Best Student Travel Insurance Companies of 2023

Date:

AXA Assistance USA Travel Insurance

  • Cost

    The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote

  • Policy highlights

    AXA Assistance USA offers several travel insurance policies that include travel interruption, trip cancellation, and the option of cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage.

  • 24/7 assistance available

  • Three tiers of plans available
  • Highly rated for financial strength

  • Cancel for any reason only available on highest-tier coverage

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AXA Assistance USA’s most basic plan, the Silver Plan, includes all of the essentials a student will likely need while studying abroad: coverage for emergency medical expenses (up to $25,000 for accident or sickness and up to $100,000 for evacuation), baggage loss (up to $750) trip interruption and trip cancellation. 

It’s budget-friendly as well and is one of the most affordable yet comprehensive travel insurance plans on the market. If you’re interested in higher coverage limits, AXA offers two more premium plans, one of which includes a cancel for any reason (CFAR) option. 

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USI Affinity Travel Insurance

  • Cost

    The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote

  • Policy highlights

    USI Affinity has travel medical policies in addition to trip cancellation policies. Travel medical plans include an option for frequent travelers to cover multiple trips. Trip cancellation options include coverage for road trips and group travel.

  • 24/7 assistance available

  • Wide variety of plans for both trip cancellation coverage and travel medical insurance

  • CFAR only covers up to 70% of non-refundable trip costs

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USI Affinity is a good choice for students primarily concerned about potential medical expenses abroad. The company offers only one trip cancellation plan but offers a wide variety of travel medical plans tailored to specific situations.

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Travel Guard® Travel Insurance

  • Cost

    The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote

  • Policy highlights

    Travel Guard offers a variety of plans to suit travel ranging from road trips to long cruises. For air travelers, Travel Guard can help assist with tracking baggage or covering lost or delayed baggage.

  • 24/7 assistance available

  • A variety of plans are available to help cover different types of trips

  • Not all products are available for purchase online

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Students who are concerned about trip interruptions should consider Travel Guard, which offers last-minute coverage. There are three base packages available online, with more options available through a representative. Its most basic plan includes typical coverage for travel medical expenses (up to $15,000 in medical expenses and $150,000 for evacuation), but robust coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, baggage theft as well as per-day compensation for trip delays.

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Allianz Travel Insurance

  • Cost

    The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote

  • Policy highlights

    10 travel insurance plans make it possible to customize your coverage. For families, Allianz’s OneTrip Prime package covers children age 17 and younger when traveling with a parent or grandparent.

  • 24/7 assistance available

  • Trip cancellation benefits can reimburse your prepaid, nonrefundable trip payments if you have to cancel your trip for one of the covered reasons stated in your plan documents. 

  • Limited coverage for risky sports

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Allianz offers a whopping 10 different travel insurance policies. While many premium insurers offer cancel for any reason coverage that can cover up to 75% of prepaid, non-refundable trip costs, Allianz’s Cancel Anytime upgrade can reimburse up to 80% of your prepaid, nonrefundable trip payments if you have to cancel your trip for one of the covered reasons stated in your plan documents. If you’re planning to be adventurous during your study abroad experience, Allianz has a variety of add-ons to cover rental cars, hazardous sports and more. 

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Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection

  • Cost

    The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote

  • Policy highlights

    Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has multiple plans to cover vacations from luxury travel to adventure travel. The brand’s LuxuryCare offers the highest limits of travel insurance coverage offered by the company. Quotes and policies are available online.

  • 24/7 assistance available

  • Wide variety of policies available
  • Strong financial strength rating by AM Best

  • Cancel for any reason only provides reimbursement for up to 50% of non-refundable trip payments

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AXA’s travel insurance offers medical coverage for emergencies and accidents while traveling for up to $250,000. It offers three different plans for travelers starting as low as $16 according to its website.

CFAR coverage available

Yes

24/7 assistance? 

Yes

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USI Affinity offers a number of travel plans, including travel medical plans for those traveling outside of the U.S. Its InterMedical Insurance plan has three levels of medical coverage available ranging from $50,000 to $150,000, and starts at $1.35 per day, according to the company’s website.

CFAR coverage available

Yes

24/7 assistance? 

Yes

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Travel Guard’s travel insurance could be a fit for students studying abroad with three levels of coverage. Its travel medical expense coverage can go up to $100,000 with the brand’s deluxe plan.

CFAR coverage available

Yes

24/7 assistance? 

Yes

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Allianz offers several types of travel insurance for students, including its OneTrip Emergency Medical Plan with up to $50,000 in emergency medical benefits and $250,000 in evacuation benefits. Its OneTrip Prime and Premier plans offer cancellation and trip interruption benefits on top of emergency medical benefits up to $50,000.

CFAR coverage available

Yes

24/7 assistance? 

Yes

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Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection offers several travel insurance plans that could be a fit for student travelers, including its ExactCare Value and ExactCare plans, offering both trip cancellation and interruption coverage in addition to medical coverage.

CFAR coverage available

Yes

24/7 assistance? 

Yes

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Medical expenses and emergency evacuation

Stan Sandberg, a co-founder of the online marketplace TravelInsurance.com, said medical coverage is the most important area of coverage for students studying abroad. 

