Cat 70 Travel Insurance Review 2024

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Anyone taking a trip should consider travel insurance. It can help offset the cost of emergency medical care and reimburse you for lost belongings, canceled flights, or other issues that may come up while you’re away.

If you’re looking for a reputable travel insurance provider that offers a straightforward and easy-to-understand travel insurance policy, Cat 70 Travel Insurance is a great option. Cat 70 is backed by the well-known and respected travel insurance comparison provider Squaremouth. Its Travel Plan, the only policy it offers, can be used for domestic and international trips.

Introduction to Cat 70 Travel Insurance

Cat 70 is one of the simplest travel insurance companies on the market. Operated by travel insurance aggregator SquareMouth, Cat 70 offers just one single trip policy aptly and simply named Travel Plan. The policy covers trips that cost up to $30,000 and last up to 90 days. Travelers up to 83 are eligible for coverage.

One of the best aspects of Cat 70’s Travel Plan is its sizable emergency medical coverage limit of $500,000. The plan also covers a wide range of other potential problems, including stolen baggage, trip delays, and more.

While the simplicity can be nice for buyers who don’t want to spend a lot of time researching, it’s not great for travelers who want more niche coverage. For example, Cat 70 won’t cover most sports activities, excluding sports that involve body contact and organized sporting events.  

Coverage Options Offered by Cat 70

Below are the coverages and corresponding coverage limits of the Cat 70 Travel Plan.

Cat 70 also offers a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver, which means that your coverage won’t be restricted because of your health history. This will apply only if you buy the Travel Plan to cover the full cost of the trip within 14 days of making your first trip deposit.

Additional coverage options from Cat 70

Cat 70 offers a “cancel for any reason” policy, which allows you to cancel your trip without being penalized, even if the reason is not already listed in the base policy. Say, for example, that you find out your favorite football team is playing an important game during your planned dates — under this coverage, you could easily get a refund. 

Cat 70’s CFAR coverage will reimburse 75% of what would have been non-refundable otherwise. Just make sure to purchase Cat 70’s CFAR within 14 days of initially putting down a deposit for the trip, and be mindful that claims must be made at least 48 hours before departure time.

Cat 70 Travel Insurance Cost

The premium you pay will depend on various factors, including the age of the travelers, destination, and total trip costs. The average cost of travel insurance is 4% to 8% of your travel costs.

After inputting some personal information, such as your age and state of residence, along with your trip details, like travel dates, destination, and trip costs, you’ll get an instant quote for Cat 70 travel insurance plans available for your trip. And from there, it’s easy to compare each option based on your coverage needs and budget.

Now let’s look at a few examples to estimate Cat 70 travel insurance coverage costs.

As of 2024, a 23-year-old from Illinois taking a week-long, $3,000 budget trip to Italy would pay $113. Premiums for Cat 70 travel insurance plans are between 3.7% of the trip’s cost, just below the average cost of travel insurance.

A 30-year-old traveler from California heading to Japan for two weeks on a $4,000 trip would pay $152 for travel insurance. Once again, the premium for Cat 70is 3.8%, below the average range of travel insurance costs.

A Texas family consisting of two 40-year-old parents with a 10-year-old and 4-year-old on a two-week trip to Australia for $20,000 would pay $828, which is 4.14% of the trip’s cost.

A 65-year-old couple looking to escape New Jersey for Mexico for two weeks with a trip cost of $6,000 would pay $419, which is 7% of the trip’s cost. While covering this trip is more expensive, older travelers often pay higher rates for insurance. However, Cat 70’s premiums for older couples doesn’t have as high of a price spike compared to other travel insurance companies. 

You can find our guide on the best senior travel insurance here.

Purchasing and Managing a Cat 70 Policy

Purchasing Cat 70travel insurance is simple. You’ll need to obtain a quote on its Squaremouth page by inputting the following information:

• Travel dates
• Destination
• State of residence
• Number of travelers
• Age of traveler(s)
• Trip cost
• Date of first deposit
• If your trip is paid in full 
• Whether you want cancellation coverage

There are a few particularities to note. For one, Cat 70 policies will not show up if you’re looking for travel insurance the same day you pay your deposit. Additionally, you wont see Cat 70 quotes if you opt out of cancellation coverage.

