The Best Travel Insurance For You – Which Travel Insurance Should You Pick?

Sunrise at Poon Hill

We did something really stupid. We traveled without travel insurance for over two years.

Thank our lucky stars nothing happened to us during that time, because if it did we would have really hurt ourselves and had no way to pay for it – we’re sort of used to that feeling though in the US where basic health insurance is unattainable for so many – but international travel insurance and annual travel insurance is different.

That kind of ignorance could have easily put us in serious debt. We are going to explain in this article why it’s so crucial to make sure you have the best travel insurance for your next trip and help you choose which travel insurance is the best travel insurance for you – whether you’re American or from elsewhere.

We are going to compare three different popular travel insurance companies to help you choose which travel insurance is the best travel insurance for you whether you’re a digital nomad like us who does frequent travel or looking for annual travel plans or a regular traveler who is looking for more short term coverage.

Table of Contents
    1. Why You Need to Find Which Travel Insurance is Right For You
    2. Travel Guard Travel Insurance
    3. Allianz Travel Insurance
    4. Safety Wing Travel Insurance

Why You Need to Find Which Travel Insurance is Right For You

Megan and Scott enjoying a Yosemite Viewpoint in Tuolumne County

The Best Travel Insurance: Accidents Happen

We went uninsured while doing months of motorbiking through South East Asia, taking motorbiking trips through remote mountainous areas in Laos and the scary windy road to Pai in Thailand was probably the dumbest thing we could do without international travel insurance. Even after knowing a person who almost died on the same road to Pai.

Yes, Scott is a good driver, but there’s always room for accidents, that’s why they are called accidents, no one can predict them.

So what, you don’t motorbike. Well, guess what? Accidents can still happen and this is another reason why you want to make sure you have the best travel insurance possible and international travel insurance coverage.

We met a guy while island hopping in Thailand. He told us of an injury where, on an island hopping boat, the boat was going too fast and hit a wave so hard he flew in the air and smacked down on the bench he was sitting on and broke his back. That’s absolutely crazy and completely unpredictable.

Life happens when you least expect it, get travel insurance.

He ended up getting rushed to the hospital and had to stay there for weeks. While health care in Thailand is ridiculously cheaper than it is in the US, but let’s be honest everywhere is, it still was a hefty bill. This is when travel insurance has your back, pun intended.

Another traveler I was talking to recently needed to have her appendix removed while in Switzerland and that wasn’t going to be cheap.

Accidents and health problems can happen anytime and anywhere. Invest in your health and any unpredicted accident and make sure you have the best travel insurance to cover you in case of a medical emergency or in case of an emergency medical evacuation.

The Best Travel Insurance: Delays and Cancellations Happen

Imagine missing a connecting flight, a flight is cancel, suddenly you or a travel partner are sick, your checked luggage gets lost, or an airline or tour company files for bankruptcy right before your trip.

These are some of the unforeseen things that can happen before or on a trip that would be really unfortunate and could be a huge expense if you don’t have the proper travel insurance to cover you.

Compare our travel insurance plans to see which of these are covered.

The Best Travel Insurance: You Can Get Robbed

We actually hate talking about this because you can get robbed ANYWHERE, at home or on vacation. But for some reason, travelers are more concerned about getting robbed when they aren’t home and it just gives people, even more, fear to leave the comforts of their home and go anywhere else because they’ve all heard that one horror story of someone getting robbed in another country.

We have to be extra careful when we travel because we are carrying thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment and computers that are our lively hood and how we earn our living. If something were to happen to our gear, we would be screwed.

This is another reason why it’s important to find which travel insurance is the best travel insurance possible for you. If you were to get robbed, you can file a police report and your travel insurance will reimburse you for some of your unexpected losses. But only if you’re insured.

We also travel with a PacSafe bag protector, you can check out our best backpack lock for travelers review here.

Not to mention something terrible could happen to your travel documents or passports, you will want to make sure you have a good international travel insurance plan to help you in this situation heaven forbid it happens.

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Travel Guard Travel Insurance

Megan and Scott hiking in Coyote Buttes in Utah

Travel Guard Travel Insurance is under the parent company and umbrella of AIG. This is our current travel insurance because of their Business Traveler Plan which is great for Americans (sorry everyone else) because its $250/year per person.

They have quite a few different travel insurance plans to choose from for different kinds of travelers, our Business Traveler plan is under their specialty plans.

While traveling to Yosemite National Park with some friends around Tuolumne County I had to file my first claim with travel insurance. I had a nasty case of food poisoning and after having it a few times throughout my lifetime, this was the worst.

