What is a Cancel for Any Reason Travel Insurance Add-On and How Does It Work?
Angela Borden | Oct 17, 2023
In the last several years, we’ve seen various events that have affected our ability and desire to travel. Some of these events have caused minimal difficulties for travelers, and others have caused major issues that have made travel risky. This has made having trip cancellation insurance crucial.
Examples of some events where trip cancellation insurance can benefit you include having to cancel your trip due to terrorist activities, varying kinds of weather events, and strike. These scenarios can wreak havoc on a traveler’s plans.
With travel mishaps becoming all too common, many travelers have begun asking how best they can protect themselves and their wallets from similar unpredictable events.
One helpful solution is trip insurance,* and one key benefit offered on many trip protection plans is growing in popularity. It’s the optional Cancel for Any Reason travel insurance benefit you can add to your plan, also known as CFAR.
Trip Cancellation Insurance Coverage
Trip insurance often includes protection for:
- Your unused and nonrefundable trip payments, such as hotel and airfare expenses, which will not be refunded if you must cancel your trip.
- Medical expenses that could occur if you get sick or hurt on your trip.
- Baggage and personal belongings that could be lost, stolen, or damaged during travel.
Trip cancellation insurance can be helpful if you must cancel your trip due to a covered reason stated in the plan document. These covered reasons, or triggers, vary from company to company, plan to plan, and even benefit to benefit.
Common trip cancellation insurance triggers
The most common triggers include the death, sickness, and injury of you, your family member, and your traveling companion. There are typically many more triggers as well. They include things like inclement weather and strikes.
These trip cancellation benefit triggers represent common reasons that could prevent you from traveling, but they don’t cover every possible reason you might need to cancel your trip.
For example, what if you were simply afraid to travel due to world events or the state of the economy? Fear of travel is not a covered reason provided with our trip cancellation insurance. In this situation, the Cancel for Any Reason travel insurance benefit could be a good option for you.
Over the years, Seven Corners has seen a variety of situations that lead people to choose the Cancel for Any Reason travel insurance benefit. Other common reasons include personal or family issues, financial hardship, or simply changing your mind and no longer wanting to travel.
What Is the Optional Cancel for Any Reason Travel Insurance Benefit?
The CFAR travel insurance add-on is an optional benefit offered on certain (not all) trip protection plans that allow you to cancel your trip for any reason not otherwise covered.
Instead of being limited to cancelling your trip for a specified number and list of triggers, you can now cancel for any reason you want. If your mom’s best friend’s uncle’s cousin became ill, you could cancel your trip. If you no longer wish to be in the same room with your traveling companion, let alone the same hotel room, you can cancel.
Why Do I Need the CFAR Travel Insurance Add-On?
Cancellations happen. With the CFAR travel insurance add-on, you can cancel your trip while saving a portion of your investment. If you’re concerned an unusual event could make you need or want to cancel your trip, Cancel for Any Reason may be a good option for you. You won't have to meet the requirement of a specific trip cancellation trigger; you can instead cancel your trip for any reason you wish.
For example, you are traveling to Ireland and have an elderly dog in poor health. If your dog became sick before your trip, you probably wouldn’t want to go. The trip cancellation insurance in Seven Corners Trip Protection would not cover this. However, buying the CFAR travel insurance add-on would allow you to cancel your trip with some peace of mind knowing you’d get a portion of your investment back under these poor circumstances.
Other scenarios where Cancel for Any Reason can help:
- Financial hardship
- Personal reasons or family issues
- Change of mind
- Feeling unsafe due to political unrest or the state of the economy
How Does Cancel for Any Reason Travel Insurance Work?
The most important thing about the CFAR travel insurance benefit is understanding how it works. If you buy the benefit and don’t use it correctly, you cannot make a covered claim.
If you choose the CFAR travel insurance benefit, you will pay an increased amount for your insurance. Based on our research, most Cancel for Any Reason benefits can bump the cost of your trip protection plan up by 40 or 50 percent. Why? Because you’re now buying a plan with more robust coverage for trip cancellation.
Know the required time frame.
First, you must buy the Cancel for Any Reason travel insurance add-on within the specified time limit. In general, plans require you to buy it within a stated time period from the date that your initial trip payment is received. If you’re not certain what this time period is, ask or review the plan document.
Let’s say you are taking a trip to an all-inclusive resort in Cancun in April, and you paid a $100 nonrefundable deposit for your trip on January 1. You must buy your trip insurance and select the optional CFAR travel insurance benefit within the required time limit from January 1.
Cancel within the required time frame.
For most travel protection plans, you must cancel no later than two days before your scheduled departure date. Again, this can vary from plan to plan, so review your plan document or ask for clarification if you are uncertain of the requirement.
Understand reimbursement is limited.
For most travel insurance, you will be reimbursed a stated percentage of the amount you insured. This percentage typically ranges from 50% to 75% for most plans available in the market, and this amount will be stated in your plan document.
All in all, the Cancel for Any Reason travel insurance benefit is a valuable add-on that can make a difference to travelers who want the flexibility to cancel their trip if they wish.
How Do I Buy Cancel for Any Reason Travel Insurance?
You must select it when you buy your trip insurance. Unfortunately, it's not available in all states.
When you get a quick quote, the benefit will be offered to you if it’s available in your state. Remember, you have to pay an additional amount for CFAR.
If you have any questions about CFAR and how it works, check with your agent or talk to our licensed travel insurance agents.
*Trip insurance is included as part of a travel protection plan.
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