When traveling in the COVID-19 era, it makes sense to have travel insurance. These days, travel has been canceled for all sorts of reasons related to COVID-19, beyond the actual illness, such as a reluctance to travel if cases spike or government restrictions barring you from traveling altogether.
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Given the myriad of travel challenges in the pandemic era, looking for travel insurance seems like a smart choice.
But standard travel insurance plans may not really cover all pandemic-related travel issues.
What most travel insurance plans cover
Most travel insurance plans — including those offered as a free benefit with certain credit cards — cover you to some degree if you can prove that you, a covered travel companion, or perhaps someone you need to care for COVID-19.
Within the travel insurance umbrella, coverage can be seen in many different ways. Trip cancellation coverage exists if you cancel your trip due to illness prior to departure. Travel interruption coverage can protect you if something happens in the middle of your trip, such as a positive test result and needing to stay longer for quarantine. If your policy includes travel medical coverage, expect reimbursement of health care costs if you become sick with COVID-19 while traveling overseas.
The thing is, getting sick isn’t really the reason why many travelers can’t continue their journey.
What most travel insurance doesn’t cover
Most policies explicitly do not cover travel that is subject to travel restrictions or warnings issued by any government agency or health authority. Fear of COVID-19 issues (whether stuck somewhere or getting sick yourself) is also usually not a covered reason.
For example, “Travel cancellations purely out of concern or fear of travel related to an epidemic or pandemic, including COVID-19, are not covered,” according to travel insurance provider AIG.
Meanwhile, “claims due to known, foreseeable or expected events, epidemics, government restrictions, warnings or travel advice or travel fears are generally not covered,” according to a statement from Allianz Travel Insurance.
And most insurance policies state that COVID-19 — and any issues that arise from it beyond you being really sick — is a known event.
“COVID-19 became a known event on January 22, 2020, and was recognized as an epidemic on February 3, 2020,” according to Allianz Travel.
Of course, you may not know when the next variant will appear — in turn, prompting the country’s borders to close. And you may not know if quarantine requirements will be reinstated in your destination country — turning your week lying on the beach into a week staring out the window at the beach. But because COVID-19 is a known event, many policies will not cover such a scenario.
Even two years into a pandemic, it’s no surprise you’d be surprised. In addition to requiring the COVID-19 vaccine to travel to many countries, some places have recently also begun to require a booster. And after the omicron surge, many countries that previously reopened to tourists have since closed again.
However, many general travel insurance plans will not cover your trip for this type of restriction renewal. That is, unless you have the right type of travel insurance.
Type of travel insurance that covers COVID-19 problems (other than being really sick)
Each individual policy is different, but in general, you should purchase a travel insurance policy that specifically covers challenges related to COVID-19. For more comprehensive coverage, buy Cancel For Any Reason, which—as it sounds—gives you a cashback no matter why you want to leave your trip.
Note that these packages are usually sold as a second package or as an addition to an existing plan.
Specific epidemic coverage
Some insurers have started offering more COVID-19 specific coverage, such as the Epidemic Coverage Endorsement offered through Allianz Global Assistance, which is slightly more comprehensive than your standard policy.
For example, you may not necessarily have a positive COVID-19 test result, but the airline won’t let you on the plane because they’re scanning your temperature for a fever, and it’s too high. This level of coverage will come to your rescue.
But even epidemic-specific policies may not be enough. For example, the Allianz Epidemic Coverage Endorsement will not cover common issues, such as failing to show a negative COVID-19 test required to board an airplane (perhaps you took the test, but the results didn’t come back in time). It also doesn’t include travel restrictions that apply broadly to some segments or all of the population, such as certain countries barring all American travelers from entering, period (as some did during the recent surge in omicron). For those situations, you need the Cancel For Any Reason scope.
Coverage Cancel For Any Reason
Whatever your reason, you can cancel your trip with Cancel For Any Reason, or CFAR coverage, which is usually offered in addition to a travel insurance policy. With it, you are covered for all reasons that other policies would not cover. Exact requirements vary by provider, but expect partial reimbursement (typically 50% to 75% of non-refundable prepaid travel plans, according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners).
The trade-off is that this additional coverage can be expensive. CFAR coverage will typically cost about 6% to 12% of the overall cost of travel, according to the US Travel Insurance Association. Compare this with standard, no-add travel insurance, which typically costs around 4% to 8% of the total cost of the trip.
And note that even with that, you usually don’t get a full trip refund.
Underline
Don’t assume that just having travel insurance will ensure you get your money back on a canceled or interrupted trip. Most policies have a long list of exclusions, so read the fine print to make sure you’re covered for everything you want to cover.
For COVID-19-related cancellation reasons that don’t actually involve illness — such as border closures, vaccination requirements that make you ineligible to travel, or simply a reluctance to travel — you may need a more comprehensive policy.
And with that, be prepared to pay more.
Travel Insurance Articles May Not Cover COVID-19 — Unless You Upgrade originally appeared on NerdWallet.
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