Erica Lamberg is a personal finance and travel writer based in suburban Philadelphia. She is a regular contributor to USA Today and her writing credits include NBC News, U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider, Oprah Magazine and Creditcards.c.
Erica Lamberg ContributorErica Lamberg is a personal finance and travel writer based in suburban Philadelphia. She is a regular contributor to USA Today and her writing credits include NBC News, U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider, Oprah Magazine and Creditcards.c.
Written By Erica Lamberg ContributorErica Lamberg is a personal finance and travel writer based in suburban Philadelphia. She is a regular contributor to USA Today and her writing credits include NBC News, U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider, Oprah Magazine and Creditcards.c.
Erica Lamberg ContributorErica Lamberg is a personal finance and travel writer based in suburban Philadelphia. She is a regular contributor to USA Today and her writing credits include NBC News, U.S. News & World Report, Business Insider, Oprah Magazine and Creditcards.c.
Contributor Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
| Lead Editor, Insurance
Updated: May 8, 2024, 12:40pm
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
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When you leave on a vacation the last thing you want to have to do is cut your trip short. If this does happen, it’s generally because of an illness, injury or other issues like severe weather or a sudden family emergency back home.
Trip interruptions can be costly, particularly if you have to book last-minute flights home and you lose deposits for bookings that aren’t refundable. This is where the best travel insurance can be a saving grace.
Trip interruption insurance is generally one component of a comprehensive travel insurance policy. These policies also include important coverage for trip cancellation, medical expenses and other costs.
Trip interruption insurance covers non-refundable travel expenses—such as flights and hotels— if your trip is interrupted for a reason covered by a policy. Expenses that can be covered include:
Acceptable reasons for a trip interruption insurance claim will vary by policy, but often include:
A travel insurance policy will contain lists of reasons that will be covered, and you may find that “trip cancellation“ and “trip interruption” coverage have different lists, but there is some overlap.
Trip interruption insurance typically reimburses between 100% and 150% of the insured trip cost. Dollar caps for trip interruption insurance are generally between $6,000 and $9,000.
Many travel insurance companies sell policies with different tiers of coverage. For example, the Atlas Journey Economy plan from WorldTrips provides 100% trip cost reimbursement, up to $6,000, while the Atlas Journey Premier plan provides 150% trip cost reimbursement, up to $9,000.
The best travel insurance companies sell policies with trip interruption benefits that reimburse at least 150% of the trip cost, up to at least $9,000.
Trip interruption insurance doesn’t cover every incident. Coverage may exclude travel interruptions connected to:
The most common reasons for trip interruption are injury or sudden illness—to you or a traveling companion—during the trip. The next most common reasons are inclement weather en route or at your destination, a death in the family or a life-threatening situation back home.
“There are numerous other, less common issues, such as a traffic accident as you’re starting out on your trip (causing you to miss your cruise or flight), or assault during a trip,” says Scott Adamski, spokesperson for AIG Travel Guard. For example, Adamski says that AIG Travel Guard’s base travel insurance plans have 20 unforeseen events that would qualify for reimbursement for trip interruption benefits. Additionally, AIG Travel has two optional bundle upgrades (Pet Bundle and Security Evacuation) that would give you additional covered reasons for a trip interruption claim.
There are two ways trip interruption benefits that can apply if you have to end a trip early:
In most cases, the same basic rules apply to cruises, says Adamski: If you have to disembark from your cruise early, for a reason covered under your trip interruption insurance, you can be reimbursed for any unused, prepaid, non-refundable trip expenses.
“In this scenario, the ship has already left port, so the expense of the cruise, itself, could not be said to be ‘unused,’ but other expenses, such as shore excursions which had not yet taken place, may be covered,” he says.
If you have to book a last-minute flight home, that cost can be covered (even if it’s more expensive than the cost of the original flight home).
Check your policy’s rules for exclusions.
Some travel insurance plans offer “interruption for any reason” travel insurance (IFAR) as an upgrade. It generally adds 3% to 10% to your travel insurance cost, but allows you to cut a trip short regardless of the reason and be eligible to file a claim.
While you get the greatest flexibility for interruption benefits under IFAR, here is what you need to know if you’re considering buying IFAR coverage:
If you’re interested in IFAR coverage, make sure you know the rules for making a claim. For example, with Travel Insured International’s Worldwide Trip Protector plan, you can make a claim if your trip has been interrupted 72 hours or more after your departure date. Reimbursement is 75% of your additional travel costs (due to cutting the trip short, such as plane tickets) and the money you lose on unused and non-refundable parts of your trip.
Also consider whether you may actually need IFAR coverage. Check the plan’s list of reasons covered for standard trip interruption insurance—you may find the list is sufficient. It typically includes illness or injury, an evacuation at your destination, a strike, a hurricane warning, a terrorist incident, being required to return to work and more.
Travel insurance policies that offer IFAR include:
Below are travel insurance plans that offer an IFAR upgrade. All but Nationwide’s cruise plans provide 75% reimbursement of nonrefundable, insured trip costs.
“Cancel for any reason” travel insurance (CFAR) is an upgrade that provides reimbursement if you cancel a trip before you go for any reason not listed in the base policy. CFAR gives you wide latitude to cancel your trip and not lose all your money. It usually provides 75% reimbursement of your non-refundable trip costs.
But you generally have to cancel the trip at least two days before your departure date in order to make a CFAR claim. Once your trip is underway, “cancel for any reason” coverage doesn’t apply.
You usually must buy CFAR coverage within the first few weeks of booking your trip, and it typically adds about 50% to the cost of travel insurance.
