Travelex Travel Insurance Review 2024

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Travel insurance can be a smart way to counter the unpredictability of life and travel. One popular travel insurance company is Travelex Insurance Services, or Travelex travel insurance for short. It’s one of our top picks for the best travel insurance companies, with both domestic and international options. Travelex makes it easy to identify key differences between plans to make clear decisions.

It separates itself by offering a plan exclusively made for road trips around the US. Like other travel insurance companies, Travelex offers online quotes if you answer a few questions. It also offers some more specialized features like cancel for any reason travel insurance and sports equipment delay coverage.

Travelex Travel Insurance Overview

Travelex International is a travel insurance provider based in Omaha, Nebraska, providing coverage for unexpected travel expenses since 1996. Unlike other travel insurance providers with long lists of various plans and tiers, Travelex has a grand total of three plans: Travel Basic, Travel Select, and Travel USA. 

The simplicity of its offerings is refreshing, taking some of the stress out of shopping for travel insurance. However, it also restricting, removing the flexibility that travelers may prefer in their policy. For example, Travel Basic doesn’t offer CFAR coverage or pre-existing condition waivers, regardless of when you buy the policy. Without any in-between plans, travelers either need to opt for Travel Select or choose a different travel agency altogether.

That said, the Travel Select plan is very comprehensive. Travel Select includes the CFAR and pre-existing coverage that Travel Basic lacks. It also offers early purchase benefits, such as coverage for cancellations due to work. Kids under 17 are also covered as long as they’re traveling with a covered adult. 

Travelex is well-reviewed by customers, though the sample size is relatively small. Travelex received an average rating of 4.1 out of five stars across nearly 483 reviews on its Trustpilot page and 4.43 out of five stars across over 2,000 on its SquareMouth page. Negative reviews expressed frustration with low daily coverage limits.

Travelex Policies Offered

Travelex travel insurance offers three comprehensive policies with varying coverage at different price points. Here’s a snapshot of the plans and perks of each travel insurance plan. It also has three more specialized plan options for medical and flight-only coverage.

Travel Basic

The Travel Basic travel insurance plan is Travelex’s economic option for travelers who are looking for cheap travel insurance with just the essentials. It offers most of the features you’ll find with any travel insurance plan, such as trip cancellation, trip interruption, emergency medical, and emergency medical evacuation, .

The Travel Basic plan is an introduction into what travel insurance covers. It does not include sporting equipment delay, and kids aren’t included in the coverage. Additionally, this option won’t cover any preexisting conditions or events caused by intoxication. However, it offers optional coverage for car rental collision and flight accidental death and dismemberment. Most buyers choose this when the budget is tight or it’s a short trip.

Travel Select

The Travel Select option is more comprehensive compared to the Travel Basic plan. For example, it has higher coverage limits with up to $2,000 in trip delay coverage and up to $50,000 in emergency medical coverage compared to the Basic Plan’s limit of just $500 and $15,000, respectively. It also offers more travel insurance benefits overall.

Kids are automatically included in coverage as long as they are under 18. This plan also covers pre-existing conditions if the policy is purchased within 15 days of when your initial trip payment is due. If you’re traveling for a sporting event, Travel Select specifically covers delays for sports equipment.

Travel America

The Travel America option from Travelex is designed for short excursions within the US, only available for trips 14 days long or shorter. However, coverage is far more extensive than the other two plans. It matches the coverage limits of Travel Select and exceeds the limits in areas like lost baggage. In addition, emergency medical evacuation and repatriation coverage is limited as coverage is specifically for domestic trips.

Travel America may be ideal for road trips as well. It covers roadside assistance and car rental collision coverage. However, the most significant upgrade for families traveling domestically is coverage for lost pets and unexpected veterinary expenses. See below for a side-by-side comparison of these three plans.

Additional Coverage Options Offered By Travelex (Riders)

Depending on your Travelex policy, you may be able to get extra add-ons to your policy, including the following:

Car rental collision coverage

If you’re buying a Travel Basic and Travel Select plan, you can upgrade your coverage to include car rental collision coverage. Buyers ensure they’re protected in an accident with a rental car. Travelex covers cars against accidents, vandalism, and natural events like flooding, fires, or hail.

AD&D common carrier (air only)

Travel Basic and Travel Select plans also offer upgrades to the standard AD&D coverage. This covers accidental death and dismemberment should anything happen during your flight or while you board or deplane. The AD&D common carrier coverage add-on is limited to $200,000.

Additional medical coverage

Especially when visiting another country, the additional medical coverage add-on with Travel Select does three key things:

• Helps you avoid unexpected medical bills
• Ensures prompt treatment in an emergency
• Provides peace of mind for the unexpected

With this add-on, you can feel more secure with an extra $50,000 in medical coverage plus $500,000 in medical evacuation coverage. This is on top of what you get with the Travel Select plan, which doubles your coverage.

Adventure sports coverage

Consider the Travel Select policy with an adventure sports coverage upgrade if you want to engage in extreme sports or risky adventures. This can include skydiving, mountain climbing, or parasailing. The good news is the Travel Basic and Travel Select plans cover some activities already, including hiking, scuba diving, horseback riding, and bungee cord jumping. The adventure sports coverage add-on can protect you during other high-risk activities.