I was terrified because we don’t have the best health insurance at home and since we were so close to where we lived in Southern California I thought my travel insurance wouldn’t work – we were wrong and I’m glad we checked. Because I was over 100 miles away from home I was able to still use my travel insurance.

After completing the pretty straight forward paperwork my claim was processed within 6 weeks and I was mailed a check. The only part that took a long time would be to get all the paperwork and billing from the hospital. Once I received that, everything else moved pretty quickly.

The coverage for TravelGuard Travel Insurance

Travel Guard travel insurance plans include an array of non travel insurance services like pre-trip health and safety advisories, golf course reservations, hotel and rental car reservations, etc. This is all through Travel Guard travel insurance, not a third party company.

There are many different travel insurance plans to choose from. You can talk to an agent and easily pick which one is best for you, we currently use the Business Traveler plan since we are frequent travelers.

Their plans can cover travel anywhere 100 miles away from home. This is great for Americans who may not have the best health insurance and are traveling domestically and have something happen.

You get accident and illness medical expenses covered up to $50,000. This is why this is one of the best travel insurance options for both domestic and international travel insurance because you never know when an accident or unexpected illness can affect you.

This plan covers trip delays, missed connections, and flight cancellations, let’s say your flight gets canceled or delayed, Travel Guard travel insurance has you covered and will help you or reimburse you for accommodation or any unexpected expenses and necessary items like toiletries. This also includes coverage if your tour company or airline goes bankrupt or out of business.

Coverage for lost luggage. If your luggage gets lost this travel insurance covers it, and say your luggage had an emergency prescription, they will help you the whole way.

They cover lost or stolen travel documents and small electronics. What if your travel documents or passport are stolen or someone snatched your phone? Then you can submit a claim after filing a police report within the first 24 hours of the discovery to get covered.

Medical Evacuation is covered. If you get injured and are unable to get proper treatment where you are then Travel Guard Travel Insurance will coordinate medical evacuation. This also covers the worst of the worst if something fatal happens, Travel Guard has an international travel plan that will get your remains to your home country.

They cover fees you may incur after baggage delays. If your bag doesn’t make it then you might need to buy clothes or toiletries to hold you over until it arrives (or doesn’t) which Travel Guard covers.

Easy Customer Service available 24/7. Have a problem in the middle of the night (I actually did), you can call at any time and speak to a representative for assistance.

 

Pros: Travel Guard travel insurance is a great option for which travel insurance to choose because they have so many different plans to choose from. This is a great option for those who can get it and long term travelers like us. This came in handy because it also worked for domestic travel anywhere 100 miles away from your address. Their travel insurance plans are also extremely affordable.

Cons: Their travel insurance and international travel insurance plans are not an option for non-American citizens, even some of the plans are not available for all US citizens due to local regulations, the best bet would to be to contact them to find out. Also, figuring out which travel insurance coverage is right for you can require more research since there are so many plans to choose from. Also, you can’t buy this insurance after your trip has already started, you need to do it before.

When we moved to NYC we actually couldn’t renew our TravelGuard travel insurance because they do not offer their annual plans to ALL US states. This was a bit of a bummer because we were really happy with the coverage. This forced us to try out our next annual travel insurance plan, Allianz which we have below.

Check out TravelGuard Travel Insurance here.

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Allianz Travel Insurance

Megan and Scott horseback riding at Lone Mountain Ranch in Big Sky MontanaThis is our current travel insurance because AIG and Travel Guard do not do annual plans for people living in the state of New York, they also cover folks who aren’t from the United States in countries all over the world. What’s nice about Allianz is that they cover more states and they have some great options for one off trips or annual plans as we prefer.

There are four different options for the annual travel insurance, which is what we prefer as you’re covered for 365 days a year for both domestic and international travel asl long as your 125 miles away from home and includes rental car damage protection.

Allianz travel insurance also has implemented a new app which helps make any emergency insurance claims easier than ever.

Since we picked the AllTrips Basic Plan I’m going to focus on this one, which for the two of us total was around $240 for the year, that’s half the price as TravelGuard! There are 3 more as we said, all of which actually provide more coverage, we picked the most basic one which we thought still has great coverage.

The coverage for Allianz AllTrips Basic Annual Travel Insurance

Allianz travel insurance plans include Emergency Medical Coverage like providing benefits for losses due to covered medical & dental emergencies that may happen unexpectedly during your trip with no deductible. 

