The Best Travel Insurance Plans

Friday, December 9th

2022 Travel Insurance Plan Reviews

AARDY

• Comparison site for 18 different insurance carriers
• Easy-to-use comparison service
• Thousands of impressive customer reviews
• Competitive pricing
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business since 2015
• In-depth country-specific travel overviews

AARDY offers a truly impressive package when it comes to travel insurance. When you look for coverage here, you'll get quotes from 18 different insurers: some of the companies you'll see in our other reviews, along with other lesser-known brands that may offer the best value for your travel needs. AARDY is the online branding for Aardvark Insure, a Florida-based company that specializes in comparison shopping for travel insurance.

Fast and easy

With just a few details about your destination, traveler(s), and payment preferences, you'll receive a list of plans that fit your needs. You can easily scan through the standard cancellation coverage, medical coverage, baggage insurance, pre-existing conditions insurance, and more in order to purchase the plan or compare it with others on the list. AARDY will recommend one of the available plans as their top choice for you to take into consideration.

Our experience

We created a fictitious traveler profile - two 35-year-olds going to Mexico for a week, paying a total of $3,000, for a trip date about six months out - to compare travel insurance quotes across platforms. As far as AARDY goes, getting a quote is fast and easy. We entered that basic information, and our email address, and we were instantly matched with 25 top-rated plans.

Great recommendations

The recommended policy offered fantastic coverage: for just $106.98, we got 100% trip cancellation, 150% trip interruption, $250,000 in primary medical coverage, and more. All of the important details were clearly spelled out, and it was hassle-free to compare multiple policies. AARDY was also the only site we're aware of that told us (right at the top of the quote page) that they recommend at least $100,000 in medical coverage and a medical waiver if available - and the plan designated as "recommended" was the lowest-priced policy that had those inclusions.

More customer reviews, please

Our one suggestion to make AARDY even better? Include traveler reviews of each policy. True, you can always go to the reviews for each insurer under the Travel Insurance Providers section of the site, but most travel insurance comparison sites offer unfiltered feedback from policyholders so that you can see how each plan has held up under actual use (whether claims were paid on time and without too much back-and-forth).

Learn about coverage, destinations, and more

The AARDY site includes a ton of information that can help you with aspects of your trip, from insurance to destination advice. You can browse travel insurance specifically for cruises, airlines, or tour operators. You can even view the long list of companies in each industry that AARDY works with (we like that transparency) and read through a detailed profile of their strengths and weaknesses, an explanation of how their company works, quotes, and their overall score. Not sure if you need Cancel For Any Reason coverage? There's an article for that. Curious about getting an international driving permit? Yep. How about a city guide for Athens, Lisbon, Oslo or Rome? Detailed country information - maybe even for places you didn't know existed (hello, Akrotiri)?

Destination country overviews

Another helpful resource AARDY provides is country overviews - with more than 230 nations from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe - at the time of this review. We highly recommend using this to learn about important country-specific requirements before you travel. You can read quick facts about passport, vaccine, and currency requirements along with embassy contact information, and warnings about what to expect when entering and exiting a country. Do authorities in your destination country detain travelers for no reason? Will you be required to pay a departure tax? Details about each government and current political climate are given, along with crime statistics and what to do if you become a victim.

Impressive 99% recommendation rate

AARDY gets an "A+" and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau. It's pretty impressive to see a company in business for less than a decade with no complaints - and with almost 1,000 reviews on the BBB site averaging 4.88 out of 5 stars. That trend continues as you look at what people say outside of the BBB: 11,000+ five-star ratings, and 99% of AARDY users recommend the service as "great" or "excellent" . It gets lots of praise for its support team: helpful, informative, patient, and knowledgeable when anyone needs help or has questions.

AARDY gives back

Every year, AARDY donates 10% of their earnings to The Special Operations Warrior Foundation to support the children of fallen military members. This helps the children get through school and college with less of a financial burden.

#1 site for buying travel insurance

AARDY easily earns our top rating among websites for buying travel insurance. Customers love this service, and we were very pleased with the quote process: the policy that was quoted for our case study "travelers" offered a lot of coverage for the premium quoted. When you combine all that with a focus on the customer and a website that's very easy to use, AARDY is our newest first place winner among travel insurance companies.

Squaremouth

• One-stop shopping for policies from more than 30 providers
• All insurers quoted through SquareMouth have to comply with "Zero Complaint Guarantee" and have a high A.M. Best rating
• Four policy types available: standard single trip, annual/multi-trip, cruise, adventure/sports

SquareMouth has helped more than two million customers to find the right travel insurance. This service brings you quotes from more than 30 top names in the industry and makes it easy to compare their coverage and benefits. Over the last year alone, SquareMouth sold nearly $100 million in travel insurance policies.

Best selection of insurers and policies here

To make a fair comparison across travel insurance websites, we used the profile of two 35-year old travelers taking a $3,000 trip to Mexico in six months, paid in full on the date we requested the quote. Naturally, because SquareMouth is a referral service, we got many more options than with platforms that only offer policies from a single insurer: 56 that best matched our search criteria, out of a total of 102. The top five policies ranged in price from $106 to $208 and included plans from Trawick International, Seven Corners, Tin Leg, Generali Global Assistance, and IMG.

Information at a glance

What we really like about using SquareMouth is how easy it is to see at a glance what each policy has to offer. On our list, we noticed right away that one insurer was a Forbes 5-Star Travel Insurance Provider in the previous calendar year, another was featured by Forbes for offering superior coverage during the pandemic, and a third got kudos from Forbes for its travel delay benefits. All policies had a preview of the coverage for COVID-related cancellations or medical, trip cancellation and interruption, medical evacuation and general medical benefits. It was also very easy to click the "Compare Policy" checkboxes and see any travel insurance that we wanted to see side-by-side.

