Travel Insurance for Trip Cancellation: What's Covered

One of the most common reasons people consider travel insurance is the worry that they may have to cancel their trip and lose money they’ve already paid for it. If you think you're spending more on your vacation than you can afford to lose, you may want to consider purchasing travel insurance with Trip Cancellation coverage.

What is Trip Cancellation Insurance?

Trip Cancellation insurance is designed to make you "whole" again, reimbursing you for unused, non-refundable, pre-paid trip costs if you’re prevented from taking your trip due to a covered reason.

If you’re forced to cancel your trip, how much of that pre-paid trip cost could you get back? There are often cancellation penalties tied to travel purchases and you could get a portion of your trip costs back or none at all. Those penalties tend to get more severe as the departure date gets closer. This is where travel cancellation insurance can help you.

Many things can happen between the time you book your trip and the start of your vacation that could affect you, your traveling companions or family members and force you to cancel your trip—sickness, job loss, and even flight cancellations due to adverse weather or an airline strike. Luckily, travel insurance is a small investment against the full cost of a trip and usually includes Trip Cancellation coverage that can provide reimbursement for a canceled trip.

Learn more about travel insurance:
• What is Travel Insurance?
• How Much Does Travel Insurance Cost?
• Top 5 Reasons to Get Travel Insurance
• Guide to Understand, Purchase and Use Trip Insurance

Trip Cancellation vs. Interruption: What's the Difference?

If you don't have experience with travel insurance, you may wonder about the difference between Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption coverages. Trip Cancellation covers you in case a covered reason prevents you from going on your trip, while Trip Interruption kicks in if you have to cut the trip short for a covered reason.

When you get a travel protection plan from Generali Global Assistance, the two coverages are defined by a list of covered events. Requirements may vary depending on the state where you reside so be sure to check your state specific Plan Documents.

When Trip Cancellation Insurance Can be Used

Trip Cancellation is the only travel insurance coverage that can be used before a trip begins. Travel insurance can help protect you from certain unexpected events that are out of your control, but only specific events are covered.

Consider these scenarios that might cause you to cancel your trip and could be covered by trip cancellation insurance:

Sickness, Injury and Death: You or a traveling companion become sick or injured and can’t travel. Or a non-traveling family member is hospitalized or passes away and you are unable to make the trip.

Adverse Weather: You experience flight cancellations due to adverse weather such as a hurricane or snowstorm.

Job Loss: After at least one year of employment you are laid off and can't go on your trip.

Extension of School Year: Your son or daughter attending school must complete a new operating session that was extended beyond the pre-defined school year.

Military Duty: Due to a natural disaster, a traveling companion has been called into active military service to provide relief efforts and must cancel his or her trip.

Home Uninhabitable: A flood, fire or other natural disaster renders your home residence uninhabitable.

These are some of the common situations where you could be reimbursed for trip costs if you have trip cancellation insurance, but not a complete list of possible covered situations. See our full list of covered reasons for trip cancellation

If you’re worried that you might lose your vacation investment if you’re forced to cancel your trip, travel cancellation insurance might be right for you.

Also read: Cancel For Any Reason Travel Insurance—Is it Really that Simple?

We are very glad that we bought this insurance. Unfortunately we did have to cancel our vacation due to the health of my mother. We were very impressed with how quickly we were able to get our money refunded. We would highly recommend others to buy this insurance to protect their family vacations.

Steve K. from Burlington, KY

What If I Need to Cancel for Non-Covered Reasons?

Trip Cancellation insurance can help in a lot of cases, but it doesn’t cover everything. If, for instance, you simply choose to cancel your trip because you don’t feel like going, that's not covered. Reasonably foreseeable events, like storms that were forecasted or sickness contracted before you bought travel protection, are also not covered. See more about what’s not covered.

Travelers who aren't sure whether their reasons will be covered by standard Trip Cancellation coverage might want to consider the Premium Plan with optional Trip Cancellation for Any Reason (CFAR) insurance.* If the flexibility of being able to cancel your trip for any reason appeals to you, get a quote, select Trip Cancellation For Any Reason when choosing the Premium Plan, and see if CFAR makes sense for you.

When Should I Consider Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) Coverage?

If you’re worried that something might happen to cause you to cancel your trip and it isn’t covered by normal Trip Cancellation insurance, then it’s time to consider CFAR coverage. You can see some common scenarios at our main page about CFAR. If an event has already happened that would cause you to cancel, that is not the time to buy CFAR or any travel protection.

How Much Can I Get Reimbursed?

When you have a travel protection plan from Generali Global Assistance our Trip Cancellation coverage may reimburse you for up to 100% of the non-refundable trip costs that you’ve insured. The Premium Plan with optional CFAR coverage pays 60% of the penalty amount you need to pay as a result of the cancellation.

*CFAR is not available to residents of New York. Certain requirements must be me to qualify.