOR BAGGAGE

Axa assistance usa.

Platinum Plan

$250,000/$1 million

AXA’s Platinum plan hits all the high points for coverage that you’ll want if you’re looking for top-notch protection, including excellent baggage and non-medical evacuation benefits.

More: AXA Assistance USA Travel Insurance Review

• Generous medical and evacuation limits, with $100,000 in non-medical evacuation—among the highest for plans we evaluated.
• Top-notch baggage loss coverage of $3,000 per person.
• Coverage for lost ski days, lost golf rounds and sports equipment rental.
• Travel delay and baggage coverage kicks in only after a 12-hour delay.
• The average cost for the Platinum plan is only so-so compared to other top-rated plans, although you do get robust coverage for the money.

GREAT FOR PRE-EXISTING MEDICAL CONDITION COVERAGE

Generali global assistance.

Missed connection benefits

Generali’s Premium policy provides very good benefits at a decent average price. It has excellent trip interruption insurance and superior medical evacuation benefits. Travelers with pre-existing conditions can get coverage as long as you buy a Premium policy up to or within 24 hours of your final trip deposit.

More: Generali Global Assistance Travel Insurance Review

• You can qualify for coverage of pre-existing medical conditions if you buy the policy prior to or within 24 hours of making your final trip payment, as opposed to a deadline of 10 to 20 days after making your first trip deposit , which is typical from top competitors.
• Excellent trip interruption coverage of up to 175% of your trip costs.
• Very good baggage loss coverage at $2,000 per person.
• If you want “cancel for any reason” coverage you must buy it within 24 hours of making your initial trip deposit, compared to 10 to 20 days from top competitors.
• Baggage delay benefits kick in only after a 12-hour delay.

BEST FOR TRIP INTERRUPTION

Hth worldwide.

TripProtector Preferred Plan

$500,000/$1 million

HTH’s TripProtector Preferred provides luxury-level benefits and superior trip interruption benefits.

More: HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance Review

• Top-notch coverage limits for medical expenses and evacuation.
• Excellent trip interruption coverage of 200% of the trip cost.
• Very good travel delay coverage of $2,000 per person after a 6-hour delay.
• Higher average price compared to most companies we evaluated, but you’re getting robust benefits.
• Baggage delay coverage requires a 12-hour delay.

GREAT FOR CRUISE ITINERARY CHANGE/INCONVENIENCE

Cruise Choice

$100,000/$500,000

While $100,000 in medical expense coverage is on the low side, Nationwide’s Cruise Choice plan includes non-medical evacuation coverage and offers a trip interruption upgrade. It also provides compensation if you miss activities because your cruise ship changes its itinerary, and for the inconvenience of delays to the next port of call.

• “Interruption for any reason” upgrade available.
• Provides benefits if you miss out on a prepaid activity or event because your cruise ship changes its itinerary.
• Provides benefits if your cruise ship has a fire or mechanical breakdown that delays arrival at the next port of call for two or more hours.
• “Cancel for any reason” upgrade not available.

BEST FOR MEDICAL/EVACUATION COVERAGE

Seven corners.

Trip Protection Choice

Seven Corners’ Trip Protection Choice plan has superior medical and evacuation benefits and provides great upgrade options and benefits across the board.

More: Seven Corners Travel Insurance Review

• Superior coverage limits for medical expenses and medical evacuation.
• “Cancel for any reason” and “interruption for any reason” upgrade available.
• Very good travel delay coverage of $2,000 per person.
• Includes $20,000 for non-medical evacuation
• Hurricane and weather coverage has a 48-hour delay, compared to some competitors that require only 12-hour delays.
• Average cost is only so-so compared to other top-rated policies we evaluated.

BEST FOR FAMILIES

Travelex insurance services.

Travel Select

$50,000/$500,000

Travelex Insurance Services’ Travel Select plan is a solid choice at a competitive price, especially for families, although coverage limits are lower than those of top competitors.

More: Travelex Travel Insurance Review

• Includes free coverage for children age 17 and under (when accompanied by an adult covered by the policy).
• Very good travel delay coverage of $2,000 per person after a 5-hour delay.
• Medical coverage of $50,000 per person is on the low side.
• Baggage delay coverage requires a 12-hour delay and has a low $200 per person limit.
• Missed connection benefits are lower than many other competitors.

Comprehensive travel insurance policies package together a number of valuable benefits. You can also buy policies that cover only trip cancellation or only medical expenses. With the wide variety of travel insurance plans available, you can find coverage levels that will fit your budget and trip needs.

Look for these top coverage options in a comprehensive travel insurance plan.

Trip Cancellation Insurance

You don’t book a trip with the intention of canceling it, but unexpected illness, injury, family member sickness, jury duty and more could disrupt plans. Trip cancellation insurance reimburses you 100% for money you lose in prepaid, non-refundable deposits if you have to cancel for a reason listed in the policy.

If Covid is a concern, you can find travel insurance policies that cover Covid-related trip cancellation if you contract the virus right before the trip.

A good strategy for trip cancellation coverage is to buy insurance for the total amount you have put into non-refundable and prepaid deposits. Don’t insure refundable amounts, like refundable plane tickets, because you can’t make an insurance claim for that.

Travel Delay Insurance

It can be inconvenient, stressful and costly if your trip is delayed due to unforeseen events.

Travel delay insurance reimburses you for expenses if you’re stuck somewhere due to a holdup that’s covered by your travel insurance plan. For example, if you’re stranded in an airport all day because bad weather delays your flight, travel delay insurance can reimburse you for necessities like food and toiletries.

If you have a long delay, travel delay benefits can pay for an Uber, a night in a hotel and meals. Travel delay insurance has a specified waiting period before benefits apply—for example, six or 12 hours—and also a per day maximum limit and a total maximum per person.

“Cancel for Any Reason” Coverage

If you want the freedom to cancel your trip no matter what, look for travel insurance that allows you to upgrade your trip cancellation insurance to “cancel for any reason” (CFAR) travel insurance . Having CFAR allows you to cancel your trip for any reason that’s not listed in your base policy. For example, you could cancel the trip because you simply don’t feel like going anymore, as long as you do so at least 48 hours before your departure time.

Reimbursement under a CFAR claim is 75% or 50% of your trip costs, not the 100% that’s available under the base trip cancellation coverage. CFAR adds an average of about 50% to an insurance plan’s cost. Not all travel insurance companies offer a CFAR upgrade.

Travel Medical Insurance

Travel medical insurance pays for ambulance service, X-rays, lab work, medicine, doctor and hospital bills, and other medical expenses during your trip. This is important coverage for travelers going abroad, where your U.S. health plan may have limited global coverage or no coverage. You can find generous coverage limits of up to $500,000 per person with some travel insurance policies, but you may decide that lower levels of coverage are adequate for your needs.

The best travel insurance for seniors includes travel medical insurance because Medicare does not pay for health care outside the U.S., except in very limited circumstances.

Many travel insurance policies cover Covid-related medical expenses just like any other illness—but not all do—so be sure to confirm that Covid is covered by your travel insurance policy if you contract the virus during your trip.

Emergency Medical Evacuation Coverage

This is also important coverage for those traveling abroad, especially if you’re going to a remote area where quality medical care might be hard to find. Emergency medical evacuation insurance pays to get you to the nearest adequate medical facility. You can find ample coverage of $1 million per person in the best travel insurance policies..

Trip Interruption Insurance

If you have to cut your trip short because of a reason listed in the policy, trip interruption insurance is valuable coverage to have. It can reimburse you for the non-refundable parts of your trip that you miss, such as a resort stay or prepaid scuba diving lesson. It can also pay for a last-minute one-way ticket home if you have an emergency.

