cheap flights Travel Insurance - 2023
CheapTickets offers travel insurance during the checkout process. However, it is not cheap, and it lacks critical cover. Like many travel portals, CheapTickets is owned by Expedia, and both websites share similar design elements and search engines. While the search engine is excellent, people who expect to buy cheap travel insurance from CheapTickets might be disappointed. For example, CheapTickets Travel Insurance costs six times as much as the best price available on AARDY's Travel Insurance Marketplace.
For domestic US travel, we usually don't buy trip insurance that includes medical cover as our medical plans work across state lines. However, it makes sense to buy travel insurance to claim refunds for cancellations caused by illness, injuries, or flight delays, and for compensation for lost baggage. It is also essential to buy travel insurance that includes a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver.
We examined what CheapTickets offers for travel insurance and found it confusing. We took a family of four from Chicago to Orlando for two weeks, priced at $863 per person, with non-stop flights costing $3,982 for the family. At checkout, we were presented with two travel insurance options, neither of which made sense.
The first option was to "protect your trip" for $52 per person or $204 in total. For that amount, we could change flights for any reason and receive a refund for hotels and activities. However, this plan didn't seem to provide any useful value.
The second option was the "Change for Any Reason & Protection" plan, which cost $69 per person or $276 for the family. In addition to what the first option offered, it included coverage for medical expenses, lost items, delayed meals, hotel, and transport, but still provided very limited protection for the money spent.
At AARDY, we recommend insuring only non-refundable costs, such as flight tickets, to prevent over-insuring. We also suggest avoiding travel insurance for hotels because almost all hotel bookings can be canceled the day before departure without financial loss. Therefore, it is essential to understand what should be covered by trip insurance and what should be left alone to avoid wasting money.