Best cancel for any reason travel insurance in 2024 (2024)

What is cancel for any reason travel insurance?

Cancel for any reason (CFAR) travel insurance provides partial reimbursem*nt for prepaid and nonrefundable travel expenses if you need to cancel your trip for a reason that isn’t covered by a policy’s trip cancellation coverage. For example, this policy would refund you for prepaid flights, hotels and excursions if you needed to cancel a trip due to a last-minute work obligation, bad weather in the forecast or a family emergency. In most cases, CFAR covers cancellations up to 48 to 72 hours before your trip.

Standard travel insurance policies typically include trip cancellation coverage, which will reimburse you up to 100% of your eligible expenses if you have to cancel your trip for a covered reason. By adding CFAR to your policy, this expands coverage to generally include any reason for cancellation, except for those related to preexisting conditions — as defined by the policy.

However, CFAR will usually only refund 50% to 75% of your expenses. Therefore, if your cancellation reason is covered by standard trip cancellation coverage, you’ll see a higher benefit than a reason covered by CFAR.

How does cancel for any reason coverage work?

If you need to cancel your trip, you can file a claim with your travel insurance company to get reimbursed for some of your prepaid and nonrefundable expenses.

Most CFAR travel insurance plans provide partial reimbursem*nt between 50% to 75% of your nonrefundable costs, but there are some plans with higher limits. For instance, Allianz Travel Insurance with cancel for any reason reimburses up to 80% of your prepaid expenses.

To be eligible for CFAR coverage, you may have to meet certain conditions, such as:

• Buying the travel insurance plan within a certain period of time after booking your trip and before you leave (called the time-sensitive period)
• Insuring the full amount you paid for your trip
• Canceling your trip no later than the time frame specified in your policy (like 48 hours before departure)

To file a CFAR claim, you will need to submit documentation proving the reason for cancellation, such as recent medical records or an updated travel itinerary, and receipts for your nonrefundable expenses.

Why do you need cancel for any reason travel insurance?

• Can provide partial reimbursem*nt for prepaid travel expenses: Cancel for any reason travel insurance (CFAR) can offer partial reimbursem*nt for prepaid and nonrefundable trip expenses, such as activities, hotels, train tickets and flights.
• Offer peace of mind in case of unexpected trip cancellation: CFAR covers any reason for cancellation that your standard policy doesn’t include, such as inclement weather, illness, safety or COVID-19 fears or even flight changes.
• Allows you to cancel at the last minute: Some CFAR policies require you to cancel your trip at least 48 hours before your scheduled departure, but some allow same-day cancellations to receive reimbursem*nt.

What does cancel for any reason insurance cover?

As the name suggests, cancel for any reason travel insurance allows you to cancel for any reason that wouldn’t normally be covered under your policy. Some of the covered reasons for cancellation may include:

• Work obligation
• Fear of flying
• Lost or delayed passport
• Issues getting childcare
• Bad weather forecast at your destination
• Safety concerns
• Family emergency
• Health concerns

Pros explained

• Reimburses some of your nonrefundable expenses: If you have to cancel your trip for any reason, your insurance company will reimburse you for a portion of your prepaid trip costs.
• Able to cancel for reasons not covered by your standard policy: CFAR allows you to cancel your trip for any reason that’s not covered under your standard policy.

Cons explained

• Only provides partial reimbursem*nt: Most CFAR travel insurance policies will only reimburse between 50% and 75% of your nonrefundable trip costs, so you will still lose some money if you need to cancel.
• Includes time limits for adding CFAR to your plan and for canceling your trip: Most insurers require you to purchase a CFAR plan and cancel your trip within a certain time frame. For instance, Travel Insured requires policyholders to add CFAR within 21 days of making the first deposit on nonrefundable trip expenses and to cancel their trip at least 48 hours before departure.
• Typically more expensive than standard travel insurance: Adding CFAR to your travel insurance policy can be expensive. Based on our analysis, the average cost of CFAR insurance is $258.19.

How much does cancel for any reason insurance cost?

The cost of cancel for any reason travel insurance depends on a variety of factors, including the insurance company, your travel destination and the value of your trip.

According to our data, the average cost of travel insurance with CFAR was $635.23. The cheapest plan was Seven Corners’ Trip Protection Basic plan, which had an average cost of $397.03. The most expensive plan was Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection’s LuxuryCare plan, with an average cost of $941.51.

Below, you can see the average plan prices for travel insurance with cancel for any reason:

How does cancel for any reason compare to regular travel insurance?

Cancel for any reason and regular travel insurance have three prominent differences: cancellation reason, reimbursem*nt percentage and premium cost.