Baggage Delay Coverage

Your bags may be on their own detour, but what do you do while you’re waiting? This coverage reimburses you for necessities while you wait for your luggage. For example, if you’re in Canada you may need a coat, hat and essential toiletries. Policies usually require a certain time delay before baggage delay coverage kicks in, such as six hours.

Baggage Loss and Personal Effects Coverage

If your luggage doesn’t arrive at your destination when you do, it can throw your trip into chaos.

Baggage insurance can at least ease the financial pain a little. It can reimburse you for the bags and clothes and shoes that never arrive, but note that reimbursement is for the depreciated value of the items, not the cost to buy new ones. It also pays out for items lost to theft.

Travel Accident Insurance

Some travel insurance policies provide compensation for accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D). If an accident that’s covered by the policy kills or dismembers the policyholder during the trip, travel accident insurance pays out the specified amount.

Generally, AD&D travel insurance benefits cover death and the loss of feet, hands, sight, hearing, speech and fingers on the same hand caused by an accident. It usually pays out a percentage of the maximum benefit, depending on the loss. For example, the Atlas Journey Premier plan from WorldTrips includes $25,000 in AD&D coverage. It pays out 100% of the benefit if the policyholder loses both hands or both feet, both eyes or a hand and a foot. But it pays 50% if they lose either a hand or a foot or the sight in one eye.

There are common things not covered by travel insurance . Make sure you read a policy’s exclusions so you’re not caught by surprise later.

For example, injuries from high-risk activities may not be covered, such as scuba diving. Nor are problems that happen because you were drunk or using drugs.

Medical tourism is also a common exclusion, so if you’re going abroad for a face lift or other elective procedure, travel insurance won’t cover hospital bills or aftercare.

If you lose cash, or it’s stolen, that is typically also excluded from reimbursement under most travel insurance plans.

Keep in mind that travel insurance is designed to protect you against unforeseen events and emergencies. For instance, if you want to cancel a trip because you’re afraid of flying, that’s not covered under standard trip cancellation insurance.

The average cost of travel insurance is 6% of your trip cost, based on a Forbes Advisor analysis of travel insurance rates. The cost of travel insurance is usually mainly based on the age of travelers and the trip cost.

The plan and provider you choose will also affect cost. Here are examples of the costs of the top plans in our ratings.

Travel Insurance Cost Examples

Key factors that affect travel insurance cost are your trip cost, age and how much coverage you buy.

• Trip cost: The more trip cost you insure, the higher your travel insurance cost. Your trip cost includes any prepaid, nonrefundable expenses, such as airfare, hotel accommodations, tours, event tickets, excursions and theme park passes.
• Age: Your age is also taken into account in travel insurance pricing. That’s because older travelers tend to make more claims, such as medical claims.
• Coverage: The more protection you buy, the more you’ll pay for travel insurance. For instance, if you opt for a “cancel for any reason”  upgrade and generous travel medical expense coverage, you’ll pay more.

Your destination, trip length and prior travel insurance claims history generally don’t influence how much you pay for travel insurance.

Buying travel insurance is relatively easy. You can typically buy a travel insurance policy online within a few minutes by entering your:

• Destination
• Travel dates
• State of residence

You’ll typically be presented with a selection of policies, usually at different price points, with the more expensive ones providing more protection. Once you select a policy, you can buy it online.

If you’re unsure of your trip cost, you can estimate the amount, and then update it later, as long as it’s before your departure date. You don’t have to insure the total amount of your trip to buy travel insurance. But note that some add-on benefits require you to insure 100% of your trip costs for you to be eligible to file a claim, such as a “cancel for any reason” claim.

You usually have two weeks or so to review your policy. If you change your mind, you can get a refund, as long as it’s during the specified review period.

You’re asked for your state because laws regulating travel insurance vary by state—it doesn’t affect your cost.

You can also usually buy travel insurance through a travel agent or from a travel supplier like an airline or cruise company.

It’s best to buy travel insurance as soon as you book your trip. That way you get the maximum length of coverage for trip cancellation benefits. Buying a policy shortly after you make your first deposit also makes you eligible to buy upgrades, such as “cancel for any reason” coverage, and to get other time-sensitive benefits, such as a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver .

Here are some reasons you may need travel insurance.

You’re Traveling Overseas and Your Health Plan Doesn’t Have Global Coverage

Many health plans lack robust global coverage, or impose high out-of-network deductibles for care outside the U.S. Check your health plan details to see what it provides. Travel medical insurance fills the gap.

You’re Going to a Remote Area

If you won’t be near any quality medical facilities, even a small injury could turn into a major medical event. Medical evacuation coverage will pay to medevac you to an adequate facility.

You Want Emergency Backup

The 24/7 travel assistance lines that are included with travel insurance can assist you with finding a pharmacy, language translation, replacing a lost passport and much more.

You Will Lose a Lot of Money in Non-Refundable Deposits if You Cancel the Trip

You want trip cancellation coverage you’re worried about the money you will lose if you have to cancel the trip.

The average trip cost for Americans traveling within the U.S. increased 46% from 2019 to 2022 and is now slightly over $4,000, based on data from Squaremouth. So having trip cancellation insurance to safeguard your trip investment can be a smart move.

Trip cancellation will cover 100% of the prepaid money you’ll lose, as long as you cancel for a reason listed in the policy. Problems typically covered for trip cancellation insurance claims include sickness, injury, severe weather, natural disasters, jury duty and more.

Here are key considerations for choosing the best travel insurance policy that will match your needs.

Where You’re Going

If you’re traveling outside of the U.S., a plan with travel medical insurance is important because you may have little to no coverage under your U.S. health plan. If you’re taking a domestic trip, you likely don’t need it, or you may want to buy low coverage amounts as a back-up.

If you’re taking an international trip, emergency medical evacuation coverage is important to have, especially if you’re visiting a remote area that doesn’t have top-quality medical facilities.

If you’re traveling to a hurricane-prone destination, travel insurance can also be beneficial if you’re worried about severe weather spoiling your vacation plans.

If you’re concerned about weather woes affecting your travel plans, you’ll want to make sure to buy a travel insurance policy that has trip interruption and trip cancellation insurance for hurricanes and other weather events.

If your trip is interrupted or canceled due to severe weather, you can file a claim and be reimbursed 100% for prepaid, non-refundable deposits.

To be eligible to file a travel insurance claim because of a storm, you must have bought your policy before the storm was named. Also, generally one of the following requirements must be met:

• Your destination is under a hurricane warning.
• Your destination is uninhabitable due to severe weather.
• Your (common carrier) airline is delayed for a specified amount of time listed in your policy—for example, six hours.

How You’re Getting There

Travel plans can be derailed by weather, airplane mechanical issues or any number of other unexpected circumstances. If you’re worried about paying extra money for costs due to a delay, you may want to look for a plan that has a generous amount of travel delay insurance.

What You’re Doing

If you have lots of pre-paid, non-refundable deposits for activities, lodging and tours, it is especially important to have trip cancellation coverage. This holds true for trip interruption insurance as well.

Travelers who plan to participate in extreme sports or adventure excursions should consider buying a plan that covers these activities, as they’re often excluded.

How Much Flexibility You Want

If you want the freedom to cancel a trip no matter what, opt for a “cancel for any reason” upgrade. You generally have to buy it within the first few weeks of making your first deposit. Similarly, you can also buy an “ interruption for any reason ” upgrade that allows you to cut a trip short and return home for any reason.