Allianz travel insurance plans include Emergency Medical Transportation which provides reimbursement for medically necessary transportation to the nearest hospital or facility following a covered illness or injury.

There are many different travel insurance plans to choose from. You can talk to an agent and easily pick which one is best for you, we currently use the AllTrips Basic annual plan since we are frequent travelers, but you can always get coverage for just one trip or even get an annual plan with more coverage as we have the most basic.

Their plans can cover travel anywhere 125 miles away from home. This is great for Americans who may not have the best health insurance and are traveling domestically and have something happen.

You get accident and illness medical expenses covered up to $20,000. (on the most basic plan, you can get more on a different plan) This is why this is one of the best travel insurance options for both domestic and international travel insurance because you never know when an accident or unexpected illness can affect you.

This plan covers trip delays, missed connections, and flight cancellations, let’s say your flight gets canceled or delayed, Allianz travel insurance has you covered and will help you or reimburse you for accommodation or any unexpected expenses and necessary items like toiletries. This also includes coverage if your tour company or airline goes bankrupt or out of business.

Coverage for lost luggage. If your luggage gets lost this travel insurance covers it, and say your luggage had an emergency prescription, they will help you the whole way.

They cover fees you may incur after baggage delays. If your bag doesn’t make it then you might need to buy clothes or toiletries to hold you over until it arrives (or doesn’t) which Allianz covers.

Easy Customer Service available 24/7. Have a problem in the middle of the night (I actually did), you can call at any time and speak to a representative for assistance.

 

Pros: Allianz travel insurance is a great option for which travel insurance to choose because they have so many different plans to choose from whether you want an annual plan or coverage for just one holiday or vacation. This is a great option for those who can get it and long term travelers like us. This came in handy because it also worked for domestic travel anywhere 125 miles away from your address. Their travel insurance plans are also extremely affordable and you can always upgrade to a better plan if you decide you need it.

What’s even better? Their plans are more widely available to citizens outside the United States!

Cons: Figuring out which travel insurance coverage is right for you can require more research since there are so many plans to choose from. Also, you can’t buy this insurance after your trip has already started, you need to do it before. 

Check out Allianz Travel Insurance here.

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Safety Wing Travel Insurance

Megan looking at the rocks in the ocean at Reynisfjara Beach

SafetyWing Travel Insurance is another great option for which travel insurance to choose. What’s great about SafetyWing is that this is available to many nationalities – even outside the US. Many Europeans use their travel insurance and international travel insurance plans for this reason.

Their prices are still reasonable for annual travel insurance for around $37/month and is designed to meet any travel and medical needs faced by frequent travelers or digital nomads while they are outside their home country designed mostly for digital nomads, but regular travelers can find their packages to be beneficial too.

The coverage for SafetyWing Travel Insurance

Medical Evacuation is covered. If you get injured and are unable to get proper treatment where you are then SafetyWing Travel Insurance will coordinate medical evacuation up to $100,000. This also covers the worst of the worst if something fatal happens and will get your remains to your home country.

They cover lost or stolen travel documents. What if your travel documents or passport are stolen? Then you can submit a claim after filing a police report within the first 24 hours of the discovery to get covered of up to $100.

This plan covers trip delays and trip interruption, let’s say your flight gets canceled or delayed, SafetyWing travel insurance has you covered and will help you or reimburse you for unexpected interruptions and delays. This does not include missed flights.

Coverage for lost checked luggage. If your luggage gets lost this travel insurance covers it.

Worldwide Coverage. This travel insurance is available to anyone except for citizens of North Korea, Cuba, and Iran.

Select coverage in your home country. For US citizens, for every 90 days you’re in the US you get 15 days of medical coverage, for everyone else for every 90 days you’re in your home country you get 30 days of medical coverage in your home country.

Their travel insurance plan covers some adventure activities. Some fun adventure activities while you travel are covered as long as you’re not a professional athlete you can be covered if you get injured playing a sport, ziplining, on a boat, surfing, or even on a safari to name a few.

 

Pros: Great for Non-Americans and digital nomads not living in their home country for a great international travel plan. You can purchase by month or do an annual travel insurance plan depending on your schedule. Buy the travel insurance even after you started traveling –  it’s available anytime.

Cons: Not the best option for Americans traveling within the United States because the plans don’t cover much domestic coverage or any stolen electronics like phones.

Check out SafetyWing Travel Insurance here.

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We hope this post helped you decide which travel insurance is the best travel insurance for you for a short vacation or even an annual travel insurance plan for both domestic and international travel insurance!

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