Best Travel Insurance Of 2026: Compare Top Providers & Plans

Considering this is a luxury travel focused blog, I'll add that there are a few providers who specialize in UHNW trips. As an example, MHG focuses on yacht charters.
There's also evacuation and security services you can consider. These aren't insurance, but they will get you out due to a medical or security situation and can really save you (literally and financially). Global Guardian, MedJet, Global Rescue, etc.

I'm on the road continuously 10-11 months per year, the only insurer I've found that provides an annual plan that covers me is Chubb. And the benefits are great. I even have coverage inside the USA as long as I'm more than 100 miles from my home address.

Those of us on Medicare need medical insurance when traveling out of the country. Medical & evacuation coverage alone is not expensive, even for say $500K of primary medical and the same for emergency medical evacuation.

Those of us on Medicare need medical insurance when traveling out of the country. Medical & evacuation coverage alone is not expensive, even for say $500K of primary medical and the same for emergency medical evacuation.

You bloggers should talk about this more. So many people book the cheapest non-refundable hotel rates and vacation rentals, then whine when they want to cancel and can't get their money back.

I am a soon to be 90 year old traveler who used to do adventure vacations and now does cruises. One thing not mentioned is that once a traveler reaches 65 years of age Medicare kicks in. Medicare does not cover any medical costs outside of the country, so medical insurance is very important. I was hospitalized for several days many years ago in Argentina for pneumonia and they wanted payment before each test or treatment was performed. I paid but was reimbursed 100% upon my return to the USA. They also took care of the cancellation of the remainder of my and my wife's trip, my extra week in a hotel aftel hospitalization and my new itinerary home.

I have been using insuremytrip.com for years - great policy comparisons and great service. I've had one major claim over the years for $13k when I shattered my ankle a week before a trip. I used squaremouth.com once and will not used it again, their captive carrier, Tin Leg, denied a very minor claim, $100, for ridiculous reasons.

The only time I purchased travel insurance was after a surgery and before a multi-country trip to Asia. I bought an IMG "Patriot" plan because that's the only one I found that had significant coverage for pre-existing conditions. Luckily, I didn't have to use it so I can't say how well their claims department processes claims.

PS I believe most Kaiser health insurance plans include health coverage out of the country. I'm not sure if that is the case for Kaiser Medicare Advantage plans.

Absolutely! Be sure to follow the instructions exactly to avoid problems if you have a claim. Allianz was wonderful when I fell ill and was hospitalized for five days outside of the U.S. last year.

You didn't mention that Medicare doesn't provide medical coverage outside the U.S. A single health event in europe could be financially catastopic.

Ben, I think you are missing a major Make/Break point in the decision.

Policies cover pre paid , non- refundable costs. But they don’t cover cancellation penalties by hotels. They aren’t prepaid.. As you have written, this can be enormous , even on point stays.

If you find any that cover cancellation penalties , please advise.

When going to Europe, we’ll buy health insurance coverage but don’t buy trip cost coverage.

Of course, you hope to never need to use it, but the medical and evacuation coverage can be lifesaving, especially for remote trips; I’ve mostly claimed when an airline, for weather or maintenance, causes us to miss a prepaid stay, so we get reimbursed, which is often not covered by cards.

As an Australian, I find that I can insure anywhere in the world excepting North America for half the price it costs to insure for travel in USA or Canada. I am booked on a 23 day cruise from Vancouver to Tokyo, I initially purchased the policy for the cruise and time in Asia, and then realised that I will spend 6 days of the total 30 day holiday in Canada and Alaska, which doubled the travle insurance cost from $2,000 to $4,000.

i literally have never met or read of a single person that books a non refundable hotel room. do people honestly do this? just seems like the height of stupidity to save $50 or whatever

Not sure why IMG isn't on here.

I would suggest adding Travel Insured to the list of insurance providers. I always buy my Travel Insured coverage through its partnership with USAA, which not only accords USAA members special rates but gives them the peace of mind knowing that if there are any issues (I've had none) you have the integrity and highly rated services of USAA backing you up.

It’s interesting to me that you didn’t cover medical-only insurance as one use case that folks might consider who don’t have good medical coverage outside their home country. Providers like BCBS Global Solutions and IMG have that and we have found it cheap and very practical in the past to get high ($1M+) medical coverage including evacuation. Especially for situations where the other variables aren’t likely to change or be covered by travel insurance. Thoughts on that?

Thanks for this article. I have bought an Allianz annual policy with the max $15K limit for $1.5K each year the past 2 years. Checked seven corners annual plan with a $30K limit and it will cost $921.

