Travel insurance questions, answered

• A.M. Best ratings: what they mean for travel insurance, and who underwrites the 12 companies we review

  An AM Best rating grades whether an insurer can pay claims. Every insurer behind the 12 companies we review is A- or better. Who underwrites whom.

• Does travel insurance cover prescription drugs?

  Yes, for drugs a doctor prescribes on the trip for a covered illness or injury. No for refills or lost medication, though the assistance line helps.

• Does travel insurance cover panic attacks, anxiety and other mental health conditions?

  Only with a hospital admission, on most plans. A panic attack treated in an office or ER is excluded; an admission is covered. One plan has no exclusion.

• Travel insurance for an adoption trip

  Medical and evacuation for the parents, cancellation for the travel, and on three plan families coverage if the adoption is cancelled. What to insure.

• Missionary travel insurance: what a mission trip needs

  Medical coverage that pays abroad, evacuation that can fly you out, and cancellation for the non-refundable cost. What medical-only coverage costs.

• Is credit card travel insurance enough?

  For a domestic trip, often yes. For a trip abroad, no: the best cards pay $2,500 for medical bills and most pay nothing.

• Does travel insurance cover flight delays?

  Yes. Travel delay pays for a hotel and meals once the delay passes the plan's threshold (3 to 24 hours), missed connection pays to catch up with a cruise or tour, and baggage delay covers...

• What does travel insurance not cover?

  Seven things nearly every travel insurance policy excludes, from changing your mind to a storm that already has a name, what fixes each one, and the smaller print most people never read.

• How much does travel insurance cost?

  A package plan usually costs 4 to 8 percent of your prepaid trip cost: $200 to $400 on a $5,000 trip. What sets the price, why two plans on the same trip differ, and how to pay less.

• Do I need travel insurance?

  You need it when a trip has money you cannot get back, or when you are leaving the country. One yes means buy it, two noes means skip it.

• Does Medicare cover me outside the United States?

  No, apart from three border cases and a cruise ship within six hours of a US port.

• When should I buy travel insurance? Is it too late for me?

  You can buy travel insurance any time before you leave, and it is never too late while you are still home. Buying within 14 days of your first payment adds two extras.

• Do I have to insure the full cost of my trip if I have not paid for it all yet?

  No. Enter the total if you know it, or what you have paid so far, and add later payments as you make them. The only catch is the pre-existing condition waiver, explained in plain words.

• Can I get travel insurance if I have a pre-existing condition?

  Yes. Every plan we compare will sell you a policy, and 53 of 54 will cover the condition itself if you buy within 14 days of your first trip payment.

Start with a guide

The complete answer on the big subjects.

• Travel Insurance for Beginners: The Complete Guide

  What travel insurance covers, what it costs, the two kinds of plans, the six mistakes that cost beginners money, and a three-step way to pick a plan.

• What Does Travel Insurance Cover? The Complete Guide

  What travel insurance covers, benefit by benefit, with the range of limits on the plans we compare, the covered reasons to cancel next to the reasons that are not, and the upgrades that w...

• Travel Medical Insurance: How Much You Need, What It Costs, and Which Plans Have It

  Who pays the hospital if you get sick abroad, how much travel medical insurance you need, the plans with $250,000 to $500,000 of medical coverage, primary vs secondary, and when a standal...

• Cruise Travel Insurance: The Complete Guide

  Which cruise travel insurance plans carry enough medical and evacuation coverage, how they compare with the cruise line's own plan, why Medicare stops six hours from port, and when to buy.