These upgrades are especially good for the traveler who has put down substantial prepaid, non-refundable deposits.

Concerns About Covid and Variants

If Covid is a travel concern for you, look for a travel insurance plan that covers Covid-related cancellations and medical costs. The best Covid travel insurance plans will also include “cancel for any reason” coverage.

If you test positive for the virus during your trip, travel delay insurance can cover extra costs for accommodations during a quarantine. This coverage can also compensate you for expenses up to a week past your original return date if you’re forced to stay beyond your return date due to a quarantine.

If you miss portions of your trip because you’re forced to quarantine after a positive Covid test, trip interruption insurance can allow you to recoup non-refundable expenses that you paid for in advance.

In order to make a claim you’ll need documentation that you tested positive for Covid.

Americans are ready to take trips abroad in March: 88% of travel insurance purchases for trips taking place from February 1 to 29, 2024, are for international trips, based on Forbes Advisor’s analysis of policy sales.

Mexico is the top international destination for trips this month, followed by Costa Rica and the Bahamas. In addition:

• The average trip cost being insured for people traveling outside the U.S. in February is $7,359.
• The average trip cost being insured for folks traveling within the U.S. this month is $3,545.
• Americans traveling internationally are paying an average of $343 for their travel insurance policies for February trips and domestic travelers are paying an average of $201.

List of March 2024 Top Travel Destinations

Source: Based on travel insurance policies purchased January 27, 2023 to January 27, 2024 for trips taking place February 1-29, 2024.

Average Trip Cost for Popular Destinations

Spending on trips in March to five frequently visited countries is up significantly compared to February, based on our analysis. Italy and Mexico trip costs in March are the highest they’ve been in the past 14 months.

Here’s how much more travelers are spending on trips in March compared to February for the following destinations, on average.  Numbers reflect the average of non-refundable trip costs being insured.

• Italy. $6,690 more
• France. $3,970 more
• Great Britain. $665 more
• Japan. $2,885 more
• Mexico. $5,040 more

Increasing trip costs and flight delays top the list of concerns for many vacationers, and these worries are likely to continue plaguing travelers in 2024.

More than half of the respondents in a recent survey cited rising trips costs and fear of flight cancellations or delays as their top reasons to purchase travel insurance more frequently in 2024, says Carol Mueller, spokesperson for Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection .

These concerns are valid. Nearly a quarter (23%) of all flights last year arrived at their destination later than expected, according to the Department of Transportation. And travelers have more to lose when things go wrong: The average spending on 2024 trips is 110% higher than the average cost for 2023 trips, based on Forbes Advisor’s analysis of travel insurance policy sales. These trip costs are based on the non-refundable deposit amounts being insured under travel insurance policies.

Inflation, high jet fuel prices and more expensive airline tickets are contributing to the uptick in travel costs.

Despite spiking trip expenses and snafus at the airport, the majority of Americans who are buying travel insurance are eager to travel internationally in 2024: 89% of travel insurance purchases for trips taking place January 1 to December 31, 2024, are for international trips, according to Forbes Advisor data.

Forbes Advisor researched and analyzed 39 policies to find the best travel insurance. When companies had more than one travel insurance policy we used the highest-scoring plan. Ratings are based on the following metrics.

Cost (25% of score): We analyzed the average cost for each travel insurance policy for trips to popular destinations:

• Couple, age 30 for a Mexico trip costing $3,000.
• Couple, age 40, for an Italy trip costing $6,000.
• Family of four for an Italy trip costing $15,000.
• Family of four for a France trip costing $15,000.
• Family of four for a U.K. trip costing $15,000.
• Couple, age 65, for an Italy trip costing $6,000.
• Couple, age 70, for a Mexico trip costing $3,000.

Missed connection coverage (10% of score): Travel insurance policies were awarded more points if they include missed connection benefits of $1,000 per person or more.

Medical expenses (10% of score): Travel insurance policies with travel medical expense benefits of $250,000 and up per person were given the highest points.

Medical evacuation (10% of score): Travel insurance policies with medical evacuation expense benefits of $500,000 and up per person were given the highest points.

“Cancel for any reason” upgrade (10%): Travel insurance policies received points if “cancel for any reason” upgrades are offered. More points were awarded for “cancel for any reason” upgrades with reimbursement levels of 75%.

Baggage delay required waiting time (5%): Policies with baggage delay benefits kicking in at 12 hours or less were given points.

Cancel for work reasons: (5%): Travel insurance plans that allow cancellations for work reasons were awarded points.

Hurricane and weather (5%): Policies received points if the required waiting period for hurricane and weather coverage was 12 hours or less.

“Interruption for any reason” upgrade (5%): Policies were awarded points if they offered an “interruption for any reason” upgrade.

Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver (5%): Points were given to policies that cover pre-existing medical conditions (if purchased within a required timeframe after the first trip deposit).

Travel delay required waiting time (5%): Policies with travel delay benefits kicking in after six hours or less were given points.

Trip interruption travel insurance (5%): Points were given if trip interruption reimbursement is 150% or higher.

What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance is a type of policy that reimburses you for money you lose from non-refundable deposits and payments when something goes wrong on your trip. These problems can range from lost baggage to flight delays to medical problems.

The more you’re spending on your trip, the more you likely need travel insurance. This is especially true for international trips and cruises, where travel problems become more expensive to solve.

What type of travel insurance do I need for my parents visiting me in the U.S.?

Travel insurance for parents visiting the U.S. is generally a travel medical insurance policy that helps pay medical costs if they get sick or injured during their visit. There are two main types of visitors medical insurance :

• Limited policies that have fixed benefits: These generally set a cap for what they’ll pay for each medical treatment that’s covered. You may need to pay a deductible for each medical illness or injury and then the policy will pay 100% after that, up to the cap. For example, coverage for an X-ray might be capped at $250.
• Comprehensive visitors insurance policies: These typically cost more but have more robust coverage and don’t put a cap on specific medical expenses.

Do I need travel insurance for a cruise?

Travelers on cruises can potentially lose substantial money, just as much as a traveler on land. Cruise insurance can cover problems such as bad weather that causes a trip delay, or an illness that prevents you from traveling.

What do I need for travel insurance?

The information you need to buy travel insurance includes an estimate of your prepaid, non-refundable trip cost, your age, your destination, length of trip and age. Buying travel insurance online is relatively easy. You don’t have to answer a lot of questions, and you can update your trip cost and itinerary later if plans change, as long as you do so before your departure.

Is there travel insurance for multiple trips?

While standard travel insurance plans are meant to cover one-time trips, frequent travelers should consider an annual travel insurance plan. These plans cover the same issues as a single-trip plan, such as trip cancellation and emergency medical situations. But they also offer the convenience of a one-time purchase for multiple trips.

Next Up In Travel Insurance

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• Best Cruise Insurance Plans Of March 2024
• Best Covid-19 Travel Insurance Plans Of 2024
• Best Senior Travel Insurance Of 2024
• The 5 Cheapest Travel Insurance Companies Of March 2024

Get Forbes Advisor’s ratings of the best insurance companies and helpful information on how to find the best travel, auto, home, health, life, pet, and small business coverage for your needs.

Michelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine editor covering consumer technology, a foreign correspondent for Time and various newswires and local newspaper reporter.

U.S. News takes an unbiased approach to our recommendations. When you use our links to buy products, we may earn a commission but that in no way affects our editorial independence.