Easy to compare

Another thing we liked about SquareMouth is how easy it is to compare all the policies they match you with. You can sort the results by least expensive to most expensive, and use their side-by-side comparison tool to evaluate the details of each policy.

Take advantage of thousands of customer ratings

Another big benefit of using a referral platform like SquareMouth is being able to see hundreds - or thousands - of reviews from other travelers. Every quote tells you how many policies that company has sold via SquareMouth and since what year, plus ratings from clients. You can click on the "Full Policy Detail" and read what clients have said, while getting the complete information about any travel insurance coverage you're considering.

No upselling here

We also appreciate that this travel insurance service aims to "downsell" you: in other words, they'll recommend the lowest-priced policy that still matches the coverage you need. SquareMouth doesn't base its sales on commissions, so there's no reason for them to push policies that are more costly.

Terrific variety of travel insurance types

A final reason to consider getting your travel insurance through SquareMouth is the variety of coverage types available here. Our quote was for a traditional single-trip policy, but what if you're an avid traveler who wants to cover multiple trips in a year? Or you're taking a cruise? Maybe you're an adventurer participating in skydiving, an athlete competing in amateur sports competitions, or bringing expensive gear for skiing or scuba? When you get an insurance quote from a single insurer, the answer may be "no" , but through SquareMouth you can find policies from companies that will say "absolutely!" .

Disappointing drop in the BBB rating

All of these positives are why we were shocked to see that since our last review, SquareMouth's listing with the Better Business Bureau had dropped to a "D-" for failing to respond to 13 customer complaints. That's not a huge number, but we were puzzled to see that most of those were in the most recent one-year period. We wonder what SquareMouth's excuse would be for not addressing such a small number of client concerns.

Digging deeper

However, this disappointment should not be a huge factor in whether you use SquareMouth. Why? If you look at the BBB complaints, you'll see that they're all related to failures on the end of the insurer - not SquareMouth. So, they logged their complaints with SquareMouth, when really their complaints were with an entirely different company. Of course, ultimately your satisfaction with your travel insurance will depend on that insurance company.

Outstanding choice

Overall, SquareMouth is an outstanding place to shop for travel insurance. We love being able to see thousands and thousands of customer ratings - and this site offers more client reviews than any other provider we evaluated. With their large insurance network, you'll get a competitive quote and be able to check out other customer reviews and comments. Once again they earn high marks in our review of travel insurance providers.

Insure My Trip

• Travel insurance quotes from more than 20 insurance companies
• Best Plans Guarantee
• Anytime Advocates program to help with the claims process
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business for over 20 years

Insure My Trip was one of the world's first comparison sites for travel insurance, founded in 2000. There are more than 20 insurers offered through Insure My Trip, with thousands of plans that might match your needs. You'll have a hard time finding another site that makes it easier to get the right policy.

Easy to get started

We started out the quote process with a sample traveler profile: a $3,000 trip to Mexico for two 35-year-olds, about six months in the future. Along with our residence, citizenship, and initial trip payment date, that was all we needed to do to get a matching list of policies.

Get three top recommendations right away

Right away, we noticed that Insure My Trip offers three top-recommended plans:

• Superior (most covered reasons for cancellation and interruption, highest benefit limits for travel delay, baggage, and emergency medical)
• Strong Value (excellent coverage at a moderate price)
• Economy (good coverage to fit most travelers') needs

That's a fantastic way to save time trying to compare individual plans: our fictitious travelers had more than 40 policies in "their" results list. Those three recommended plans were priced from $106.96 to $144 and came from Nationwide, IMG, and Berkshire Hathaway.

Use the filters to set any preferences

Whether you look just at your three recommended plans, or opt to view all of the ones that fit your needs, you can always click the "Compare" checkbox to see any policies side by side. We noticed that none of those three recommended plans offered "Cancel For Any Reason" , but customers can get the results rearranged by going to the filter at the top of the page. It defaults to "Recommended" , but when we selected "Comprehensive" we were given checkboxes to select Cancel For Any Reason, Cancel For Work Reasons, Pre-Existing Condition Waiver, and so on. Be sure to use this feature if there are specific things you want to cover.

Read customer reviews - especially ones that filed claims

We really like being able to read through customer reviews on each of the insurers quoted by Insure My Trip. It's particularly helpful to use the "filed claim" checkbox to display only the ratings coming from clients who put each service to the test. After all, it's easy for an insurance company to score a high rating when their customers' only experience is with buying the policy in the first place; not as easy to do when it's time to pay out for a covered expense.

Best Plans Guarantee

That's part of Insure My Trip's Best Plans Guarantee. New plans and providers get a six-month grace period to sell policies and get reviews. Any insurer that doesn't demonstrate a good track record of meeting customer expectations loses its place on the platform.

Anytime Advocates service

While some travel insurance referral sites offer little to no help in working with the insurers when there's a claim, Insure My Trip takes the opposite approach. Their Anytime Advocates program offers claims assistance and dispute resolution, with the help of 40 on-staff licensed travel insurance reps who will intervene with the insurance companies when needed. According to the company, travelers have saved (or been reimbursed) more than $1.25 million through this advocacy program.

More than 20,000 five-star ratings

Insure My Trip earned an "A+" and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau, with only eight complaints filed in the last three years. Customer reviews and comments on Insure My Trip left in other places are overwhelmingly positive, with more than 20,000 five-star ratings. They praise everything you'd anticipate: lots of insurers and policies to choose from, great support from the advocate team, and an overall smooth experience from quote to claim (when needed).

Great site for travel insurance needs

Insure My Trip has a lot going for it. They offer a wide variety of top-notch insurers, an easy-to-navigate website, and excellent advocacy when customers need to make claims. Along with a strong reputation, they continue to rise in our rankings. Insure My Trip is a great place to shop for your travel insurance needs.

