Do You Really Need Travel Insurance?

The question we hear more than any other — usually right before a client finalizes a trip — is "Do I really need travel insurance?" Our honest answer: for most of the trips we plan, yes. Not because anyone expects things to go wrong, but because a beautifully planned journey is a real investment of money, time and anticipation, and a good policy protects all three. Below is our complete guide: what travel insurance actually does, the two providers we're proud to partner with — Faye and Allianz — and how we help clients choose between them.

Why Travel Insurance Matters

Most travelers think of travel insurance as "cancellation coverage," and that's certainly part of it. But a comprehensive policy is really a bundle of protections that each solve a different problem. Here's what the core benefits do, in plain terms.

Trip Cancellation

If you have to cancel before you leave for a covered reason — a serious illness or injury (yours, a traveling companion's or a close family member's), a death in the family, certain severe weather events, and other reasons listed in the policy — trip cancellation reimburses the prepaid, non-refundable costs you've insured. On a luxury river cruise or a multi-country European itinerary, that can mean tens of thousands of dollars that would otherwise be lost.

Trip Interruption

Interruption is the mid-trip version of cancellation. If something happens after you've departed and you need to come home early — or join your trip late — it reimburses the unused portion of your trip and helps with the extra transportation cost of getting you where you need to be. Many comprehensive plans cover interruption at more than 100% of the trip cost precisely because last-minute one-way flights are expensive.

Travel Delay

When a covered delay strands you for hours — a mechanical problem, a severe storm, a missed flight because of an airline issue — travel delay benefits reimburse reasonable meals, lodging and local transportation, usually after a minimum waiting period and up to a daily and per-trip limit.

Missed Connection (Especially Important for Cruises)

A cruise ship won't wait for a late flight. Missed connection coverage helps with the cost of catching up to your cruise or tour when a covered delay causes you to miss the departure. It's one of the reasons we always recommend flying in at least a day before embarkation — and always recommend insurance for cruise clients.

Baggage Loss and Delay

Baggage coverage reimburses you if your belongings are lost, stolen or damaged, and baggage delay coverage helps you buy essentials while you wait for a delayed bag to catch up. Per-item limits apply, so very expensive jewelry, cameras and electronics may only be partially covered.

Emergency Medical Abroad

This is the protection most travelers underestimate. US domestic health plans often provide limited or no coverage outside the United States, and Original Medicare generally does not cover care received abroad except in very limited circumstances. That means a hospital stay in Italy or a broken ankle on a Caribbean shore excursion can become an out-of-pocket bill. Travel medical coverage fills that gap — and when it's primary coverage, it pays first, without you having to file with your own health insurer.

Emergency Medical Evacuation and Transportation

If you're seriously ill or injured somewhere without adequate care — a safari camp in Tanzania, a small Greek island, a ship at sea — evacuation coverage pays to transport you to an appropriate medical facility and, in many cases, home. These transports can be extraordinarily expensive, which is why we look closely at this limit on every policy we recommend.

24/7 Assistance Services

A good policy isn't just a reimbursement check after the fact. Round-the-clock assistance teams can help you find a doctor, coordinate with hospitals, replace lost passports, and rebook travel in the middle of the night. When something goes wrong far from home, a real person on the phone is worth a great deal.

Pre-Existing Condition Waivers

Most policies exclude claims related to medical conditions you had before buying coverage — unless you qualify for a pre-existing condition waiver. The catch: waivers are usually tied to buying your policy within a set window after your first trip deposit (both Faye and Allianz use 14 days), and you typically must be medically able to travel when you purchase. Miss that window and the waiver is generally off the table.

Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) Upgrades

Standard trip cancellation only pays for the covered reasons listed in your policy. A Cancel For Any Reason upgrade lets you cancel for reasons that aren't on that list — and typically reimburses a portion of your non-refundable costs, often 50–75% depending on the provider (Allianz's comparable "Cancel Anytime" upgrade reimburses 80%). CFAR almost always has to be purchased within a short window of your first deposit, and usually requires cancelling a minimum time before departure. It costs more, but for major trips where flexibility matters, it can be well worth it.

Why Cruise-Line Insurance Is Often Less Flexible

Cruise lines sell their own protection plans, and they're convenient to add at booking. But they often cover only the cruise itself (not your independently booked flights or pre-cruise hotel), may reimburse in future cruise credit rather than cash for some cancellations, and frequently carry lower medical and evacuation limits than a comprehensive third-party policy. A third-party plan like Faye or Allianz can cover your entire trip — flights, hotels, tours and cruise — under one policy, with benefits that follow you rather than the cruise line.

