The best travel insurance companies should be able to meet your needs at a price you're willing to pay. Sometimes, you're just not willing to pay that much. The following companies offer decent coverage for low prices.
To determine which companies made this list, we compared quotes across the travel insurance industry for the same trip, making a note of which companies offered particularly good coverage in certain areas and which companies were well reviewed.
Here are the best affordable travel insurance companies picked by Business Insider editors in 2025.
Best Cheap Travel Insurance Plans
- Best overall: HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance
- Best for trip cancellation: Aegis General Travel Insurance
- Best for medical-only coverage: GeoBlue Travel Insurance
- Best for families: C&F Travel Insured
- Best value: Nationwide Travel Insurance
- Best for reputation: Trawick International Travel Insurance
Featured Affordable Travel Insurance Companies
$308
N/A
- Zero Complaint Guarantee
- Streamlined comparison platform
- Variety of partnered travel insurance companies
- Customer service team is difficult to reach
SquareMouth is an online marketplace that helps you choose a travel insurance policy from 32 companies that shares a comprehensive, streamlined overview page for each insurance provider.
SquareMouth Travel Insurance
874
A++
- Policy coverage includes most pre-existing health conditions
- Generous medical and evacuation amounts for peace of mind
- COVID coverage included by default on all insurance plans
- Offers a wide range of plans for various budgets and travel needs
- Some plans offer CFAR, “cancel for work reasons,” financial default, and unemployment coverage
- Limited add-on coverage options
- Baggage loss and delay coverage is low compared to competitors
Tin Leg travel insurance offers eight travel insurance plans to meet the unique needs of travelers.
Tin Leg- Tin Leg was founded in 2014 by the travel insurance industry experts at Squaremouth. Designed to meet the most common needs of travelers, these policies offer comprehensive Trip Cancellation and Trip Interruption benefits, and a range of Emergency Medical and Medical Evacuation limits.
- Options to cover sports equipment
- Option to increase medical coverage
- Can cancel up to 48 hours before travel when CFAR option is purchased
- Affordable coverage for budget-conscious travelers
- Includes generous baggage delay, loss and trip delay coverage
- Optional "adventure sports" bundle available for riskier activities
- Pricier than some competitors with lower coverage ceilings
- Some competitors offer higher medical emergency coverage
Travelex travel insurance is one of the largest travel insurance providers in the U.S. providing domestic and international coverage options. It offers a basic, select, and America option. Read on to learn more.
Travelex Travel Insurance- Optional CFAR insurance available with the Ultimate plan
- Travel delay insurance starting at $500 with the Advantage plan
- Emergency medical and dental coverage starting at $15,000
Best Overall: HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance
The HTH Worldwide Travel Insurance Economy plan offers the most comprehensive coverage across major categories of all the providers in this guide.
You'll have some peace of mind with up to $75,000 of financial protection for eligible medical emergencies, and up to $500,000 per person for medical evacuation costs. For more everyday expenses, you can also relax with baggage loss and delay, trip interruption, cancellation and delay coverage that will help you recoup many, if not all, of your costs.
However, this plan falls short on missed connection benefits and accidental death coverage, both of which are not available under most circumstances (missed connection coverage only applies to cruises, and will only cover up to $500 per person after a three-hour delay).
Read our HTH Worldwide travel insurance review.
Best for Trip Cancellation: Aegis General Travel Insurance
The Aegis Trip Cancellation Plan is exactly that: a cost-effective plan that offers protection in the event that your trip is canceled for a covered reason. The plan we priced out for our hypothetical trip cost just 1.16% of our total travel expenses — a very small amount of money to pay for the guarantee of our money back in the right circumstances.
The benefit is that this plan can supplement other coverage you already have, or give you a little bit of protection for a trip where you might not otherwise have opted for insurance altogether. On the downside, you won't get any protection for medical emergencies, trip interruption or delays or lost bags from this plan.
Read our Aegis travel insurance review.
