9 Top-Rated Travel Insurance Companies by Consumer Reports

Understanding Travel Insurance

Travel insurance shields you from unanticipated circumstances affecting your travels and causing financial losses. Medical crises, trip cancellations, lost bags, and aircraft delays can all be included in these scenarios. Regularly reviewing travel insurance providers, non-profit consumer advocacy group Consumer Reports is Their observations provide a policy great direction. According to US Travel Insurance Association (USTIA) data, 4% to 8% of your travel expenses should be your average travel insurance cost.

Best Overall Travel Insurance

Consumer Reports routinely gives several companies excellent grades. Nationwide ranks highly for its range of coverage choices and customer service. Though they can be more expensive, AIG Travel Guard is another often recommended top choice for their thorough coverage. Particularly for misplaced luggage, AXA Assistance USA gets compliments on its substantial coverage limits.

Best Travel Insurance for Cruises

This often includes significant upfront expenses, cruise travel calls for trip cancellation, and interruption coverage. Nationwide has particular cruise insurance policies covering missed connections, cabin confinement, and other cruise-related problems. AIG Travel Guard offers strong cruise coverage, particularly for sea-based medical emergencies.

Best Travel Insurance for Pre-Existing Medical Conditions

Coverage can be difficult if you have a pre-existing condition. Given that the policy is acquired within a designated period following your first trip deposit, Tin Leg Travel Insurance generally shines out in Consumer Reports' assessments for covering pre-existing conditions. Reading the tiny print and knowing the particular conditions addressed and any waiting times helps one be informed.

Best Travel Insurance for Adventure Sports

World Nomads routinely ranks highly with Consumer Reports for covering a broad spectrum of adventure sports, including bungee jumping, skydiving, and more. Although it usually costs extra, this coverage offers necessary safety for daring visitors. Consumer Reports stresses the need to closely evaluate coverage limits and exclusions since they differ among companies.

Best Travel Insurance for Large Groups

Seven Corners Travel Insurance usually gets good marks for its group travel insurance policies. For parties of ten or more, these policies provide thorough coverage for medical emergencies, trip cancellations, and other unplanned situations. Consumer Reports advises readers to compare coverage limitations and prices with other companies, such as HTH Travel Insurance, which also provides robust group coverage.

Best Travel Insurance for Families with Children

Consumer Reports frequently recommends Travelex for family travel insurance. Specific Travelex policies provide complimentary coverage for children under a particular age when accompanied by an insured adult. Plans with advantages for all family members, including medical coverage, lost baggage coverage, and travel cancellation and interruption, should be considered seriously.

Best Travel Insurance for Comparing Quotes

The appropriate coverage is simplified using a travel insurance comparison site such as TravelInsurance.com, Squaremouth, or InsureMyTrip. These sites let you sort ideas depending on destination, trip expenses, and coverage options. Consumer Reports counsels start with these websites and then directly analyze policy specifics with the selected supplier.

Best for Medical Evacuation

Medjet is worth considering, especially for locations with inadequate medical facilities. It specializes in medical evacuation and repatriation services. Usually, they organize flying travel to your chosen home hospital or another facility. Consumer Reports emphasizes the value of this coverage, particularly for travel to remote locations or nations with different medical standards.

Tips for Choosing Travel Insurance

Consumer Reports suggests these steps:

Assess Your Needs: Consider your destination, trip length, activities planned, and any pre-existing health conditions.

Review Existing Coverage: Check your health insurance, credit card benefits, and homeowners/renters insurance for existing travel-related coverage.

Compare Quotes: Use comparison websites to get quotes from multiple providers for similar coverage levels.

Read the Fine Print: Before purchasing, carefully review policy details, including coverage limits, exclusions, and the claims process.

Look at Customer Reviews: How other travellers rate insurers' customer service and claims to handle.

Buy Early: Purchase travel insurance soon after booking your trip, as some benefits, like pre-existing condition waivers, have time limits.

Consumer Reports thoroughly evaluates particular travel insurance providers and policies on its website. Given their usually limited coverage and many restrictions, they counsel against purchasing the basic trip cancellation and interruption policies sometimes offered by airlines and booking systems. To guarantee an insurer's capacity to pay claims, they advise looking at an insurer's financial strength rating using firms like A.M. Best.