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Table of Contents

The Forbes Advisor Philosophy How Forbes Advisor Rates Travel Insurance Companies Methodology Process for Travel Insurance Star Ratings Methodology for Best Travel Insurance Why You Can Trust Our Travel Insurance Editorial Team

The Forbes Advisor Philosophy

Forbes Advisor’s mission is to make smart financial decisions simple. Our editorial process is independent of any outside influence from insurance companies, affiliates and anyone else. That means you can trust our guidance. We understand that the choices you make about insurance can have huge financial impacts on your life. Our goal is to give you the best possible information so you can make those choices armed with the knowledge you need. For more details on our editorial process, read our About Us section.

This methodology is only applicable to Forbes Advisor’s Best Travel Insurance Companies content.

How Forbes Advisor Rates Travel Insurance Companies


Travel insurance rates: We analyze the average cost for trips to popular destinations based on seven traveler profiles.

  • Couple, age 30 for a Mexico trip costing $3,000.
  • Couple, age 40, for an Italy trip costing $6,000.
  • Family of four for an Italy trip costing $15,000.
  • Family of four for a France trip costing $15,000.
  • Family of four for a U.K. trip costing $15,000.
  • Couple, age 65, for an Italy trip costing $6,000.
  • Couple, age 70, for a Mexico trip costing $3,000.

Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: Cost is always a key factor to consider when buying travel insurance—you want to buy a policy that provides the benefits you want at a price you’re comfortable with.


Missed connection benefits: Travel insurance policies were awarded points if they include missed connection benefits of $1,000 per person or more.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: The landscape for travel has changed dramatically over the last few years. Missed connections are just one of the many challenges that you may face when flying, so it may be important to have a policy with generous missed connection benefits.


Travel medical insurance: Travel insurance policies with travel medical expense benefits of $250,000 and up per person were given the highest points.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: Without travel medical insurance, you’re on the hook to pay for doctor bills, hospital stays and other treatment if you’re injured or ill while traveling abroad. This coverage is essential when your U.S. health plan has little or no coverage abroad.


Medical evacuation: Travel insurance policies with medical evacuation expense benefits of $500,000 and up per person were given the highest points.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: The cost for emergency medical transportation can be significant, so it’s prudent to have coverage to help pay if you require medevac services.


“Cancel for any reason” upgrade: Travel insurance policies received points if “cancel for any reason” upgrades are offered. More points were awarded for “cancel for any reason” upgrades with reimbursement levels of 75%.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: This upgrade provides peace of mind because it provides the flexibility to cancel a trip for reasons not listed in the base policy. It allows you to recoup a portion of your insured trip cost.


Baggage delay required waiting time: Policies with baggage delay benefits kicking in at 12 hours or less were given points.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: No one wants to wait longer than they have to for their benefits to kick in—the shorter the waiting time the better.


Cancel for work reasons: Travel insurance plans that include trip cancellation coverage for work reasons were awarded points.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: It’s disappointing enough to cancel a trip because of work obligations. This benefit at least prevents you from losing the non-refundable deposits you made.


Hurricane and weather: Policies received points if the required waiting period for hurricane and weather coverage was 12 hours or less.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: If severe weather derails your trip, you’ll want a short window of time before benefits apply.


“Interruption for any reason” upgrade: Policies were awarded points if they offer an “interruption for any reason” upgrade.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: Travelers can benefit from this upgrade that partially compensates you for forfeited trip costs when you cut a trip short for reasons beyond those in the base policy.


Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver: Points were given to policies that cover pre-existing medical conditions (if purchased within a required timeframe after the first trip deposit).
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: To get the widest scope of coverage under your travel medical expense insurance, you’ll want a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver.


Travel delay required waiting time: Policies with travel delay benefits kicking in after six hours or less were given points.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: Short waiting periods are ideal if you want to be reimbursed for the money you have to spend for necessities when you have a hiccup in your itinerary.


Trip interruption travel insurance: Points were given if trip interruption reimbursement is 150% or higher.
 
Source: Forbes Advisor staff research
Why it’s important to consumers: If you have to return home early from a trip, it’s nice to have the highest percentage reimbursement for parts of the trip that you paid for but had to miss.

Methodology Process for Travel Insurance

Star Ratings Methodology for Best Travel Insurance

Not all travelers are the same. But they all deserve to have the information they need to make informed decisions tailored to their specific insurance needs. That’s why we give a lot of thought to how we rate travel insurance for various traveler profiles, and ensure that essential pre- and post-departure benefits are assessed accordingly.

Best Travel Insurance Companies of 2024

The best travel insurance companies package together valuable benefits at a good price. We rated policies based on essential pre- and post-departure coverage.

  • Travel insurance rates: 25% of score.
  • Medical evacuation: 10% of score.
  • Missed connection: 10% of score.
  • “Cancel for any reason”: 10% of score.
  • Baggage delay: 5% of score.
  • Cancel for work: 5% of score.
  • Hurricane and weather: 5% of score.
  • “Interruption for any reason”: 5% of score.
  • Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver: 5% of score.
  • Travel delay: 5% of score.
  • Trip interruption: 5% of score.

Best Senior Travel Insurance

We understand that many senior travelers lead full lives, which can mean spending time with family and keeping up with a full calendar of social events, hobbies and other commitments. For that reason, we assessed only travel insurance policies that offer a “cancel for any reason” upgrade to find the best senior travel insurance.

  • Average cost: 35% of score.
  • Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver: 20% of score.
  • “Cancel for any reason” reimbursement: 10% of score.
  • “Interruption for any reason” upgrade availability: 5% of score.
  • Medical evacuation: 10% of score.
  • Medical expenses: 10% of score.
  • Travel delay required waiting period: 5% of score.
  • Trip interruption reimbursement: 5% of score.

