You’ve likely been buying travel insurance wrong. Here’s a new approach.
Ain’t no shame in the trip protection game. There are so many different options for travel insurance and all you want to do is hop on the plane and get away for a bit. We get it and insurance for your trip is likely the last thing on your mind.
We sincerely applaud anyone who decides to insure their trip, even if it’s not with battleface. Truly. And there is a myriad of ways to secure coverage, but the options can be overwhelming. We get that, too.
Here are the most popular ways to add travel insurance based on our research:
- Checking the add travel insurance box during the flight booking process.
- Checking the add travel insurance box during the hotel booking process.
- Relying on travel protection through your credit card.
- Buying coverage through an online travel booking platform.
- Buying coverage through your travel agent.
- Checking the add travel insurance box during the cruise booking process.
- Getting specific coverage for vacation rentals on sites like Airbnb or VRBO.
- Searching and buying a trip insurance plan on a comparison website.
- Buying a plan directly on a travel insurance provider’s website.
Even with all these ways to protect a trip, the most recent studies found that only 20% of American travelers opt for trip insurance. The only reason this percentage increased as of recently is because 1. COVID-19 and 2. A lot of countries were mandating it to enter.
Now that COVID is in the rearview mirror and countries have fully opened without restrictions, it’s difficult to say whether American travelers will continue adding travel insurance at the same level of 2022 and 2023.
Is there a wrong way to buy travel insurance?
Not necessarily. But there is a pretty significant education gap when it comes to insurance for travelers. It’s not like home, auto, or life insurance. Here are some important things to know that could help you the next time you’re planning a trip and are considering travel insurance.
You might have travel insurance benefits through a credit card and not know it
Credit card travel insurance has become more common, especially through premium cards with annual dues and specialized travel credit card programs.
Airlines and hotels like United, American, Delta, Marriott, and Hilton partner with credit card companies to offer unique travel-specific benefits to earn extra points/miles. A lot of these card options come equipped with travel insurance and/or travel assistance benefits though it’s not totally obvious at the time of enrollment.
Read more about credit card travel insurance here.
What to know about checking the box for insurance when buying a flight or hotel
While this is the easiest way to buy a policy, you are only insuring the cost of flight or hotel stay. IE: if the airfare is $500 and is non-refundable, you’re insuring only that cost and no other travel expenses. If you have other trip costs, that won’t be insured by the policy you purchased through the airline.
The reason buying through airlines or hotels is so easy is because you are providing all the travel information insurers need to quote a price when you’re setting your travel itinerary. Insurers are able to grab that information to generate a quote in the background to display right before you proceed to payment.
Travel expert advice: whether you’re adding travel cover directly on an airline, hotel, or cruise website, be aware that the price reflected only insures the cost of that specific item of the trip. In the event you have all three of those planned for one trip, it is not advised to buy three separate policies.
If you’ve decided to buy direct on another provider’s website, here’s what you need to know
Most travel insurance providers who offer their plans direct-to-consumers in a traditional e-commerce purchase experience will do one of two things or both:
- Offer comprehensive trip protection plans using a “good, better, best” type of format where the benefits are bundled in one plan with varying limits causing the price to change depending on how much coverage you opt to buy.
- Offer an array of different products with reduced benefits that are more specific to certain types of trips and travelers. Examples would include:
- Annual travel insurance plans for frequent travelers
- Travel medical only plans for international trips only
- Vacation rental-specific plans
- Study abroad-specific plans for students or faculty
- Medical evacuation only plans
One point worth mentioning is understanding the term “comprehensive” in relation to travel protection plans. Unlike coverage you can buy on an airline’s website, these comprehensive plans provide more robust coverage with more benefits and insure the trip cost for the entire trip.
These are often a desirable choice for travelers because not only do they offer more coverage with non-insurance travel assistance services, but there are also optional upgrades to consider for even more protection. Cancel for any reason (CFAR), as an example, is a popular one among travelers.
What to watch out for: while most providers will present good, better, best options for travelers with varying price points and coverage limits, you will be paying for all the benefits even if there are some included that you don’t feel you need.
The new approach to buying more affordable travel insurance: unbundled benefits
This isn’t a marketing campaign. This is real, potential cost savings travelers could get just by being more aware of what to purchase and how to purchase it.
State Farm has Jake, Progressive has Flo, Geico has the Gecko, and you’re “in good hands” with AllState. With battleface, we have unbundled. Here’s what that actually means and why you should care.
- Bundled, comprehensive trip protection plans include trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, baggage protection, travel medical expenses, and medical evacuation baked into one policy without the ability to remove a benefit to lower your price for coverage.
- An unbundled approach takes all those benefits and makes them a-la-carte. You as the traveler buying a policy have the freedom to choose whichever benefits you need for all the different types of trips you take.
- Why does this matter? It’s different compared to any other way you can buy travel insurance and it could save you a lot of money in the process.
Aligning this unbundled approach to real trip scenarios
Scenario 1: Ohio-based family of five is flying to Florida for a 6-night Spring Break trip at an all-inclusive beach resort with a total trip cost of $5,000.
