When’s the Best Time to Buy Travel Insurance?

You know when you’re booking a flight or a travel package and that little checkbox appears? Add flight insurance now, it might say, or Don’t forget about travel protection!

You freeze. Should you buy it right now? What happens if you wait? Will it be too late?

Relax. You don’t have to buy travel insurance in the middle of the booking process. You can do so if you understand exactly what you’re buying and you’re insuring something simple, like a flight or a weekend getaway. But if you’re planning a big trip, it’s okay to wait until you’ve nailed down all the details. But try not to wait too long.

The best time to buy travel insurance is immediately after you’ve completed your travel arrangements.

Let’s say you’re planning a river cruise on the Rhine to see the famous Christmas markets of Germany and France. You’ll need to book the cruise itself, any excursions you plan to take, your airfare and your hotel for two extra days in Zurich, post-cruise. Once you’ve gotten all those arrangements nailed down, you’ll know your total prepaid trip costs — and that’s the perfect time to purchase travel insurance.

Why? You need to know your total costs to get an accurate quote if you’re purchasing travel insurance with trip cancellation / trip interruption benefits. That way, your entire travel investment can be protected.

It’s smart to buy travel insurance immediately after booking for two reasons. One: You won’t forget. Far too many travelers postpone buying travel insurance and then realize, too late, that they neglected to buy it at all.

And two: the earlier you buy insurance, the bigger your coverage window. Trip cancellation benefits begin on your plan’s effective date, as long as Allianz receives your premium before you cancel your trip or make a claim. (The effective date is affected by when and how you purchase a plan; if you buy travel insurance online, it’s the day after Allianz receives your order.) The earlier you purchase insurance, the sooner you’ll be protected.

So if you’ve already made all your travel arrangements, don’t delay. Get a quote for travel insurance right now.

The second best time to buy travel insurance is within 14 days of making your first trip payment.

The 14-day mark is significant when you’re buying travel insurance because it’s the cutoff point for the existing medical condition benefit. Many of Allianz’s plans include this benefit, which means that you, a traveling companion or family member can have an existing medical condition and still be eligible for all applicable benefits and assistance services. You must, however, meet certain requirements:

• You must purchase your plan within 14 days of making your first trip payment or first trip deposit.
• You must purchase trip cancellation coverage that covers the full cost of all your nonrefundable trip arrangements.
• You must be a U.S. resident and medically able to travel on the day you purchase the plan.
• The total cost of your trip does not exceed the maximum cost specified by your plan.
• All other stated terms and conditions are met.

Wait — what if you haven’t figured out your entire trip cost within 14 days of making your first trip deposit? It’s OK. Just don’t delay. Go ahead and purchase travel insurance within that 14-day window, making sure you select a plan with the existing medical condition benefit.

As soon as your travel arrangements are finalized, you can update your plan with your final trip costs, either online (click Manage a Policy) or by calling Allianz. Increases in trip cost may increase the overall cost of your travel insurance plan.

The third best time to buy travel insurance is any time before you depart.

With all the stress and excitement of planning your trip, you completely forgot to insure it. Now it’s 10 p.m. the night before departure, and you’re wondering, “How late can I buy travel insurance? Is it even worth doing now?”

There’s an old saying: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” It applies to travel insurance, too. Even if you’re about to leave for your trip, it’s better to buy insurance late than to not have it at all.

Go ahead and get a quote to see your options for protecting your trip. While trip cancellation/interruption benefits may not be useful to you now, benefits such as baggage loss/damage, baggage delay, travel delay and emergency medical can give you crucial protection for your trip.

The worst time to buy travel insurance is after something bad has already happened.

You’re happily gallivanting around Portugal when you stumble in a vineyard and fracture your ankle. Uh-oh. If you’d purchased travel insurance with emergency medical benefits, you could have avoided paying the Portuguese hospital bills out of pocket.

If you’d purchased travel insurance with trip interruption benefits, it could have reimbursed you for the unused portion of your trip, as well as for the cost of the plane ticket to return home early. But you didn’t. Is it too late to buy travel insurance now?

Unfortunately, it is. Travel insurance is designed to protect a traveler from certain unforeseeable events — not easily foreseeable things or things that have already happened at the time you purchase your plan.

That’s why it’s smart to buy insurance as early as possible in the booking process. If you’re taking more than one trip this year, you can make life easier by purchasing an AllTrips multi-trip plan.

This article originally appeared on the Allianz Travel website.

Terms, conditions, and exclusions apply. Benefits/Coverage may vary by state, and sublimits may apply. Please see your plan for full details. Plan(s) underwritten by BCS Insurance Company or Jefferson Insurance Company. AGA Service Company is the licensed producer and administrator of these plans. Plans include insurance benefits and assistance services. Contact AGA Service Company at 800-284-8300 or 9950 Mayland Drive, Richmond, VA 23233 or customerservice@allianzassistance.com.