Travel Insurance

• Compare policies from 15 different providers
• Easy to compare options and see feedback from other clients
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business for more than 10 years

Travel Insurance gives you the chance to compare policies from 15 different insurers, all with a simple quote form. You can also take advantage of their informative articles before you ever even look at a policy, covering topics like whether or not Medicare will cover you while abroad or the differences between primary and secondary travel insurance coverage.

Easy-peasy to get a quote

To make a fair comparison across travel insurance websites, we created a traveler profile: two individuals (age 35) going to Mexico for a week, about six months in the future, and paying a total of $3,000. How did Travel Insurance do? We liked that once we entered the basic profile information, we were offered a series of filters to narrow down the choices among the 22 matching plans in our initial results. Those included a pre-existing condition exclusion waiver, cancel for any reason, car rental collision coverage, and so on.

Simple process to browse and compare policies

Even without selecting any of those filters, our results were easy to understand. The lowest-priced policy in our Travel Insurance quote was Trawick's Safe Travels Explorer Plus: it was 99% recommended by previous clients on this site (purchased by nearly 50,000 people) and affordably priced at $65.72 for both of our fictitious travelers. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Travel Guard's Deluxe policy came in at $339.42, was purchased by more than 11,000 Travel Insurance clients, and was 98^% recommended. For any plans we liked, we could click the "add to compare" checkbox and see all of the benefits laid out side-by-side.

No multi-trip policies quoted here

What's missing? The only aspect that jumped out at us was that we didn't see any options for annual coverage: there was nothing in the quote form that allowed for entry of multiple trips within a 12-month period. You'll have to use a different travel insurance website if that's the kind of policy you need.

"A+" from the BBB

Travel Insurance gets an "A+" and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau, with only 6 complaints filed (and resolved) in the three years leading up to our review. Client feedback elsewhere is really positive, with 90% recommending this platform as a good place to buy a policy. But, remember that your real experience will be with the insurer of the plan you choose, and not necessarily with Travel Insurance itself.

Helpful support team

That being said, we were glad to see comments from clients who needed to make a claim and were able to get help from Travel Insurance to get a resolution. In several instances, Travel Insurance reps escalated issues or provided alternate contact information for the insurance company that moved things along more quickly.

No concerns here

Travel Insurance could be a solid starting point for buying coverage for your next trip. It would be helpful if they added multi-trip/annual coverage to their policy options, to be more competitive with some of the services we evaluated. However, we can still give Travel Insurance a big thumbs-up as a site worth using to compare policies.

Travelex Insurance Services

• 3 plans to choose from: Travel Basic, Travel Select, and Travel America
• Options for post-departure medical coverage and flight-only plans also
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business for 25+ years

Travelex Insurance is on a mission to provide "the best travel protection in the world while remaining true to the company's Midwestern values" . Headquartered in Nebraska and in business for over 25 years, this company is part of the Cover-More Group, a subsidiary of Zurich Insurance Group.

Just 3 plans to consider - with available upgrades

There are three main travel insurance plans to choose from here:

• Travel Basic: this is described as "extensive protection at a budget-friendly price" . You'll get up to $15,000 in emergency medical expenses (as primary insurance and no deductibles), up to $10,000 for trip cancellation/interruption, and several other benefits. You can also customize your quote with protection for car rental collision and AD&D. For our Mexico-bound case-study travelers (two 35-year-olds going for a week, six months in the future, for a total cost of $3,000), our premium was $136.
• Travel Select: this higher-tier policy gives you much more for your money. All children 17 and under are automatically covered when traveling with a covered adult. Your medical coverage jumps to $50,000, AD&D is included, and you can upgrade to include coverage for adventure sports, cancel for any reason, or add even more medical benefits. In the case of our sample travelers going to Mexico, the premium on this plan was $190 with no add-ons.
• Travel America: if you're staying stateside, this plan is the one for you. You can share benefits with up to 8 travelers, including up to $50,000 in emergency medical expenses, a three-day pre-existing condition exclusion waiver, car rental collision insurance and roadside assistance. This is only valid for trips of up to 14 days, but it's a flat rate premium of just $60.

Extra plans for other situations

When you're getting your quote, you may also spot links under the Plan Options for Post-Departure and Flight. Those will take you to Travelex's insurance policies for medical coverage after you've already left home, as well as an option for just covering your flights and nothing else.

Smooth site navigation

The quote platform here runs very smoothly, with just a few required questions and an easy-to-understand display of the options that match your travel plans. It was also nice to enter our information once and get every possible insurance plan, instead of having to input it over and over (like we had to do with some of Travelex's rivals).

Good reputation with the BBB

Travelex Insurance has a perfect score with the Better Business Bureau: "A+" and accreditation. We were pleased to see that there were only 25 complaints filed there in the last three years, which is pretty impressive for a company with a history spanning 25+ years.

Ignore the money transfer reviews

Don't get confused when you look for customer comments about this travel insurance company - because it often gets mixed up with Travelex for money transfers. They both seem to be operated by Zurich, but they're operated separately from one another. When we finally found the reviews from travel insurance policyholders, they were mostly positive. A few people had some issues with getting claims paid, but by and large they were handled well and within a reasonable amount of time.

Solid overall choice for travel protection

Travelex Insurance offers a nice range of policies that can cover just about every trip you could dream up. We feel especially enthusiastic about their Travel America option; how can you beat a flat rate of $60? While you'd obviously have more options by starting your search with a referral platform instead of going directly to the insurer, rest assured that no matter how you wind up with Travelex, you'll be in great hands for your travel insurance.

Roam Right

• 6 plans to choose from, including single trip, annual/multi-trip, post-departure, auto rental, and travel medical
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business for 50+ years

RoamRight is the brand name of Arch Insurance Company: though the RR name has only been around since 2012, its parent company has been underwriting travel insurance policies for more than 50 years. You'll often find RoamRight policies quoted on travel insurance referral sites - like most of the comparison platforms in our review.

