Travel Resources for Adventurers
Travelex Insurance Review: A Deep Dive
Written by Antonio Cala.
Table of Contents
Whether you’re a frequent explorer, a nature enthusiast, or an all-around adventurer, having a good travel insurance is an essential part of any journey. In this Travelex Insurance review, we will dissect what sets it apart.
From their different services and membership plans to the little details of their insurance policies, we are unraveling it all. We hope this guide will help you through determining if Travelex Insurance is the perfect match for your travel needs.
For a comprehensive exploration of insurance options tailored for adventurous journeys, be sure to explore our Complete Guide to Adventure Travel Insurance. Let’s get started.
Travelex Insurance Overview
Who Is Travelex For
The Travelex Insurance is a great option for American residents going on high-ticket adventure trips like adventure cruises (or other adventure trips that cost over $5-10k) and don’t need more than $50k of medical coverage.
What's Included
Travelex Insurance policies typically offer a range of coverage to ensure travelers have comprehensive protection during their journeys. While specific details may vary depending on the plan and options selected, common inclusions in Travelex Insurance policies often encompass:
Trip Cancellation and Interruption: Coverage for non-refundable trip expenses in case you need to cancel or interrupt your trip due to covered reasons, such as illness, injury, or unforeseen events.
Emergency Medical and Dental Coverage: Reimbursement for necessary medical and dental expenses incurred during your trip, including emergency medical evacuation if required.
Baggage and Personal Effects: Protection for your luggage and personal belongings against loss, theft, or damage during your travels.
Travel Delay: Compensation for additional expenses incurred due to covered delays, such as accommodation and meals, if your trip is delayed for a certain duration.
Trip Interruption: Reimbursement for unused, non-refundable trip costs if your journey is interrupted for a covered reason.
Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D): Financial coverage for injuries resulting in loss of life or specific permanent disabilities while traveling.
24/7 Emergency Assistance Services: Access to a global assistance network for help with medical emergencies, travel arrangements, and other unforeseen situations.
What's Not Included
All Travelex policies have certain exclusions, and some vary depending on the type of plan you purchase. We will go into the specifics in the next section.
For now, these are some common exclusions that Travelex Insurance policies may include:
Certain High-Risk Activities: Some adventurous or high-risk activities, such as extreme sports or participation in professional competitions, may not be covered. It’s essential to check the policy for a list of excluded activities.
Non-Medical Evacuations: Evacuations that are not medically necessary, such as those due to political unrest or civil disturbances, may not be covered.
Travel to Restricted Areas: Traveling to regions or countries with travel advisories or government warnings may result in limitations or exclusions of coverage.
Failure to Obtain Required Documentation: If you fail to obtain the necessary visas, permits, or other required documentation for your trip, it may impact your coverage.
Membership Plans
Travel Basic
Travelex’s Travel Basic travel insurance plan offers comprehensive protection at a wallet-friendly cost.
Packed with benefits such as trip cancellation/delays/interruption coverage, reimbursement for emergency medical and dental expenses, 24-hour travel assistance, and even a 12-hour baggage delay benefit, the Travel Basic plan encompasses all the essentials without breaking the bank.
Travel Select
The Travel Select plan contains the same benefits as the Travel Basic plan, plus a few more extras.
It provides comprehensive travel insurance to all children 17 and under when accompanied by a covered adult. It also offer travelers three “early purchase benefits” when the plan is purchased within 15 days of the initial trip payment, which includes unforeseen cancellations or interruptions for business travelers, pre-existing medical condition waivers, and protection against financial default.
Aditionally, and this is what makes the upgrade worth it, the Travel Select Plan offers upgrades such as Cancel For Any Reason, Additional Medical Coverage, Adventure Sports Coverage, Flight Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D), and Car Rental Collision. This will allow to fully customize the coverage you need for your adventure vacation.
Travel America
The Travel America travel insurance provides low-cost coverage for short getaways (up to 14 days) within the US.
The plan covers you and up to seven companions for U.S. trips. It includes emergency medical expenses, trip inconvenience reimbursement for closures due to specific conditions, and roadside assistance with car rental collision coverage. Purchase within three days of your final trip payment for coverage of pre-existing medical conditions.
Adventure Sports Coverage
While both Travelex’s Travel Select and Travel Basic plans provide coverage for certain activities, you might plan a trip that involves certain activities that are not included in the base plan. The following adventure activities are covered both in the Basic and Select plans:
- Skiing
- Snowcat skiing
- Canyoning or rappelling
- Kayaking
- River rafting
- Scuba diving up to a depth of 60 feet
- Snorkeling
- Gorilla trekking/tracking
- Elephant-back riding
- Horseback riding
- Camel-back riding
- Walking safari
- Hiking
- Mountain climbing (unless technical with usage of ropes, axes, picks, etc.)