Best for Medical Coverage: GeoBlue Travel Insurance
GeoBlue is a travel insurance provider that specializes in travel medical insurance. Because it doesn't offer much trip protection or travel inconvenience coverage, it can charge cheaper premiums. A 30-year-old from California would pay as low as $20.55 for a policy that covers a two-week trip.
GeoBlue plans can cover medical expenses up to $1 million with several multi-trip annual plans available. It offers coinsurance plans for trips within the U.S. and 100% coverage for international trips. It also has a network of clinics in 180 countries, streamlining the claims process. It's worth noting that coverage for pre-existing conditions comes with additional costs.
Read our GeoBlue travel insurance review.
Best for Families: C&F Travel Insured
There's a lot to like about C&F Travel Insured. For one, it is one of the only travel insurance companies that offers CFAR coverage for annual travel insurance plans. Additionally, C&F is widely praised for its customer service, offering quick reimbursements for claims. Claims that don't reimburse within 30 days begin to accrue interest at 9% APY.
When it comes to affordability, C&F remains on the lower end of travel insurance costs. Policies for younger solo travelers are generally around 4% of total trip costs, which isn't bad considering average costs for travel insurance is around 4-8% of total trip costs. However, C&F excels at insuring families as children are heavily discounted with the Edge plan and completely free with the Protector plan.
Read our C&F Travel Insured review.
Best for Value: Nationwide Travel Insurance
Nationwide is a well-rounded alternative to HTH Worldwide Trip Protector Economy. This plan offers solid protection for both travel-related snafus as well as situations that might call for emergency medical and evacuation, making it a good choice for trips where you have cause to worry about potential interruptions or delays. However, it does not offer protection for missed connections or accidental death.
Read our Nationwide travel insurance review.
Best for Annual Travel Insurance: Trawick International Travel Insurance
Trawick offers three tiers of coverage for annual multi-trip travel insurance: Basic, Deluxe, and Executive. It charges flat fees for each tier of coverage, charging $163 for Basic, $421 for Deluxe, and $817 for Executive.
Its Basic plan offers coverage for multiple trips under 30 days with $2,500 of travel cancellation coverage over the policy term and $10,000 in emergency medical coverage.
As travel insurance premiums often rise for older travelers, the flat fee is great for older travelers who are looking for cheap annual travel insurance. Travelers up to 81 years old are eligible for coverage.
Read our Trawick travel insurance review.
Types of Affordable Travel Insurance
Comprehensive Travel Insurance Coverage
This type of travel insurance offers both travel medical insurance and trip cancellation coverage. Depending on your policy, you may also get benefits like lost baggage, trip delay, and emergency evacuation coverage.
Premiums for comprehensive coverage will be higher than if you bought trip cancellation on its own. However, you can still get cheap comprehensive coverage. You'll just need to choose a lower coverage level. While this may not be ideal for more expensive trips, lower coverage should be sufficient for budget travel.
Medical-Only Coverage
As the name suggests, this policy focuses solely on travel medical emergencies, dropping trip cancellation coverage and travel inconvenience coverage. It's a cost-effective option for travelers who are primarily concerned about health-related expenses.
Evacuation and Repatriation
In extreme cases where you need to be evacuated due to a medical emergency or a natural disaster, this coverage ensures that you can return home safely without incurring huge costs. It's a particularly important benefit for cruise insurance, where sea-to-air evacuations can be costly.
Similar to medical-only coverage, doing away with trip cancellation and inconvenience coverage can save you money.
Benefits of Opting for Cheap Travel Insurance
Cost Savings
Just because a travel insurance policy is cheap doesn't mean it's lacking. Many affordable policies offer substantial coverage, giving you peace of mind without breaking the bank. It'll also leave you with more money to spend during your trip
Cheap travel insurance can significantly reduce your travel expenses, ensuring that you're not overpaying for coverage you might not need.
