Travel Guard is one of CNBC Select's picks for best travel insurance, thanks to its wide range of customizable policies. But are any of them right for you? Below, we review the provider and its offers and how they compare to the competition to help you choose the right travel insurance for your next trip.
Travel Guard review
- Overview
- Features
- Discounts
- Other insurance offered
- How it compares
- Bottom line
Overview
Travel Guard® Travel Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
Travel Guard offers five plans to suit travel ranging from road trips to long cruises. Deluxe policies include coverage for missed connections, security evacuations and accidental death and dismemberment. Add-ons include coverage for adventure sports, wedding cancellation and pet companions
24/7 assistance available
Yes
Read our AIG Travel Guard review
Pros
- Adult policies come with coverage for one child under 17
- 24/7 customer assistance
- Travel delay coverage of $1,000 available after delay of just five hours.
- Emergency medical care and evacuation limits can be doubled
Cons
- Cancel For Any Reason policies only reimburse up to 50% of trip cost.
- Standard medical emergency coverage limit is lower than some competitors
- Not all products are available for purchase online
Travel Guard® is a global travel insurance provider specializing in plans for leisure and business travelers. Its online travel insurance packages include five options, from basic and last-minute trip coverage to more comprehensive plans. This allows travelers to pick a plan that best matches their situation.
For example, budget-minded travelers might go for the Essential Plan which offers basic protections, such as trip cancellation, interruption and delay insurance, coverage for lost, damaged and delayed baggage, and medical, evacuation and death coverage.
On the other hand, the Deluxe Plan — the most comprehensive option — adds such extras as missed connection coverage, security evacuation, travel inconvenience benefits and more. It also boosts high limits for essential coverages.
Last-minute travelers can opt for the Pack N' Go Plan which only includes certain post-departure coverages. Or, if you travel often, the Annual Plan can cover your trips throughout the year.
Finally, Travel Guard offers "offline" travel insurance packages, meaning you'll have to call if you're looking for a specialty plan.
Coverage types
Depending on the plan, here are the types of protection Travel Guard can include in your package:
- Trip cancellations
- Trip interruption
- Baggage coverage
- Baggage delay
- Travel medical expenses
- Travel inconvenience benefits (reimbursem*nt for such situations as runway delays, cruise diversion and other unforeseen situations)
- Medical evacuation
- Trip Saver (reimbursem*nt for meals, hotels and transportation if you need to begin your trip sooner due to weather or airline changes)
- Trip exchange (reimbursem*nt in case you have to cancel your trip and book a new one due to covered unforeseen circ*mstances)
- Security evacuation (due to a riot or civil disorder)
- Flight guard (coverage for accidental death or dismemberment that occurs when traveling by plane)
- Pre-existing medical conditions exclusion waiver
You can also customize your plan with add-ons, such as car rental insurance and "cancel for any reason" coverage.
Features
Travel Guard landed on our list of the best travel insurance companies thanks to its variety of coverage. With plenty of options to choose from, both online and offline, it's easy to build a policy that meets your needs.
Travel Guard also features 24-hour concierge services that you can use to book a new flight in case of an emergency or delay.
The provider's website also offers informational resources — here, you can check travel news, read safety tips and find general travel advice. Additionally, the website lets you modify your plan, file a claim and check its status, or apply for a voucher or refund.
Discounts
As of writing, Travel Guard doesn't offer any discounts. That's common for travel insurance — you're more likely to find deals when shopping for other types of insurance, such as home and auto insurance.
Other insurance offered
Travel Guard is a portfolio of travel insurance and travel-related services offered by AIG Travel, a member of American International Group (AIG). AIG also offers life insurance and a variety of business insurance products.
How it compares
Travel Guard makes it easy to get a travel insurance policy customized to your needs. But before you purchase coverage, it's always a good idea to shop around.
For example, if you're going on a cruise, you might want to look at Nationwide Travel Insurance. The provider advertises cruise-specific insurance with three plan options available. This type of coverage is designed with issues unique to cruises in mind — from ship-based breakdowns to missed pre-pard excursions.
If you're planning a more active trip filled with rock climbing or sky diving, Berkshire Hathaway offers the AdrenalineCare® plan which features coverage for unforeseen costs that result from participating in extreme sports on your trip, as well as reimbursem*nt for sporting equipment delay. Pre-existing conditions are covered under this plan (if you meet qualifying conditions).
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has multiple plans to cover vacations from luxury travel to adventure travel. The brand's LuxuryCare offers the highest limits of travel insurance coverage offered by the company. Quotes and policies are available online.
24/7 assistance available
Yes
As you can see, offerings vary by provider. It can be helpful to compare multiple companies and the plans they offer to find what works best for you. It's even better if you gather several quotes to ensure you're getting a good price for your policy.
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Bottom line
Travel Guard offers plenty of ways to customize your policy, making it a solid choice for travel insurance. You can also access additional options by giving Travel Guard a call. However, make sure to check out other travel insurance companies too — comparison shopping is essential when picking any type of financial product.
Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of insurance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics.
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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