When it comes to cancellation, regular travel insurance will only reimburse your prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs if you cancel for covered reasons, which your policy documents detail. Each provider defines covered reasons for trip cancellation differently, and it often varies by policy, but they often include:

• Job loss
• Jury duty
• Military leave
• Sickness or injury
• Death in the family

On the other hand, CFAR allows you to cancel for any reason that your policy doesn’t already cover. Your dog could be sick, or maybe you just went through a break-up — the reason doesn’t matter. What matters is that you meet provider-specific conditions for reimbursem*nt which usually are outlined in your policy. They typically include:

• The purchase of CFAR 10 to 21 days after your initial trip payment
• Insure 100% of your prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs
• Cancellation of your trip 48 to 72 hours prior to departure, depending upon policy

Regular travel insurance and CFAR have different reimbursem*nt percentages, too. Regular travel insurance with trip cancellation will refund you 100% of your nonrefundable prepaid trip costs if you cancel for a covered reason. CFAR typically reimburses you for 50% to 75% of the prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs.

Lastly, with regular travel insurance, the trip cancellation benefit is already included in your premium. In contrast, you have to purchase CFAR as an add-on — it can increase your premium cost by up to 50%.

Is cancel for any reason travel insurance worth it?

Cancel for any reason travel insurance can be worth it for some people, particularly if you’re taking a trip that’s mostly prepaid. It can also provide financial protection if there’s a chance you might have to cancel your trip. For instance, if you have a sick parent or you’re starting a new job with an unpredictable schedule, having CFAR can provide some peace of mind.

However, not everyone needs to add CFAR to their travel insurance policy. You might not need to add CFAR if most of your travel expenses are fully refundable or if you’re not concerned about canceling your trip for a circ*mstance that’s not covered by your base plan.

Whether or not travel insurance with cancel for any reason coverage is worth it depends on your needs and budget.

Methodology

To find the best cancel for any reason travel insurance companies, we started by examining more than 50 policies from 19 different companies. We then narrowed it down to the top 20 policies (across 14 companies) that offer cancel for any reason coverage.

For each policy, we analyzed five crucial categories. To identify the winners, we worked with over 700 data points. The following sections describe the category we scored and the weight we gave that category in our scoring model.

Average CFAR premium (35%)

We took the average premium for a plan with cancel for any reason coverage for the following travelers:

• A 30-year-old couple traveling to Mexico for $3,000
• A 40-year-old couple traveling to Italy for $6,000
• A 65-year-old couple traveling to Italy for $6,000
• A 70-year-old couple traveling to Mexico for $3,000
• A family of four traveling to Italy for $15,000

This category accounts for 30% of each plan’s overall score because it’s a key factor in travelers’ decisions about which travel insurance to buy. If a plan’s premiums are too high, a traveler might not choose it, even if it offers high coverage amounts. Therefore, plans with lower premiums received higher scores.

CFAR reimbursem*nt percentage (25%)

Cancel for any reason coverage allows you to cancel your travel purchase for any reason, whereas you’d normally be restricted to a certain number of covered cancellations with your plan’s trip cancellation coverage. CFAR plans typically reimburse you for a certain percentage of your trip cost, with many companies offering 50% to 75% reimbursem*nt. Plans with higher reimbursem*nt percentages earned higher scores.

Overall travel insurance score (25%)

Since cancel for any reason is a coverage you add to a standard travel insurance policy, we took each plan’s overall score from our “Best travel insurance companies” rankings into consideration. Plans that scored well for their base features earned higher CFAR scores.

Interruption for any reason (IFAR) coverage (7.5%)

The usual trip interruption coverage only covers you if you have to interrupt your trip for specific reasons. IFAR coverage reimburses you if you have to interrupt your trip for any reason not already covered by your policy. Like CFAR, IFAR coverage offers to pay a percentage of your trip costs. Companies with higher reimbursem*nt rates earned higher scores.

IFAR activation time (7.5%)

Interruption for any reason typically includes a waiting period, or activation time, after you depart for your trip and before coverage takes effect. Companies with shorter IFAR activation times scored higher.

What didn’t make the cut

Of the 20 cancel for any reason travel insurance plans we analyzed for our final rankings, 12 did not win a category, including John Hanco*ck Silver and Gold, Tin Leg Gold and Luxury, Cat 70 Travel Plan, USI Affinity Ruby, AXA Assistance USA Platinum, Travelex Travel Select, Trawick International Safe Travels Voyager and Berkshire Hathaway LuxuryCare. In many cases, companies did not make our top picks because of their high premiums and low CFAR reimbursem*nt rate, two categories that made up 60% of a company’s score.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)