Taylor Swift performs during the Eras Tour at Estádio Olímpico in Rio de Janeiro.
The 2024 Summer Olympics. The UEFA European Football Championship. Taylor Swift’s European tour.
It’s the summer of big events. And if you’re traveling, big events can be big trouble.
“You may want to consider insurance for a concert, festival, sporting event, or other large-scale event,” says Michael Giusti, an analyst with InsuranceQuotes.com.
A new survey by Faye Travel Insurance found 21% of summer travelers are attending a concert and 14% are traveling for a sports event like the Olympics or a soccer championship. Another study by Squaremouth.com revealed that 27% of respondents are traveling to a concert this summer and 25% are attending a sporting event. With people spending thousands of dollars to travel to a venue — and sometimes tens of thousands of dollars for an event ticket — you don’t want to lose everything because of a delay or mishap.
Insurance can help, and when it comes to this summer’s big events, there are actually several types of insurance worth considering.
“For special events, there may be some ticket insurance options available through specific ticket vendors,” says Scott Adamski, head of global product development at Travel Guard. “But in the case that someone is traveling some distance to an event venue, a comprehensive travel insurance plan may provide additional protection.”
In other words, there’s insurance for your ticket and insurance for your trip. Let’s review each of them.
What is event protection and how does it work?
If you’re headed to any event this summer, you can get insurance that covers the event.
For example, Allianz’s Event Ticket Protector, which is offered through several ticketing platforms, can reimburse 100 percent of your ticket price, including taxes, convenience fees, shipping charges and other fees such as parking if you have to miss your event.
Event ticket protection, like travel insurance, only covers certain occurrences. They include an illness or serious injury, traffic accidents, airline delays, jury duty, mechanical breakdown, loss of job, and military duty.
“So if you come down with the flu before the Taylor Swift concert or jury duty delays your trip to the Olympics, you can at least find solace in being able to recoup your ticket costs,” explains Daniel Durazo, director of external communications at Allianz Partners USA.
You can also get optional event ticket coverage when you buy travel insurance, says Angela Borden, a marketing manager at Seven Corners.
But there are important restrictions. Some event ticket coverage is only available through a ticket seller, and only at the time you purchase your tickets. And even if you buy travel insurance later, there are limits.
“You must add that coverage during what’s called the time-sensitive period, which is typically within 20 days of purchasing your ticket,” explains Borden.
And the other biggie is that event ticket insurance doesn’t cover everything. The cancellation or interruption must be for a covered reason as outlined in your plan. This includes unexpected events like an illness that prevents you from traveling or a natural disaster, notes Borden.
But there’s another option that might offer you more coverage.
Does travel insurance cover special events?
Travel insurance can also cover special events. Trip cancellation and trip interruption coverages that are included in most comprehensive travel insurance policies typically offer coverage for tickets for concerts, festivals, excursions, retreats, theme parks, and other event tickets that you’ve paid for in advance.
“Travel insurance can absolutely cover the cost of nonrefundable tickets for events,” says Jenna Hummer, a spokeswoman for Squaremouth.com. “You simply need to include the nonrefundable cost of those tickets as part of the trip cost that you enter when you’re searching for a travel insurance policy.”
For example, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection’s (BHTP) ExactCare policy provides reimbursement for nonrefundable trip payments, including concert and sporting tickets, should a covered emergency such as illness, injury or a natural disaster force you to cancel. (ExactCare also protects you against common pitfalls including medical emergencies, flight delays and cancellations, and lost, stolen, damaged or delayed baggage — so you’re protecting more than your Taylor Swift tickets.)
“Travel insurance can help protect your prepaid, nonrefundable vacation investments,” says Carol Mueller, vice president at BHTP. “But I always recommend purchasing insurance as soon as you put your first nonrefundable dollar down on your trip.”
That’s good advice. The sooner you insure the trip, and the event tickets, the better you’ll be able to insure. Some travel insurance policies will even cover pre-existing medical conditions if you buy the policy at the time you book your vacation.
What’s the best insurance to buy when I’m traveling to an event?
If you’re headed abroad for a special event, experts say you should strongly consider some kind of insurance.
“Getting the right insurance can give you peace of mind and protect your money when you go to considerable events like the Olympics or Taylor Swift’s European tour,” says Joe Cronin, president of International Citizens Insurance.
Here’s some buying advice:
Read the fine print
Always a good idea with any consumer purchase, but now more than ever. Make sure you read the terms and conditions of your policy. And don’t assume the policy covers everything. Ideally, it would at least include coverage for nonrefundable trip-related expenses. Also, pay attention to the criteria that must be met for the coverage to apply, says Adamski of Travel Guard.
Be careful who you buy your event ticket from
Remember, you can buy travel insurance that would cover an event up until the day before your departure. But where you buy the ticket matters, says Dan Skilken, president of TripInsurance.com. “Make sure you are buying from a ticketing agency or the actual event,” he says. “If you purchase from a scalper, you may not have adequate receipts or fall under the general definitions of a travel supplier in the plan.”
You can cover bad weather, too
One common misperception is that travel insurance covers loss of enjoyment, such as when your event gets rained out. It doesn’t — but don’t worry, there’s coverage that can help. A company like Sensible Weather allows you to get protection for events such as golf tournaments or live shows and get reimbursed if rain or high temperatures are present during the experience. “We don’t require customers to cancel or file a claim to be reimbursed,” adds Nick Cavanaugh, CEO of Sensible Weather. “Everything is automated.”
Bottom line: There are at least two ways to cover your summer events. But you have to be smart and read the terms and conditions of your policy if you want to be fully covered.