A lot of people travel happily without insurance — until one day, their vacation’s ruined by an unexpected disaster. Aha, they realize. This is why people buy travel insurance.

But if you’re considering buying travel insurance for the first time, it can be confusing and a little overwhelming. What does it cover? How much does it cost? How much do you need?

In this guide, we’ll answer all those questions. And remember, it only takes a minute to get a free quote for travel insurance for your next adventure.

What is travel insurance, anyway?

Travel insurance is insurance you buy to protect yourself from common risks and losses that can occur while traveling. These range from minor annoyances (a canceled flight or a delayed bag) to major crises (experiencing a medical emergency when you’re in a remote part of a developing country).

When you experience a covered loss while traveling, you can submit a claim to your travel insurance company to be reimbursed for the money you lost. In some situations — such as an authorized emergency medical evacuation for a serious covered illness or injury — travel insurance may pay your expenses up front.

Why should I buy travel insurance?

• Because travel is expensive, and most of us can’t afford to lose the money we’ve spent if we’re forced to cancel a trip at the last minute.

• Because when things go wrong on a trip, travel insurance can help make it right. Problems like lost bags, delayed trains, canceled flights and missed connections happen all the time. Travel insurance can reimburse you for covered losses and make sure you get where you’re going.

• Because emergencies overseas can be super expensive, and domestic health insurance plans may not cover you in other countries. Travelers who suffer a serious injury or illness overseas can end up with six-figure bills, should they have to pay out of pocket for complex medical treatment or an emergency medical evacuation.

• And because when you’re traveling, you need someone to look out for you. When you’re protected by an Allianz Global Assistance travel insurance plan, you can call our 24-hour emergency assistance hotline from anywhere in the world to get help.

Learn more: Why Should I Buy Travel Insurance?

How much does travel insurance cost?

There’s an easy way to find out: Get a quote for your trip!

We calculate your costs for various travel insurance plans based on just two factors: your prepaid trip costs and your age. That’s it! What about your medical history, your destination, or your claims history? Nope — none of those things will affect the cost of travel insurance.

On a tight budget? No problem. When you get a quote for travel insurance, we’ll show you a range of plans, from the most basic to those with a broad range of benefits. If you’re taking three trips or more this year, your most cost-effective travel insurance option may be a multi-trip plan that covers all your travel for 365 days. Most annual plans include rental car damage protection, too, which saves you even more.

Learn more: What Factors Affect the Cost of Travel Insurance?

What does travel insurance cover?

Coverage varies by plan. The super-affordable OneTrip Cancellation Plus Plan, for example, only includes the essentials: trip cancellation and trip interruption benefits, up to the amount purchased, as well as $150 in travel delay benefits. The OneTrip Prime Plan, our most popular plan for vacations, provides a whole slew of benefits: emergency medical and dental, emergency medical transportation, baggage loss/damage, trip interruption/cancellation, missed connection and more.

However, no travel insurance plan can cover every possible scenario. Allianz Global Assistance provides named perils travel insurance, which means it covers only the specific situations, events, and losses included in your plan document, and only under the conditions we describe. Travel insurance is also designed to cover unforeseeable events — not things you could easily see coming, or things within your control.

For more information, we encourage you to read your plan documents so you understand what’s covered, especially the covered reasons for trip cancellation and trip interruption.

Learn more: Trip Cancellation Insurance: Covered Reasons Explained

How much travel insurance do I need?

Should you buy a basic, no-frills travel insurance plan, or a more substantial one? That depends on a few factors.

• If you’re heading overseas, you’ll definitely need the protection of emergency medical benefits and emergency medical transportation benefits. And if you’re visiting less developed areas or engaging in active travel, like hiking or cycling, you should have higher coverage limits for both.

• If you’re spending a lot of money on your trip, you should protect that investment with trip cancellation/trip interruption benefits.

• If you have an existing medical condition, make sure you choose a plan that includes the existing medical condition benefit. Read your plan documents carefully to be sure you’re meeting all the requirements.

• If travel stresses you out, look for benefits that can help you deal with the most common headaches: missed connection, change fee coverage, baggage delay, travel delay, etc.
  
  

When should I buy travel insurance?

As soon as possible, once you’ve made your trip arrangements. The earlier you buy insurance, the longer your coverage window. Trip cancellation coverage begins on your plan’s effective date, as long as we receive your premium before you cancel your trip or make a claim. (The effective date is determined by when and how you purchase a plan; it’s typically the day after we receive your order.) And if you need coverage for existing medical conditions, make sure you buy travel insurance within 14 days of making your first trip payment or deposit.

If something goes wrong on my trip, how do I file a travel insurance claim?

Filing a claim means submitting proof of your loss to Allianz Global Assistance, so that we can verify what happened and reimburse you for your covered losses. We make it simple! You can file a claim online, or do it on your phone with our free TravelSmart app.

To file a claim, you’ll need to gather all the documents you can find that relate to your trip costs, your losses and any refunds you may have received. These could be travel reservations, invoices, medical records, photos, etc. Here’s a documentation checklist that can help.

Need help filing a claim, or have questions about travel insurance in general? We’re always here to help. Contact Allianz Global Assistance anytime.

Learn more: Four Mistakes to Avoid When Filing a Travel Insurance Claim

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