What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance is a plan you purchase that protects you from certain financial risks and losses that can occur while traveling. These losses can be minor, like a delayed suitcase, or significant, like a last-minute trip cancellation or a medical emergency overseas.

In addition to financial protection, the other huge benefit of travel insurance is access to assistance services, wherever you are in the world.

A few things you should know about travel insurance:

• Benefits vary by plan. It’s important to choose a plan that fits your needs, your budget and your travel plans.
• Travel insurance can’t cover every possible situation. Allianz Travel Insurance is named perils travel insurance, which means it covers only the specific situations, events, and losses included in your plan documents, and only under the conditions we describe.
• Travel insurance is designed to cover unforeseeable events—not things you could easily see coming, or things within your control. If, for example, you wait to buy insurance for your beach trip until after a named hurricane is hustling toward your destination, your losses wouldn’t be covered.

How does travel insurance work?

In most scenarios, travel insurance reimburses you for your covered financial losses after you file a claim and the claim is approved. 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.

How does this work in real life? Let’s say you purchase the OneTrip Prime Plan, which includes trip cancellation benefits, to protect your upcoming cruise to Cozumel. Two days before departure, you experience a high fever and chest pain. Your doctor diagnoses bacterial pneumonia and advises you to cancel the trip. When you notify the cruise line, they tell you it’s too late to receive a refund.

Without travel insurance, you’d lose the money you spent on your vacation. Fortunately, a serious, disabling illness can be considered a covered reason for trip cancellation, which means you can be reimbursed for your prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs. Once you’re feeling better, you gather the required documents—such as your airfare and cruise line receipts and information about any refunds you did or did not receive—and you file a claim. You can even choose to receive your reimbursement by direct deposit, to your debit card, or via check.

Sometimes, this process works a little differently. Travel insurance may pay your expenses upfront if you require emergency medical treatment or emergency transportation while traveling overseas. 

Many travelers are wondering: Can COVID-19 be considered a covered reason for trip cancellation? And can travel insurance help if you become seriously ill with COVID-19 while traveling? Most of our travel insurance plans now include epidemic-related covered reasons (benefits vary by plan and are not available in all jurisdictions). The Epidemic Coverage Endorsement adds covered reasons to select benefits for certain losses related to COVID-19 and any future epidemic. To see if your plan includes this endorsement and what it covers, please look for "Epidemic Coverage Endorsement" on your Declarations of Coverage or Letter of Confirmation. Terms, conditions and exclusions apply. Benefits may not cover the full cost of your loss. All benefits are subject to maximum limits of liability, which may in some cases be subject to sublimits and daily maximums.

How to choose a travel insurance plan

There’s a wide range of Allianz Travel Insurance plans, each with different benefits and benefit limits. So how do you know which is best for you? To begin, get a quote for your upcoming trip. When you enter your age, trip costs and trip dates, we can recommend a few plans for you. Then, you can compare the costs and benefits of each.

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For many travelers who choose to go on cruises, the experience is smooth sailing.

But when something goes awry on a cruise vacation, from missing bags to missing your port of call, things can go south quickly. That’s why travel insurance is essential to pack, along with your sunscreen, swimsuit and phone charger.

Here are five reasons why purchasing travel insurance is a crucial step when preparing for your big cruise vacation. But first, we’ll answer the number-one question cruise travelers have…

Is cruise insurance worth it?

Most cruises aren’t cheap. Even if you score a great deal on your fare, you still have to factor in taxes, fees, airfare, excursions, beverage packages and extras. For this reason, you might hesitate to spend money on insurance. “Is travel insurance really worth it for a cruise?” you wonder.

The answer is always yes. That’s because travel insurance is an affordable cost that can potentially protect you from huge costs: the cost of canceling your cruise, the cost of receiving emergency medical care when you’re overseas, the cost of a medical evacuation from the ship to a hospital, the cost of replacing your possessions if your baggage is delayed, and more.

Just make sure that the plan you choose includes the key benefits you need. Not all plans are the same, and you should read your plan documents carefully so you understand what’s covered. Now, we’ll take an in-depth look at five reasons why cruise insurance is worth it.

