When to Buy Travel Insurance? Everything You Need To Know

You've decided you need travel insurance for an upcoming trip (great choice!), but now you need to know when to buy it, right? We recommend that you purchase travel insurance as soon as you’ve booked your trip. You do have some options, and we'll go over those, but the important thing to remember is that purchasing early allows you to use your travel insurance benefits sooner. 

For example, say you make a nonrefundable deposit on an all-inclusive resort, and you buy your travel insurance that same day. A week later you need to cancel because an immediate family member unexpectedly becomes sick and requires you to take care of them. If the travel insurance plan you purchased includes trip cancellation benefits, you may be eligible for coverage. Because you purchased your travel insurance early and protected your trip investment, you may be eligible to submit a claim for reimbursement under your policy. Without travel insurance, your trip investment is not protected.  

While you can purchase your travel insurance at any point before leaving on your trip, there are a few added benefits to purchasing early. Our plans still come with great comprehensive coverage no matter when you purchase – that won't change! Be sure to check your specific policy documents to see what benefits you'll qualify for, and any limitations or exclusions.

• Trip Cancellation
• Trip Delay
• Trip Interruption
• Lost Baggage
• Medical Expenses

Though it’s possible to purchase travel insurance up to 24 hours prior to your trip departure, the most beneficial time will be as soon as you book your trip and incur prepaid, nonrefundable trip expenses. For the trip cancellation coverage under most travel insurance plans that include trip cancellation benefits, coverage is activated the day after you purchase your travel insurance. 

As you're deciding when to purchase your travel insurance, make sure you consider those pre-departure benefits that could come into play should you need to cancel your trip. You're not travelling yet, but your Travel Guard travel insurance plan could still be working hard for you.

Yes! You don't have to have every detail of your trip figured out before purchasing your Travel Guard travel insurance plan. We know that planning travel is a process and can take months to finalize. Because of that, you can make certain changes and modifications (such as increasing the amount of your insured trip cost) to your policy after you purchase. 

Depending on the type of planner you are, the last minute can mean the week before your trip or while you're on the way to the airport (we've been there!). But either way, the answer is yes. Some travel insurance plans can be purchased up until the day you start your trip.