9 Best Travel Insurance Companies of March 2024

According to our analysis of more than 50 travel insurance companies and hundreds of different travel insurance plans, the best travel insurance company is Travelex Insurance Services. In our best travel insurance ratings, we take into account traveler reviews, credit ratings and industry awards. The best travel insurance companies offer robust coverage and excellent customer service, and many offer customizable add-ons.

Travelex Insurance Services »

Allianz Travel Insurance »

HTH Travel Insurance »

Tin Leg »

AIG Travel Guard »

Nationwide Insurance »

Seven Corners »

Generali Global Assistance »

Berkshire hathaway travel protection ».

Why Trust Us

U.S. News evaluates ratings, data and scores of more than 50 travel insurance companies from comparison websites like TravelInsurance.com, Squaremouth and InsureMyTrip, plus renowned credit rating agency AM Best, in addition to reviews and recommendations from top travel industry sources and consumers to determine the Best Travel Insurance Companies.

Table of Contents

• Travelex Insurance Services
• Allianz Travel Insurance

Travel insurance can help you protect the financial investment you made in your vacation when unexpected issues arise. Find the best travel insurance for the type of trip(s) you're taking and the coverages that matter most to you – from interruptions and misplaced belongings to illness and injury.

• Travelex Insurance Services: Best Overall
• Allianz Travel Insurance: Best for Trip Interruptions
• HTH Travel Insurance: Best for Groups
• Tin Leg: Best Cost
• AIG Travel Guard: Best for Families
• Nationwide Insurance: Best for Last-Minute Travel Insurance
• Seven Corners: Best for 24/7 Support When Traveling
• Generali Global Assistance: Best for Medical Emergencies
• Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection: Best for Specialized Coverage

Customizable upgrades are available, including car rental coverage, additional medical insurance and adventure sports coverage

Medical and trip cancellation maximum are not as high as some other companies

• 100% of the insured trip cost for trip cancellation; 150% for trip interruption
• Up to $1,000 in coverage for lost, damaged or stolen bags and personal items; $200 for luggage delays
• $750 in missed connection coverage
• $50,000 in emergency medical and dental coverage
• Up to $500,000 in emergency medical evacuation and repatriation coverage

SEE FULL REVIEW »

Annual and multitrip policies are available

Distinguishing between the company's 10 travel insurance plans can be challenging

• Up to $200,000 in trip cancellation coverage; $300,000 in trip interruption coverage
• $2,000 for lost, damaged or stolen luggage and personal effects; $600 for bag delays
• Up to $1,600 for travel delays
• Emergency medical coverage of up to $75,000
• Epidemic coverage

Generous coverage at the mid- and high-tier levels, and great group discounts

Preexisting conditions coverage is only available at mid- and high-tier plans

• 100% trip cancellation coverage (up to $50,000); 200% trip interruption coverage
• Up to $2,000 in coverage for baggage and personal effects; $400 in baggage delay coverage
• Up to $2,000 in coverage for trip delays; $1,000 for missed connections
• $500,000 in coverage per person for sickness and accidents

Variety of plans to choose from, including two budget-friendly policies and several more premium options

More limited coverage for baggage issues than other companies

• 100% trip cancellation protection; 150% trip interruption
• $500 per person for lost, stolen or damaged baggage and personal items
• Up to $2,000 per person in travel delay coverage ($150 per day); $100 per person for missed connections
• $100,000 per person in emergency medical coverage, including issues related to COVID-19

Travel insurance policy coverage is tailored to your specific trip

Information about policy coverage inclusions is not readily available without first obtaining a quote

• Trip cancellation coverage for up to 100% of your trip's cost; trip interruption coverage for up to 150% of the trip cost
• Up to $2,500 in coverage for lost, stolen or damaged baggage; $500 related to luggage delays
• Up to $1,000 in missed connection and trip delay coverage
• $100,000 in emergency medical coverage

Variety of plans to choose from and coverage available up to a day before you leave on your trip

Limited trip cancellation coverage even at the highest tier

• Trip cancellation coverage up to $30,000; trip interruption coverage worth up to 200% of the trip cost (maximum of $60,000)
• $2,000 for lost, damaged or stolen baggage; $600 for baggage delays
• Up to $2,000 for trip delays; missed connection and itinerary change coverage of $500 each
• $150,000 for emergency medical and dental issues

Customer service available 24/7 via text, Whatsapp, email and phone

Cancel for any reason coverage costs extra

• 100% trip cancellation coverage (up to between $30,000 and $100,000 depending on your state of residence); interruption coverage for up to 150% of the trip cost 
• Lost, stolen or damaged baggage coverage up to $2,500; up to $600 for luggage delays
• Trip delay and missed connection coverage worth up to $1,500
• Emergency medical coverage worth up to between $250,000 and $500,000 (depending on where you live)

Generous emergency medical and emergency evacuation coverage

Coverage for those with preexisting conditions is only available on the Premium plan

• 100% reimbursement for trip cancellation; 175% reimbursement for trip interruption
• $2,000 in coverage for loss of baggage per person
• $1,000 per person in travel delay and missed connection coverage
• $250,000 in medical and dental coverage per person

In addition to single-trip plans, company offers specific road trip, adventure travel, flight and cruise insurance coverage

Coverage for missed connections or accidental death and dismemberment is not part of the most basic plan

• Trip cancellation coverage worth up to 100% of the trip cost; interruption coverage worth up to 150% of the trip cost
• $500 in coverage for lost, stolen or damaged bags and personal items; bag delay coverage worth $200
• Trip delay coverage worth up to $1,000; missed connection coverage worth up to $100
• Medical coverage worth up to $50,000

To help you better understand the costs associated with travel insurance, we requested quotes for a weeklong June 2024 trip to Spain for a solo traveler, a couple and a family. These rates should help you get a rough estimate for about how much you can expect to spend on travel insurance. For additional details on specific coverage from each travel insurance plan and to input your trip information for a quote, see our comparison table below.

Travel Insurance Types: Which One Is Right for You?

There are several types of travel insurance you'll want to evaluate before choosing the policy that's right for you. A few of the most popular types of travel insurance include:

COVID travel insurance Select insurance plans offer some or a combination of the following COVID-19-related protections: coverage for rapid or PCR testing; accommodations if you're required to quarantine during your trip if you test positive for coronavirus; health care; and trip cancellations due to you or a family member testing positive for COVID-19. Read more about the best COVID-19 travel insurance options .

Cancel for any reason insurance Cancel for any reason travel insurance works exactly how it sounds. This type of travel insurance lets you cancel your trip for any reason you want – even if your reason is that you simply decide you no longer want to go. Cancel for any reason travel insurance is typically an add-on you can purchase to go along with other types of travel insurance. For that reason, you will pay more to have this kind of coverage added to your policy.

Also note that this type of coverage typically only reimburses 50% to 80% of your nonrefundable prepaid travel expenses. You'll want to make sure you know exactly how much reimbursement you could qualify for before you invest in this type of policy. Compare the best cancel for any reason travel insurance options here .

International travel insurance Travel insurance is especially useful when traveling internationally, as it can provide medical coverage for emergencies (in some cases for COVID-19) when you're far from home. Depending which international travel insurance plan you choose, this type of travel insurance can also cover lost or delayed luggage, rental cars, travel interruptions or cancellations, and more.

Cheap travel insurance If you want travel insurance but don't want to spend a lot of money, there are plenty of cheap travel insurance options that will offer at least some protections (and peace of mind). These are typically called a company's basic or standard plan; many travel insurance companies even allow you to customize your coverage, spending as little or as much as you want. Explore your options for the cheapest travel insurance here .