Any suggestions for a trip where I have multiple itineraries and going to a remote destination while driving? I'm heading to Namibia this summer and my outbound travel includes 3 separate itineraries and my return also includes 3 separate itineraries. Return includes travel on Etihad through AUH (haven't found a reasonable backup yet). I'm also renting a car while there. Thanks!

Scuba diver or not - look at DAN - Divers Alert Network. The price of membership offers basic insurance, including emergency evacuation. (Equipment insurance is additional.) If you do purchase DAN membership, please mention my membership number 1942931 and I'll get an additional month. Thanks.

As soon as you are medicare age than the medical part of the insurance is the most important part!
Medicare does not cover you outside the USA.
When you have time to travel. A lot of people do not know this.

For skiers, beware of the "Off-piste" definition. It is an Eu term for leaving a groomed run. You can be in-bounds on any area ungroomed last night and not covered!
For everyone, do read the Product Disclosure carefully. On some policies it only needs a discussion with the doctor or a negative test to be medically excluded.

I just want medical coverage including evacuation on an annual basis for >6 months outside the US. Such policies are not easy to find (use travelguard now).

Thank you!
This is quite helpful!

Since one of the key content in this blog are premium credit card benefits, how does the American Express Premium Global Protect emergency medical transportation benefit compare to standalone travel insurance plans who offer medical evacuation?

On paper it provides a comparable medical evacuation benefit, however how is the reality ? It does not provide medical insurance and hence could be sufficient for those who have medical insurance with worldwide coverage through their employer.

While I did purchase travel insurance in the past, recently I have relied on my credit card benefits e.g. for trip cancellation. Since luckily I never had to file a claim, it’s hard to tell how much incremental value a stand-alone policy provides.

This is actually extremely complex and requires a lot of thought. We think of just insurance but it's sooo much more. When I started to research I realized I had a lot of needs that I hadn't even thought of.

I think ultimately something like medjet is closer to what I need. But they are expensive and I'm not yet sold on them. I'm far less concern about getting reimbursements. I'm more concern about actual safety and avoiding horrendous medical care. Having seen a broad spectrum of great Healthcare and truly horrendous hospitals I need to make sure I can find care that I trust. CC insurance is just bare bone to me because they would just take me to the nearest hospital which could be one of those horror hospitals. What I need is evac back to the states if possible and to my own doctors or the closest one that I can trust. The options are so vast and complicated. And the older I get the more I need to think about it.

Except that health events in Europe generally cost a fraction of what the same treatment and hospitalizations would cost in the US, even for visitors. Having travel health coverage is a good idea, but I would be a bit less concerned about Europe than other locations.

Are you more worried about the missed connections or crashing the hire car into an aardvark in the desert? 🙂

Sounds like a world-wide cover policy (for the period you are travelling) will be the best value. Or get an annual policy if you have other overseas trips planned this year as the cost is lower than buying per-trip.

Regarding just the medical insurance aspect, I've found GeoBlue to be the best. They have in-network providers around the globe, and in situations when I got sick or injured, I didn't even have to pay anything upfront or anything out of pocket, thanks to my zero deductible plans. (It's helpful to get a pre-authorization form before your appointment.) The in-network doctors/clinics bill GeoBlue directly and I never have to submit paperwork or reimbursement claims.

I've had to claim twice in the last 12 months from my insurance policies. I pay for a separate annual policy and switch providers every couple of years depending on price/coverage/ratings. Neither claim has been pleasant.

For a flight cancellation for first policy, I claimed train fares and lunch for €120.00 as I had to travel to Zurich from Basel to catch another flight the next day. Insurance company sat on it for 2 weeks, tried to blame the weather, etc but eventually they paid out.

Second policy with another supplier was for medical cancellation for £1250.00 - my wife got a serious eye infection and couldn't travel. 8 weeks of emails, endless phone calls, call centre staff making stuff up "Oh, you didn't submit your medical certificate, so we put your claim on hold again" ....."Er...no mate, you can see it in the 3rd pdf you received by email on 21 Jan & again on 27 Jan), then telling us it had to go to the medical assessor ("That takes 3 days, but she's on holiday for 2 weeks!"), to trying to only pay 40% of the claim! Cowboys!
Eventually got 90% agreed and took it in desperation/disgust.

Ironically the second firm have an AMAZING 4.8 review score on TrustPilot....but only for their Sales Process ("It's sooo easy to buy a policy with this company on their snazzy app!!"). Yet when you dive deeper into Google, you see their review score for Claims Handling and Pay-outs drops to 2.4. 🙁

Research whoever you decide to go with very carefully.

As a follow up to this, it might be helpful to write an overview on what premium credit card travel protections actually cover. Amex for example specifically says for paid roundtrip, which wouldn't apply for those of us piecing together separate one way points itineraries

Find this ridiculous for policies vary depending on what state you are a resident of........not all policy benefits, time restrictions and terminology are the same due to state insurance departments......