1. Travel insurance for cruises can reimburse you in case of a last-minute cancellation.

Think your cruise line will understand when you have to cancel your trip because of a family emergency? Probably not. They count on having their cabins filled when the ship leaves the dock, so cruise lines are reluctant to give refunds.

Many cruise lines relaxed their cancellation policies during the pandemic, but have since tightened them up. A typical cruise cancellation policy may give you only a partial refund or credit if you cancel less than 75 days from your sailing date (or 90 days, for cruises of 5 nights or longer). And if you cancel a cruise of any length within 30 days of your departure, your refund is the same: $0. Discounted promotional fares may also have a no-refund policy.

Cruise lines will try to sell you their own trip cancellation coverage, but if you read the fine print you'll see they only offer refunds when you cancel your trip for a limited list of covered reasons. If you must cancel for another reason, cruise lines' plans generally offer credits worth 75 percent of the trip cost.

2. Travel insurance for cruises can save the day during a medical emergency.

When you’re soaking in rays on the lido deck with a good book in one hand and a fresh mango smoothie in the other, a medical crisis is the last thing on your mind. But shipboard medical problems can get very serious — and very expensive — fast.

If you're treated on board, prepare to receive a hefty medical bill from the cruise line. Your regular health insurance likely won’t cover you. Not even Medicare, which doesn’t cover health care services when the ship is more than 6 hours away from a U.S. port.1

Serious medical emergencies may require a medical evacuation, which can mean being airlifted off the ship to the nearest hospital. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this can cost as much as $100,000—and that’s for the medical evacuation alone.2 Once you arrive at the hospital, prepare to pay upfront for services rendered.

Emergency medical travel insurance for cruises can pay all these costs for a covered medical emergency, up to the limits of your plan. Not only that, but our 24-hour assistance team can monitor your care, update loved ones on your condition, bring a family member to your bedside if you’ll be hospitalized for a while, and arrange your transportation home. Worth it? Without a doubt.

3. Travel Insurance is there when you miss the boat—literally.

Time and tide wait for no one. Neither do cruise ships. That's why missed flights and missing bags become big problems when you're beginning your cruise vacation. If your flight to Miami is canceled due to weather, causing you to miss embarkation, you're out of luck—unless you have travel insurance.

Travel delay benefits can reimburse you for eligible hotel stays, meals and lost prepaid expenses if you experience a covered trip delay. Trip interruption benefits can reimburse you for the cost of transportation to your cruise's first port of call, where you can catch up with the ship.

With cruise travel insurance, you don’t have to sweat unexpected delays and missed connections. You’ll get there! Just think of it as making a grand entrance.

4. Sometimes you need travel insurance for cruises to help you deal with the unexpected.

In the middle of your Caribbean journey from Nassau to San Juan, you get word that your mother has fallen seriously ill. You need to get home fast, but how can you do it without breaking the bank? This is when Allianz Travel Insurance is your best friend. Call 24-hour assistance, and a travel expert can help you make arrangements to fly home from the ship's next port of call. You can be reimbursed for up to 150 percent of the cost of the trip: both the unused portion of your cruise and the additional transportation costs for returning home early, if you must interrupt your trip for a covered reason.

5. Travel insurance for cruises helps you kick back and relax.

People take cruises to spend quality time with friends and family, to explore new regions of the world, and sometimes even to get from Point A to Point B. But the key attraction of cruises is to let go of life’s little worries and unwind without a care. It’s tough to relax if you’re worried about bad weather, illness, lost luggage, missed flights, theft or international emergencies. A top-flight cruise travel insurance policy, such as the plans offered by Allianz Travel Insurance (sold by your agent), can offer recourse for the unexpected.

Planning a cruise vacation in the next few weeks or months? One last tip: To get the maximum value from your travel insurance plan, buy it early, ideally within 14 days of paying your trip deposit. The earlier you buy cruise insurance, the longer your coverage window and the sooner you’re protected. Get a quote.

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If you’re like us, here’s how you prepare for a big trip: You pack way too much, realize your suitcase won’t close, then start taking stuff out. The snorkel gear, the sarong, that second jacket… you don’t really need those. But there is one thing you definitely, absolutely need to pack: Travel insurance.

A lot of people weigh the additional expense and ask, “Is travel insurance worth it?” Most of the time, the answer is an all-caps YES. This is why.

