How to Pick Travel Insurance for Your Family Trip
Traveling with a family is a fantastic adventure, but it also comes with its fair share of unpredictability. From flight delays to medical emergencies, having the right travel insurance can save you a lot of stress and money.
We learned this the hard way when my son got sick in Indonesia and it turned out that my lousy credit card insurance would cover none of it, so unfortunately, I speak from experience!
Here’s how I go about picking the right travel insurance for my family, based on my own experiences and a few tried-and-true tips:
We have financial relationships with some of these recommended insurance companies and act as an affiliate. However all relayed experiences are my own, and are not all positive:
1. Assess Your Needs
Every family is different, and so are their travel insurance needs. Here are some questions to consider:
- Are you traveling internationally or domestically?
- Does anyone in your family have pre-existing medical conditions?
- Are you planning any adventurous activities that might require special coverage?
- How much are you spending on non-refundable bookings like flights and accommodations?
- Do you need a policy that covers multiple trips over an entire year, or are you only vacationing once or twice per year?
For our first family trip to Japan, I wanted full coverage for our first big international trip, and it turned out that I did use the insurance when I needed to visit the doctor. On another trip to Indonesia, I didn’t research the coverage as well and got burned by my crappy policy when I chose to rely just on credit card provided insurance.
Not all travel insurance policies are created equal. Key areas to look at include:
- Medical Coverage: Ensure it covers emergency medical expenses, hospital stays, and medical evacuations. Some policies also cover dental emergencies.
- Trip Cancellation/Interruption: This is crucial if you have non-refundable bookings. It reimburses you if you have to cancel or cut your trip short due to covered reasons like illness, injury, or a family emergency.
- Baggage and Personal Belongings: Covers lost, stolen, or damaged baggage and personal items.
- Travel Delay: Provides compensation for additional expenses incurred due to flight delays.
- Emergency Assistance: 24/7 assistance services can help with anything from lost passports to finding local medical care.
- Emergency Evacuation: Keep in mind there are multiple meanings for this and it can be confusing. You want a plan on the ground that will evacuate you from somewhere remote to a local hospital, which is all most insurance covers, but you also want a plan, which will likely be a separate policy, to get you home in case of emergency (I have recommendations below for both).
Generally, the more coverage you want and need, the more expensive it will be. The more you spent on the trip, the more it will drive the cost as well. We had a weather delay cause us to miss a night in a nice vacation rental I’d booked in the Azores, but since I didn’t have great trip cancellation coverage, I couldn’t get reimbursed.
3. Annual vs. Per-Trip Plans + Medical Transport
I’ve been traveling for 14 years now, and have tried many insurance policies. The below are what I do and absolutely don’t recommend either based on experience or extensive research:
Per trip plans
Faye for your average trip: Aren’t traveling a lot throughout the year? Just need a per-trip policy? I typically use Faye for my trips.
I used Faye on our family trip to Japan and once I returned from the doctor’s office with the diagnosis and proof of payment, it was a simple, easy process for getting reimbursed. They’re a bit pricier, but at least the insurance actually worked when I needed it to. Read my full Faye Review.
Berkshire Hathaway for higher end trips: Berkshire Hathaway has two plan levels that offer 150% trip interruption benefit, and all include 100% trip cancellation benefit for covered reasons. They have a luxury care option that offers a cancel for any reason upgrade and some of the higher medical expense coverage options I’ve seen. For those who want full coverage without compromise, these plans are worth exploring.
Annual trip plans
Allianz for yearlong coverage: if you want coverage for trips throughout the year, and annual plan, might make the most sense for you. The upside is you’re not taking out separate coverage every time you take a trip, which can get pretty expensive, but the downside is, there are caps on the amount the insurance will pay out for trip cancellation at a maximum of $10,000 per person per year. The medical expense coverage is also lower than is available through Berkshire Hathaway. While it may not seem like medical bills in certain countries could add up, it’s entirely possible to end up with bills over $50k when there are catastrophic emergencies.
Global Medical Transport, Travel Security & Crisis Response Membership
Medjet for medical transport back home: the important thing to note is that travel insurance and a crisis response membership go hand-in-hand. One of them covers you on the ground and one of them covers you getting home, whether you need to be evacuated due to a local crisis, or to get home to your doctors after a medical emergency. Need a medically staffed jet to get home once you’re stable after an accident abroad? This is how Medjet sets itself apart from typical insurance.
you will still have to cover whatever happens on the ground at your destination, which is why you should have a separate travel insurance policy, but emergency evacuation within those policies typically only covers on-the-ground expenses and evacuation to a local hospital, while medical transport insurance gets you home. Read my MedJet review here.
I personally carry policies with Allianz and Medjet for my family for about $3500 total per year. It’s peace of mind I’m happy to have, especially since medical expenses can get astronomical, and our trips are higher end and therefore, pricey.
Insurance I Don’t Recommend:
Credit Card Insurance: Many people find only after sending document after document over and over that most credit card insurance covers very little, and almost never anything medical. I made a claim after my son broke out in a rash in remote Indonesia, and we made the decision to fly to Singapore to get him evaluated. We missed accommodations and flights I’d paid for, paid for extra flights and accommodation, and the medical costs. It turned out that none of this was covered in the plan.
They only informed me of this after almost a year of back and forth paperwork and hours of my time resending the same documents over and over. I came to find this is almost everyone’s experience with Chase coverage, and I won’t be relying on them again.
World Nomads: I used to love this insurance, but they really went downhill, and most people claim they are sent on an endless document loop with them.
If you travel multiple times a year, an annual multi-trip policy might be more cost-effective and convenient than buying separate policies for each trip. These policies cover multiple trips within a year and often provide higher coverage limits.
As frequent travelers, we opted for an annual emergency coverage policy that covered all our trips, including those spontaneous weekend getaways, saving us both time and money.
4. Check the Policy Exclusions (Read the Fine Print)
Always read the fine print to understand what’s not covered. Common exclusions include:
- Pre-existing medical conditions (unless you get a waiver)
- High-risk activities (unless you purchase additional coverage)
- Pregnancy-related issues after a certain point
- Epidemics and pandemics (though some policies now offer COVID-19 coverage)
Credit card insurance often specifically excludes medical coverage. And almost no policy offers emergency medical evacuation (look at Medjet) or camera gear coverage (look at the Berkshire Hathaway Enterprise plan). Those are separate policies.
6. How Necessary is Insurance, really?
I’ll be honest with you, we haven’t always bothered with insurance. I used to get it for every trip, but eventually, I figured I’d spend less in the long run by just not having it and taking care of issues as they came up.
Then I found out that even in countries where I expected medical to be super cheap, like Indonesia, it’s not uncommon to rack up medical bills in excess of $60k for severe accidents. Couple that with having no medical evacuation insurance, and you’re looking at expensive, less than ideal care at a huge cost.
Now that we are traveling as a family, I don’t consider a GoFundMe to be the back up plan I want. So we are fully insured for our trips. It’s expensive, but not nearly as expensive as a true emergency could get.
8. Evaluate Customer Service and Reviews
Don’t expect to find any insurance company with raving reviews, but checking out Reddit and Trustpilot can help a bit with real experiences. Look up reviews and ratings for the insurance providers you’re considering. Pay attention to how they handle claims, their responsiveness, and their overall reputation.
9. Read the Fine Print
Finally, always read the policy documents thoroughly before purchasing. Make sure you understand the coverage limits, exclusions, and claims process. If anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to ask the insurer for clarification.
Choosing the right travel insurance for your family might seem overwhelming, but with a bit of research and careful consideration, you can find a policy that offers the protection and peace of mind you need.
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