When to Consider Adding a Cancel For Any Reason Option to Your Policy

Travel insurance or trip insurance is usually purchased at the time you book your trip. Standard trip cancellation coverage will generally only cover you for a specific set of covered reasons and reimburse up to 100% of your pre-paid and non-refundable trip costs. However, cancel for any reason insurance or CFAR is an optional insurance policy add-on which is typically purchased (and available) within 7-30 days from your initial trip payment (varies by provider and plan).

CFAR allows you to cancel your trip for any reason, but the reimbursement is typically only between 50 and 75% depending on the plan.

Why Purchase CFAR?

CFAR can cover you for things that might not be covered under regular trip cancellation coverage and the covered reasons offered by that coverage. If you are traveling alone or with friends and family there are several scenarios in which to consider cancel for any reason insurance:

– If you have a high degree of confidence that you might need to cancel your trip for health reasons and you do not qualify for pre-existing condition coverage.
– Job or other responsibilities that would necessitate the cancellation of your trip.
– Political unrest, war or the fear of the same and other security warnings at your destination.
– The fear of certain outbreaks (such as Zika) at your destination.

Though the CFAR insurance needs to be purchased within 7-30 days of your initial trip payment (varies by provider and plan), usually that time frame gives you some indication if any of the above situations are likely to occur.

How Does CFAR Compare to Other Travel Insurance Plans?

The typical travel insurance plan is usually purchased at the time you book your trip, although you can buy insurance up to the day before your departure. Specific add-ons such as CFAR generally are governed by your initial trip payment date vs. today in terms of policy availability.

Many people who travel often, and especially internationally, also carry emergency medical and evacuation insurance. This evacuation insurance allows you to fly home either commercially or in a medical plane depending on the severity of the situation and medical coverage will cover your unforeseen medical issues that occur on your trip. This insurance is relatively inexpensive and potentially saves the policyholder thousands of dollars, should an emergency occur.

Standard trip cancellation and interruption coverage will only cover you for specific covered reasons. While most worries are covered by these covered reasons, travelers sometimes need even more flexibility when it comes to being able to cancel their travel plans without losing all of their trip investment.

The purchase of cancel for any reason or CFAR policy brings substantial peace of mind. Though it doesn’t refund the entire cost of the trip, the flexibility of cancelling for any reason allows travelers to de-risk their trip investment in a worry-free way.

And, speaking of stress, with a CFAR policy you do not need to come up with medical or other documentation or spend time in a holding pattern waiting to resolve your claim with the insurer. It is a straight forward process.

If you have an approaching vacation or other trip and you have concerns not covered by the typical covered reasons offered by standard trip cancellation coverage, look into a cancel for any reason or CFAR policy. It is worth the reassurance you can cancel or postpone your plans should the need arise.