I always buy the insurance before traveling internationally. Although I use miles and points for my flights and hotels, I am over 65 and need the medical insurance. I also appreciate the coverage from Seven Corners for events as we always got to concerts and operas.

I agree about GeoBlue (though they have a new name now?). My husband had an ear infection and he talked to the GeoBlue doctor in perfect English and she arranged for an appointment, told him where/when to go and took care of the payments. My husband paid nothing. We normally take the yearly policy which covers medical and evacuation for any number of trips. I think they offer a per trip plan too. Yes, this doesn't pay for cancelled flights or anything of this sort.

Yes, but review your Medicare Advantage plan, if you have one, as it may cover outside of the US. In selecting a plan, this might influence which you select.

Thankfully, this post made me revisit the issue. My Medicare PPO is actually quite good internationally. Note, as another poster stated "regular" Medicare doesn't cover medical costs outside the US.* But, Medicare plus plans might. It might be worthwhile to switch for this feature. Mine could cause me to pay maybe $75 extra per uncedent for services outside the US compared to within. The ambulance (ground or air) copay is only 4%. So, check if you're looking just for medical. Obviously, this applies to private insurance for you whipper snappers.
*I believe there is a little leeway if you are near the US (like cruises?). Not sure. Check for yourself.

I have carried an Allianz annual Multi-Trip policy since 2008. The premium has only gone up minimally in 18 years, currently pay $435/year. Covers any trip more than 200 miles from home, business or leisure.. and it includes all members of your household, and covers trips up to 90 days in duration. I've had to make a handful of claims over the years, and it was painless with speedy reimbursement. The piece of mind it brings is priceless....

I purchase an annual travel insurance (multiple trips) mainly for emergency medical treatment and if necessary medical evacuation. With Allianz it is $250 for an annual policy for multiple trips.

Which insurance provider was it?

Not true -
plan G does

GeoBlue is now BCBS Global Solutions and does not cover Washington State - Total bummer because it really is mainly medical services and evac that I look for since I do so much of the other stuff using miles.l that can normally be redeposited. Ten or so years ago, I contracted the Costa Rican flu and was in need of medical assistance for over 10 days. Since we were in thr Arenal area, they wanted to air vac me to San Jose for treatment. You never think of the flu at age 40 something to be something that takes you down. I have been buying Faye now but haven't had to use it. Does anyone else have good medical coverage ideas tjat cover Washington State?

mr. tobias: you mentioned ''they'' reimbursed 100%. who is ''they''? thnx.

I typically only do medical and evac on the trip coverage and only when I travel outside the US. I used to do Travelguard Pack N Go but now they only offer that if you buy it the very same day you leave and For practical reasons I can't always do that. I have been using Travelex Travel Med Go recently. I buy the extra medical and it's usually $85 for two people.

I've never had to claim medical...knock on wood....but between that, my regular medical insurance and my credit cards, hopefully we would be ok.

I almost never book non-refundable options unless I have no choice...in those cases I might book extra insurance but usually depend on premium credit cards. Really depends on how much money I'm laying out.

They really are the best - I did a lot of research and they cover so much more than any of the other providers, especially on the emergency evacuation part of it.

On top of it all - they are partners with lots of hospitals worldwide. I had to go see an ortho in Bangkok a couple times and GeoBlue completely covered the cost of both visits, no deductible needed and no need to get a refund later.

I found out the hard way that I had purchased a secondary policy. All other forms of payment had to be exhausted before the travel insurance kicked in. Since the hospital, doctors, and ambulance in Cabo San Lucas didn't want to deal with insurance, I had to pay cash up front for 3 nights in the hospital before leaving Mexico. Medicare pays zero percent out of country. My health insurance pays 80%, but I had to make sure that I was the payee in order to recover my out of pocket. After all of this was finalized, then I could file with the travel insurance company. Avoid secondary policies unless you have time and money to recover your expenses later.

Amex may still cover it, but it's just getting more tricky/risky. Technically speaking, you need to start and finish in the same point. I once had a trip NYC-YYZ-YEG (land sector - rental car) YYC-ZRH ZRH-NYC, booked as separate tickets, some cash some miles (taxes paid with Amex)... I explained this to Amex and they were okay with that...

We have been to 177 countries so have bought a lot of overpriced travel insurance. We made our very first claim last year with Travel Insured International for $4,476 when Asky (the absolute worst airline we have ever flown) cancelled our flight in Central Africa and never told us or our travel agent. It took many months and numerous requests from the insurance company for exactly the same receipts and only when I threatened legal action did they finally pay out part. Obviously their modus operandi is to wear you out so that you finally give up. If you look at the cost of travel insurance per insured amount it is ridiculously over-priced.