- Interaction with animals
The Adventure Sports upgrade provides coverage for the following activities (in addition to the activities listed above):
- Professional athletic events
- Motor sports or motor racing, including training or practice for the same
- Caving, spelunking, free climbing or mountain climbing that requires the use of equipment such as pick-axes, anchors, bolts, crampons, carabineers, and lead or top-rope anchoring or other specialized equipment
- Free diving or scuba diving at a depth greater than 60 feet or without a dive master
- Operating or learning to operate any aircraft as student, pilot, or crew
- Skydiving, BASE jumping, bungee jumping, zip lining, hang gliding, parachuting, or air travel on any air-supported device other than a regularly scheduled airline or air charter
Pricing
Prices depend on the plan you purchase, your age, your destination and the length of your trip.
Just to give you an idea, an policy for a week-long trip to Peru for a 40 year old male from Florida will cost approximately $167 (Basic) and $243 (Select).
Please, check out the latest pricing for up to date quotes.
What's Covered & Who's Eligible
Travelex Insurance is only offered to people who live in the United States (either citizens or residents). Let’s look at the specifics.
Nationalities: All nationalities are covered, as long as they are US residents.
Pre-existing conditions: Yes.
Seniors Over 65: Senior travel insurance package is offered to seniors over 65.
Trip Duration: Travel Select and Travel Basic plans cover trips up to 364 days. Travel America plan covers trips up to 14 days.
Groups: Individual and family plans available.
Destinations covered: Covers worldwide, except Ukraine, Syria, Iran, North Korea, Libya, Belarus, and Russian Federation.
User Reviews and Testimonials
Insurance companies often receive negative online reviews due to issues like complicated policy language, claim denials, slow processing times, and perceived unfair practices. Travelex is not an exception to that rule.
The do get mixed reviews online. It’s hard to really know how good a company is until you file a claim with them. Below are some of the reviews taken directly from Reddit, probably one of the most unbiased places you can find reviews online.
Travelex vs Competitors
Overall, Travelex insurance policies tend to be more affordable that those from its competitors, their medical expenses coverage lower and the compensation for trip cancellation & interruption on par with the top companies on the market.
If you would like to see direct comparisons between Travelex and other insurance companies, check out the articles below:
Conclusion
While its medical expense coverage may be lower than some competitors, this contributes to the overall affordability.
This makes Travelex particularly appealing for high-ticket adventure trips, such as adventure cruises, where medical coverage is often included, and the priority is safeguarding your trip investment against potential cancellations.
Other Travel Insurance Reviews
If you would like to read more about other insurance companies for adventure travelers, you can check out our other reviews below:
If you would like to read more about insurance options for other type of adventure trips, you can check out our other reviews below:
- Skiing & Snowboarding
- Hiking Trips
- Mountaineering & High Altitude Trekking
- Mountain Biking, Bike-touring & Bike-packing
- Rock Climbing, Ice Climbing & Bouldering
- Kayaking, White Water Rafting & Paddle Boarding
- Fishing & Spearfishing
- Diving Liveaboards & Freediving
- Sailing, Kite Surfing & Surfing
- Adventure Cruises
- Adventure Motorcycling
Travelex Insurance Reviews Online
When doing your research, you might want to read what other publications have to say about the Travelex Insurance plans.
Here are some of the most popular reviews from the web.
Travelex Travel Insurance Review 2024 – by Forbes
Travelex Travel Insurance Review: Is It Worth The Cost? – by nerdwallet.com
About the Author
Antonio was born and raised in Southern Spain, and quit his job in 2013 to travel the world full-time with his wife Amanda for 10 years straight. Their passion for adventure took them to visit 150+ countries.
They cycled 25,000km + from California to Patagonia, sailed over 10,000NM around the Caribbean & Sea of Cortez, rode their motorbikes 30,000 kms+ across West Africa (Spain to South Africa) and visited Antarctica, among many other adventure expeditions. Today, they’re still traveling, currently around the USA with an RV.
Traveling to so many places, remote destinations and by different means taught them a lot about travel insurance, which policies to hold depending on the area and the type of adventure they were doing. Antonio now publishes regular content to help other travelers choose the best travel insurance for adventure trips.
Together, they also run the travel community Summit, the RV site Hitched Up, the boutique accommodation blog Unique Places and the popular newsletter Adventure Fix, where they share their knowledge about the places they’ve visited and the ones still remaining on their list.
Antonio Cala
Co-Founder of Adventure Fix