This midwestern family takes one or two trips per year and this one (Spring Break) is usually the big one that they have been saving for. Because of this, and because it’s a domestic trip, here is the type of unbundled travel insurance plan they should consider:
- Trip cancellation
- Trip delay
- Baggage protection
Why not include trip interruption, travel medical, or medical evacuation?
This family could include trip interruption if they wanted the extra coverage. But it would increase the cost of the policy and with trip cancellation and trip delay added, that might be enough for them.
With this being a domestic trip from Ohio to Florida, paying extra for travel medical and medical evacuation is likely not necessary for them.
Scenario 2: New York-based solo traveler is taking a 2-week trip to Thailand for work and vacation and is staying in a vacation rental property for the entire duration of the trip. Their non-refundable trip cost (that isn’t being paid by her company) is $2,000.
This young professional loves to blend work trips into leisure – aka, bleisure travel as it’s now called. This is her first time traveling to Thailand and very much looking forward to the food and night life. Here are the benefits we’d recommend they consider:
- Trip interruption & cancellation
- Travel medical
- Baggage protection
- Vacation rental damage
Given the logistical challenges of getting from New York to Thailand, it would be recommended for this solo traveler to add trip interruption and baggage protection.
Also, as a U.S. traveler going outside their home country, travel medical is always recommended even if healthcare in Thailand is socialized and likely less expensive.
Lastly, ever if this traveler is a neat freak and staying in a vacation rental by themselves, the possibility of any damage they could be responsible for is still real, which is why adding the vacation rental damage benefit could come in handy – just in case!
Scenario 3: a mid-30s, married couple are taking their first trip together without the kids in years. This Colorado couple are heading to Cancun, Mexico for a one-week stay at an all-inclusive resort. Total trip cost for their week-long getaway is $2,000 per person.
They will, of course, miss the kids and start looking at old photos when they were younger on the flight south of the border. But a few nights away together has been a long time coming. The last thing they want is for the trip to be disrupted – here’s a trip protection plan they should consider:
- Trip cancellation
- Trip interruption
- Trip delay
- Travel medical
- Cancel for any reason (CFAR)
They’ve been saving money for this trip for a while and would be devastated to have to cancel. But life happens, especially with kids, and adding the extra CFAR protection would be in their best interest.
And since they are traveling during the start of unpredictable weather in Colorado, plus the tail end of hurricane season, this heightens the risk for interruption and delay in their travel plans.
Expert travel tip: regardless of time of year, it’s always wise to buy travel insurance earlier rather than later, especially during hurricane season in the U.S., the summer months during the peak travel season, or even during the winter when weather is prone to disrupt air travel.
What if a traveler only wants the travel medical benefit?
Some trips may be paid for by another person or possibly a company if you’re traveling for business. If it’s not your money and you are not concerned with interruptions or delays, you can opt out of those specific benefits and only purchase travel medical insurance.
Other non-insurance benefits you may not know you have in your policy
Sometimes it’s obvious, other times it’s not, but what’s important for travelers to know is buying an unbundled battleface travel insurance plan does come with a bundled and comprehensive package of assistance and service support.
What does it mean for you as a traveler? In short, from the time you click “purchase” until your trip end date, you have a team of travel assistance coordinators and medical staff on standby to help you.
At battleface, our customer service, assistance, claims, and medical team are all part of one centralized team called Robin Assist. When you buy a battleface policy, you are also buying the customer care of Robin Assist.
Here are what a few of our customers have said about the Robin Assist team and the quality of service they have provided:
Elaine said on March 13th “I was not expecting a reply this late at night. Awesome service.”
Fred said on March 12th “My representative (Lisa) was very nice, polite, knowledgeable, and patient. Thank you for your help and consideration in this matter.”
Dasha said on March 18th “Super helpful, thank you Emma for your time and wonderful communication.”
Angela said on March 8th “You are lucky to have Emma at Battleface! She’s the best there is!! Fantastic customer service.”
Recap of information
The most important takeaway to reiterate is, there is not a “wrong” way to buy travel protection. There are different ways to buy and it’s important for travelers to understand what they are actually buying.
The easiest and least expensive way to buy travel insurance is through the booking path of a flight, hotel, cruise, or online travel agency.
- Remember: this way of buying will only insure the cost of the singular item you’re buying – IE: round trip flights, nights at a hotel, or cost of a cruise. If your trip includes all three of those and you only buy one policy through the airline, you are NOT insuring the cost of the hotel or cruise.
The most comprehensive way to buy travel insurance with the most coverage and benefits is a bundled plan purchased via an insurance provider’s website, comparison websites, or travel agent.
- Remember: these plans make a lot of sense and offer more complete coverage for trips. But travelers do NOT have the ability to adjust the price of the plan by removing benefits they might not want or need.
And, we would argue, the new and smarter way to buy only the benefits you need is an unbundled approach through battleface.com or through our partners offering our unbundled plans on their websites. You’ll see the same prices regardless!
- Remember: this new approach to buying trip protection is not widely known by travelers. The upside to picking and choosing only what you need is customization and cost savings. However, the downside could be a situation where you do NOT select a benefit but find yourself on a trip when it would have been handy to have.
We built battleface differently to put customers first, not only for the buying process with unique and “for you” specific plans, but also equipping our assistance and claims team with experts from around the world leveraging best-in-class technology.