Best Cruise Insurance

To find the best cruise insurance, we evaluated only travel insurance policies that included missed connection coverage, since that’s a vital benefit for those traveling by sea.

  • Missed connection reimbursement: up to 35% of score.
  • Average price: up to 25% of score.
  • “Cancel for any reason” availability and reimbursement: 10% of score.
  • Medical evacuation: 10% of score.
  • Medical expenses: 10% of score.
  • “Interruption for any reason” upgrade availability: 5% of score.
  • Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver availability: 5% of score
  • Trip interruption reimbursement: 5% of score.

Best “Cancel For Any Reason” Travel Insurance

“Cancel for any reason ”coverage adds an average of 50% to your travel insurance cost, so price is important when buying this upgrade. You’ll also want to get the most for your money—so a high reimbursement percentage is important when shopping for the best “cancel for any reason” travel insurance.

  • Average cost: 75% of score.
  • Reimbursement level: 25% of score.

5 Cheapest Travel Insurance Companies

To find the cheapest travel insurance companies, we evaluated average prices for travel insurance policies that earned 4 stars or more in our assessment of the best travel insurance.

  • Travel insurance rates: 25% of score
  • Medical expense: 10% of score.
  • Medical evacuation: 10% of score.
  • Missed connection: 10% of score.
  • “Cancel for any reason”: 10% of score.
  • Baggage delay: 5% of score.
  • Cancel for work: 5% of score.
  • Hurricane and weather: 5% of score.
  • “Interruption for any reason”: 5% of score.
  • Pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver: 5% of score.
  • Travel delay: 5% of score.
  • Trip interruption: 5% of score.

Why You Can Trust Our Travel Insurance Editorial Team

Our insurance editors—with a combined 102 years of experience—are committed to bringing you unbiased ratings and information. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines if you want more details on our editorial process. To identify the best travel insurance companies:

  • 18 travel insurance companies were reviewed
  • 39 policies were evaluated
  • 1,482 coverage details were analyzed


Expert Round-Up: How to Choose the Best Health Insurance for You
Michelle Megna

Forbes Advisor Editor

Michelle is a lead editor for insurance at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was: a lifestyle reporter, a magazine editor covering consumer technology; a foreign correspondent; and a local newspaper reporter.
What inspires Michelle: In my opinion, travel insurance is a bargain for the coverage you get, which includes compensation for cancellations, delays, medical expenses, and more. But like any other type of insurance, travel insurance doesn’t cover all circumstances all the time. I enjoy explaining the finer details of how travel insurance works—for instance, required waiting periods before coverage kicks in—so people aren’t unpleasantly surprised when they have to file a claim.
Penny Gusner

Forbes Advisor Senior Writer

Penny Gusner is a senior insurance writer and analyst at Forbes Advisor. For more than 20 years, she has been helping consumers learn how insurance laws, data, trends, and coverages affect them. Penny enjoys translating the complexities of insurance into easy-to-understand advice and tips to help consumers make the best choices for their needs. Her work has been featured in numerous major media outlets.
What inspires Penny: Just having a vacation planned gives me joy—it gives me something to look forward to. But what I don’t like is stressing about what can happen to ruin my upcoming adventure. Travel insurance I’ve found takes away a lot of that anxiety and I like sharing with others how to safeguard their trips so they can do the same.
Amy Danise

Forbes Advisor Editor

Amy Danise is the managing editor for insurance at Forbes Advisor, which encompasses auto, home, renters, life, pet, travel, health and small business insurance. She is an experienced editor, writer and team leader with an extensive background in the insurance sector. With a career spanning more than three decades, she has focused her work on consumer-oriented publications.
What inspires Amy: I always overpack to try to plan for the unexpected, but even then it’s stressful knowing that you could be away from home and encounter a travel problem that requires much more than extra Tylenol. I enjoy giving people the information they need to buy a great travel insurance policy so they can focus on fun.
Les Masterson

Forbes Advisor Editor

Les Masterson is a deputy editor and insurance analyst at Forbes Advisor. He has been a journalist, reporter, editor and content creator for more than 25 years. He has covered insurance for a decade, including auto, home, life and health. Before covering insurance, Les was a news editor and reporter for Patch and Community Newspaper Company and also covered health care, mortgages, credit cards and personal loans for multiple websites.
What inspires Les: People work hard to save up for vacations. Travel insurance is one way to cover that investment. Helping people understand how to properly cover their vacation so they have peace of mind inspires me to highlight the various differences in travel insurance policies.
Jason Metz

Forbes Advisor Editor

As a former claims handler and fraud investigator, Jason Metz has worked on a multitude of complex and multifaceted claims. The insurance industry can be seemingly opaque, and Jason enjoys breaking down confusing terms and products to help others make well-informed decisions.
What inspires Jason: Booking a vacation is one of life’s greatest feelings. The same cannot be said for buying insurance. But losing thousands of dollars due to circumstances beyond your control is the ultimate bummer. I want to help travelers feel like their trip investment is covered so they can focus on the adventures ahead.
Ashlee Valentine

Forbes Advisor Editor

Ashlee Valentine is an insurance editor, journalist and business professional with an MBA and more than 17 years of experience in business and personal finance. She is passionate about empowering others to protect life’s most important assets. When Ashlee isn’t spreading insurance knowledge or solving television murder mysteries, she enjoys spending time with her family (including the furry and feathery ones) on their farm in Kentucky.
What inspires Ashlee: A trip is one of the most exciting things for a travel lover. But we can’t control life, and sometimes things happen that can really mess up travel plans. The worry of those things can overshadow the excitement. I love travel insurance because it gives the excitement of a trip back to the traveler by alleviating the worry of losing all of their money if the unexpected happens.
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