Travelex Travel Insurance Review
Travelex Travel Insurance is an excellent choice for families, as it provides plans that include coverage for children under 17 at no extra cost. Its policies can help you mitigate the financial challenges that may arise during your travels while saving on insurance costs.
Best for families with children
Travelex offers three insurance plans, two of which are tailored to families traveling with children. They include free coverage for all accompanied children under 17 and even covers your pets during trips if they need veterinary assistance or get lost.
Travelex Travel Insurance Pros and Cons
- "Cancel for Any Reason" upgrade available with Travel Select Plan
- Free coverage for minors accompanied by adults
- Pre-existing condition waiver available with some plans
- No multi-trip or annual plans available
- Pricier than some of its competitors
Pros explained
“Cancel for Any Reason” upgrade available
This optional add-on lets you cancel your travel plans for any reason and get up to 50% of your insured expenses back — no questions asked. Note that this coverage option isn’t available with all of Travelex’s insurance plans. It can only be added when you choose the Travel Select plan.
To be eligible for the refund, you have to:
- Purchase the “Cancel for Any Reason” upgrade with your Travel Select plan
- Insure all your non-refundable travel expenses (such as flight tickets) the moment you purchase the plan
- Sign up for the plan within 15 days of making your first payment toward your trip
- Cancel at least 48 hours before the start of your trip
Free coverage for minors accompanying an adult
With the Travel Select and Travel America plans, all children under the age of 17 are covered for free, as long as they’re being accompanied by a covered adult.
There is no limit for the number of minors who can be covered, but there are some restrictions.
For starters, if the cost of the child’s travel expenses exceed the ones of the accompanying adult, a separate insurance policy must be purchased for the minor.
Pre-existing condition waiver available
Not all travel insurance providers offer coverage for people who have pre-existing conditions, but some of the best travel insurance companies, like Travelex, do.
Travelex has two plans that can provide comprehensive coverage for people with pre-existing conditions, as long as certain requirements are met.
To get coverage for any pre-existing condition, you’ll need to purchase a Travel Select plan within 15 days of your initial trip deposit or a Travel America policy within three days of your final trip payment. Note that depression and anxiety don’t qualify as pre-existing conditions, so you wouldn’t be covered for treatment for those.
To be eligible for the coverage, the passenger must be medically and physically capable of traveling at the time of purchase. This means that if a person has an illness or disability that prevents them from traveling, they would not be eligible for the pre-existing condition waiver.
Lastly, if you chose the Travel Select plan, you’ll be required to insure all your prepaid non-refundable deposits and payments. Once you meet these conditions, Travelex will add the pre-existing condition waiver to your policy.
Cons explained
No multi-trip or annual plans available
One of Travelex's downsides is that it doesn’t offer multi-trip or annual plans. If your family flies frequently, you’ll have to purchase separate policies for each trip, which can be tedious and expensive.
Other travel insurance companies offer one-time-purchase annual plans that provide coverage over an extended period of time. So, if you plan on taking your family on multiple trips within a few months, Travelex may not be the best choice for you.
Pricier than some of its competitors
Travelex isn’t the cheapest travel insurance available for adults traveling without children.
For example, if you are 28 years old and traveling alone to Martinique for a total cost of $2,000, you will pay around $60 with Travelex for trip cancellation, interruption and medical coverage. Some insurance providers may charge as little as $32 for the same trip.
However, if you’re traveling with multiple children, Travelex’s free coverage for minors may make it a more reasonable option than other providers.
Travelex Travel Insurance Plans
Travelex has five travel insurance policies to choose from, including three full-coverage plans and two flight-only plans.
Travel Basic
Travel Basic is the most budget-friendly plan. It covers trip cancellation and interruption costs, emergency medical and dental expenses and 12-hour baggage delays. It also covers trip delays, missed connections and more.
Kids aren’t covered with this plan, but travel assistance and concierge services are available.
Travel Select
Travel Select is the company’s most comprehensive plan, featuring free insurance for children under 17 and higher coverage limits . Aside from the benefits included with the Basic plan, Travel Select also provides coverage for additional events, like sporting-equipment delays.
