Travel insurance quotes — protect your trip and your health abroad

How much does travel insurance cost in 2026?

Travel insurance is priced as a percentage of your total trip cost — typically 4–8% — so a $3,000 vacation runs roughly $120–$240 to protect. Your price depends on the trip cost, travelers’ ages, trip length, destination, and the coverage and add-ons you choose. The figures below are illustrative averages, not quotes.

💡 Tip: Adding Cancel For Any Reason raises the premium — often by roughly 40–50% — but it’s the only way to cancel for reasons not on the standard list, and it must be bought within about two weeks of your first trip deposit. Older travelers and longer or international trips cost more, mainly because of the medical risk.

A plain-English guide to travel insurance

What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance protects the money you’ve put into a trip and your wellbeing while you’re away from home. A comprehensive plan reimburses prepaid, non-refundable costs if you have to cancel or come home early for a covered reason, pays for emergency medical care and evacuation abroad, and covers baggage and travel delays. You can buy it for a single trip or, if you travel often, for a whole year at once.

What does it actually cover?

• ✓Trip cancellation — non-refundable costs if you cancel for a covered reason.
• ✓Trip interruption — reimbursement if you cut a trip short.
• ✓Emergency medical — treatment if you’re sick or injured abroad.
• ✓Emergency evacuation — transport to care or home, often a six-figure cost.
• ✓Baggage & delays — lost luggage and covered travel delays.

Your health insurance abroad

This is the gap most travelers don’t realize they have. Most U.S. health plans offer little or no coverage outside the country, and Medicare generally doesn’t cover care overseas at all. If you fall ill or get hurt abroad, you could be paying out of pocket — sometimes upfront, before treatment. A travel plan’s emergency medical coverage steps into that gap, which is why it matters even on a modestly priced international trip.

Emergency medical evacuation

Evacuation is the coverage people underestimate until they need it. If you’re seriously hurt somewhere without adequate medical facilities — a remote region, a cruise at sea, a mountain town — getting you to proper care or back home can cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Evacuation coverage handles that transport, and it’s a big reason travelers buy insurance even for trips where the cancellation risk is low.

Standard cancellation vs. Cancel For Any Reason

A standard plan only reimburses cancellations for specific, listed reasons — things like illness, injury, a death in the family, jury duty, or severe weather. It won’t pay if you simply change your mind or get nervous about traveling. For that flexibility you need Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR), an optional upgrade that reimburses a portion of your costs (often 50–75%) no matter why you cancel. The catch: CFAR must be purchased early — usually within about two weeks of your first deposit — and you generally have to insure 100% of your trip cost.

When should you buy?

Sooner is better. Buying shortly after your first trip deposit unlocks the time-sensitive benefits: CFAR eligibility, the pre-existing condition waiver, and cancellation coverage that’s in force from the moment you book. Wait too long and those options may no longer be available — so if you know you want coverage, locking it in early gives you the most protection.

Single-trip vs. annual plans

A single-trip plan covers one specific trip and is the right choice for occasional travelers. If you take several trips a year, an annual multi-trip plan covers all of them for a flat yearly price and is usually cheaper than insuring each trip separately — though annual plans focus on medical and baggage coverage, with cancellation handled differently. A licensed agent can help you pick the structure that fits how you travel.

How is the price determined?

Providers price a plan based on your total trip cost, the travelers’ ages, the trip length, the destination, the medical and evacuation limits you choose, and any add-ons like CFAR or adventure sports. Trip cost and age are the biggest factors. Because providers structure plans differently, comparing is the simplest way to match the coverage you want to a fair price.

How Dean Insurance helps

We’re an independent marketplace, so we compare multiple providers instead of selling one company’s plans. You answer a few questions once; we match you with the providers and licensed agents best suited to your trip and travelers. The providers and agents you connect with are licensed and authorized to sell where you are — they handle the plan details, the add-ons, and your confirmation. Using Dean Insurance is free; we’re paid by our partners only when you choose a plan, and your information is never sold to unrelated third parties. See our Privacy Policy for details.