Priceline Travel Insurance - 2024 Review

Similar to Kayak, Priceline.com is an online travel agency for finding discount rates for travel-related purchases such as airline tickets and hotels. You can shop for hotels or airlines separately or choose bundles to save money on both.

Priceline does an excellent job in introducing customers to a wide range of hotel and flight options. We love the site. The user-interface is intuitive and responds very quickly. We find it easy to find low-cost options whenever we look to fly.

Let’s take a look at the Priceline experience.

Priceline Flight Options - Miami to Paris

Priceline excels in showing a variety of flights over the same day to give a customer various options and they highlight the shortest travel time and/or the best value options. Our only disappointment is that Priceline does not provide a multi-day grid to highlight whether a change of date would lead to lower flight prices. Many airlines are offering this type of functionality, and we are big fans of it.

For our sample flight we have two travelers from Miami traveling to Paris on January 31 -  February 11. Inputting our travel requirements, we are shown various options from different airlines.

The least expensive option is from Air Europa for $543 per traveler.

If we prefer the shortest flight and don’t mind paying a bit more, we can choose the TAP Portugal flight for $702 per traveler.

We chose the TAP Portugal option as the flight time was a bit shorter. We now have options to upgrade if we choose to. The Premium Classic adds $264 per traveler to the cost but allows free changes. However, we would still pay a penalty for cancellations. We opted to leave the fare at the discount price and have our travel insurance handle cancellations.

Total cost

Total cost for both travelers with taxes and fees included for our flight is $701.35 per traveler for a total of $1402.70.

We are not offered any sort of travel or flight insurance prior to checkout so we’ll shop the open marketplace through TravelDefenders to see what our options would be for flight insurance.

 

Travel Insurance in the Open Marketplace

TravelDefenders is a travel insurance marketplace. We take your trip details and send them to our providers and they supply quotes back based on this information and we sort them in price order in an easy-to-read-and-compare format.

Based on our trip details to Paris, we are offered 25 options. Since we’re traveling outside the US, TravelDefenders recommends having at least $100,000 of medical coverage and $250,000 of medical evacuation coverage as well as a waiver to cover any pre-existing medical conditions if needed.

The least expensive plan with adequate coverage is the IMG Travel SE for $135.36 which is the total cost for both travelers combined.

The policy provides $250,000 of medical coverage and $500,000 of medical evacuation coverage and a waiver to cover any pre-existing medical condition if the policy is purchased within 20 days of the initial trip payment or deposit date.

Should we want maximum cancellation flexibility in case we decide we simply don’t want to go, we’ll need to look at a different policy – a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) policy.

Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) Policies

As mentioned above, a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) policy will provide maximum cancellation flexibility. If we cancel for a listed reason in the policy, such as illness or injury preventing us from traveling, we’ll receive a 100% refund of our trip costs. However, if we cancel for any other non-listed reason, we’ll receive either 50% or 75% of our trip cost back, depending on the policy chosen.

The least expensive CFAR policy for our package trip is the Travel Insured Worldwide Trip Protector (CFAR 75%) for $213.12.

The policy provides $100,000 of medical coverage and $1 million of medical evacuation coverage and will also provide a waiver to cover any pre-existing medical conditions if the policy is purchased within 21 days of the initial trip payment or deposit.

Should we cancel for a listed reason in the policy, such as illness or injury preventing us from traveling, we’ll receive a 100% refund of our trip costs. If we cancel for any other non-listed reason, we will need to cancel up to 48 prior to travel to receive up to 75% of the total trip cost.

Domestic Flights with Priceline

One of the major reasons travelers shop Priceline is for domestic flight options. As an aggregator of flights, Priceline can provide a one-stop shop for comparing domestic flight options. Let’s look at a domestic trip and see what options we have for travel insurance.

Our two travels will be traveling from Miami to Los Angeles on January 21 and returning on January 28. Choosing the least expensive flight, our total cost for the flight is $779.36 with taxes and fees included.

Upon checkout, we are NOT offered travel insurance, so we’ll have to shop the open marketplace for travel insurance for our flight.

Inputting the travel details into the TravelDefenders quoting system, we are presented with 25 options for flight insurance. Since we’re traveling domestically, TravelDefenders recommends having an additional $15,000 of medical coverage and $150,000 of medical evacuation coverage.

The least expensive plan that has adequate coverage is the AIG Travel Guard Essential for $69.25, which is the total cost for both travelers combined.

The policy provides $15,000 of medical coverage and $150,000 of medical evacuation coverage as well as a waiver to cover any pre-existing medical conditions if the policy is purchased within 15 days of the initial trip payment or deposit.

If we prefer a cancel for any reason policy for maximum trip cancellation flexibility, the least expensive CFAR policy on our quote is the Seven Corners Roundtrip Basic (CFAR 75%) for $130.64.

This policy provides $100,000 of medical coverage and $250,000 of medical evacuation coverage.

Should we cancel for a listed reason in the policy, such as illness or injury preventing us from traveling, we’ll receive a 100% refund of our trip costs. If we cancel for any other non-listed reason, we will need to cancel up to 48 prior to travel to receive up to 75% of the total trip cost.

Conclusion

Our job at TravelDefenders is simple. We do for travel insurance what Priceline does for flights. Give us your trip details and get quotes from each of our travel insurance partners. We do it anonymously – your details are not shared with the insurer until you buy a policy.

If comparing the market for flights makes sense, why wouldn’t you do the same for your travel insurance? You’ll see the best cover and the lowest prices.

You won’t find the same trip insurance plans available at a better price. Price certainty is guaranteed as a result of anti-discriminatory insurance law in the US. Take a look at the article Travel Insurance Comparison – Will I Pay More Buying Travel Insurance from a Comparison Website? This is powerful consumer protection.

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.

Use Priceline for Travel. Use TravelDefenders for Travel Insurance. Simple.

Please stop by and chat, send an email, or give us a call at +1(786) 321 3723.

Safe travels!