Reason #1 travel insurance is a must: Most of us can’t afford to lose our vacation investment.

Let’s say you pay $7,000 for a once-in-a-lifetime luxury cruise around the Mediterranean for your 25th wedding anniversary. The day before sailing, your mother suffers a serious fall and ends up in the hospital. When you call the cruise line and explain what happened, they’re sympathetic — but you’re not getting your money back. Company policy clearly states that there are no refunds if you cancel within 14 days of departure.

Situations like these are why travel insurance is a must. When you have travel insurance with trip cancellation benefits, you can get reimbursement for prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs when you must cancel for a covered reason. Covered reasons can include situations like the covered serious illness or injury of the insured person, a travel companion or a family member; the death of the insured traveler, traveling companion or a family member; a natural disaster or other event that renders your destination uninhabitable; etc.

Reason #2 travel insurance is a must: Medical emergencies overseas can be really expensive.

Consider this scenario: On a driving tour through Argentina, a truck slams into your rental car, leaving you with a broken leg and other serious injuries. When you arrive at the hospital, you summon the strength to pull out your health insurance card. The staff just shake their heads. You’ll need to pay up front for treatment — and your medical bills rapidly climb into the tens of thousands. If you require medical evacuation, that cost can hit $200,000 or more, depending on the country you’re in and the proximity to the nearest hospital.

As the U.S. State Department notes, “many foreign medical facilities and providers require cash payment up front and do not accept U.S. insurance plans. Medicare does not provide coverage outside of the United States.”1

When you have travel insurance with emergency medical benefits, it can pay for losses due to covered medical and dental emergencies that occur during your trip. Emergency medical transportation benefits can pay for medically necessary transportation to the nearest appropriate medical facility, as well as the cost of getting you home following a covered injury or illness. The Allianz Global Assistance hotline staff may even be able to arrange payment in advance for covered emergency medical care. The upshot: When you’re wondering “is travel insurance worth it?”, weigh the small cost of buying insurance against the massive costs of a medical emergency overseas.

Reason #3 travel insurance is a must: You don’t want minor mishaps to ruin your trip.

A vacation is really an investment in your happiness. And when that vacation starts off with a canceled flight, a missed connection, a missing bag or another travel hiccup, that happy travel feeling fades.

Travel insurance can help make these situations better. Travel delay benefits can reimburse you for additional accommodation/travel expenses and lost prepaid expenses due to a covered departure delay of six or more hours. Baggage delay benefits can reimburse you for the reasonable additional purchase of essential items during your trip if your baggage is delayed or misdirected by a common carrier for 24 hours or more. Several more benefits address other common travel mishaps, so check your plan to see what’s included.

Reason #4 travel insurance is a must: The U.S. Department of State says so!

What’s the first thing you should do when you experience an emergency overseas? Most American travelers call the local U.S. embassy for help — but those travelers are often disappointed to discover that embassy staff’s powers are limited. They can help you replace a stolen passport; contact family or friends in the U.S.; find medical care or legal assistance; communicate with local police; and connect you with various resources. But an embassy cannot pay for your medical care, provide emergency transportation (except during rare, major catastrophes), or otherwise take care of any financial losses you suffer while traveling.2

That’s why the State Department advises American travelers to carry travel insurance — specifically, travel insurance that includes emergency medical benefits, emergency medical transportation benefits, and coverage for other unexpected expenses, like trip cancellation and lost or stolen luggage.

Reason #5 travel insurance is a must: It’s easy to find affordable travel insurance.

Cost is probably the number one reason people don’t buy travel insurance. We understand! If you’re already paying thousands for a long-awaited cruise or resort vacation, it’s tough to spend even a little more on insurance.

Here’s something a lot of people don’t know: Insurance can be really affordable. When you get a quote for travel insurance, we’ll present you with multiple coverage options, so you can pick the best one for your trip and your budget. 

The best way to find a low-cost travel insurance plan is to ask us for quote for your next trip and then compare plans. Remember: If you're not completely satisfied, you have 10 days (or more, depending on your state of residence) to request a refund, provided you haven't started your trip or initiated a claim. Premiums are non-refundable after this period.

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