Our Preferred Partner: Faye

Faye offers a single comprehensive travel insurance plan that you tailor with optional add-ons, rather than a menu of tiers. Policies are underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company. Here's what the core plan includes, according to Faye's published coverage summary.

Faye's Core Coverage

• Emergency medical: up to $250,000, as primary coverage — Faye pays first, without you filing with your health insurer
• Medical evacuation: up to $500,000
• Non-medical evacuation: up to $100,000 (for example, if you need to be moved out of danger due to a natural disaster or security event)
• Trip cancellation: up to 100% of your insured, non-refundable trip costs
• Trip interruption: up to 150% of your insured, non-refundable trip costs, including additional transportation
• Trip delay and missed connection: reimbursement for covered delays, subject to minimum delay times and daily and per-trip limits shown in your policy
• Lost or damaged belongings: up to $2,000 per trip, with a per-item cap
• Pre-existing conditions: covered when you buy within 14 days of your initial trip deposit and are medically fit to travel when you purchase
• Virtual doctor access included

Faye's Add-Ons

This is where Faye really shines for our clients — you can shape the policy around your actual trip:

• Cancel For Any Reason: up to 75% of non-refundable trip costs. It must be purchased within 14 days of your initial trip deposit, and you must cancel at least 48 hours before your scheduled departure. (Not currently available to New York residents.)
• Cancel For Work Reasons: up to 100% of prepaid, non-refundable trip costs if, for example, you're unexpectedly required to work during your trip or receive an involuntary job transfer requiring relocation of more than 250 miles. Must be added within 14 days of your initial trip deposit; expect to provide employer documentation.
• Rental Car Care: up to $50,000 for accidental damage or theft of your rental car, as primary coverage
• Adventure & Extreme Sports: up to $250,000 for medical and transportation expenses related to covered activities such as skydiving or bungee jumping
• Vacation Rental Damage: up to $3,000 for accidental damage to a vacation rental property or its contents
• Pet Care: up to $2,500 in veterinary expenses and $250 for kenneling if your pet back home gets sick or your return is delayed

The Faye App and Claims Experience

Faye's app is a big part of why we lean their way. Rather than mailing paperwork and waiting, our clients get:

• Fully digital claims: file before, during or after your trip by uploading documents in the app, then track your claim's status at every step
• Faye Wallet: approved reimbursements are sent to a digital payment card you can add to Apple Pay or Google Pay — usable even while you're still traveling — or transfer to your bank account
• Real-time flight alerts: live updates on delays, cancellations and gate changes, right on your lock screen
• Safekeeping: secure storage for travel documents like your passport and tickets, accessible offline
• 24/7 human support through in-app chat, phone or email — even on holidays
• Telemedicine through Air Doctor's network of doctors while you're abroad

When something goes wrong at 11pm in a foreign airport, being able to reach a real person and track exactly what's happening matters enormously.

Also Trusted: Allianz Travel Insurance

Where Faye offers one customizable plan, Allianz offers a lineup of plans at different benefit levels. That structure is helpful when a traveler wants a very specific level of coverage — or wants one policy to cover a whole year of trips.

Allianz Single-Trip Plans

Allianz's single-trip lineup includes OneTrip Prime, OneTrip Premier, OneTrip Basic, OneTrip Cancellation Plus and the OneTrip Emergency Medical plan. The two we discuss with clients most often are Prime and Premier. According to Allianz's own plan comparison:

• OneTrip Prime: trip cancellation up to $100,000; trip interruption up to 150% of the amount purchased; emergency medical up to $50,000; emergency medical transportation up to $500,000; baggage loss up to $1,000; baggage delay up to $300; travel delay up to $800 ($200 daily)
• OneTrip Premier: trip cancellation up to $200,000; trip interruption up to 150% of the amount purchased; emergency medical up to $75,000; emergency medical transportation up to $1,000,000; baggage loss up to $2,000; baggage delay up to $600; travel delay up to $1,600 ($200 daily)
• Both Prime and Premier include SmartBenefits (a fixed $100 per insured person, per day for covered travel or baggage delays, with no receipts required — just proof of the delay), pre-existing medical condition coverage options, concierge services, and coverage for children 17 and under at no extra cost

The OneTrip Cancellation Plus plan focuses on cancellation and interruption without significant medical benefits, while the OneTrip Emergency Medical plan focuses on medical and transportation coverage without cancellation — options that can make sense in narrower situations.

