Travel insurance

Reimburses your prepaid, nonrefundable travel expenses if you need to cancel your trip due to a covered reason, such as you, a family member, or a traveling companion experiencing a covered illness or injury.

• A doctor says you or a traveling companion is too sick to fly
• Your parent or child requires hospitalization
• You need to attend the birth of a family member's child
• You have a traffic accident (not a breakdown) on the way to the airport
• A storm shuts down your airport for 24 hours or longer

Reimburses you for unused, nonrefundable travel expenses and increased transportation costs during your trip if you have to return home early due to a covered reason, for instance when a family member is hospitalized and needs your care.

• You get sick or injured and a doctor says you must return home
• A family member gets injured and needs your care
• An emergency, like a fire or flood, makes your home uninhabitable

If you have a covered delay while traveling, travel insurance can reimburse you for meals, accommodations, and transportation expenses when your trip is delayed for a minimum number of consecutive hours for a covered reason. Minimum number of hours varies by plan.

If you get sick or injured while you're on vacation, travel insurance can reimburse you for care after a covered medical or dental emergency that might occur on your trip. This benefit can be especially helpful if you have a covered emergency outside the United States, as most health insurance policies, including Medicare and Medicaid, typically won't cover you in another country.

• You slip and break your ankle while sightseeing
• You get food poisoning from eating local cuisine
• You lose a filling and require immediate dental treatment

While most trips are accident-free, the peace of mind travel insurance can provide is priceless.

Arranges and pays for medically necessary transportation following a covered injury or illness to an appropriate medical facility to receive care and get you home after treatment.

Reimburses you for the replacement of your lost, damaged, or stolen luggage and personal items while traveling.

Reimburses essential items purchased during your trip if your baggage is delayed for 24 hours or longer.

Provides payment if you are on a cruise that misses a scheduled port of call indicated on your original itinerary or replaces it with another port of call. 

Reimburses fees if you need to change your flight itinerary due to a covered reason.

Provides around-the-clock support during your trip. Allianz Global Assistance's staff of multilingual problem-solvers can help you with medical, legal, and travel-related emergencies whenever they happen.

Medical assistance includes, but is not limited to:

• Medical triage with referrals to local prescreened medical providers
• Ongoing medical monitoring
• Payment guarantee (where applicable)
• Emergency medical transportation

Additional services for travel-related emergencies can help with:

• Missed connecting flights

Getting an online travel insurance quote is easy and can typically be completed in under a minute. You'll need:

1. Your travel dates.
2. The age of the traveler(s).
3. The total trip cost, including flights, car rentals, and accommodations. The total doesn't need to be exact, but it should reflect the amount of cancellation protection you want your plan to include.
4. State of residence for the person purchasing the plan.
5. The initial deposit date (the date you purchased the trip).
6. Your primary travel destination. If you are visiting multiple countries, you should list the country you plan to visit the longest.

Once you have provided this information, you can see the plans available for your review and purchase. Please be sure to review your specific plan documents for details before purchasing.

As long as you haven't already departed for your vacation, you can still purchase travel insurance. However, it is always best to purchase a plan as soon as you book your trip to get the most out of your trip protection.

And don't worry, you can still protect your trip through AAA, even if you booked your vacation elsewhere.

Before traveling overseas, it's wise to ask your health insurance provider if your coverage travels with you. Medicare and Medicaid generally do not offer coverage overseas, and hospitals in other countries often require case payments upfront. Also, very few health insurance companies pay for your medical evacuation back to the United States, as the U.S. Department of State explains. This is why it's so important to have travel insurance with emergency medical and emergency medical transportation benefits.

While some credit cards do provide travel insurance when you purchase your trip with the credit card, you should always verify the specific benefits that are included, the coverage limits, and any limitations and exclusions. The travel insurance offered by credit card companies typically has more restrictions and fewer benefits than a standalone travel insurance plan. If you don't have time to do a full comparison, here's the short version: Some credit cards' travel benefits can be useful for small things, such as lost bags and travel delays, but only travel insurance provides reliable protection in the case of real emergencies.

If you're considering a vacation with just your credit card trip protection, you should compare what your credit card coverage offers against the policy you select with a travel insurance provider such as Allianz, as Allianz Travel Insurance plans through AAA generally provide more protection compared to credit card coverage in the case of covered emergencies.

Updating your plan: As long as you haven't already departed on your trip or filed a claim, some plans may allow you to change certain details, such as insuring additional trip costs. For fast service, visit the online plan management tool.

Canceling your plan: All plans have a free review period. If you're not completely satisfied, you have 10 days (or more, depending on your state of residence) to request a refund, provided you haven't started your trip or initiated a claim. Premiums are nonrefundable after this period. To cancel your plan, you can access the online plan management tool.

File a claim: The fastest and easiest way to file a claim is online. To get started, you'll need your email address or policy number, as well as your departure date or policy purchase date. Once you have filed your claim, you will receive a confirmation email.

Documentation to support your claim is required before a claim examiner can review your claim. Find a list of supporting documents you may need.

You can also email Allianz at claimsinquiry@allianzassistance.com, fax your claim to 1-804-673-1469, or mail it to:

Allianz Global Assistance
P.O. Box 71533
Richmond, VA 23255-1533

Please include your name and policy number with any documentation submitted by mail or fax. Processing times may be longer than for claims submitted online.

Check claim status: After your claim has been submitted, you can check your claim status 24 hours a day using the online claim management tool. You can get help filing or checking a claim anytime by calling customer service at 1-800-284-8300. 

Allianz offers greater protection by recognizing more people as "family members" than you might think. Allianz Global Assistance considers the following "family members," meaning any of them could trigger a covered reason for trip cancellation or interruption:

• Spouse: By marriage, common law, domestic partnership, or civil union
• Cohabitants: A person 18 or older, who you currently live with and have lived with for at least 12 consecutive months; you must be able to show evidence that you have lived together for 12 consecutive months
• Children: Biological, stepchildren, foster children, adopted children, or children currently in the adoption process, grandchildren
• Parents: Biological, step, in-law, legal guardian, grandparents
• Siblings: Biological, step, in-law, ward
• Extended: Aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews
• Service animals: As defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act