6 plans to choose from

There are six different travel insurance plans offered by RoamRight:

• Pro: this is your essential protection on a budget. You'll get up to $25,000 in emergency accident/sickness coverage and up to $250,000 for emergency evacuation. Sports and Hazardous Sports are available as an add-on.
• Pro Plus: this doubles the benefits mentioned under the Pro plan, makes your medical coverage primary, and gives you Cancel For Work Reason benefits if you get your policy within 21 days of the initial deposit. Available upgrades include Platinum (which enhances the benefit limits), Sports and Hazardous Sports.
• On Trip Plus: if you're doing some last-minute travel and you only need post-departure coverage (no trip cancellation), you can get up to $75,000 in accident and sickness coverage (primary medical) and up to $600,000 in emergency evacuation coverage.
• Multi-Trip Annual/Trip Cancellation: ideal for those who take more than one trip in a year, you can cover an unlimited number of trips in a plan year, for up to 30 consecutive days in each trip. (Not available in all states.)
• Travel Medical: if all you need is medical insurance and no trip cancellation coverage, this is the right plan. You can choose benefits ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 in accident/sickness medical coverage, with up to $100,000 for emergency evacuation coverage.
• Auto Rental Insurance Plus: protect your rental car with up to $35,000 in coverage for collision, $500 towards baggage, and no deductible. This can be used anywhere in the world, with the exceptions of Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, and Yemen.

Higher-than-average premiums - but more benefits included

Obviously, many of those travel insurance policies wouldn't apply to the made-up scenario we used to compare the companies in our review: two 35-year-olds visiting Mexico for a week, leaving in about six months, for a total trip cost of $3,000. How did RoamRight do on that quote? We weren't super impressed: we were offered the Pro plan for $160 or the Pro Plus for $182. Of course, when you go directly to an insurer instead of using a comparison service, you're going to get more limited choices. The lowest-priced policy was still quite a bit more expensive than many rival insurers' plans, and only offered a maximum of $25,000 for medical expenses. We felt like we could get better coverage from a different travel insurance company. However, both plans included the pre-existing medical conditions waiver, which is often an extra add-on cost with other insurers; the Pro Plus plan also came with the Cancel For Work Reason at no extra charge, and that typically comes with additional fees with other companies.

BBB gives it an "A+"

How about reputation? Under the name of its parent company, Arch Insurance, RoamRight gets an "A+" and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau. There were 40 complaints filed there in the most recent three years, but the "A+" means you don't have to worry about issues getting handled in a timely, professional way.

Positive reputation overall

We found similar feedback from clients who left reviews for this insurance company (many of which you might see if you use one of the travel insurance referral platforms in our review). By and large, customers say that these plans are priced competitively, the claims process isn't too painful, and that they got the coverage they needed.

Only one minor included per paid adult

The one downside we noticed here is that their policies that offer complimentary coverage of travelers under age 18 don't include all of the minors in the traveling party. Instead, RoamRight covers one minor per paid adult - so if you've got a family of two parents and four children, only two of the kids get their travel insurance for free. That's not quite as generous as some insurers who cover any number of children in the travel party.

A trustworthy insurer

Generally speaking, RoamRight is a trustworthy option for travel insurance. You'll have to decide if their policies give you the coverage you need, and we still encourage you to try a referral platform first (to see if there's another insurer that could give you more protection at a better price). However, if your research leads you to RoamRight, you can buy your policy with confidence.

Insured Nomads

• 3 travel insurance plans: World Explorer, World Explorer Multi, and World Explorer Guardian
• Add-ons available for adventure sports, pet insurance, AD&D, car rentals
• Options for global health insurance for long-term stays outside of the home country
• All plans include a 12-month INC membership (even if you never file a claim)
• "A" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business since 2020

Insured Nomads is the newest travel insurance company in our review, getting its start in 2020. The founders, world travelers themselves, asked what they would do differently if they could do it all again, and what resources they would have liked to have? Insured Nomads came from their answers to those questions, helping anyone who wants to leave the familiar behind and take an adventure - for days, years, or forever - with extra peace of mind and protection in their corner.

Don't miss this if you're working or traveling abroad for a long time

If you're looking to work abroad or have an extended stay outside of your home country. Insured Nomads' Global Health Insurance will likely make more sense than a traditional travel plan. Sometimes known as "International Health Insurance" or "IPMI" , it gives you coverage for emergency care as well as routine, preventative, and chronic care in the country (or countries) you designate for your plan. This coverage typically lasts a year and is renewable. Insured Nomads offers Global Health Insurance for extended trips or relocation, and you can sign up as an individual, a couple, or a family. We won't go into more depth than that, since far more people use travel insurance for one-off trips, but we invite you to visit the Insured Nomads site if this sounds like a good fit for what you're planning in the future.

Extremely affordable coverage

Let's take a look at the quote experience at Insured Nomads, through the "eyes" of our case study travelers: two 35-year-olds going to Mexico for a week, about six months in the future, for a total cost of $3,000. We entered the destination and then also had to select a coverage area (whether the US should be included or excluded). We could choose deductibles ranging from $0 to $500, and a maximum medical benefit of $250,000, $1 million or $2 million. We were also asked to check a box if we wanted coverage of adventure sports or marine activities (increased medical limits for activities like kitesurfing or scuba diving, operating or riding personal watercraft, and coverage of scuba equipment). The baseline policy for $0 deductible and $250,000 of medical coverage was a shockingly affordable $32.96 per person.

Hard to get a quote for a non-family member

It got a little trickier when we went to add our fictitious second traveler. It was no problem if they were a parent, spouse, or child of the first person on the policy. However, there was no clear way to include a sibling, friend, or other partner outside of those designated relationships.

