Friday, September 22nd
2023 Travel Insurance Plan Reviews
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travelers, it's still hard to get impressed; at the time of this review, the site's copyright was over two years out of date.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.
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Who Offers the Best Travel Insurance?
With daily news stories of delayed and canceled flights, lost baggage, and travelers stranded overseas in the middle of a natural disaster, it's easy to see why travel insurance is so important. Like most types of insurance, travel insurance is bought in the hopes that you'll never need it. But, for most travelers, it's worth the price for the protection it provides.
Have you ever thought that this coverage was just an unnecessary, added expense? That's fairly common: most people assume that they've got protection through their credit card company, their regular health insurance, even their homeowners' policy. In some situations, that may be accurate - but unless you know the details of those types of coverage, you're more likely to be left paying out-of-pocket expenses you thought were taken care of... but aren't included.
Travel Insurance Plan FAQ
Continued from above...
And, even if you do have that kind of protection, travel insurance policies can amplify your benefits. For example, if you choose a plan that offers $500,000 in primary medical coverage, you might not need to touch your regular health insurance: your bills will be reimbursed up to that amount, no matter what your everyday health plan includes. Car rental insurance can go above and beyond what's paid for by your credit card company or even your own vehicle's coverage - and that can be critical if you're driving in another country and have an accident.
What type of travel insurance do you need? Naturally, that depends on your trip, your travel party, and your budget. A single-trip policy will be more affordable than multi-trip coverage - but if you're traveling internationally more than once in a year, the annual policy becomes much more economical. Do you need to be able to cancel for any reason? Is it important to you to have a waiver of the pre-existing conditions exclusion? Are there any children under 18 in your party that might be included at no extra charge, depending on the insurer you select? These are all factors that will influence your decision when picking a travel insurance plan.
Confused yet? You do have a lot of options. Here are some criteria to help you sort through them and ultimately wind up with the travel insurance coverage you need:
- Quote process. How easy is it to get a quote that matches your insurance needs? Does the site explain the questions it asks, and does it display all of the possible plans in a way you can understand? Can you buy your policy right then and there, or do you have to click through to another site?
- Value. What's included for your premium? From one site to another, you will probably see the same price on any given plan because the states regulate travel insurance prices. However, it's worth your time to compare premium prices and benefits among different insurers, so that you get the most for your money.
- Reputation. It's easy for an insurance company to get high marks from customers if they never had to make a claim on the policy. What do clients who've filed claims say about the way they were treated? Were they reimbursed quickly? Did they get updates about the status of the claim? It's also good to check the Better Business Bureau's rating of any travel insurance service you're going to use.
To help you get the protection you need on your next adventure, TopConsumerReviews.com has evaluated and ranked today's most popular sources of travel insurance. We're confident that this information will make it easy to protect yourself and what you've spent on your trip - and to have backup if something goes off track on your journey. Bon voyage!
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