Adequate Coverage for Less
Not every trip needs the most comprehensive insurance policy. If you're taking a short, cheaper trip, you simply might not need that much coverage. That's where a cheaper travel insurance company may be able to offer you the coverage you need.
How to Pick The Best Cheap Travel Insurance Plan for You
No single travel insurance plan will meet the needs of every single traveler. By nature, we are diverse and evolving meaning travel insurance should be equally so. Travel insurance for a week-long trip to a big city shouldn't be the same as the coverage for a backpacking expedition in the mountains. A splurge to purchase comprehensive insurance coverage may also be worth it for international ventures or other large expenditures.
In most cases, the cost difference between a basic and comprehensive travel insurance plan isn't as significant as you might think. Regardless, it's generally a good idea to choose a trusted travel insurance provider known for exceptional customer service and coverage. (For this roundup, we looked at traveler reviews shared through the travel insurance aggregator SquareMouth.)
- Assessing Your Travel Needs: Consider the nature of your trip, the destination, and your own personal needs when choosing a policy. This ensures that you're not over-insured or underinsured.
- Comparing Different Policies: Don't settle for the first policy you find. Compare different options, looking at their coverage and prices, to find the best fit for your budget and needs.
- Reading the Fine Print: Always read the terms and conditions carefully to understand what's covered, what's not, and the process for making a claim.
Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Cheap Travel Insurance
To determine the best insurance plan for travelers on a budget, we evaluated dozens of products using a hypothetical trip to Australia for a single traveler, age 26, with a total cost of $2,500 for flight, hotel and other incidentals. We then compiled the plans that covered the essentials at the lowest costs.
Of note: All of these plans include COVID-related medical coverage and 24-hour assistance, and pay at least 100% of your trip cost for eligible trip cancellations. None include rental car coverage.
Cost
The four winning plans cost between $29 to $74 — significantly below the average cost of comprehensive travel insurance, which can range between 4% to 8% of total travel expenses, according to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association.
But these affordable plans also come with comparably low ceilings for various aspects of coverage such as emergency medical, trip cancellation, or delay — and do not include rental car or "cancel for any reason" (CFAR) protection. So if you think you might need these benefits, it may well be worth upgrading to a comprehensive travel insurance plan for a few more dollars, just for the peace of mind.
Convenience and Flexibility
Each of the plans in this list include 24-hour assistance worldwide from reputable insurance providers. And despite being on the lower end of insurance plans, each of these options includes refunds for up to 100% of your total trip cost for eligible reasons. Each of these plans also includes medical coverage for COVID-related issues that may arise during your travels, which may come in handy as the pandemic continues to evolve worldwide.
Sufficient Coverage in Essential Categories
The cheapest travel insurance plan will rarely cover every scenario that could go awry on your trip. However, each of these plans can at least help you get your money back in the event that your travel is canceled for an eligible reason, and most of them include travel medical insurance if you incur emergency medical bills while traveling. We also factor in what travelers are most concerned about now.
You can read more about how Business Insider rates travel insurance.
Best Cheap Travel Insurance FAQ
Travel insurance is relatively cheap because it only covers you for a set period of time and the level of coverage you get may not be particularly high. Your premiums will rise with higher coverage limits and add-ons like cancel for any reason coverage. Travel insurance for older travelers can also be quite expensive.
The average cost of travel insurance is 4%-8% of your trip's cost. This usually translates into a premium between $89 to $399. That said, many companies offer premiums far below average costs.
You can reduce the cost of travel insurance by opting for simpler coverage or choosing higher deductibles on travel medical insurance. You can also consider annual travel insurance, which will save you money in the long run if you take multiple trips over one year.
Unfortunately, many travel insurance companies that cover preexisting conditions reserve coverage for its more expensive plans. That said, you'll find some providers that cover preexisting conditions with their value plan, such as C&F Travel Insured and Berkshire Hathaway.
Yes, cheap travel insurance can still go a long way if something happens on your trip.