Read the details before starting the quote process

When we went ahead and added the second traveler as a spouse, we were only offered the World Explorer policy for $65.92. The next page asked for payment: there was never a detailed list of what our policy would include/exclude, so if you're considering an Insured Nomads plan, you'll want to read up on the site before you start the quote process. Generally speaking, the World Explorer plans cover one trip (anywhere from 1-364 days in length) away from your home country, and it can be extended up to six months longer than the initial purchase. World Explorer Multi is for those taking more than one short trip within a year and returning home in between. Finally, World Explorer Guardian gives you the benefits of the primary Explorer policy but also includes Trip Cancellation coverage. We encourage you to click on the Policy Summary for any Insured Nomads travel insurance you're interested in - because that's where we found important details like it not being available for purchase from New York or Arkansas.

Excellent benefits with free INC membership

One novel aspect of Insured Nomads' travel insurance plans is a free one-year membership to INC. This app-based feature gives you travel comforts (like airport lounge access and VPN for cyber security), travel information (such as health and safety alerts plus visa and vaccination requirements), health and wellbeing tools (like telemedicine in multiple languages), and much more. Travelers say that the INC app is a huge benefit that made a significant difference in their journeys.

Strong reputation so far

Despite being one of the newest travel insurance providers in our review, Insured Nomads has already established itself as a reliable company with an "A" rating and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau. There were no complaints filed with the BBB at the time of this evaluation. We found a small handful of reviews from Insured Nomads' clients: almost all of them gave the company a perfect five-star rating, but we didn't spot any that had actually needed to make a claim.

Best option for long-term travel and digital nomads

We still feel comfortable giving Insured Nomads our own four-star rating. With more and more people deciding to work remotely - and taking advantage of being able to work from Berlin or Bali instead of their basements - the kind of travel insurance that this company provides will undoubtedly become much more prevalent. We'd like to see more detailed policy information given upfront, making it easier for prospective customers to know what they're getting (and what they're not), but in all other aspects this appears to be a worthy addition to the travel insurance industry.

Allianz Travel

• 10 plans to choose from, including single-trip, annual/multi-trip, and rental car coverage
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business for 100+ years

Allianz Travel is a huge name in the insurance industry. Last year alone, this company assisted more than 55 million people with protecting themselves and their belongings while roaming the globe.

Single-trip, multi-trip, and car rental insurance available here

There are ten different types of travel insurance coverage offered by Allianz, all designated according to whether you're covering a single trip (OneTrip), multiple trips within a year (AllTrips), or just rental car insurance. On the main quote page, you simply choose which of the three plan types fits your travels, enter your destination, travel dates, age of traveler, state of residence, and total trip cost, and you'll be shown all of the policies that match.

Not as much for the money

We used a sample traveler profile of two 35-year-olds going to Mexico for a week, about six months in the future, and with a total cost of $3,000. We were given the choice among all three of Allianz' OneTrip plans, ranging in price from $130 to $286 for both people. We weren't really impressed by the coverage: even at the highest level (Premier), the available medical coverage had a maximum of just $50,000 (while many rivals go up to $100,000 or even $1 million on their top-tier policies).

Some options are missing or hard to spot

It also wasn't until we were on the final payment page that we could click to see the full Plan and Pricing Details. We never found an option with Allianz that would cover Cancel For Any Reason. And, it was only in the very lengthy plan details that we spotted that our policy automatically included a pre-existing medical conditions waiver, as long as our policy was purchased within 14 days of the first payment (and several other eligibility criteria were met).

Some nice perks

However, there are some benefits with Allianz travel insurance plans that didn't necessarily apply to our case study travelers but could be a reason for you to choose their coverage. For example, OneTrip Prime adds no-cost coverage for children 17 and under when traveling with a parent or grandparent. The AllTrips Executive plan covers your business equipment in the event of loss, theft, or airline delay: you can be reimbursed for equipment rental, replacement, and/or repair - and this policy will cover your personal travel/vacations as well.

"A+" from the BBB - despite 1,100+ complaints

You'll find the BBB's listing for Allianz Travel under their Global Assistance division: an "A+" and accreditation. There were over 1100 complaints filed with the BBB in the most recent three-year period, but an "A+" means that they were all responded to and handled professionally.

Mixed results on handling claims

Considering what travelers have said in other places, Allianz gets its fair share of complaints about slow claims processing. On the other hand, we found plenty of people praising how fast they were reimbursed for covered losses - from hotel and restaurant costs when return flights got canceled and rescheduled for another day to airfare and more, often getting payments to the customer within two weeks.

Good enough

All of this adds up to Allianz receiving the same rating that we gave them in our last review. This travel insurance provider is reliable, and they've added one more coverage type since our previous evaluation. We're not concerned that travelers will have big problems here, but there are other services that provide a wider range of options than Allianz.

Quote Wright

• Guaranteed lowest price on policies from 12 different insurers
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business for 20+ years

QuoteWright is one of several travel insurance websites that provides policy quotes from a variety of insurers: 12 here, to be exact. Many of them can be found in a standalone review, such as RoamRight, Seven Corners, and Travelex. QuoteWright guarantees that you won't get a lower quote on any of the travel insurance plans they sell, even if you go directly to the insurers themselves. Of course, with insurance prices being regulated by the state, that's not exactly hard for them to guarantee.

Relatively easy quote process

You'll be asked the standard series of questions here to get a quote on your travel insurance coverage: state of residence, destination, trip type, departure and return date, number of travelers, whether or not any payments have already been made, and the prepaid trip cost (either per traveler or the total). When we entered the details for our case study travelers (going to Mexico in six months, total trip cost of $3,000 for two 35-year-olds), we were given seven different policies to choose from, ranging in price from $136 to $286.10. The included insurers were Generali Global Assistance, Travel Insured International, and Travelex.