Cancel for any reason

The flexibility to cancel your trip and recoup some expenses is a significant perk, as many things could happen. Among the best CFAR travel insurance policies, Travelex’s Travel Select plan allows for a CFAR add-on. As you can imagine from the name, you can cancel for any reason as long as it’s within 48 hours of your departure. In addition, you are eligible for up to 75% of the insured trip cost. Buyers must purchase cancel for any reason coverage alongside the base plan within 15 days of the first trip-related payment.

Travelex Travel Insurance Cost

The rates for Travelex travel insurance vary depending on where you’re traveling to, which plan you select, your age, and the length of the trip.

Below are a few examples of coverage options and costs from Travelex as of April 2024.

For example, let’s look at what it would cost to insure a 35-year-old resident of Ohio spending $8,000 on a two-week trip to France. Below are the costs for Travelex’s two international travel plans. 

Now let’s look at the cost of coverage for a 55-year-old from Colorado traveling to Argentina and spending $6,000 on a three-week trip.

Lastly, we’ll look at the premium costs for a 45-year-old resident of Texas traveling to Fiji for two weeks and spending $7,000 on the trip.

The average cost of travel insurance can range between 4% to 15% of your trip’s cost. Travelex’s premiums place the provider on the lower end of that spectrum, though its cost should be evaluated within the context of what it provides. Travel Basic is one of the lighter services on the market, lacking coverage for pre-existing conditions and optional CFAR coverage. It also has lower coverage limits than its competitors, offering a $10,000 limit for trip cancellation and $15,000 for medical emergencies. 

How to File a Claim With Travelex

To file a claim with Travelex travel services, you can complete a claim form online with your Plan ID number. Ensure you have receipts, confirmations, medical documents, and other supporting documents.

For additional questions, you can contact Travelex’s underwriters: Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company and Zurich Travel Assist. You can reach BHTP by phone at 1-855-205-6054 or by email at travelex.claims@bhspecialty.com. You can contact Zurich Travel Assist via phone at 1-800-501-4781 or by email at claims@zurichtravelassist.com.

Compare Travelex Travel Insurance

See how Travelex Travel Insurance stacks up against the competition.

Travelex Travel Insurance vs. Allianz Travel Insurance

When shopping for travel insurance, there are many options out there on the market. One of the foremost leaders in the space is Allianz. It offers more plans than Travelex travel insurance. In addition, Allianz may provide you with more choices if you want to buy coverage for a period (such as all trips meeting specific guidelines in the next calendar year).

However, one major perk for Travelex is the ability to add on cancel for any reason coverage easily. Unfortunately, CFAR is not available via Allianz online. According to our research, Allianz plans also lack pet coverage, sports equipment coverage, and other specialty options available with Travelex’s Travel Select.

Read our Allianz travel insurance review here.

Travelex Travel Insurance vs. AIG Travel Guard

Another contender in the travel insurance space is AIG Travel Guard. Like Travelex, AIG offers three major travel insurance coverage options. These include the Essential Plan, Preferred Plan, and Deluxe Plan.

However, AIG Travel Guard stands out as it also offers an annual travel insurance option. All Travelex plans are meant to be purchased far ahead. AIG separates itself with a unique travel insurance plan for last-minute coverage called the Pack N’ Go Plan offering only post-departure benefits. The Travel Guard Preferred plan is similar to the Travelex Select Plan, as both cover 100% of trip cancellations and $50,000 for medical expenses.

Read our AIG Travel Guard travel insurance review here.

Travelex Travel Insurance vs. Credit Cards

If you have a rewards credit card, you may not realize some cards include limited travel insurance benefits. Typically, this is limited to small amounts for trip cancellation, trip delay, and baggage delays. In addition, some credit cards and your auto insurance company may cover rental cars if you’re traveling domestically. If looking into travel insurance coverage, you can see if you get any benefits via your credit card.

Credit card travel protection may be limited compared to a comprehensive travel insurance plan through a company like Travelex. If you don’t have a credit card but are looking at one as a replacement, you may have to contend with a high annual fee. It’s best to check out credit cards with travel insurance coverage and any fees. Then you can compare individual policies with Travelex to see what’s a good fit for your needs.

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

Why You Should Trust Us: What Went Into Our Travelex Review

As part of the Travelex travel insurance review, we looked at the top travel insurance companies and compared plans based on various factors. These include the number of options, affordability, coverage limits, cancel for any reason add-ons, customer service, and credibility.

Travelex’s Travel Basic plan is a pay-for-what-you-get situation, where the coverage limits are low and add-ons are limited, but the price is fairly low. Travel USA offers decent coverage for short, domestic trips such as a road trip. Travel Select is fairly competitive for its price, with kids-included pricing and a handful of early purchase benefits. Additionally, those who participate in extreme sports may consider Travelex for coverage.

Read more about how we rate insurance products here.

Travelex Travel Insurance Frequently Asked Questions