Expedia Flight Insurance - 2024 Review

Expedia is one of the largest travel agencies in the US providing online travel shopping for both domestic and international travel. Though they provide a multitude of choices for travel plans, unfortunately, they only offer one travel insurance choice for domestic travel and one choice for international travel when booking your trip with them.

Though the policies offered by Expedia are different depending on whether the travel is domestic or international, both polies are offered by AIG – a well-respected travel insurer.

Let’s look at a domestic trip and then an international trip and see what the travel insurance coverage is offered by Expedia.

Expedia Domestic Flight Insurance

For our sample domestic flight, our two travelers are traveling from Los Angeles to Boston from January 5 through January 13.

Our travelers opted for economy seat on all flights and with flights and taxes included, the final cost for the flights is $472.56.

Upon checkout, we are offered the choice of adding travel insurance for our flights. The cost is $20.89 per traveler for a total of $41.78.

The policy offered is the AIG Trip Protection Plan for domestic travel. Important benefits to note are:

• Trip Cancellation which will refund 100% of the trip cost up to a maximum of $100,000
• Trip Interruption which will refund up to 125% of the trip cost
• $25,000 for travel medical expenses
• $25,000 for emergency evacuation

Is this adequate coverage for a domestic trip?

The policy is a little light on the medical evacuation coverage with only $25,000, though the medical coverage is adequate at $25,000.

TravelDefenders recommends having a minimum of $15,000 for medical coverage and a minimum of $150,000 of medical evacuation coverage when traveling domestically.

These levels would be adequate to cover a major medical emergency in most situations when traveling within the US. However, if the traveler has substantial medical and medical evacuation coverage through their normal healthcare, then lower levels of medical coverage in the trip insurance could be considered.

Now that we know what Expedia will provide, let’s see what TravelDefenders can find us in the open marketplace.

Inputting our trip details to Boston into the TravelDefenders quote system, the least expensive plan available is the IMG Travel Lite. The total cost for both travelers combined is $77.06.

The policy provides $100,000 of medical coverage and $500,000 of medical evacuation coverage for only $35.28 more than the AIG policy.

Do not buy Expedia flight insurance when flying domestically until you check out your options in the open marketplace. A quote with us takes a minute and will give you comprehensive travel insurance plans to compare against Expedia flight insurance. You really have nothing to lose.

Expedia International Flight Insurance

International travel requires substantially higher levels of coverage than domestic travel.

For international travel, TravelDefenders recommends a minimum of $100,000 of medical coverage and a minimum of $250,000 of medical evacuation if traveling close to US shores and $500,000 if traveling to destinations farther afield.

So, let's see what Expedia flight insurance offers for international travelers and whether it’s adequate.

The AIG policy provided to international travelers is the Trip Protection Plus plan. Benefits are listed below:

The policy provides $50,000 of medical coverage and $100,000 of medical evacuation coverage as well as trip cancellation up to $100,000 per traveler and trip interruption up to $125,000 (125% of trip cost).

As with the AIG policy for domestic travel, the AIG international policy is light on the medical evacuation coverage, but it is also light on the medical coverage. Having adequate medical and medical evacuation coverage becomes increasingly important the further from home we go. Without adequate coverage, the AIG policy could leave you with enormous medical bills in the event of serious injury or accident.

Let’s book an international trip and see what the cost of the AIG policy would be and then run a quote from TravelDefenders to see what the open marketplace can provide.

Expedia Flight Insurance – Our Sample Trip

We booked a roundtrip flight from Los Angeles to Barcelona from January 5 – January 13:

Our total cost for both travelers for the roundtrip flights is $2,006.50.

As we are checking out, we’re offered to insure our flights for $122.80 per traveler for a total of $245.60:

As mentioned above, the AIG Travel Protection Plus plan does not have adequate medical and medical evacuation coverage for our Spain trip.

What does the open market provide that might be better?

TravelDefenders – The Travel Insurance Marketplace

We provided our trip details to the quoting system at TravelDefenders and were provided with 27 options for travel insurance.

The least expensive plan that provides adequate coverage is the Trawick Voyager for $172.59.

The policy provides $250,000 of medical coverage and $1 million of medical evacuation coverage, which is substantially more than our recommended minimums. The policy will also provide a waiver of pre-existing medical conditions if the policy is purchased on or before the FINAL trip payment.

The Trawick policy is also $73 LESS than the AIG policy!

TravelDefenders: One Site – Many Carriers

Think of us at TravelDefenders as Amazon for travel insurance. At TravelDefenders we make comparing travel insurance easy. You do not need to go to every insurance carrier. You do not need to leave your contact details with every insurance provider.

Remember, we are not advocating that you buy the cheapest travel insurance. Cheap travel insurance may not offer the coverage you need. What we suggest is that you spend a couple of minutes to see the best options and choose what you need.

Some plans have limited medical insurance coverage but are useful to back up a domestic health insurance policy. Other plans will have substantial levels of medical coverage and are better suited to an international trip.

Cancellation benefits increase as our travel plans become more comprehensive. Many policies will incorporate Cancel for Work and Cancel for Any Reason travel cancellation benefits if these are important considerations for a traveler.

Finally, we will see a large number of travel insurance options that cover pre-existing medical conditions via the issue of a waiver.

In other words, we should be able to find a travel insurance plan that fits your needs, circumstances, and budget.

Does TravelDefenders Charge More?

You won’t find the same trip insurance plans available at a better price – even from the provider directly, because of anti-discriminatory insurance laws in the US. 

A travel insurance marketplace like TravelDefenders will offer a multitude of different plans from some of the most respected travel insurance carriers in the country. You will only need a few minutes to check value for money, cover, and insurance carrier ratings.

To get the best value for your money, visit TravelDefenders first to shop around before committing to the Expedia travel insurance option. Please stop by and chat, send an email, or give us a call at +1(786) 321 3723.

Safe travels!