Use filters to sort the way you want

The policies defaulted to a display from least to most expensive, and the short summary was set to show the Trip Cancellation benefits for each plan. If some other coverage is more important to you, such as Cancel For Any Reason or Travel Delay, you can select that instead. Finally, you can either click to view any plan's details or select two or more to compare (which is probably our favorite way to look at policies because it gives you at-a-glance info on all of the available benefits, add-ons, and coverage).

Don't be confused by low ratings

One part that may confuse you as you browse the travel insurance policies in your results list is the QuoteWright rating. A low rating doesn't mean that the insurer is bad: it's just an indication of how favorably that particular plan compares with the rest of them in your list, or how much value you'll get for your premium.

No complaints at the BBB

We were glad to see that QuoteWright has an "A+" rating and accreditation from the Better Business Bureau. Better yet, there were no complaints filed there: an impressive feat for a company that's been around for more than two decades.

Not much user feedback

Otherwise, there isn't a ton of feedback for this travel insurance referral service. Do people get policies they love? Maybe, especially given that no one complained to the BBB about their experience, but that's not a lot to go on.

Not the best comparison site

QuoteWright isn't a terrible place to start your search for travel insurance, but there are other referral platforms that are much more comprehensive: more insurers, a wider range of policies and coverage, and more input from customers about those policies and their overall impressions when using the service. We didn't spot any red flags here, but you'll probably get more from one of our higher-ranked travel insurance companies.

Travel Guard

• 3 main travel insurance policies available, with add-ons like Name Your Family bundling and coverage for Adventure Sports and Destination Weddings
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB

Travel Guard is one of the most widely-used, travel agent-recommended insurance companies in the industry. Millions of leisure and business travelers alike use this company for emergency travel services, medical assistance, and other travel-related problems.

Policy names and inclusions have changed

If you've used Travel Guard before, things may be different now from what you remember. No longer named as Platinum, Gold, or Silver plans, the travel insurance policies here are now called Deluxe, Preferred and Essential - with slightly different coverages and new add-ons for adventure sports, destination weddings, and more.

No surprises in the quote process

Let's take a look at how those plans were offered for our sample traveler profile: a one-week trip to Mexico about six months in the future, with two 35-year-olds spending a total of $3,000. We had to start by entering our destination (though we liked that Travel Guard had quick buttons for the US, Mexico, and Caribbean as top locations), then indicating if we were taking an airplane, cruise, or neither. As we went through the standard questions - travel dates, number of travelers - we noticed the same wrinkle as our last review: to get an online quote, all travelers have to live in the same state of residence. In other words, if you're planning a family trip and your sister lives in Oregon, your brother is from Maine, and you live in Georgia, each of you will need to get a separate Travel Guard policy. However, that's an exclusion frequently found with all travel insurance sites - because prices are regulated at the state level.

Glitchy website = wasted time

However, that wasn't the only issue As we tried to enter the birthdates of the travelers in our fictitious party (not just the ages, as required by most sites), we kept getting an error asking for the date in a different format. No matter how we tried it, even using the little calendar icon and scrolling through to click on the appropriate birthdate, it wouldn't accept it. It took us nearly five minutes just to get the dates to go through (and we still have no idea what the site finally accepted, because the date looked exactly the same every time).

Keep an eye out for add-ons

We eventually got a quote of $102.50 for Essential, $197.27 for Preferred, and $339.76 for Deluxe. The biggest differences among the three plans were the coverage amounts and not the included items themselves. For example, medical expenses are covered up to $100,000, $50,000, and $15,000, respectively. We were surprised that only Preferred and Deluxe have the possibility of including Cancel For Any Reason, and you still have to pay for it as an upgrade. That optional coverage and all other options - Pet Bundle, Wedding Bundle (if your trip is for a wedding that's canceled; doesn't apply if you're the bride or the groom), Adventure Sports inclusion, and so on - will be displayed and can be included once you've chosen your base Travel Guard plan.

BBB gives it an "A+" despite 1,200+ complaints

The Better Business Bureau gives Travel Guard an "A+" rating and accreditation. There were over 1200 complaints filed there, which isn't too surprising considering how much of a market share this travel insurance company has (with thousands upon thousands of policies issued every month). The BBB's rating means you can trust that if you have an issue, it will be addressed and resolved appropriately.

Claims are frequently denied

That being said, it's discouraging to read through complaint after complaint (on the BBB site and elsewhere) describing how often Travel Guard denies claims. It doesn't even seem to matter what the cause is - airline cancellations, lost baggage, you name it - there are too many times when either something that should be covered isn't, or the policyholder had been led to believe that they had coverage when they actually didn't.

Claims process is a chore

Plus, communication from Travel Guard during the claims process is almost nonexistent - and that squares up with our own experience; making a claim for 8 non-refundable plane tickets canceled during the early days of the pandemic, we were only reimbursed in part for a few of them (with Travel Guard incorrectly claiming that the airline had refunded the taxes and fees), and it was rare for us to get any kind of update. It was a pleasant surprise when we received any money back at all - and even that trickled in sporadically, despite making claims on all eight tickets at the same time.

Not our top choice for travel insurance

We're disappointed to have to give Travel Guard such a low rating: many travel agents still recommend this company as their bread-and-butter insurance choice, after all. However, the overall customer experience - including our own - just isn't consistent enough to rank Travel Guard any higher than "barely average" .

Seven Corners

• Many different travel insurance types: domestic and international trips, travel medical, student travel, group travel, annual coverage for multiple international trips, and health insurance for visitors to the USA
• "A+" rated and accredited by the BBB
• In business for almost 30 years

Headquartered in Indiana, Seven Corners is a privately-held travel insurance and benefit management company serving the global market. You'll find a wide range of travel insurance types here, including domestic and international trips, travel medical, student travel, group travel, annual coverage for multiple international trips, and health insurance for visitors to the USA.

