Travelex Travel Insurance Review
When many international travelers think of Travelex, images of desks and trailers for currency exchange services or red-and-blue ATM machines may immediately come to mind. But when it comes to travel insurance, Travelex Insurance Services is its own separate entity, offering specialty products to those going around the world.
Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Travelex offers specialty plans for four types of travelers: a plan for traveling across the United States, along with two plans with international coverage. In many situations, travelers can also upgrade their level of coverage to include car rental collision damage, adventure sports coverage, and increased health benefits.
In this review, we’ll cover Travelex Travel Insurance in detail, and help you decide if one of their three products are right for your needs.
What is Travelex Travel Insurance?
Travelex was originally founded as a division of international financial service giant Travelex. The product complimented the company’s variety of travel-related products, including currency conversion and prepaid debit cards loadable with a variety of international currencies.
In 2016, Travelex sold their insurance division to Cover-More Group based in Australia. In turn, Cover-More is owned by Zurich Insurance Group, a multinational provider of a wide variety of insurance products, including auto, home, and life.
Today, Travelex Travel Insurance focuses on offering insurance coverage to travelers in the United States and Canada. Their products are underwritten by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, also based out of Omaha, Nebraska.
Travelex Travel Insurance Options
For those based in the United States and Canada, Travelex Travel Insurance offers three core products. Those staying in the United States can select their Travel America plan, while international travelers can select between the Travel Basic and Travel Select plans.
As the name suggests, the Travel America plan covers travelers as they visit all 50 United States of America. With a basic level of coverage, Travel America only offers a maximum $750 benefit for trip cancellation and up to $1,125 of trip interruption coverage. Even though it is a smaller overall package, the plan also offers benefits that appeal to road-trippers and families staying in the country. This include shared coverage for up to seven people traveling with the insured person, roadside assistance in the event of a breakdown, and pet medical expenses in the event of a veterinary emergency.
The Travel Basic and Travel Select packages are designed for those going outside of the United States, including Canada and Mexico. While the Travel Basic plan is a lower-cost option designed for students and backpackers, the Travel Select plan offers higher benefit maximums for families and luxury travelers alike.
What’s Covered Under a Typical Travelex Plan
Travelex travel insurance covers many of the options consumers would expect from an international coverage plan. All three trip insurance offerings include these benefits:
- Trip cancellation: In the event of an accident, illness or death in the traveler’s immediate family, trip cancellation may help recover some of the non-refundable costs. Covered expenses can include airfare, non-refundable hotel bookings, tours, and event tickets.
- Trip interruption: Disruptions at home or abroad can happen without warning. If your travel needs to be cut short, trip interruption benefits can help pay for additional costs to get you home, while helping you recover costs associated with your trip.
- Trip delay: If your flights, trains or boats are delayed, trip delay benefits may help you pay for hotel rooms, meals, and other incidentals you could need.
- Emergency medical and dental expenses: Emergencies can never be predicted, and your traditional health insurance usually won’t cover you when you travel abroad. If you experience a medical emergency or dental trauma when you travel, this benefit may help you find a doctor or dentist, guarantee payment, and reimburse you for out-of-pocket costs.
- Emergency medical evacuation and repatriation: Even when traveling far from home, the worst can always happen. In the event of a traveler’s death, or a doctor orders an air ambulance to take a traveler back to their home country, emergency medical evacuation and repatriation can ensure they get home.
Are There Additional Coverage Options?
In addition to the benefits offered by the insurance plans, travelers have the option to pay for four upgrades at a flat rate per policy. The upgrades include accidental death and dismemberment coverage aboard a common carrier, adventure sports coverage, additional medical coverage, and rental car collision coverage.
- Accidental death and dismemberment aboard common carriers: If you are involved in a serious accident on a common carrier, such as an airline, bus line, or train line, you or your beneficiaries could receive up to $200,000 to help with expenses and lost wages.