Trip cancellation, interruption and delay insurance Trip cancellation coverage can help you get reimbursement for prepaid travel expenses, such as your airfare and cruise fare, if your trip is ultimately canceled for a covered reason. Trip interruption insurance, on the other hand, kicks in to reimburse you if your trip is derailed after it starts. For instance, if you arrived at your destination and became gravely ill, it would cover the cost if you had to cut your trip short.

Trip delay insurance can help you qualify for reimbursement of any unexpected expenses you incur (think: lodging, transportation and food) in the event your trip is delayed for reasons beyond your control, such as your flight being canceled and rebooked for the next day. You will want to save your receipts to substantiate your claim if you have this coverage.

Lost, damaged, delayed or stolen bags or personal belongings Coverage for lost or stolen bags can come in handy if your checked luggage is lost by your airline or your luggage is delayed so long that you have to buy clothing and toiletries for your trip. This type of coverage can kick in to cover the cost to replace lost or stolen items you brought on your trip. It can also provide coverage for the baggage itself. It's even possible that your travel insurance policy will pay for your flight home if damages are caused to your residence and your belongings while you're away, forcing you to return home immediately.

Travel medical insurance If you find yourself sick or injured while you are on vacation, emergency medical coverage can pay for your medical expenses. With that in mind, however, you will need to find out whether the travel medical insurance you buy is primary or secondary. Where a primary policy can be used right away to cover medical bills incurred while you travel, secondary coverage only provides reimbursement after you have exhausted other medical policies you have.

You will also need to know how the travel medical coverage you purchase deals with any preexisting conditions you have, including whether you will have any coverage for preexisting conditions at all. Read more about the best travel medical insurance plans .

Evacuation insurance Imagine you break your leg while on the side of a mountain in some far-flung land without quality health care. Not only would you need travel medical insurance coverage in that case, but you would also need coverage for the exorbitant expense involved in getting you off the side of a mountain and flying you home where you can receive appropriate medical care.

Evacuation coverage can come in handy if you need it, but you will want to make sure any coverage you buy comes with incredibly high limits. According to Squaremouth, an emergency evacuation can easily cost $25,000 in North America and up to $50,000 in Europe, so the site typically suggests customers buy policies with $50,000 to $100,000 in emergency evacuation coverage.

Cruise insurance Travel delays; missed connections, tours or excursions; and cruise ship disablement (when a ship encounters a mechanical issue and is unable to continue on in the journey) are just a few examples why cruise insurance can be a useful protection if you've booked a cruise vacation. Learn more about the top cruise insurance plans here .

Credit card travel insurance It is not uncommon to find credit cards that include trip cancellation and interruption coverage , trip delay insurance, lost or delayed baggage coverage, travel accident insurance, and more. Cards that offer this coverage include popular options like the Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card , the Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card and The Platinum Card from American Express . 

Note that owning a credit card with travel insurance protection is not enough for your coverage to count: To take advantage of credit card travel insurance, you must pay for prepaid travel expenses like your airfare, hotel stay or cruise with that specific credit card. Also, note that credit cards with travel insurance have their own list of exclusions to watch out for. Many also require cardholders to pay an annual fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

The best time to buy travel insurance is normally within a few weeks of booking your trip since you may qualify for lower pricing if you book early. Keep in mind, some travel insurance providers allow you to purchase plans until the day before you depart.

Many times, you are given the option to purchase travel insurance when you book your airfare, accommodations or vacation package. Travel insurance and travel protection are frequently offered as add-ons for your trip, meaning you can pay for your vacation and some level of travel insurance at the same time.

However, many people choose to wait to buy travel insurance until after their entire vacation is booked and paid for. This helps travelers tally up all the underlying costs associated with a trip, and then choose their travel insurance provider and the level of coverage they want.

Figuring out where to buy travel insurance may be confusing but you can easily research and purchase travel insurance online these days. Some consumers prefer to shop around with a specific provider, such as Allianz or Travelex, but you can also shop and compare policies with a travel insurance platform. Popular options include:

• TravelInsurance.com: TravelInsurance.com offers travel insurance options from more than a dozen vetted insurance providers. Users can read reviews on the various travel insurance providers to find out more about previous travelers' experiences with them. Squaremouth: With Squaremouth, you can enter your trip details and compare more than 90 travel insurance plans from 20-plus providers.
• InsureMyTrip: InsureMyTrip works similarly, letting you shop around and compare plans from more than 20 travel insurance providers in one place. InsureMyTrip also offers several guarantees, including a Best Price Guarantee, a Best Plan Guarantee and a Money-Back Guarantee that promises a full refund if you decide you no longer need the plan you purchased.

Protect your trip: Search, compare and buy the best travel insurance plans for the lowest price. Get a quote .

When you need to file a travel insurance claim, you should plan on explaining to your provider what happened to your trip and why you think your policy applies. If you planned to go on a Caribbean cruise, but your husband fell gravely ill the night before you were set to depart, you would need to explain that situation to your travel insurance company. Information you should share with your provider includes the details of why you're making a claim, who was involved and the exact circumstances of your loss.

Documentation is important, and your travel insurance provider will ask for proof of what happened. Required documentation for travel insurance typically includes any proof of a delay, receipts, copies of medical bills and more.

Most travel insurance companies let you file a claim using an online form, but some also allow you to file a claim by phone or via fax. Some travel insurance providers, such as Allianz and Travel Insured International, offer their own mobile apps you can use to buy policies and upload information or documents that substantiate your claim. In any case, you will need to provide the company with proof of your claim and the circumstances that caused it.

If your claim is initially denied, you may also need to answer some questions or submit some additional information that can highlight why you do, in fact, qualify.

Whatever you do, be honest and forthcoming with all the information in your claim. Also, be willing to provide more information or answer any questions when asked.

Travel insurance claims typically take four to six weeks to process once you file with your insurance company. However, with various flight delays and cancellations due to things like extreme weather and pilot shortages, more travelers have begun purchasing travel insurance, encountering trip issues and having to submit claims. The higher volume of claims submitted has resulted in slower turnaround times at some insurance companies.

The longer you take to file your travel insurance claim after a loss, the longer you will be waiting for reimbursement. Also note that, with many travel insurance providers, there is a time limit on how long you can submit claims after a trip. For example, with Allianz Travel Insurance and Travelex Insurance Services, you have 90 days from the date of your loss to file a claim.

You may be able to expedite the claim if you provide all the required information upfront, whereas the process could drag on longer than it needs to if you delay filing a claim or the company has to follow up with you to get more information.

Travel insurance is never required, and only you can decide whether or not it's right for you. Check out Is Travel Insurance Worth It? to see some common situations where it does (and doesn't) make sense.

Why Trust U.S. News Travel

Holly Johnson is an award-winning content creator who has been writing about travel insurance and travel for more than a decade. She has researched travel insurance options for her own vacations and family trips to more than 50 countries around the world, and has experience navigating the claims and reimbursement process. In fact, she has successfully filed several travel insurance claims for trip delays and trip cancellations over the years. Johnson also works alongside her husband, Greg, who has been licensed to sell travel insurance in 50 states, in their family media business.

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PREMIER EMERGENCY TRAVEL MEMBERSHIP SERVICES

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Most people have health insurance; when they’re ready to travel, adding travel insurance should be enough to cover “life’s unexpected moments,” right? Wrong.

Being stranded somewhere other than your hospital of choice should never be an option. Unfortunately, this practice is widely accepted as being good enough.

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Emergency situations don’t come with a warning: SkyMed offers peace of mind that can translate into thousands of dollars in savings should you need a medical evacuation when traveling.

