Spring Break Travel Insurance: What to Know
Travel insurance can help spring breakers recoup their losses if they have to cancel their trip or get sick or hurt while traveling.
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Written byEvelyn Pimplaskar
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10+ years in insurance and personal finance content
30+ years in media, PR, and content creation
Evelyn leads Insurify’s content team. She’s passionate about creating empowering content to help people transform their financial lives and make sound insurance-buying decisions.
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Edited byAshley Cox
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7+ years in content creation and management
5+ years in insurance and personal finance content
Ashley is a seasoned personal finance editor who’s produced a variety of digital content, including insurance, credit cards, mortgages, and consumer lending products.
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When spring break approaches, you may get caught up in the anticipation of a fun getaway with friends or a relaxing retreat with family. But before you pack your bags, it’s a good idea to think about spring break travel insurance.
For most students, spring break lasts around one week — which means flight delays, lost luggage, or an untreated accident or illness can significantly cut into your vacation time. Travel insurance can help protect spring break travelers from unexpected trip disruptions, baggage problems, and other emergencies.
Here’s what to know about spring break travel insurance.
Do you need spring break travel insurance?
Spring break travel isn’t cheap; the average cost for a spring break trip tops $8,300.
Many hotels reserve their best rates for travelers who prepay, and airlines charge up front for flights that may easily be delayed or canceled. If you couldn’t afford to lose some, or all, of your travel costs, travel insurance can be a financial safety net.
Travel insurance reimburses you for non-refundable, prepaid trip costs, like airfare, lodging, tours, and more. If you arrive at your destination before your bags, spring break travel insurance can cover the cost to replace essential items.
It can also protect you from unexpected medical costs if you get injured or fall ill in a location where your parents’ employer-sponsored health insurance doesn’t cover you. Most U.S. health insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid, won’t pay for medical expenses outside the country.[1]
What does spring break travel insurance cover?
Generally, travel insurance covers emergency medical costs, non-refundable travel costs that you’ve prepaid, and losses related to the personal property you bring with you on your trip. Your policy will spell out exactly what it covers and what it won’t. But spring break travel insurance will typically cover:[2]
Trip cancellation, interruption, or delay
Illness, injury, or hospitalization while you’re on your trip
Emergency medical evacuation if you have to go home due to a covered medical situation
Lost or delayed luggage
Keep in mind that your spring break travel insurance policy will have requirements for what qualifies as a covered event. Most travel insurers won’t cover things like:
Trip cancellation or interruption due to pandemics
Trip cancellation or interruption due to civil and political unrest at your destination
Routine healthcare needs
Risky activities, like bungee jumping or skydiving
Top insurance plans for spring break travel
Depending on the insurance company, you might have multiple options for the type of travel insurance you want to buy for spring break.
A single-trip plan generally covers you for trip cancellation, medical emergencies, and lost baggage. Depending on the insurer, you may be able to customize your plan by adding options like cancel-for-any-reason coverage or pet travel insurance if you’re bringing your pet along.
If spring break is just one of several trips you plan in a year, you might want to consider a multi-trip plan. These policies provide comprehensive protection and can be a cost-effective way to get coverage for more than one trip.
An annual plan provides continuous 12-month coverage for all your travels, including spring break trips. This is a good option if you know you’ll take more than one trip in a year and might decide your spring break plans at the last minute.
How much does spring break travel insurance cost?
Like most travel insurance, spring break travel coverage will cost approximately 4%–8% of your total trip cost.[3] Where you’re going, how long you stay there, and your age when you travel will also affect the cost of your spring break travel insurance.
For example, if your spring break trip will cost around $8,000 — including things like airfare, lodging, and any tours or activities — your spring break travel insurance would cost from $320 to $640 for comprehensive coverage.
If you need less coverage and want to save money, you could opt for travel medical insurance only. Costs for medical-expense-only coverage can vary widely depending on many factors. But it will generally be cheaper than a comprehensive policy that includes trip cancellation and baggage benefits.
