Comprehensive Travel Insurance Coverage: Benefits, Costs & How It Works
Explore the essential benefits of travel insurance, including medical expenses, lost luggage, trip delays, and more. Learn how to choose the right coverage for your trip, understand costs, and get expert guidance on filing claims with AXA Travel Insurance.
What Does Travel Insurance Cover?
Broadly, travel insurance provides partial reimbursement for your pre-paid, non-refundable expenses (airfare, hotels, transportation rentals, etc.) for specific situations that happen while you’re traveling, such as:
- Injury or sickness (medical expenses abroad)
- Missed flights or missed connections
- Lost or stolen luggage
- Trip delay or cancellation
- COVID-19 related disruptions
Travel insurance costs a small percentage of your total trip cost. Coverage begins before your trip starts and ends the day your trip ends. While it sounds like an added expense, don’t forget that no one plans to have a medical accident or no one plans to miss a flight. Think of travel insurance as a buffer against the unexpected problems that can arise when traveling.
What Should Your Travel Insurance Cover for A Trip?
Be sure to look for coverage options that are right for your needs. For all basic travel insurance, you’ll want to make sure baggage, departure, and medical benefits are covered. Additional add-ons will vary depending on your plan.
How Does Travel Insurance Work?
AXA makes travel insurance simple. We recommend purchasing travel insurance after your first trip deposit (usually flights) is paid for. From there:
- Visit AXA’s compare plans page
- Choose a plan
- Order online or all an agent to purchase your plan in minutes.
Coverage starts after you paid for your premiums, and before your trip date. Make sure you read your coverage options clearly to be sure what counts toward valid claims.
I Need to File a Claim; How Do I Do That?
Let’s say you’re five days into a 2-week trip throughout Europe, but you lose your luggage on a connecting flight from London to Berlin. Missing luggage is a covered circumstance under our travel insurance plans, so you will simply head over to our File a Claim page to file that as soon as possible. Our agents will be in touch with you to process the claim and reimburse you as quickly as possible.
Discover Travel Insurance Benefits
Medical Benefits:
- Emergency Medical Expenses: Should you fall ill or have an accident during your trip, your policy may offer coverage for medical expenses, including hospital stays and doctor's fees.
- Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation: In case of a serious medical emergency, your policy includes provisions for evacuation to the nearest appropriate medical facility or repatriation.
- Non-Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation: In non-medical crises (e.g., political unrest), your policy may cover evacuation or repatriation, subject to policy terms.
Baggage Benefits:
- Luggage Delay: If the airline delays your checked baggage, your policy might offer reimbursement for essential items like clothing and toiletries.
- Lost or Stolen Luggage: In the unfortunate event of permanent loss or theft of your luggage, your policy may offer reimbursement for its value, assisting you in replacing your belongings.
Pre-Departure Travel Benefits:
- Trip Cancellation: You may be eligible for reimbursement if you cancel your trip due to a covered sudden illness or injury.
- COVID-19 Travel Insurance: Coverage is available for trip cancellation and medical expenses related to COVID-19, subject to policy terms and conditions.
- Trip Delay: If your flight faces delays due to unforeseen circumstances, you may have coverage for additional expenses such as meals and accommodations.
Post-Departure Travel Benefits
- Trip Interruption: In case of an unexpected event, you could be eligible for reimbursement for the unused portion of your trip.
- Missed Connection: If you miss a connecting flight due to delays or cancellations, this coverage may help with expenses like rebooking fees and accommodations.
Additional Optional Travel Benefits
- Rental Car (Collision Damage Waiver): Exclusive to Gold & Platinum plan policyholders, this optional benefit gives travelers extra coverage on their rental car against damage and theft.
- Cancel for Any Reason: Exclusive to Platinum plan policyholders. This optional benefit gives travelers more flexibility to cancel their trip for any reason outside of their standard policy.
- Lost Skier Days: Exclusive to Platinum plan policy holders, this optional benefit offers reimbursement to mitigate some costs associated with pre-paid ski tickets that you or your traveling companion cannot use due to specified slope closures.
- Lost Golf Days: Exclusive to Platinum plan policy holders, this optional benefit offers reimbursement to mitigate the expenses linked to prepaid golf arrangements that you or your travel companion are unable to utilize due to specified golf closures.
Our Suggested AXA Travel Insurance Plan
Because everyone’s travel plans, priorities, and budgets are different, we recommend you speak with our licensed travel agent today to hear about what plan is best suited for your needs.
AXA offers travelers 3 travel protection plans: Silver, Gold, and Platinum plans, each offering different levels of coverage to suit individual needs. Compare plans here.
Note: non-domestic hospitals often do not accept U.S. health insurance or Medicare, we recommend travelers to consider purchasing any of these plans, particularly for coverage they offer for emergency accident and sickness medical expenses while traveling outside of the U.S.