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SkyMed has been offering premium medical emergency evacuation memberships since 1989, organizing air evacuations literally all over the world under almost every kind of circumstance. But you don’t have to take our word for it: read how our services have provided safety, savings and peace of mind directly from our SkyMed members.

Maralyne Hoenes

South Haven, MI

I became very weak while on vacation in Cancun. I went to the hospital where they checked my blood and discovered my hemoglobin levels were only 1/3 of normal. I called my hemotologist in Kalamazoo, MI who said I needed to get a transfusion to stabilize my condition and then get home.

When we called SkyMed, Jim was very helpful and professional. Everything about my air evacuation from Cancun to Michigan was prompt and friendly, and I was very pleased.

We have recommended SkyMed to all of our friends who travel. If it weren’t for SkyMed, I wo[ ...more ]

Gilbert Molnar

Vancouver, BC

My wife and I were on board the Carnival Glory Cruise Ship near Cozumel, Mexico, when around 2:00 a.m. I had a heart attack. My wife called 911 on the ship and they had to revive me and put me on oxygen. They kept me stable and by 9:00 a.m. I was taken by ambulance to the Cozumel Medical Center.

When we got there the Medical Center wanted $25,000 up front; my wife gave them $5,000 using our credit card but the clinic said that was not enough. My wife then phoned my daughter and son-in-law and they came up with $15,000; the clinic settled for $20,000.

At the[ ...more ]

Ronald Harding

Ontario, CA

After catching a cold in February of 2015 I developed chronic shortness of breath to the point where I was terrified to fall asleep at night because I would stop breathing in my sleep and would wake up choking. This happened night after night and I finally drove myself to the ER at The Villages Regional Hospital at 6:00 a.m., completely exhausted. They admitted me and ran several tests and the cardiovascular doctor told me I had severe heart damage and may have had a heart attack or two and would run more tests. He also said I had fluid on my lungs and an abnormal heart beat, high blood pre[ ...more ]

Del & Luann Larson

Moorehead, MN

In March of 2014 my wife and I were on our way back to Minnesota from our winter vacation in Tucson and stopped in Mesa due to an electrical problem. The next evening my wife Luann wasn’t feeling well and went to bed early, only to be awakened around midnight with chest pains. Luann has Muscular Dystrophy and had previously had a stroke in January, so I called 911 and they transported her to Banner Heart Hospital in Mesa. The ER monitor showed no signs of a heart attack so they admitted her and began looking for blood clots. The next morning she was in even more pain from a blood clot found[ ...more ]

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Why do I need travel insurance?

Because sometimes..., you have to cancel a trip last-minute..

Travel insurance can reimburse you for your prepaid, non-refundable trip costs — including vacation rentals, car rentals, hotels and flights — if you have to cancel for a covered reason.

Travel delays leave you stranded.

Travel insurance can reimburse you for eligible meals, accommodation and transportation expenses during a covered delay.

You get sick or hurt when you're far from home.

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Fender-benders are unavoidable.

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TRAVEL RESOURCES

How Travel Insurance Works

How the Cancel Anytime Upgrade Works

What Does Rental Car Insurance Cover?

Is It Too Late to Buy Travel Insurance?

The Comprehensive Guide to Annual Travel Insurance

5 Ways the TravelSmart App Can Help During Winter Travels

Travel Insurance with Emergency Medical Benefits

Destination Guide: Croatia

Travel Insurance & COVID-19: The Epidemic Coverage Endorsement Explained

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• When Does Medicare Cover International Care?

What Areas Does Medicare Consider the U.S.?

• What's Covered in the 4 Situations?
• Medicare Advantage and International Travel
• Medigap and International Travel
• How to Get Coverage for International Travel

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The bottom line.

• Health Insurance

Does Medicare Cover International Travel?

In most cases, Original Medicare doesn’t provide medical care coverage when traveling outside the U.S. However, there are several situations when Medicare covers international care. Here’s when Medicare works overseas and how to get healthcare coverage if you’re going abroad.

Key Takeaways

• In four situations, Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans will pay for Medicare-covered services internationally. 
• Most Medicare Supplement Insurance plans provide coverage for emergency medical care while you’re traveling abroad.
• Comprehensive travel insurance policies typically cover emergency medical care and evacuation if you’re overseas.

When Does Medicare Cover Healthcare Services Abroad?

There are only four situations when Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans pay for Medicare-covered health services outside the U.S:

• You have a medical emergency in the U.S.; the nearest hospital to treat your condition is in another country.
• You have a medical emergency in Canada while traveling directly between Alaska and another U.S. state without “unreasonable delay,” and a Canadian hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your condition.
• You live in the U.S., and a foreign hospital is closer to your home than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat your emergency or non-emergency medical condition.
• You have Medicare Part B and you get medical attention while on a cruise while the ship is in U.S. territorial waters, docked at a U.S. port, or within six hours of arrival or departure from a U.S. port.

Medicare was designed to provide health coverage only within the U.S., according to Ari Parker, a Medicare expert and the author of “It's Not That Complicated,” a book about navigating the Medicare system. The U.S. includes all 50 states and Washington, D.C. But it also includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, as well as Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa in the South Pacific.

“Anywhere else is considered outside the U.S.,” Parker said. 

What Does Medicare Pay for in the Four Situations?

“In these situations, Medicare will only cover Medicare-approved services received in the foreign hospital,” Parker said. “For example, Medicare won’t cover prescription drugs obtained outside the U.S.”

Medicare Part A or Medicare Part B  covers doctors, inpatient hospital treatment, and medically necessary ambulance transportation, as long as you’re admitted for medically necessary covered inpatient hospital services. 

When using Medicare benefits abroad, you usually must pay the provider out of pocket and submit the itemized medical bill to your doctor in the U.S. to file the claim. Foreign hospitals aren’t required to submit Medicare claims to your U.S. healthcare provider. 

If the foreign hospital does submit Medicare insurance claims, your plan pays for its share of Medicare-covered services. You pay the remaining costs out of pocket through coinsurance, copays, and deductibles. 

Medicare Advantage Coverage for International Travel

Most Medicare Advantage plans don’t cover travel outside your service area, including to other U.S. states. So these plans often don’t cover international travel either. The plans only pay for medical care in one of the four qualifying situations. 

However, some Medicare Advantage plans may provide additional coverage abroad. For example, some plans:

• Have in-network international doctors and hospitals
• Allow you to stay enrolled in the plan if you’re traveling abroad for more than six months
• Cover prescription services abroad

Determine your international coverage by reviewing your plan’s summary of benefits. 

Medicare Supplement Insurance and International Travel

Most Medicare Supplement Insurance plans (Medigap plans) can include emergency medical coverage in a foreign country. Medigap Plans C, D, G, M, and N, currently being sold, will cover medically necessary care in a foreign country. 

But here’s the fine print for these plans: 

• The emergency treatment must happen within the first 60 days of travel.
• You must first meet a $250 annual deductible (on top of any other deductibles you’ve paid).
• The plans only cover 80% of your care.
• There’s a lifetime maximum of $50,000.

Discontinued plans (E, F, H, I, and J) also still offer coverage to those enrolled. However, Medigap plans A, B, K, and L do not provide foreign emergency coverage. 

How to Get Coverage for Medical Care If You Travel Abroad

If you’re planning a trip abroad and want coverage for medical emergencies, there are a few alternatives to Medicare that you can consider.

Buy Travel Insurance 

Comprehensive travel insurance provides financial coverage for unexpected issues that can happen while traveling, such as emergency or short-term medical expenses and evacuation for medical reasons. Air evacuation is not covered by Medicare.  

