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This Secret Insurance Perk Could Save Your Next Trip

Christopher Elliott

When Daniel Oppliger missed his connecting flight while traveling from Bangkok to Phoenix, he invoked one of the lesser known travel insurance benefits: trip interruption coverage.

Oppliger, who lives in Surprise, Ariz., had an advantage. When his flight to Hong Kong departed three hours late, he relied on his insider knowledge as a travel agent to find a hotel and file a claim with Allianz Travel Insurance, his insurance carrier.

"When I returned, I submitted a claim to Allianz for my hotel in Hong Kong," he says. "The claim was paid promptly." 

This summer, hundreds of thousands of trips will be disrupted by accidents, missed connections, or natural disasters. Some of them will be covered by travel insurance, either offered by an insurance company or through a credit card. But many travelers won't even know they're covered or how to file a claim. (Travel insurance companies generally don't publicly disclose their claim numbers, and no one knows how many policyholders could have used trip interruption coverage, but didn't.)

What is trip interruption coverage?

"Just as an unexpected event before a trip may lead you to cancel, a number of unforeseen occurrences could happen while you’re traveling, forcing you to cut the trip short," says Daniel Durazo, a spokesman for Allianz, the company handling Oppliger's claim. 

Trip interruption insurance benefits can reimburse you for the unused portion of your trip, if you have to end it early for a covered reason. These may include illness or serious injury to you or an immediate family member, which may interrupt your trip or cause you to cut it short, says Durazo.

"It could also cover extended travel delays by your carrier — such as weather related — or if your destination becomes uninhabitable," he says.

Trip interruption insurance benefits are evolving, too. Allianz recently upgraded two of its travel insurance plans, OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier, to include more covered reasons to cancel or interrupt a trip. Among them are mandatory evacuations and hurricane warnings issued by NOAA. Benefits can be up to 150% of your trip expenses.

How to find the best trip interruption coverage

Virtually every travel insurance policy comes with some kind of trip interruption coverage, and many credit cards also offer some coverage. But how do you find the best one?

Find out if you're already covered. "The first thing anyone considering travel insurance should do is to check your existing insurance coverage to see if you already have travel insurance as a perk elsewhere," says Brooke Niemeyer, travel insurance expert at Policygenius, an insurance site. For example, some credit card issuers offer travel insurance. "Even if you decide to get additional coverage, you may not have to get as much if you have coverage elsewhere," she adds.

Know the difference between "delay" and "interruption." That's the advice of James Walloga, executive vice president for Chubb North America Accident & Health. "Consumers need to look at both trip interruption and trip delay coverages when reviewing their travel insurance policies," he says. Each benefit has a different purpose. For example, trip interruption is designed to cover prepaid, non-refundable costs associated with travel mishaps, including additional transportation costs to reach a destination or come home early. Trip delay coverage covers additional expenses, such as hotels, meals, and ground transportation, if the trip has been delayed by a specified number of hours, as specified in the travel policy.

Read the fine print. Look for what qualifies as a covered reason for trip interruption, says Phil Sylvester, travel safety expert World Nomads, a travel insurance company. "Most travel insurance plans have some type of cover but with caveats and conditions," he adds. Covered reasons can include personal sickness or injury, death or illness of travel companions, or poor weather conditions. Travel insurance can also cover some less common scenarios,  such as strikes or terrorist attacks, hijackings, jury summonses, or damage to your home from a natural disaster.

Make sure the policy is a good fit. The insurance should align with your trip. "Look for a policy that covers all interruptions that are likely to happen at your destination," says Zeshan Jeewanjee, director of marketing at, a travel insurance site. "Some plans do not cover you for hurricanes, which is something you would probably need if you are traveling to a place like Florida, or another hurricane-prone area. Make sure you have the right plan and benefits included with your plan based on your travel destinations."

Pay attention to the exceptions — all the exceptions. Some types of travel disruptions are not covered by traditional insurance, says PK Rao, president of INF Visitor Care, a travel medical firm. "Find out what's actually covered," he adds.  "You'll want to take into account whether the policy includes a pre-existing conditions waiver. If you do not have a pre-existing condition waiver, you won't be able to file a claim if you must interrupt the trip becasue of a pre-existing sickness. If you are over the age of 60, I would highly recommend that you seek out a plan that covers not only trip interruption from pre-existing conditions, but the medical costs as well."

How do you ensure you know about all of this? Just read your policy.

"People often are surprised by what is covered and what is not covered, mainly because they don't read their policy," says Justin Tysdal, CEO of Seven Corners, a travel insurance company.

Some exceptions apply to this travel insurance perk

Remember, some types of disruptions will almost certainly not be covered by a traditional travel insurance plan. That includes any delays that happen as a result of scuba diving, mountain climbing or generally any activity requiring the use of specialized technical equipment.

"Also, unless additional coverage is added to your policy, trip cancellation or interruption coverage is not honored when someone just decides not to go or their boss cancels their vacation," says Andy Crisconi of the tour operator One World Trekking. In some cases, countries or areas within a country will not be covered, nor will places that have recently experienced a natural disaster, he adds.

Trip interruption coverage is a powerful but somewhat obscure benefit of your travel insurance policy. You don't even have to cancel your vacation to use it. You just have to experience a delay. 

Trip interruption insurance isn't a magic bullet. Travel insurance companies require that you document the delay with receipts and bills, and there are important exclusions. But it's something worth remembering on your upcoming summer vacation — or on any trip.