Not difficult to get an initial quote

It's relatively easy to use the Seven Corners site to find the right insurance for the travel you're planning. Indicate if you live in the US and if so, which state. In our case study of two 35-year-old travelers spending a week in Mexico six months out from the date of the quote, we then had to indicate that we were traveling internationally and we were given three options:

• RoundTrip: designated as the best option for most travelers, it protects nonrefundable trip costs for delay, interruption and cancellation; baggage delay or loss; medical expenses and medical evacuation. Our quote was $116 for Basic and $208 for Choice. Cancel For Any Reason could be added for an additional premium, and only the Choice plan included a waiver for pre-existing conditions. It's also important to note that the medical coverage on Basic was secondary (only pays after your regular health insurance has paid) while the Choice plan had up to $500,000 in primary medical coverage.
• Travel Medical: offers high levels of medical coverage for expenses and evacuation. COVID-19 coverage only included with the Plus plan add-on. This was priced at $22.40 for Medical Basic, $24 for Medical Choice, and $31 for Medical Plus. It was interesting that the highest tier, Plus, wasn't available to travelers older than 74 (but the other two covered any age). You'll definitely want to make sure this limited plan will meet your needs, especially if your trip involves flights or other non-refundable aspects.
• Wander Frequent Traveler Plus: cover multiple trips under a single annual travel medical insurance plan. This is a super-specialized type of insurance that only covers medical expenses over multiple trips within a year. You specify the effective date and the deductible you'd like to pay per trip ($0, $250, $500). Getting a quote here didn't really fit our sample travelers, and we noticed that on this plan, it assumes a second traveler is either your spouse or your child. A premium of $1170 for two people is an average price for this type of policy.

Time-consuming to re-enter information

It was a little clunky having to go back and re-enter our travel information for each policy type. We would have preferred to enter our details just once (such as traveler ages and destination country) and have it apply across all of Seven Corners' travel insurance offerings.

Top marks from the BBB

The Better Business Bureau gives Seven Corners its highest rating, an "A+" with accreditation. There were 84 complaints filed there in the three years leading up to this review, but the BBB's rating indicates that all of them were responded to appropriately and in a timely way.

Way too long to process claims

That's a little different from what we found elsewhere, and unfortunately not much has changed since the last time we evaluated Seven Corners: you'll get your policy quickly and the customer service team will be right on top of answering any questions you have. But if and when you actually need to make a claim, you'd better round up your patience - because the average time to process them was about 100 days at the time of this review. People are saying that filing the claim and seeing that it's been accepted for evaluation takes time, waiting for it to be accepted adds even more time, and then payouts may or may not happen.

Nice coverage options, but not quite enough service

We have to keep Seven Corners as one of our lower-ranking travel insurance companies: although we like that they offer coverage for both single trips and annual plans, that's no advantage if the claims process is a gigantic hassle. Keep Seven Corners as a last resort if you don't find the coverage you need with a more customer-friendly insurer.

World Nomads

• Geared towards backpackers, long-term travelers, and other adventurers
• Two policies to choose from: Standard and Explorer
• All policies underwritten by Nationwide Insurance
• Emergency assistance provided by Generali
• In business since 2002

World Nomads has been in operation since 2002. As you might guess from their name, this travel insurance company has a strong focus on exploring the globe - and protecting adventurers with simple and flexible policies. You may appreciate their commitment to giving back to the places travelers visit through micro-donation opportunities when you purchase coverage. And, given that World Nomads gets the endorsement of Eurail, Hostelworld, TourRadar, and Intrepid, it's obvious that this service is most used by backpackers, explorers, and other adventurous sorts - and maybe not the family of six taking their first trip to Disney World.

Fewer questions than most sites

To get a quote here, you'll start by entering your country of residence. You'll indicate your travel dates and destination(s), the number and ages of the travelers. For the sample profile we used - two 35-year-olds going to Mexico for a week, approximately six months out from the date of our quote - we were offered the choice of two policies. As a side note, it was surprising not to be asked for the total trip cost, the date we made the first payment, or if we had already paid in full.

Some important options aren't available here

World Nomads' policies are underwritten by Nationwide, and there wasn't much that impressed us between the Standard Plan at $122. 85 and the Explorer Plan for $197.88. Neither one included protection for pre-existing medical conditions or the ability to cancel for any reason - and there was no opportunity to upgrade or add on those coverages. Also note that if you need emergency assistance while traveling, that will be fulfilled by Generali; both Nationwide and Generali are often quoted by other travel insurance websites, and you can be assured that they're well-respected in the industry.

Lots of included adventure sports

If you're planning on participating in activities, sports or other adventures while traveling, make sure to click on the link for the "over 200 adventure sports and activities" to see if it'll be covered under the plan you're considering. For example, scuba diving to a depth of 165 feet is covered under both the Standard and Explorer plans, but deeper than that or cave/cavern diving requires the Explorer plan. The only activities we saw that are completely excluded here are Base Jumping, Mountaineering over 22,965 feet (7,000 meters), and working as a Mountain Guide.

Love/hate relationship with customers

How about reputation? World Nomads had received an "F" from the Better Business Bureau at the time of this review. The BBB said that rating was because the company had 23 complaints filed, and 15 of them received no response. That's never encouraging. In looking at the feedback for this travel insurance in other places, sentiment was fairly mixed. While 1,000+ clients gave World Nomads a perfect five-star rating, nearly 600 gave it the lowest possible one-star score.

Customer complaints

Some customers struggle to get covered claims paid (like trip delays due to stolen passports), while others seem to breeze right through the claims process and get reimbursed quickly. At least the complaints outside of the BBB seem to get a response from World Nomads' representatives - but there isn't often any follow-up to know if the policyholders wound up satisfied with the answers they got.