However, be aware that costs may be higher if you’re 65 or older and may exclude preexisting conditions . Some plans restrict application or coverage to those under a certain age. Those over age 75 may have a more challenging time finding coverage.

Consider an annual medical travel insurance plan that isn’t based on age or lower minimum coverage to lower costs. Also, choose a plan that doesn’t exclude preexisting conditions if you have chronic health issues.  

Get a Medicare Advantage Plan With Travel Benefits 

Some Medicare Advantage plans are available with a travel benefit, which allows you to receive additional medical care. Typically, you’ll pay out of pocket for services and then get reimbursed by your insurance company. However, these Medicare Advantage plans may be challenging to find, as most restrict coverage to specific geographic service areas. 

Get Medicare Supplement Plan Coverage

If you have Original Medicare, buying a Medicare Supplement plan (also known as Medigap) outside the initial enrollment period may be possible, depending on your situation or your state. 

However, you may pay more for coverage than if you’d bought it when first eligible. Or you could be denied coverage, particularly if you have a preexisting condition. Successfully buying a Medigap coverage plan could require significant research on Medigap companies .

Does Medicare Pay for Prescription Drugs Outside the U.S.?

No, Medicare plans don’t pay for prescription drugs when you’re outside the U.S. If you’re planning a trip abroad, bring your medications. You should contact your insurance company if you need help getting prescriptions in a foreign country. 

Does Medicare Cover Healthcare Services on a Cruise Ship?

Depending on the ship's location, Medicare plans will cover healthcare services on a cruise. Your plan will only pay for Medicare-covered expenses if the ship is traveling through U.S. territorial waters, is docked at a port in the U.S., or is within six hours of a U.S. port. Plan for any potential medical coverage in advance to avoid medical debt . If the cruise ship offers a medical coverage plan, compare cost, coverage, and limits to what you can buy from a travel insurance company.  

Does Medicare Supplement Plan G Cover International Travel?

Medigap Plan G will cover your emergency medical expenses when traveling internationally during the first 60 days. The plan will pay for 80% of Medicare-covered services after you pay the $250 annual deductible. You’re responsible for the other 20% of the cost. 

Am I Eligible to Receive Medicare If I Move Outside the U.S.?

If you’re a U.S. citizen and move outside the U.S. to live as an expatriate , you are still eligible for Medicare. But benefits will be minimal. Your plan only covers emergency medical care in the four qualifying situations and only for a limited period. However, you can use your full Medicare benefits if you travel back to the U.S. or visit a U.S. territory.

Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans provide limited medical coverage when traveling internationally in a few specific situations. To get medical coverage while traveling outside the U.S., your best bet may be to purchase travel insurance. But you can also investigate a Medigap plan (if you have Original Medicare and can still enroll), or a Medicare Advantage plan that includes extra travel benefits.

Medicare.gov. " Travel Outside the U.S. "

National Association of Insurance Commissioners. " Taking a Trip? Information About Travel Insurance You Should Know Before You Hit the Road ."

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. " Medicare Enrollment: U.S. Citizens Living Abroad ."

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Best Cheap Travel Insurance of April 2024

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.

In an ever-evolving world, emergency medical and evacuation travel insurance coverage is essential, especially if you're traveling internationally. However, sports equipment coverage, pet protection, and cancel for any reason coverage are among the increasingly popular coverage options that are changing the way we travel.

Best Cheap Travel Insurance

• HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance : Best overall
• GoReady travel insurance : Best for trip cancellation 
• Nationwide Travel Insurance : Best value
• Trawick International Travel Insurance : Most popular

Compare the Top Cheap Travel Insurance Plans

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Three plans to choose from
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Reasonable premiums
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. CFAR coverage available with some plans
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. High medical emergency and evacuation coverage
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Special coverages for pets, sports equipment, etc not available
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Limited reviews with complaints about claims not being paid
• Trip cancellation of up to $5,000 with the Economy plan and up to $50,000 with the Preferred plan
• Cancel for any reason insurance and missed connection insurance available with the Preferred plan
• Baggage delay insurance starting after 24 or 12 hours depending on the plan

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Offers a CFAR upgrade add-on on certain plans
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Comprehensive insurance plans include generous coverage for baggage loss, plus protection from hurricane and other intense weather-related issues
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Competitive pricing
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Online complaints about claims not being paid and non-responsiveness
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Not all more expensive plans include CFAR coverage
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Dropping rating with AM Best
• Annual and multi-trip plans available
• All plans include pandemic coverage for COVID-19
• Coverage for weather-related delays, cancellations and other incidents

• Trip cancellation coverage of up to 100% of trip costs (for cruises) or up to $30,000 (for single-trip plans)
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Three cruise-specific plans to choose from
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Annual travel insurance plans available
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Strong trip cancellation coverage
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Cancel for any reason coverage available
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. CFAR insurance not available with every single plan
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Medical coverage is lower than what some competitors offer

Nationwide Travel Insurance offers many of the standard benefits you might see with a travel insurance policy. This can include things like trip cancellation coverage, so you can recover pre-paid costs or trip interruption in the event your vacation is interrupted by an unexpected event. There's also baggage delay coverage and medical coverage.

• Cancel for any reason coverage available

Trip cancellation coverage for up to 100% of the trip cost and trip interruption coverage for up to 150% of the trip cost

• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Useful for adventurous travelers headed to higher-risk destinations
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Affordable plans with varying levels of coverage
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. 10-day free look option
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Generous baggage loss replacement policy
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Trip delay coverage kicks in after just six hours
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Some policies allow a CFAR add-on
• Check mark icon A check mark. It indicates a confirmation of your intended interaction. Up to $1 million medical evacuation coverage limit
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Baggage and trip delay coverages don’t kick in until after the 12-hour mark
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. International student policies available for temporary stints abroad
• con icon Two crossed lines that form an 'X'. Complaints about claims not being paid or involving an intermediary to resolve claims

Trawick International travel insurance offers plans customized to diverse travelers' needs. We look at coverage options, claims processing, pricing, and other important factors for savvy travelers.

• Travel medical insurance
• Trip protection and cancellation
• International student insurance
• Visitor medical insurance (for traveling to the US)

Affordable Travel Insurance Reviews

So you're planning a big family vacation—if you're lucky, the trip of a lifetime. Travel costs can skyrocket quickly, leaving you feeling a bit overwhelmed. At this point, travel insurance starts to look like a potentially unnecessary cost, but is it really?

The best travel insurance plans can go a long way toward defraying unexpected costs that may arise if you're asking the right questions starting with: What does travel insurance cover ?

Best Affordable Travel Insurance Overall: HTH Worldwide TripProtector Economy Travel Insurance

The HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance Economy plan offers the most comprehensive coverage across major categories of all the providers in this guide.

You'll have some peace of mind with up to $75,000 of financial protection for eligible medical emergencies, and up to $500,000 per person for medical evacuation costs. For more everyday expenses, you can also relax with baggage loss and delay, trip interruption, cancellation and delay coverage that will help you recoup many, if not all, of your costs.

However, this plan falls short on missed connection benefits and accidental death coverage, both of which are not available under most circumstances (missed connection coverage only applies to cruises, and will only cover up to $500 per person after a three-hour delay).

Read our HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance review here.

Best Affordable Travel Insurance for Trip Cancellation: GoReady Trip Cancellation Plan Travel Insurance

The GoReady travel insurance Trip Cancellation Plan is exactly that: a cost-effective plan that offers protection in the event that your trip is canceled for a covered reason. The plan we priced out for our hypothetical trip cost just 1.16% of our total travel expenses — a very small amount of money to pay for the guarantee of our money back in the right circumstances.

