Family vacations are a special time, and ensuring they go smoothly is essential to making memories that will last forever. Travel insurance is one way to ensure that any bumps in the road can be smoothed over, from a lost bag to an injury abroad.
CNBC Select reviews the best travel insurance plans for families based on coverage, cost and plan variety. (See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best family travel insurance companies.)
Best family travel insurance
- Best for families with young children: Allianz
- Best for affordability: Faye
- Best for CFAR coverage: Travel Insured International
- Best for cruises: Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection
Best for families with young children
Allianz Travel Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
10 travel insurance plans make it possible to customize your coverage. For families, Allianz's OneTrip Prime package covers children age 17 and younger when traveling with a parent or grandparent.
24/7 assistance available
Yes
Pros
- Trip cancellation benefits can reimburse your prepaid, nonrefundable trip payments if you have to cancel your trip for one of the covered reasons stated in your plan documents.
Cons
- Limited coverage for risky sports
Who's this for? Allianz is great for families with young children as its OneTrip Prime travel insurance policy offers free coverage for children ages 17 or under when traveling with a parent or grandparent. Though this benefit isn't available to Pennsylvania residents, it could help families with younger children lower the cost of their travel insurance coverage.
Standout benefits:Allianz's cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage has an enhanced version available that can cover up to 80% of trip expenses if you have to cancel for a reason that's not covered.
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Best for affordability
Faye Travel Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
Faye offers travel insurance with a convenient online buying experience and an app with real-time travel alerts. It's one simple plan includes coverage for common issues, like trip cancellation, emergency medical expenses and trip delay coverage. It also offers coverage for pre-existing medical conditions when plans are purchased within 14 days of an initial trip deposit.
24/7 assistance available
Yes
Pros
- Covers Covid like any other medical condition
- CFAR is available for up to 75% of trip costs for an additional cost.
- Additional coverage options like vacation rental damage coverage and pet care coverage.
Cons
- Not all benefits are available in all states.
Who's this for?Faye travel insurance stands out for families on a budget. Its policies start at just $4.64 per day (for 14 days) for domestic trips and $5.16 per day (for 14 days) for international trips. It's also great for those who want a completely digital experience and would rather manage a policy through an app than an agent or by phone.
Standout benefits:Faye's intuitive interface makes it easy to get travel insurance coverage on your own time, and quotes are available entirely online. On top of the standard trip delay, cancellation and interruption coverage, you can purchase CFAR coverage, coverage for adventure and sports activities and a pet care add-on, which can cover illness or injury for your pet when traveling with you, or extra kenneling costs if your trip is delayed if you leave your pet at home.
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Best for CFAR coverage
Travel Insured International Travel Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
Travel Insured International has two simple travel insurance plans — the Worldwide Trip Protector and Worldwide Trip Protector Gold. Its plans are affordable and offer the option of cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage.
24/7 assistance available
Yes
Pros
- Optional CFAR coverage and interruption for any reason coverage
Cons
- Medical coverage can be lower than other options
Who's this for?Travel Insured International could be a great fit for families looking for the flexibility of a CFAR addition to ensure they'll be covered for any reason they need to cancel. The company's wide variety of reasons for cancellation includes coverage for school year extensions with all plans.
Standout benefits:Travel Insured International's Worldwide Trip Protector can cover all children 17 and under for free when traveling with related adults.
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Best for cruises
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
Pros
- Wide variety of policies available
- Strong financial strength rating by AM Best
Cons
- Cancel for any reason only provides reimbursem*nt for up to 50% of non-refundable trip payments
Who's this for?Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection offers cruise-specific packages for families setting sail on a cruise.
Standout benefits:Cruise plans include coverage for missed connections and unique challenges you could face on a cruise vacation, like cruise disablement and diversion.
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More on our top family travel insurance companies
Allianz
Allianz offers 10 different travel insurance policies for travelers and trips of all types, including single-trip and multi-trip coverage. It also offers quotes and claims online, making the experience simple.
CFAR coverage available?
Yes, up to 80% of prepaid, non-refundable trip costs
24/7 assistance?
Yes
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Faye
While relatively new to the space, Faye's travel insurance plans combine affordability and easy access. Policies are backed by the United States Fire Insurance Company.
CFAR coverage available?
Yes, up to 75% of prepaid, non-refundable trip costs
24/7 assistance?
Yes
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Travel Insured International
Travel Insured International has been offering travel insurance for over 25 years. It has two tiers of coverage (available in most states) that can help you meet all your travel protection needs.
CFAR coverage available?
Yes, up to 75% of prepaid, non-refundable trip costs
24/7 assistance?
Yes
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Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection
Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection offers several tiers of travel protection and insurance, including packages specifically designed for road trips and cruises. Its strong A++ financial strength rating also helps it stand out against the competition.
CFAR coverage available?
Up to 50%, only available on LuxuryCare packages
24/7 assistance?
Yes
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FAQs
Does travel insurance cover family members?
Generally, you can insure your whole family on one travel insurance plan, so you won't have to buy separate plans for every traveler. Your travel insurance plan will cover every person listed on the policy.
Does travel insurance cover cancellation due to a death in the family?
In many cases, travel insurance can help you recoup the cost of your vacation if you have to cancel due to a death in your family. However, you'll want to carefully read your policy's definition of a family member, as not everyone in your life could be included.
Bottom line
A family vacation can be a big investment, so it's important to protect yourself in case anything goes awry. Having a travel insurance plan that's easy to access, provides 24/7 support and fits your specific travel concerns and budget can help ensure your trip will go smoothly.
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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 travel insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of travel insurance products. To research the best travel insurance companies, we compiled over 100 data points on more than a dozen travel insurance companies. 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. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best travel insurance companies.
Our methodology
To determine the best travel insurance companies, CNBC Select analyzed dozens of travel insurance companies and compared them based on various factors.
While narrowing down the best travel insurance companies, we focused on the number of plans available, the availability of 24/7 assistance to access while traveling, coverage for Covid-19, the availability of cancel for any reason coverage, and financial strength (which measures a company's ability to pay on contracts) using A.M. Best ratings. We also considered family-friendly features, such as the inclusion of children on policies for free with parent's coverage, and reasons for cancellation, including school year extension as a reason for cancellation.
Note that the premiums and policy structures advertised for travel insurance companies are subject to fluctuate in accordance with the company's policies.
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Read more
Everything you need to know about travel insurance before you book your next trip
The best travel insurance companies to make sure your next trip is covered
Here are the best cheap travel insurance companies to protect your upcoming adventures
Here are the 5 best cruise insurance plans
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.