Most travel insurance plans, regardless of whether they are designed for students, cover medical expenses incurred abroad. Medical expense coverage can help to cover injuries or illnesses you may incur while abroad. Emergency evacuation coverage generally includes transportation to the nearest adequate facility or transportation home.

Travel medical coverage can exclude some situations that are relevant for students studying abroad — namely, intoxication. “If the individual is either beyond a certain intoxication level or under the influence of illegal substances, those things are very often excluded from coverage,” Sandberg said. “So, a student traveling to a country that doesn’t have a drinking age, for instance, that would be something to keep in mind.”

Because of cultural alienation and homesickness, studying abroad can be an emotionally difficult time for many students. If you are shopping for student travel insurance, you should consider searching for a plan that covers mental health services. Read your travel policy carefully to understand the coverage offered and any requirements for coverage.

If medical expenses are the only cost you wish to insure, then you might instead consider an international health plan, which Sandberg recommends for students on a budget. 

Trip cancellation and interruption 

If your circumstances change at the last minute, you’ll be grateful to have a travel insurance plan with trip cancellation coverage, which will reimburse you for your non-refundable trip costs, like flights and hotels, for covered events. 

This coverage will not, however, cover any non-refundable costs of your study abroad program, such as tuition, room and board, which are likely to be much more expensive than the flights to and from. So to Sandberg, this coverage is slightly less important for students.

Travel assistance

It’s possible that studying abroad will be a student’s first time out of the country. Traveling internationally, especially in areas with a language barrier, can be confusing. Many travel insurance plans, and all five policies we chose as our top picks, offer a 24/7 helpline to assist you along your journey. 

Lost or stolen baggage

Along with travel assistance, baggage loss and baggage delay coverage are examples of post-departure benefits. Study abroad programs typically last an entire semester or a summer, so you’ll likely pack a lot of luggage. 

If you’re traveling with valuables, you should consider searching for a plan that includes baggage insurance. Sandberg recommends reading the fine print, though, as many plans exclude electronic items in luggage and items above a certain value. 

And of course, make sure any policy is worth your money and aligns with your coverage goals before purchasing it. Many travel insurance policies offer free look periods that include time to read over the policy and cancel coverage with a refund.

FAQs

What is travel insurance for studying abroad? 

For students and adults alike, travel insurance is a flexible type of coverage designed to protect you when you’re far from home. By purchasing a policy, you can prevent financial hardship related to international medical expenses or travel mishaps like interruptions, delays and lost luggage. Some premium travel insurance plans offer cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage, which allows you to recoup some of your expenses should you cancel your trip for any reason.

Is travel insurance worth it for studying abroad?

Travel insurance is a wise investment for travelers who will be abroad for a while, including students studying abroad. Most domestic medical plans do not cover international hospital bills, so in case of an emergency, having travel insurance with medical expense coverage could be crucial.

How much does travel insurance cost for students studying abroad?  

Travel insurance costs vary depending on the length of the trip, the age of the travelers and the extent of the coverage. You can expect to pay around 4% to 10% of your trip’s total cost, according to travel insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip. Keep in mind though that your trip’s “total cost” does not include the cost of your study abroad program itself. Most travel insurance companies are only interested in the cost of flights and non-program lodging like hotels. The best way to estimate the cost of insuring your trip is to get quotes from multiple companies.

What is international health insurance?

International health insurance is a health coverage plan that covers your medical expenses anywhere in the world. An international health insurance plan provides very similar medical coverage to that provided by a travel insurance plan.

Do I need travel insurance if my credit card has it already?

Some of the best travel credit cards on the market provide some travel protection. For example, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® card offers trip cancellation and interruption insurance up to $10,000 per covered person up to $20,000 per trip, travel accident insurance, emergency evacuation insurance and coverage for baggage delays and loss. Ask your issuer if your card has any travel protection benefits. If not, or if the coverage is minimal, you should consider purchasing travel insurance from a third party.

Not only is it a smart idea to purchase travel insurance to study abroad, but it is also required by a lot of international programs. With travel insurance, students can worry less about the unexpected and make the most of their experience abroad. If your academic program does not have a pre-existing partnership with a certain provider, then consider using one of these top travel insurance companies for students. 

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At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every travel insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of travel insurance products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best cheap travel insurance.

To determine the best travel insurance companies for students studying abroad, CNBC Select analyzed dozens of U.S. travel insurance companies that come with a wide variety of policies and offer coverage for a number of situations. 

When narrowing down the best travel insurance companies, we focused on the coverage available, including the number of plans available, 24/7 assistance availability and cancel for any reason (CFAR) coverage availability. We also considered financial strength ratings from AM Best and Better Business Bureau ratings for customer satisfaction.

To consider costs, we gathered quotes from the top travel insurance companies for four sample trips, which included:

1. A semester-long (January 15 to June 15) study-abroad trip to the United Kingdom:

  • $3,000 per person (flights to and from JFK and non-program hotels)
  • New York residents
  • Traveler aged 20

2. A summer (June 15-August 15) study-abroad trip to Italy:

  • $2,000 per person (flights to and from JFK and non-program hotels)
  • New York residents
  • Traveler aged 20

Sample quotes assumed that payments were made on the date of quoting.

Note that the premiums and policy structures advertised for travel insurance companies are subject to fluctuate in accordance with the company’s policies.

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Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.

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