Travel America
As the name suggests, Travel America is ideal for those traveling within the U.S.
This domestic travel insurance plan features similar benefits to the Travel Select plan, such as trip cancellation, interruption and delay coverage. It also covers missed connections, emergency dental and medical expenses, baggage delay and damage benefits, sporting equipment delay and AD&D. It also comes with travel assistance.
This plan also insures minor, but there is a slight difference when compared to The Travel Select plan. Instead of covering each person individually, the Travel America plan splits the total benefit payout between all covered travelers.
Note that this plan only covers up to eight travelers.
Flight Insure
This flight-only plan insures your trip from take-off to landing. It includes coverage for possible trip delays and AD&D during your flight. You also get travel assistance with this insurance plan, which can help finding a medical provider, legal aid and more
Flight Insure Plus
Flight Insure Plus is an upgraded version of Flight Insure, including higher coverage limits for baggage damages and delays, emergency dental and medical expenses, plus emergency medical evacuation and repatriation. This plan also covers in-flight AD&D.
Travelex Travel Insurance Pricing
As with most travel insurance policies, you’ll need to provide detailed information about the travelers and the trip to get an accurate quote.
The insurer may ask for the trip destination, cost, length and the number and age of travelers. If you made bookings using a travel booking sites or a travel agent, you might need to disclose that information as well.
These factors and the coverage amount you choose will determine the total cost of your policy.
Travelex Travel Insurance Financial Stability
The underwriters for Travelex Insurance Services are Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance and Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich), which have financial ratings of A++ and A+ from AM Best, respectively.
Travelex Travel Insurance Accessibility
Purchasing a policy from Travelex Insurance is simple. Visit the company website, request a quote and type in your trip details, including your travel dates, destination, trip cost, and traveler information You’ll receive a free quote and have the options to customize your policy with additional upgrades.
Availability
Travelex policies are available to residents nationwide, and in U.S. army installations worldwide.
Contact information
You can get in touch with Travelex by calling the customer service hotline at 1-800-228-9792 during weekdays between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. CST. For technical difficulties while using the Travelex website, call 1-888-457-4602. You can also send an email to customersolutions@travelexinsurance.com or techsupport@travelexinsurance.com.
If you’re a policyholder traveling internationally and need emergency assistance, contact the Emergency Assistance team.
User experience
The company website is easy to navigate. Policyholders and new customers alike can effortlessly find information on plans, benefits and coverage upgrades. You can also get an instant quote using the tool on the home page.
Additionally, the website features a “Customer Service” drop-down menu that redirects users to the appropriate department if they want to submit a claim or request a plan change or documents.
Travelex Travel Insurance Customer Satisfaction
Travelex garners plenty of positive comments on various third-party review sites. Customer reviews show that customers are generally satisfied with Travelex's service and offerings. Many reviewers also mention that agents are helpful and try to guide customers as best as they can.
Travelex is accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB)Travelex and has an A+ rating. It does have a low customer rating (1.25 out of 5 stars); however, only eight customers have left reviews, which is not a representative sample size.
Additionally, the company seems to prioritize replying promptly to negative reviews. On average, Travelex replied to 92% of the bad reviews within two weeks.
How We Evaluated Travelex Travel Insurance
We compared Travelex Travel Insurance to other insurance providers and considered the following factors:
- Available plans
- Costs
- Benefits and coverage
- Claim filing process
- Financial stability
- Customer service
- Diversity of offerings
- Customer reviews
- Third-party ratings
Summary of Money's Travelex Travel Insurance Review
While some of the best credit cards and best travel rewards cards include travel insurance, these might not provide the coverage you need. Travelex offers three insurance packages, all covering kids under 17 at no additional cost. The Travel Select and Travel Basic plans also cover pre-existing conditions, a benefit that not many insurers provide.
Additionally, the company has two flight-only policies that insure lost baggage, trip delays, emergency medical expenses and more. You also get access to multiple upgrade options that can make your policy more comprehensive, such as coverage for car rentals and sport activities. For an additional cost, you can even cancel your trip for any reason 48 hours prior to your departure and get a 50% refund.
While Travelex offers competitive policies, you should always compare your options by reading the fine print and requesting a quote.