- Adventure sports coverage: In most travel insurance plans, high-risk activities like mountain climbing, scuba diving and helicopter tours are not covered. If you enjoy living to the fullest on your vacations, you may want to consider adding adventure sports coverage to your trip. This add-on is only available on the Travel Select plan.
- Additional medical coverage: While Travel Select, Travelex’s highest insurance plan, offers $50,000 of medical expense coverage, some international travelers may want the assurance of a higher maximum benefit. When travelers purchase additional medical coverage, the benefit provides reimbursem*nt for up to $500,000 of emergency medical costs.
- Car rental collision coverage: When you travel abroad, your auto insurance may not cover collision damage to your rental car. The Travelex car rental collision upgrade offers reimbursem*nt for rental car damages or losses due to a crash, vandalism, and certain natural disasters.
How to Buy Travelex Travel Insurance
Travelex Travel Insurance is available through many different travel insurance marketplaces, including Squaremouth, InsureMyTrip.com, Insubuy.com, and TravelInsurance.com. Travelers can also purchase insurance directly through Travelex at their website, travelexinsurance.com.
During the quote process, you will be asked about your trip plans. The information you will need to provide includes:
- Your destination country
- Dates of departure and return
- State of residence
- Traveler ages and trip costs
- Travel agent information (if applicable)
From there, you will be given quotes based on your destination. Travelers staying in the United States will be able to choose from all three plans, while those traveling abroad will only be able to select between Travel Basic and Travel Select.
Should you decide to purchase a plan, you will be asked to provide personal information about yourself, others on the trip, and trip supplier information. In addition to credit card information for purchase, you will need to provide:
- Names and dates of birth for all covered travelers (except for Travel America)
- Address, city, state, and ZIP code
- E-mail address
- Airlines, cruise lines or tour operators, where applicable
How Will I Get my Travel Insurance Documents from Travelex?
Once your purchase is confirmed, your travel insurance documents will come directly from Travelex Insurance Services via e-mail. During the purchase process, you will also have the option to send your documents to other travelers via e-mail.
Travelex Travel Insurance Online Security
Information transferred on the Travelex Insurance Services website is secured by SHA-256 SSL technology. The security certificate is provided by Cloudflare.
Travelex Travel Insurance Reviews and Ratings
All three Travelex Insurance Services products are underwritten by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, part of National Indemnity Company and owned by the mega-conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway. According to A.M. Best, the company has a financial strength rating of A++ (Superior), with a stable outlook.
Travelex Insurance Services is accredited by the Better Business Bureau, with an A+ rating from the nonprofit. The BBB received 24 complaints about the company over the last three years, with 17 complaints resolved with BBB mediation in the year 2020.
Everywhere Travelex travel insurance is available, the company has gained positive ratings from customers. Both InsureMyTrip.com and Squaremouth report ratings between 4.4 and 4.6 stars out of five, with over 1,900 reviews each. At ConsumerAffairs.com, the company has a satisfaction rating of 3.5 stars out of 5 based on 42 ratings in 2020.
Pros and Cons of Travelex Travel Insurance
Pros:
- Travel insurance options for both domestic and international travel
- Multiple add-on benefits, including adventure activities and common carrier accidental death and dismemberment
- Solid underwriting from Berkshire Hathaway
Cons:
- Fewer options than other travel insurance companies
- Limited options for adventure or hazardous activities
- More expensive than competitors in the marketplace
Final Thoughts on Travelex Travel Insurance?
Travelex offers a robust level of coverage and add-ons for many of life’s unforeseen situations, along with special coverage for those who feel safer traveling within the United States. Although their coverage is slightly more expensive compared to others in the field, their benefit levels are among the most generous, with flat-rate options to purchase even more coverage if necessary.
While the company offers a broad trip cancellation benefit, it does fall short of being a true cancel for any reason option. Those who are concerned that they may have to cancel their trip for a non-covered reason, including family situations, may be better served by a company offering the additional benefit.