How to choose a spring break travel insurance policy
Fortunately, it’s easy to buy travel insurance online. After you’re done booking your trip, you can search for travel insurance companies that offer policies with features that you might need on spring break.
Here are some steps to follow:
1. Look for travel insurers that offer comprehensive plans
The best travel insurance for spring break will include essential coverages like travel medical expenses, trip cancellation/interruption and delay coverage, and protection for lost or delayed luggage. Depending on the activities you choose, you might want an insurer that offers optional coverage for adventure activities. And look for an insurer that offers 24/7 support while you’re on your trip.
2. Get multiple quotes online
It’s always a good idea to get more than one quote to ensure you’re getting the best price on the coverage you need. Be prepared to provide basic information — like your destination, travel dates, and age — to secure your quotes.
3. Choose a policy and add customization
Once you’ve chosen the basic plan you need, consider any optional coverages you might want to add. For example, if you want to take your French bulldog with you to Aruba, pet travel insurance might be a valuable add-on.
4. Buy your policy in a timely manner
Most travel insurance companies require you to buy a plan in a certain window of time — and always before you begin your trip. Make sure you understand the requirements of the insurer you’ve chosen.
Spring break travel insurance FAQs
The last thing you want to worry about on spring break is what happens to your money if something goes wrong on your trip. Spring break travel insurance can protect your financial investment. Here’s some additional information to know about spring break travel insurance.
What is cancel-for-any-reason travel insurance?
Most travel insurance policies will reimburse you if your trip gets canceled for certain reasons — for example, if a hurricane hits the beach on the same day you do. Cancel-for-any-reason (CFAR) travel insurance can reimburse some of your costs if you have to cancel for a reason most standard policies won’t cover — such as a family emergency that requires you to stay home.
What does travel insurance not cover?
Standard travel insurance policies won’t cover pre-existing health conditions or routine healthcare. It usually won’t cover if you need to cancel due to pregnancy, childbirth, or a pandemic. And unless you buy optional coverage, your travel insurance policy likely won’t cover risky activities like skydiving, rock climbing, or bungee jumping.
What’s the most common travel insurance claim?
Medical emergencies, like a sudden illness or injury during a trip, are the most common and costliest travel insurance claims, according to the United States Tour Operators Association.[4] Claims for canceled or interrupted trips are the second most common type of travel insurance claim, the USTOA says.
How much should you expect to pay for trip insurance?
Trip insurance usually costs between 4% and 8% of the total cost of a trip. But factors like where you’re going, how long you’ll be there, your age and overall health, and the type of policy you buy can all affect how much you pay for travel insurance.
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Sources
- U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. "Insurance Coverage Overseas."
- National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). "Travel Insurance."
- U.S. Travel Insurance Association. "FAQs."
- United States Tour Operators Association. "Navigating the Unpredictable: Unpacking the Most Common Travel Insurance Claims and How to Handle Them."
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Evelyn PimplaskarEditor-in-Chief, Director of Content
Evelyn Pimplaskar is Insurify’s director of content. With 30-plus years in content creation – including 10 years specializing in personal finance – Evelyn’s done everything from covering volatile local elections as a beat reporter to building fintech content libraries from the ground up.
Before joining Insurify, she was editor-in-chief at Credible, where she launched and developed the lending marketplace’s media partnership’s content initiative and managed the restructuring of the editorial team to enhance content production efficiency. Formerly, as tax editor for Credit Karma, Evelyn built a library of more than 300 educational articles on federal and state taxes, achieving triple-digit year-over-year growth in e-files from organic search.
Her early career included work as a content marketer, vice president and managing officer of a boutique public relations agency, chief copy editor for 14 weekly Forbes publications, reporting for large and mid-sized daily newspapers, and freelancing for the Associated Press.
Evelyn is passionate about creating personal finance content that distills complex topics into relatable, easy-to-understand stories. She believes great content helps empower readers with the information they need to make important personal finance decisions.
7+ years in content creation and management
5+ years in insurance and personal finance content
Ashley is a seasoned personal finance editor who’s produced a variety of digital content, including insurance, credit cards, mortgages, and consumer lending products.
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