The Platinum Plan is your go-to choice if you're looking for extra coverage on international or cruise trips. "Cancel for Any Reason" offers greater flexibility for those unexpected twists in your travel plans and the "Rental Car (Collision Damage Waiver)" offers assistance when you're out exploring in a rental vehicle.
Do I Need Travel Insurance for My Trip?
All travel has some form of risk built in, and travel insurance is one way to help off-set those risks. Some people choose not to purchase travel insurance for short (weekend) domestic trips here in the U.S., because your medical insurance is likely still going to work and your risk of missed connections or tours is low.
Whether you choose travel insurance is up to you. But we recommend travel insurance to buffer against unforeseen events such as missing luggage, medical emergencies, or missed flights.
You may want to consider travel insurance if you:
- Travel often
- Are travelling internationally
- Are taking a cruise
- Are traveling during or to a place with unpredictable weather
- Have family members with at-risk health conditions
- Are medically at-risk
- Have spent a lot on prepaid, non-refundable expenses
- Are traveling to a remote area
Travel insurance is a way to protect yourself from some of the risks of travel hitches, covering some of your non-refundable deposits, as well as cover contingencies for emergencies.
We offer three different levels of coverage, so you can be sure you select the plan that best fits your needs.
How Much Does It Cost?
The cost of travel insurance and TCP are based on a few factors, including:
- Total cost of your trip
- Your age
- Your destination
- Length of trip
- Travel Insurance company
In general, travel insurance runs about 5-10% of your total trip cost. This means if you’re taking a $3,000 cruise, you can expect to pay between $150-300 in travel insurance premiums.
When Do I Get Travel Insurance?
The short answer: as soon as possible. In general, it’s recommended that you buy coverage at least three weeks (21 days) before your trip or right after your first trip-related deposit (airfare or hotel deposits). Once you have that flight ticket assigned, it is the best time to buy travel insurance.
The next-best time to buy it is no later than about two weeks (15 days) before your departure date. You can continue to buy travel insurance between the 14-1-day markers, but prices and benefits will change. The sooner you buy it, the sooner you are protected with greater eligibility benefits.
You can buy travel insurance any time before the date of your trip. If you are already on your trip and have questions, it’s best to speak to an agent about your coverage options.
Note: that you can’t usually buy coverage more than 12 months in advance, so there is such a thing as planning too far ahead.
What Types of Medical Coverage Does AXA Travel Protection Plans Offer?
AXA covers three types of medical expenses:
- Emergency Medical
- Emergency evacuation & repatriation (getting you back home)
- Non-medical emergency evacuation & repatriation
Emergency medical: Coverage includes unexpected incidents like broken bones, burns, sudden illnesses, and allergic reactions.
Emergency evacuation and repatriation: Can cover your immediate transportation home in the event of an accidental injury or illness.
Non-medical emergency evacuation and repatriation (Exclusive to Gold & Platinum): Offers assistance for evacuating from a destination swiftly in situations not related to health issues. Examples include natural disasters or civil unrest.
Traveling with Pre-Existing Medical Conditions?
Traveling with preexisting medical conditions can complicate your plans, but with AXA Travel Protection, we're here to support you during your trip.
If you've got a medical condition that's been hanging around, you can qualify for coverage under our Gold and Platinum plan with a pre-existing medical condition, so long as it’s within 14 days of placing your initial trip deposit and in our 60-day lookback period.
What counts as a pre-existing condition? This may be:
- A chronic illness (diabetes, heart disease, or asthma)
- Previous injuries
- Previous surgeries
- A health condition that started before your plan did
Our Gold Plan and Platinum Plan offer coverage for preexisting medical conditions. The Platinum plan, in particular, is our choice for travelers who want our highest coverage limits and optional add-ons.
Medical History, Waivers, & Look Back Period
To qualify for a pre-existing medical condition waiver, you’ll need to have stable health at the time of your policy’s (trip) date. AXA has a 60-day “look back period,” which is a window where the insurance looks back at your medical records just to make sure your health condition hasn’t worsened in that time.
Not sure if your condition is covered? Speak with a licensed travel agent today, and we’ll get you squared away!
Are There Any COVID-19 Restrictions for Travelers?
There are no COVID-19 restrictions for purchasing travel insurance through AXA.
However, be sure to check with your destination if there are COVID restrictions or proof of vaccination requirements in place.
How To Get a Travel Insurance Quote
Receive a free quote within minutes.
Or call us at 855-327-1441 to speak with our licensed Travel Insurance Advisors.
Monday-Saturday, 8 AM-7 PM Central Standard Time
Disclaimer: It is important to note that the specifics of trip cancellation will depend on the date of purchase and state of residency. Customers are advised to carefully review the terms and conditions of their policy and to contact AXA Assistance with any questions or concerns they may have.
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