With Americans spending more on their vacations than ever before, there's a lot at stake if things don't go according to plan. While you can't recoup the time you spent planning your trip, flight insurance can reimburse the full amount you spent on airfare if you need to cancel your trip for a covered reason.
Most flight insurance plans will cover cancellations for the following reasons:
Roughly a quarter of all flights in the U.S. are either delayed or canceled. More often than not, significant changes to a flight's departure time can result in added stress and out-of-pocket expenses for travelers. This is especially true for those with connecting flights to catch.
Flight insurance provides reimbursement for expenses incurred as a result of a significant delay, including:
Most flight insurance policies cover more than just your time in the sky. The majority of plans provide a wide-range of benefits that cover you for the duration of your trip, from the time you leave home to the moment you return.
Aside from cancellation and delay coverage, flight insurance can also offer reimbursement if you experience an unexpected medical emergency, lose your luggage, or have to end your trip early.
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Flight insurance, also known as travel insurance, is a type of coverage designed to protect travelers from financial loss if their trip takes an unexpected turn for the worse. Most flight insurance plans are comprehensive, and offer benefits that cover the most common travel disruptions like delays, cancellations, medical emergencies, and lost luggage.
If you only insure the cost of your flight, you can expect to pay between 5-10% of your total airfare costs on a comprehensive travel insurance plan. However, you can insure all prepaid and non-refundable expenses for complete coverage. Costs and coverage limits can vary significantly from one policy to the next, so it's best to compare plans before making a purchase decision.
The price of flight insurance varies based on a variety of factors:
Flight insurance works on a reimbursement basis. Insurers charge a premium for trip protection, and in return, they agree to cover expenses related to an event covered by the policy. If your trip is disrupted by an event covered by your travel insurance policy, you will file a claim directly with your insurance provider. The claims process typically takes 4-6 weeks depending on the amount of documentation and evidence you provide.
You can purchase travel insurance at any point after booking a flight up until your departure date. With that said, we recommend purchasing a policy within 10-14 days after making your initial trip payment. This not only keeps you covered longer, but opens the door to time-sensitive travel insurance benefits like CFAR and Pre-Existing Condition coverage.
If you're comfortable with risk, or have existing coverage through other means, purchasing flight insurance may not be worth it. However, for many travelers, the peace of mind they receive for having travel protection is worth the cost of a policy alone.
Out-of-pocket expenses can add up quickly if your trip is disrupted. Even a relatively inexpensive travel insurance policy can provide some financial protection to limit your losses as a result of unforeseen cancellations, medical emergencies, delays, and luggage issues.
Many airlines offer flight insurance during the checkout process when booking airfare. The policies offer a convenient “one-stop-shop” to plan and protect a trip. Unfortunately, most travel suppliers won't offer you many policy options, and oftentimes just have one plan that they sell to their passengers.
While some of these plans can offer decent protection, the majority of the time you can find better trip protection for less by shopping around. At the very least, we recommend getting quotes from 2-3 additional travel insurance providers to see how policies compete on cost and coverage.
You can find travel insurance from a wide-range of sources, including credit cards, travel suppliers, and third party travel insurance companies. To find the best travel insurance protection for your trip, we recommend taking the time to compare multiple insurance plans that meet your budget and travel needs. Start by using a travel insurance comparison site like Squaremouth.