Once you get a quote, you’ll also have the option to add CFAR insurance as long as you’re purchasing insurance within the purchasing window. 

How to File a Claim with Cat 70 Travel Insurance

To file a travel insurance claim with Cat 70, start by downloading and filling out a claims form to initiate the process. You can also call 800-567-3512 to request a claims form by mail or email. Claims must be submitted within 20 days of the loss occurring.

Cat 70’s claims department can be reached Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST at 866-477-6741, or by email at starrtravelclaims@hsri.com.

Cat 70 Customer Support and Claims Reviews

Cat 70has few reviews to speak of. It averages 4.08 stars out of five on its Squaremouth page across just over 100 reviews. That said, many five star reviews come from customers who didn’t have to file a claim or people who haven’t filed claims yet. Customer service was reportedly very responsive to customizations and questions from buyers.

Reviews from claimants are mixed, reporting a complicated claims process, unresponsive agents, and long wait times. 

Compare Cat 70 Travel Insurance

Learn more about how Cat 70 Travel Insurance compares to industry leading travel insurance policies. 

Cat 70 Travel Insurance vs AIG Travel Insurance

Travel Guard is another popular travel insurance company. We’ll use Travel Guard’s mid-tier Travel Guard Preferred plan to compare coverage with Cat 70.

With Travel Guard Preferred plan, you’ll get trip cancellation coverage up to $150,000, trip interruption coverage up to $225,000, emergency medical coverage of $50,000, coverage for baggage loss, theft, or damage up to $1,000, and travel delay coverage of up to $800.

The piece that stands out most prominently when comparing the two is the emergency medical coverage limits. Cat 70’s coverage of $500,000 is 10x more than Travel Guard’s Preferred plan. But otherwise, the two plans are relatively comparable, with the Travel Guard Preferred plan offering a bit more coverage for travel delay and baggage loss, theft, or damage.

Read our AIG Travel Insurance review here.

Cat 70 Travel Insurance vs AXA Travel Insurance

Now we’ll look at how Cat 70 compares to another popular travel insurance provider, AXA Assistance USA. AXA offers three levels of coverage, Gold, Silver, and Platinum. But for the purpose of this review, we’ll use the Silver plan. 

With AXA’s Silver plan, you’ll get up to 100% of trip costs for trip cancellation and up to 150% of trip costs for trip interruptions. You’ll also get $100,000 in emergency medical coverage, baggage loss coverage up to $1,500, and travel delay coverage of $1,000.

Those coverage limits are comparable to Cat 70’s Travel Plan in many ways. But Cat 70’s emergency medical coverage is superior. At the same time, AXA’s coverage for things like baggage loss and trip delay are better. The right plan for you will depend on which coverages are most important.

Read our AXA Travel Insurance review here.

Cat 70 vs Credit Card Travel Insurance

Do your research before buying a travel insurance policy if you already have a great rewards credit card. Standard coverage for a rental car is often included in credit card benefits.

Say you have no non-refundable trip costs and are driving to your destination. In this scenario, the coverage from your credit card may be sufficient. Another time it could work is if you’re in good health and have health insurance that covers you while overseas, and you aren’t concerned with potential medical expenses during your trip.

Just remember, credit card travel protection is often secondary. So if you have an accident or loss and need to file a claim, you must first file with the other insurance company before contacting your credit card provider.

Read our guide on the best credit cards with travel insurance here.

Cat 70 Travel Insurance FAQs

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Cat 70 Travel Insurance

In our review of Cat 70’s travel insurance, we compared Cat 70’s coverage alternatives to those from the best travel insurance providers. We looked at various coverage choices, claim limitations, what is covered, available extras, and extra services provided by the company.

When selecting a policy, the most crucial aspect isn’t simply the cost — it’s ensuring that you’re getting adequate coverage, too. Filing a claim should be straightforward if you ever have to utilize your policy.

Read more about how Business Insider rates insurance products here.