Travel Insurance [2026]: What's Actually Worth Paying For

I've bought travel insurance for most major trips I've taken and needed to use it twice — once when a family emergency forced me to cancel a non-refundable trip, and once when I needed emergency medical care in a country with no reciprocal healthcare agreement with my home country. Both times, the insurance paid for itself many times over. But I've also bought coverage I didn't need, from companies with claims processes designed to frustrate, for amounts that didn't reflect actual risk. Here is the honest guide to what travel insurance actually involves.

The Coverage Types That Matter

Emergency medical and evacuation coverage is the most important component for international travel — and the one most often purchased inadequately. Medical costs in the United States for foreign visitors without insurance can reach $10,000-$100,000+ for serious conditions. Medical evacuation — transporting you to an appropriate medical facility or home — can cost $50,000-$200,000. Your domestic health insurance almost certainly provides limited or no coverage internationally. Credit card travel insurance may include some medical coverage, but the limits are typically low and the coverage conditions are specific.

The specific numbers matter: emergency medical coverage of $100,000 minimum and evacuation coverage of $500,000-$1,000,000 is the standard recommendation from travel medicine specialists for international travel. "Comprehensive" policies that include these amounts alongside other coverage are typically $50-200 for a trip, depending on length, destination, age, and trip cost. For the risk being covered, this is one of the most clearly justified insurance purchases available.

Trip cancellation and interruption coverage reimburses non-refundable travel costs if you need to cancel or cut short your trip due to covered reasons (typically illness, injury, death of a covered family member, and sometimes other specific events). The value depends on how much non-refundable expense you have — a trip with fully refundable flights and hotel is already effectively insured; a trip with non-refundable business class tickets and prepaid tours has significant financial exposure.

What You're Probably Wasting Money On

Baggage insurance through standalone travel insurance policies is often redundant. Your homeowners or renters insurance policy typically covers belongings against theft or damage even while traveling (verify with your insurer). Airlines have liability for lost or damaged baggage under the Montreal Convention. Credit cards with travel benefits often include baggage delay insurance. Adding baggage insurance through a travel policy frequently means paying twice for coverage you already have.

Cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage — which allows you to cancel for any reason and receive 50-75% of your non-refundable costs — sounds appealing but is expensive (typically adding 40-60% to the base policy cost) and only pays a partial refund. For most travelers, the covered reasons in standard trip cancellation policies cover the scenarios they'd actually use — if you're tempted by CFAR, examine whether you actually expect to cancel for reasons not covered by standard policies.

Rental car coverage through travel insurance policies may be redundant with your personal auto insurance (which often extends to rental cars) and with credit card rental car coverage (many cards offer primary or secondary CDW coverage when you pay for the rental with that card). Check what you already have before buying additional rental car coverage.

How to Choose a Policy

The most important factors in choosing travel insurance: the specific coverage limits (particularly for medical and evacuation), the list of covered cancellation reasons (compare policies on what qualifies as a covered reason, not just that trip cancellation is included), the claims process reputation (check independent reviews and complaint data), and price. InsureMyTrip and Squaremouth are comparison sites that allow apples-to-apples comparison of multiple policies.

Pre-existing condition coverage is a critical detail for travelers with health conditions. Most standard policies exclude pre-existing conditions unless you buy within a specified window of your initial trip deposit (typically 14-21 days). If you have health conditions that could affect travel, buying insurance immediately after making your first non-refundable booking is essential.

Annual multi-trip policies are worth considering for frequent travelers (those who take 3+ international trips per year). The annual cost is typically lower than buying separate policies for each trip, and the convenience of continuous coverage simplifies the insurance decision for each trip.

My take: Emergency medical and evacuation coverage is non-negotiable for international travel — the financial exposure without it is enormous. Trip cancellation insurance makes sense for trips with significant non-refundable expenses. Check what coverage you already have from home insurance and credit cards before buying redundant coverage. Use InsureMyTrip or Squaremouth to compare policies rather than buying from the first provider you find.