The benefit is that this plan can supplement other coverage you already have, or give you a little bit of protection for a trip where you might not otherwise have opted for insurance altogether. On the downside, you won't get any protection for medical emergencies, trip interruption or delays or lost bags from this plan.

Read our GoReady Travel Insurance review here.

Best Value Cheap Travel Insurance: Nationwide Essential Travel Insurance

Nationwide Travel Insurance  is a well-rounded alternative to HTH Worldwide Trip Protector Economy. This plan offers solid protection for both travel-related snafus as well as situations that might call for emergency medical and evacuation, making it a good choice for trips where you have cause to worry about potential interruptions or delays. However, it does not offer protection for missed connections or accidental death.

Read our Nationwide Travel Insurance review here

Most Popular Cheap Travel Insurance: Trawick Safe Travels Explorer Travel Insurance

The Trawick International Travel Insurance Safe Travels Explorer plan has been purchased by more than 36,000 travelers since 2020, and it has great reviews to boot. And no wonder: Trawick offers generous trip delay coverage of up to $2,000 per person, although hopefully you won't need to reach that reimbursement amount because the daily limit is $150.

You'll also be able to rely on a $200 reimbursement per person for lost baggage - one of the higher amounts amongst these affordable plans, although this amount pales in comparison to the baggage loss coverage offered through the best travel credit cards .

Read our Trawick Travel Insurance review here.

Types of Cheap Travel Insurance

Comprehensive coverage.

This type of insurance offers extensive protection, covering everything from medical issues to trip cancellations. While it's more expensive up front, it can save you a lot in the long run.

Medical-Only Coverage

As the name suggests, this policy focuses solely on medical emergencies, making it a cost-effective option for travelers who are primarily concerned about health-related expenses.

Evacuation and Repatriation

In extreme cases where you need to be evacuated due to a medical emergency or a natural disaster, this coverage ensures that you can return home safely without incurring huge costs.

Benefits of Opting for Cheap Travel Insurance

Cost savings.

Cheap travel insurance can significantly reduce your travel expenses, ensuring that you're not overpaying for coverage you might not need.

Adequate Coverage for Less

Just because it's cheap doesn't mean it's lacking. Many affordable policies offer substantial coverage, giving you peace of mind without breaking the bank.

How to Pick The Best Cheap Travel Insurance Plan for You

No single travel insurance plan will meet the needs of every single traveler. By nature, we are diverse and evolving meaning travel insurance should be equally so. Travel insurance for a week-long trip to a big city shouldn't be the same as the coverage for a backpacking expedition in the mountains. A splurge to purchase comprehensive insurance coverage may also be worth it for international ventures or other large expenditures.

In most cases, the cost difference between a basic and comprehensive travel insurance plan isn't as significant as you might think. Regardless, it's generally a good idea to choose a trusted travel insurance provider known for exceptional customer service and coverage. (For this roundup, we looked at traveler reviews shared through the travel agency SquareMouth .)

• Assessing Your Travel Needs: Consider the nature of your trip, the destination, and your own personal needs when choosing a policy. This ensures that you're not over-insured or underinsured.
• Comparing Different Policies: Don't settle for the first policy you find. Compare different options, looking at their coverage and prices, to find the best fit for your budget and needs.
• Reading the Fine Print: Always read the terms and conditions carefully to understand what's covered, what's not, and the process for making a claim.

If you just want trip cancellation protection, go with the GoReady Trip Cancellation Plan. For more robust coverage that won't break the bank, consider HTH Worldwide's TripProtector Economy, Trawick's Safe Travels Explorer, or Nationwide's Essentials plan.

Yes, many affordable policies offer comprehensive coverage suitable for international travel. It's crucial to compare policies and understand your needs.

Travelers insurance is relatively cheap because it only covers you for a set period of time, and depending on your plan, the level of coverage you get may not be particularly high. However, even with high coverage limits and extras like cancel for any reason coverage , travel insurance is relatively affordable. 

The average cost of travel insurance is 4%-8% of your trip's cost. This usually translates into a premium between $89 to $399.

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Chose the Best Cheap Travel Insurance

To determine the best insurance plan for travelers on a budget, we evaluated dozens of products using a hypothetical trip to Australia for a single traveler, age 26, with a total cost of $2,500 for flight, hotel and other incidentals. We then compiled the plans that covered the essentials at the lowest costs.

Of note: All of these plans include COVID-related medical coverage and 24-hour assistance, and pay at least 100% of your trip cost for eligible trip cancellations. None include rental car coverage.

The seven winning plans cost between $29 to $74 — significantly below the typical cost of comprehensive travel insurance, which can range between 4%-8% of total travel expenses, according to the US Travel Insurance Association. But these affordable plans also come with comparably low ceilings for various aspects of coverage such as emergency medical, trip cancellation, or delay — and do not include rental car or "cancel for any reason" (CFAR) protection. So if you think you might need these benefits, it may well be worth upgrading to a comprehensive travel insurance plan for a few more dollars, just for the peace of mind.

Convenience and Flexibility

Each of the plans in this list include 24-hour assistance worldwide from reputable insurance providers. And despite being on the lower end of insurance plans, each of these options includes refunds for up to 100% of your total trip cost for eligible reasons. Each of these plans also includes medical coverage for COVID-related issues that may arise during your travels, which may come in handy as the pandemic continues to evolve worldwide.

Sufficient Coverage in Essential Categories

The cheapest travel insurance plan will rarely cover every scenario that could go awry on your trip. However, each of these plans can at least help you get your money back in the event that your travel is canceled for an eligible reason, and most of them include financial protection if you incur emergency medical bills while traveling. We also factor in what travelers are most concerned about now. 

You can read more about how Business Insider rates insurance here.

Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews, or recommendations expressed in this article are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Read our editorial standards .

Please note: While the offers mentioned above are accurate at the time of publication, they're subject to change at any time and may have changed, or may no longer be available.

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The Dali was just starting a 27-day voyage.

The ship had spent two days in Baltimore’s port before setting off.

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By Claire Moses and Jenny Gross

• Published March 26, 2024 Updated March 27, 2024

The Dali was less than 30 minutes into its planned 27-day journey when the ship ran into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday.

The ship, which was sailing under the Singaporean flag, was on its way to Sri Lanka and was supposed to arrive there on April 22, according to VesselFinder, a ship tracking website.

The Dali, which is nearly 1,000 feet long, left the Baltimore port around 1 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday. The ship had two pilots onboard, according to a statement by its owners, Grace Ocean Investment. There were 22 crew members on board, the Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore said in a statement. There were no reports of any injuries, Grace Ocean said.

Before heading off on its voyage, the Dali had returned to the United States from Panama on March 19, harboring in New York. It then arrived on Saturday in Baltimore, where it spent two days in the port.

Maersk, the shipping giant, said in a statement on Tuesday that it had chartered the vessel, which was carrying Maersk cargo. No Maersk crew and personnel were onboard, the statement said, adding that the company was monitoring the investigations being carried out by the authorities and by Synergy Group, the company that was operating the vessel.

“We are horrified by what has happened in Baltimore, and our thoughts are with all of those affected,” the Maersk statement said.

The Dali was built in 2015 by the South Korea-based Hyundai Heavy Industries. The following year, the ship was involved in a minor incident when it hit a stone wall at the port of Antwerp . The Dali sustained damage at the time, but no one was injured.

Claire Moses is a reporter for the Express desk in London. More about Claire Moses

Jenny Gross is a reporter for The Times in London covering breaking news and other topics. More about Jenny Gross