Allianz Cancel Anytime

Allianz's version of CFAR is an upgrade called Cancel Anytime, available on OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier (not in all states). It reimburses 80% of your unused, prepaid, non-refundable trip costs if you cancel for almost any unforeseeable reason your plan doesn't already cover, up to and including the day of departure. It must be purchased within 14 days of your first trip deposit, and your trip must begin at least 30 days after purchase.

Allianz Annual (Multi-Trip) Plans

This is where Allianz stands out. Its AllTrips plans cover every trip you take during a policy year, which can be simpler and more economical for frequent travelers. The lineup includes AllTrips Basic, AllTrips Prime, AllTrips Premier and AllTrips Executive. Per Allianz's annual plan comparison:

• AllTrips Prime: trip cancellation of $3,000 per insured, per year; emergency medical of $20,000 and emergency transportation of $100,000 per insured, per trip; rental car coverage of $45,000; trips up to 45 days
• AllTrips Premier: trip cancellation options of $2,000, $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 per policy, per year; emergency medical of $50,000 and emergency transportation of $500,000 per insured, per trip; rental car coverage of $45,000; trips up to 90 days

Note that annual plans cap cancellation coverage per year, so a single very expensive trip may need its own single-trip policy instead.

Allianz Assistance

Every Allianz plan includes access to its 24-Hour Assistance Hotline, available by phone or through the complimentary Allyz® app, for medical emergencies, travel changes, lost documents and more. Allianz Partners' long-established global assistance operation is one of the reasons it remains a trusted name.

Who Allianz Suits Best

In our experience, Allianz is a particularly good fit for frequent travelers who'd rather buy one annual policy than insure each trip separately, for travelers who want a specific named benefit tier (such as Premier's $1,000,000 emergency transportation limit), and for families who value the included coverage for children on OneTrip Prime and Premier.

Faye vs. Allianz: Side by Side

Here's how our two partners compare on the dimensions our clients ask about most. Figures reflect each provider's published plan information; your actual limits depend on the plan, add-ons and state.

Which One Should I Choose?

Both are excellent, and we're happy to place clients with either. As general guidance:

Every trip is different, so we compare actual quotes for your itinerary, travelers and state before making a recommendation.

How to Buy Travel Insurance the Smart Way

When to Buy

Ideally, buy your policy right after you make your first trip payment. That keeps you inside the windows for pre-existing condition waivers and for upgrades like CFAR, Cancel For Work Reasons and Cancel Anytime — all of which are tied to 14 days from your initial deposit with our partners. You'll also be protected sooner: cancellation coverage can't help with something that happens before you buy it.

What to Read in Your Policy

• The list of covered reasons for cancellation and interruption — this is the heart of the policy
• Benefit limits for medical, evacuation, baggage and delays, including per-day and per-item caps
• Whether medical coverage is primary or secondary
• Time thresholds — how long a delay must last before benefits begin
• Waiver and upgrade requirements — purchase windows, insuring your full trip cost, being medically fit to travel
• The exclusions section — read it before you need it, not after

How to Document a Claim

Good documentation is what turns a stressful situation into a smooth claim. Keep every receipt for meals, lodging and transportation during a delay. Get written confirmation from the airline or cruise line of any delay or cancellation and its cause. For medical issues, request itemized bills and the treating doctor's notes. For lost or stolen items, file a report with the airline or local police right away. And contact your insurer's assistance line early — before major decisions, when possible — so they can help and so there's a record of the event.

The Bottom Line

Travel insurance isn't glamorous. You buy it hoping you'll never need it. But we've seen clients who were enormously grateful they had it — and travelers who weren't protected and faced painful financial consequences from things entirely outside their control. A sudden illness. A family emergency. A hurricane. An accident on a scooter in Bali.

Our recommendation: for any international trip, any cruise, any expensive non-refundable booking, or any trip you'd be heartbroken to lose — get the insurance, and get it early. For most trips, we'll point you toward Faye. For frequent travelers or anyone who needs a specific plan tier, Allianz is a terrific choice. Either way, you'll travel knowing you're protected.