The Wayfinder
Navigate Travel Like an Expert
Between global pandemics, inflation, employee shortages at airports, political unrest, and the ever-present (and fickle) Mother Nature, countless events have affected our ability and desire to travel. Some of these events have caused minimal difficulties for travelers. Others have caused major issues that have made travel feel increasingly risky.
With these and other travel mishaps becoming all too common, many travelers have begun asking how they can protect themselves and their wallets from unpredictable events. This is where having trip cancellation insurance becomes crucial.
One key benefit offered on many trip protection plans is growing in popularity. It’s the optional Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) travel insurance benefit you can add to your plan for increased coverage and flexibility.
Even without CFAR, trip insurance often includes protection for:
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.
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 trip cancellation insurance. In this situation, the Cancel for Any Reason travel insurance benefit could be a good option for you.
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.
Cancellations happen. With CFAR, 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.
The short answer is that you can use CFAR just about any time; you aren’t limited by a list of covered reasons. Common situations in which other travelers have been helped by CFAR include:
The most important thing about CFAR is understanding how it works. If you buy the benefit and don’t use it correctly, you cannot make a covered claim.
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.
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.
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.
If you choose CFAR, you will pay more for your insurance. Most Cancel for Any Reason benefits can increase the cost of your trip protection plan by 40% or 50%. Why? Because you’re now buying a plan with more robust coverage for trip cancellation.
So if CFAR increases the cost of your plan, is adding it to your plan worth it? Any travel insurance can help protect the money you spent for your trip, covering prepaid, nonrefundable expenses if you have to cancel your trip. Adding CFAR means your plan can cover even more situations — more scenarios where you can get a portion of your money back — not just those listed in your plan document.
When former Seven Corners writer Grace Lower was planning a trip through Germany and Italy, her goal was to keep travel costs as low as possible. She planned to stay with extended family for part of the trip and rely on budget airlines and accommodations.
“Passing on non-essential purchases comes second-nature to me, but when it came time to purchase travel insurance, I was left second-guessing,” she said. What she found was that purchasing insurance with CFAR comes down to two key questions.
First, what is your risk tolerance? If the possibility of uncontrollable circumstances cancelling your trip leaves you hyperventilating into a paper bag, you have a low risk tolerance and may appreciate greater levels of travel insurance coverage.
Second, how much flexibility will you want or need? Some people want the option to cancel their trip if a senior pet gets ill. Others want to be able to cancel their cruise if their favorite team makes the championship game (true story). And still other people say they’re going on their trip no matter what. Each of these travelers wants a different level of flexibility in their trip planning.
Knowing how risk averse and flexible you are will help you determine if Cancel for Any Reason coverage is worth the cost to you. Those with a lower tolerance for risk and who want the flexibility to alter their plans for a wider range of circumstances will find great value in CFAR coverage.
“In considering whether to add CFAR coverage to my own vacation,” Grace said, “I knew that all the added flexibility would come at a cost.” Ultimately, it was a cost she was willing to pay. Even as she tried to cut costs while traveling, adding CFAR provided greater protection for her budget.
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, talk to our licensed travel insurance agents.
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