The Best Annual Travel Insurance Of 2024

Policy name	Company	Company - Logo	Forbes Advisor Rating	Forbes Advisor Rating	Covers trip cancellation?	Medical/medical evacuation coverage included		Cost for a 40-year-old traveler
Trekker Choice	GeoBlue			5.0	No	$1 million/$500,000		$175
Trekker Essential	GeoBlue			4.5	No	$500,000/$250,000		$125
Safe Travels Annual Basic	Trawick International			4.0	Yes	$10,000/$50,000		$155

Coverage and cost source: Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison provider.

The 3 Best Annual Travel Insurance Plans for 2024

Multi-trip travel insurance, also known as annual travel insurance, is a policy that covers multiple trips for a year from the effective date of the policy. These policies have a per-trip duration limitation. Generally, the maximum trip length for each trip taken during the 364-day period ranges from 30 to 90 days.

There are variations in multi-trip plans. “While an annual plan is the most common for these travel insurance policies, there are some variations, such as a six-month term for students on a study abroad program, or policies that companies might purchase for employees on extended overseas assignments,” says Scott Adamski, spokesperson for AIG Travel Guard.

Basic annual travel insurance policies often do not have trip cancellation insurance, though you can buy more comprehensive annual plans that include it.

A multi-trip travel insurance policy often provides these important benefits:

• Trip delay: If your trip is delayed due to a reason listed on your policy—severe weather, for instance—travel delay insurance benefits pay for meals, hotels and transportation while you’re waiting for your flight.
• Trip interruption: Trip interruption coverage provides coverage for expenses if you need to cut your trip short and return home due to death, illness or injury, family emergencies or other reasons listed in the policy.
• Medical expenses: Travel medical insurance covers emergency medical-related expenses during your trip such as doctor’s visits, X-rays, hospitalization and medicine.
• Medical evacuation: Medical evacuation travel insurance compensates costs for emergency transport to get you immediate medical treatment.
• Baggage: Baggage insurance helps pay for delays and losses of your luggage and personal effects.

Even if you’re planning a few trips over the next year, a multi-trip plan might not be the right choice depending on the coverage you want.

Policy feature	Single-trip policy	Annual policy
Trip cancellation	Yes	Sometimes or as an add-on
“Cancel for any reason” upgrade	Sometimes	No
Medical expenses coverage	Yes	Yes
Emergency medical evacuation coverage	Yes	Yes
Travel delay coverage	Yes	Sometimes
Trip interruption coverage	Yes	Sometimes
Baggage loss coverage	Yes	Yes
Covers multiple trips	Yes	No
Covers cruises	Yes	Yes
24/7 assistance	Yes	Yes
Has trip duration limit	Yes	Yes

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Annual travel insurance is best for those who intend to take multiple trips over the next year and who want a cost-effective way to buy travel insurance coverage. The types of trips you’re planning will generally determine if a multi-trip travel insurance plan is the best fit for you.

“An individual or family taking four or five trips in a year where each trip is 10 days or less will likely spend less purchasing multiple single-trip plans,” says Don Van Scyoc with GeoBlue.

“Although rates and coverage vary by your age and company, if you will be out of the country 40 or more days on multiple trips during a 12-month period, you will usually be best served by a multi-trip plan,” he says.

Basic multi-trip travel insurance plans are best for:

• Travelers who take lots of trips within a year.
• Those who want to save money, as multi-trip plans are generally less expensive than insuring multiple trips individually.
• Travelers who aren’t concerned about trip cancellation benefits.
• People who take last-minute trips and want the convenience of having a year-long travel insurance policy in place.
• Business travelers who travel frequently.

For expensive, international travel, or even high-value trips taken domestically, Adamski says a single-trip travel insurance plan is likely a better option. That’s primarily because of the trip cancellation benefit that comes with per trip plans.

“For lower-cost trips (short domestic flights, or even road-trips) where your main concern is catastrophic-based benefits—medical expense and evacuation—the annual plan might be your best option,” Adamski says.

The cost of a multi-trip policy will primarily depend on the coverage levels included and your age.

If you’re planning several trips, an annual plan is likely to be much more cost-effective, assuming it has the coverage you need. Annual travel insurance could be more cost-effective than single-trip insurance when you’re planning three or more trips, such as in the example below.

	Trawick Safe Travels Annual Executive plan	Trawick Safe Travels Explorer plan
Cost for a 30-year-old traveler	$743	$291
Trip cost being insured for cancellation	Up to $10,000	$9,000
Medical coverage included (excess coverage)	$50,000	$50,000

Source: Forbes Advisor research. Other coverage and limits vary between these plans.

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Pros

• Streamlined coverage. Multi-trip plans provide the convenience of purchasing just one policy for the entire year, rather than individual policies each time you travel.
• Affordable coverage for multiple domestic trips. An annual travel insurance plan could be a particularly good option for domestic frequent fliers, says Adamski. If you go on numerous, low-cost domestic flights over the course of 364 days, the annual plan would provide affordable coverage (AIG Travel’s plan is approximately $250) for the most common travel insurance needs without needing to purchase a policy for each separate trip.

Cons

• Coverage is not beneficial for U.S. road trips. An annual travel insurance plan would not provide much benefit for domestic road trips. You may have few or no non-refundable expenses (like plane tickets), and medical expenses can be covered by your health insurance plan, says Adamski.
• Limited coverage for air travel. Basic annual plans usually do not cover trip cancellation or trip interruption.

If you’ll be traveling abroad for a large number of days, consider these factors before you purchase an annual travel insurance policy.

Are You Planning Long Trips?

All types of travel insurance cap the duration of a trip. If you’re planning long trips, an annual plan may not be right. For example, Trawick’s Safe Annual Basic policy has a limit of 30 days for each trip. But a single-trip policy might have a much longer cap of 90 days or more.

Are You Doing Adventure Sports?

Just like single-trip plans, annual plans often exclude coverage for specific adventure sports. If you’re planning some thrills that could lead to injury, such as paragliding, make sure to check the policy’s fine print for whether it will be excluded.

Elective Medical Treatments Aren’t Covered

If one or more of your trips involves an elective medical procedure—such as cosmetic surgery, dental care or fertility treatment—the procedure won’t be covered. Only medically necessary medical treatment is covered.

Travel Isn’t Covered After the Policy End Date

If you start a trip near the end of your policy period and your travel extends beyond the policy end date, expenses after that date won’t be covered. Make sure your trips end within the coverage period, unless an “extension of benefits” applies. Any extensions will be outlined in the policy document.

Pregnancy and Maternity Care Aren’t Covered

If you become pregnant during the time your annual travel plan is in effect, know that pregnancy and maternity care aren’t covered by travel insurance. Only complications from pregnancy are generally covered. This exclusion is also typical for single-trip policies.

Mental Health Care Isn’t Covered

If you’re used to your U.S. health plan helping to cover costs of mental health care at home, be prepared that travel insurance won’t pick up that tab when you travel.

To find the best annual travel insurance plans we scored companies based on the following.

• Cost (50% of score): We analyzed rates from each company for three typical travelers profiles.
• Medical evacuation limit (15% of score): We looked at coverage levels for medical evacuation, which pays to get you to the closest adequate medical facility.
• Medical limit (15% of score): This covers medical treatment, X-rays, tests, medication and more related to an injury or illness you develop while traveling.
• Cancellation limit (10% of score): We awarded points for higher amounts of trip cancellation coverage.
• Trip Interruption limit (10% of score): We awarded points for higher levels of trip interruption insurance.