Doesn't deliver what they promise

If you want an insurance policy from Nationwide, you might as well just go directly to their site to buy it - or use one of the travel insurance comparison sites in our evaluation and see if that's really the best insurer for your travel situation. We're all for promoting world exploration and the peace of mind that comes with insurance coverage, but World Nomads just isn't doing a great job of providing that.

Travel Insurance Center

• Referral service offering policies from several different insurers
• Can get a personalized travel insurance policy recommendation from an expert, not just a computerized quote
• In business for more than 20 years

Travel Insurance Center is one of several services in our review that offer policy quotes from various insurers. In business for more than two decades, this company wants to help you find the travel insurance that's the best fit for your journey and your budget.

Get a quote online or speak with a rep

There are two ways to get a travel insurance quote here: use the Policy Picker to get a quick recommendation, or fill out the form under "Get an Expert Recommendation" to speak with a rep and get coverage tailored to your needs. We used the Policy Picker to get a quote for the travel scenario we applied across all insurance platforms: two 35-year-olds traveling to Mexico for a week, about six months out from the date we made the request.

Unusual questions and options in the quote process

The questions that Travel Insurance Center asked surprised us. Instead of specifying the exact destination, we only had to say if it was domestic, international, or both. We were also confused that we had to choose if we were interested in protecting our trip cost or something else, like travel medical coverage or emergency evacuation; what if we wanted "all of the above" ? There was also a somewhat strange dropdown under the "Search Plans" button that offered to let us browse their most frequently-searched plans - which included mysterious options like "Defense Base Act Insurance Plans" and "War Risk/High Risk Travel" .

Difficult to get quotes or prices

And that's where we ground to a halt. Every time we tried to search for plans, we got a message saying that our session had timed out and we should try a new request. Each time we did, we got the same result. Could that be connected to the fact that the main URL of the site wasn't secured (which was an internet-wide protocol several years prior to this review)? It took a lot of back-and-forth to finally get the site to render any quotes. We were finally given seven policies to choose from: three from Trawick International, two from IMG, one from Insuractive, and one from Travel Insured. Much to our aggravation, clicking on any of those policies took us to the insurer's main page, where we had to enter our information all over again. Also, only one of the plans had a price quote ($111.73), while all of the rest simply said "See Details" .

Hard to determine the company's background

Trying to research the background of Travel Insurance Center felt like a trip down the proverbial rabbit hole. Looking at the bottom of the page, we saw that the service belongs to a company called Senior Market Sales: an insurance marketing organization that helps agents and financial advisors make more money. Hmmm... Then we found an announcement that SMS was acquired in 2020 by Alliant Insurance Services, an insurance and employee benefits consulting firm. Alliant itself has an "A+" with the Better Business Bureau, but we're not sure that really reflects the performance of the travel insurance arm of the company.

No new ratings

Outside of the BBB, we found a surprising number of five-star reviews for Travel Insurance Center - but none of them were newer than 9 months old. Those high ratings definitely didn't reflect our experience during the quote process, and your experience will depend more on the insurer you wind up with than on TIC itself.

Don't waste your time here

While we can definitely appreciate the convenience of getting multiple travel insurance quotes with a single request, this service doesn't even come close to measuring up with similar referral platforms we evaluated. We can't think of one good reason why anyone would spend their time getting a policy quote from Travel Insurance Center instead of using a different comparison service - or just going to an insurer directly.

Axa Travel Insurance

• Based in Ireland
• In business for more than 20 years

Axa Travel Insurance has been in operation for more than 20 years. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the company handles more than 14 million assistance cases per year.

Not so impressive

Straight out of the gate, we feel we should tell you to expect a difficult experience all around if you try to use Axa for your travel insurance. We've got nothing against companies not headquartered in the US, but when you have to place an international call to get further information (or to make a claim), that's already a huge hurdle. Once you finally track down their "store" for US-based travelers, it's still hard to get impressed; at the time of this review, the site's copyright was over two years out of date.

Very few policy options

Still, we forged ahead with our sample profile (a trip six months in the future for two 35-year-old travelers visiting Mexico with a total trip cost of $3,000) and got a quote for one travel insurance policy: Silver, priced at $106. That plan included $25,000 in emergency accident and sickness medical expenses, but offered no pre-existing conditions waiver or the ability to cancel for any reason. This travel insurance policy seemed to cover the bare minimum, and we were frustrated by not getting any other options. Your search could be different, but our results here definitely didn't compete with other services we reviewed.

BBB gives it a "C" for not responding to complaints

We weren't really excited to see that Axa Travel Insurance had a "C" rating from the Better Business Bureau at the time of our review. That lower-than-average rating was from the insurer's failure to respond to two complaints and to resolve two others, out of the 21 in total that were filed over the last three years. That's not a huge red flag, but we can't think of a good reason why Axa would choose not to address those issues.

No one seems to have a good experience here

Sadly, client feedback in other places mirrors this negative impression. Out of nearly 500 ratings, a full 91% said that their experience with Axa wasn't just average or poor but full-on bad: a one-star rating. Here's a sampling of their complaints: "over 2,000 minutes on hold over the last few weeks" , "three months ago I made a claim... with no communication since" , "awful customer service" , and "no money paid into my account even after waiting seven months to get a settlement letter" . Money only seems to go one way when you buy an Axa travel insurance policy - and that direction isn't in your favor.

Don't buy this travel insurance

Are you surprised that this is our lowest-ranked travel insurance company? Not only are you limited to their own brand of coverage, but those plans give you much less for your money than other insurers. Add the abundance of 1-star ratings for Axa and it's absolutely no wonder that this is our least favorite choice among the travel insurance options in our review. Avoid Axa Travel Insurance and go with a different service.