Look at you. You’ve got your hotels and air travel booked. You just ordered one of those high-tech, anti-theft fanny pouches for your valuables. And you researched, selected and purchased the optimal travel insurance plan based on your itinerary and budget.

Often times, our trips seamlessly materialize from the planning stages to departure. But sometimes, unexpected wrinkles emerge — tweaks to our itinerary, planned spending, travel party and more. Often times, these swerves and curves are solved with an email here and a phone call there. But it’s critical to remember that if you’ve purchased travel insurance, you also need to contact your provider to see about modifying your plan.

So, we’ll cut right to the chase: yes, you can change a travel insurance plan you’ve already purchased. But there are a number of details and variables that may your impact your ability to do so.

In the following article, we’ll answer some of the most common questions those seeking to change their travel insurance plan ask providers.

What Changes in My Travel Could Necessitate a Change in My Travel Insurance?

One way to address this question is to have you recall the questions you had to answer when purchasing a travel insurance plan. Specifically, changes relating to the following areas would likely need to be shared with your provider when inquiring about changing your plan:

• Type of travel: Specifically, domestic vs. international travel.
• Dates: Arrival and departure dates.
• Total trip cost: With special emphasis on those pre-paid, non-refundable costs, where travel insurance can come in handy.
• Age and number of travelers: For anyone you’ll be seeking to include.
• State of residence

While these are some of the factors that may go into determining your travel insurance premium and details, there are other factors to consider, too. For example, perhaps you want to upgrade your coverage levels to provide even more peace of mind and potential financial recourse in the event of trip cancellation, travel delay, lost baggage and other events you’re not anticipating. You may also decide that a different travel insurance plan all together is a better fit for your trip, and that the trip cancellation protection or emergency medical benefit you initially passed up is actually something you want included in your plan now.¹

There is another scenario that might come up. Perhaps you did the math and realized that it makes more dollars and sense to purchase an annual plan covering all your trips in a given year rather than a one-time plan. In such a scenario, and if Allianz Global Assistance is your provider, you may look to change from the OneTrip Prime Plan, which includes substantial benefits such as coverage for kids 17 and under for free* when traveling with a parent or grandparent (*not available on policies issued to Pennsylvania residents), to the AllTrips Prime Plan. The upgrade will provide you similar coverage for all the trips you take in a given year — and can be a much more cost-effective option than purchasing multiple one-off plans.² 

Some of the changes that may dictate that you seek updates to a plan are more benign, for example, changing the contact information for travelers in your party who will be covered.³

How Can I Modify My Existing Travel Insurance Plan?

Without knowing the specifics of your travel insurance plan or the circumstances prompting your need for change, we can’t simply state that all requested modifications will be accommodated. As long as you haven’t yet departed for your trip, your provider will likely try and work with you.  And if your provider is Allianz Global Assistance, there are a few other time constraints to keep in mind. For example, if you’re seeking a plan that’s eligible for a pre-existing medical condition benefit, you must purchase your plan within 14 days of making an initial trip deposit. Keep that timeline in mind if your change is upgrading to a plan with this benefit.²

We can share that the sooner you contact your provider and the more detailed information you have about your current plan and changes, the greater the flexibility a provider may have to make changes for you.³

When it comes to how and where to make changes with Allianz Global Assistance, there are a few ways you can get started:

• Online with our Policy Management tool:  
• By calling our team: Sometimes, you want to walk through a potential change to your plan and learn all your options by talking to a live representative. You’ll want to have the same information noted above on hand and can call 1-866-672-9580.

Can I Cancel My Travel Insurance Plan?

Yes, you can. In fact, we wrote an entire article that details how and when you can cancel a travel insurance plan.

In short, you need to cancel within a period of time called a “Review Window.” If you have a plan with Allianz Global Assistance, you have at least 10 days, depending on your state of residence, to request a cancellation. As long as you haven’t departed or filed a claim, it should be a smooth transaction.⁵

Just because you discovered that your travel insurance plan and trip itinerary no longer match up doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. Life happens. And the sooner you request modifications to your policy, the more likely you’ll be able land the right policy for your upcoming trip.

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