CFAR insurance can get expensive, but it's a surefire way to maximize your travel insurance coverage.
Updated Aug 17, 2023 4:02 p.m. PDT · 4 min read Written by Carissa Rawson Carissa Rawson
After spending seven years in the U.S. Air Force as an Arabic linguist, Carissa is now a freelance writer using points and miles to fund a four-year (and counting!) adventure. She previously worked as a reporter for The Points Guy. Her writing has since been featured in numerous publications, including Forbes, Business Insider, and The Balance. When she's not flying, you'll usually find her in a Priority Pass lounge somewhere, sipping tea and cursing slow Wi-Fi.
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Megan Lee is a former editor on the travel rewards team at NerdWallet. She had more than 12 years of SEO, writing and content development experience, primarily in international education and nonprofit work. She has been published in U.S. News & World Report, USA Today and elsewhere, and has spoken at conferences like that of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Megan has built and directed remote content teams and editorial strategies for websites like GoAbroad and Go Overseas. When not traveling, Megan adventures around her Midwest home base where she likes to attend theme parties, ride her bike and cook Asian food.
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So you’re organizing a trip and you’re interested in purchasing travel insurance. That makes sense — making plans these days can be pretty stressful. This is one reason that Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) insurance is so popular.
As the name implies, CFAR allows you to cancel your plans without specifying a covered reason.
We looked at the top Cancel For Any Reason travel insurance companies, comparing their coverage and pricing to find out which was the best. Here’s our shortlist of best options:
We used these factors when choosing best companies for Cancel For Any Reason insurance:
Types of coverage. Including CFAR, trip delay , baggage loss and emergency medical . Amount of coverage. Including reimbursements for claims. Total cost. We checked out the price for each plan compared to what you’ll receive.Usability . What’s the point in purchasing an insurance plan if you cannot use it? We considered user-friendly websites.
Customizability. We scoured what add-ons were available, such as rental car insurance or sports equipment loss.
We searched for quotes using Squaremouth for a 46-year-old Texas resident traveling to France for two weeks with a total trip cost of $10,000, including airfare.
When filtering for those providers that offered a Cancel For Any Reason add-on, our list of eligible insurance plans dropped from 103 down to 27.
Note that to purchase Cancel For Any Reason insurance, you’ll need to do so reasonably quickly after putting down your first deposit for your trip. The window to purchase is an average of 14 days after initial purchase, though some plans offer up to three weeks.
The average cost for these basic plans came out to about $635, but there’s a wide variety of coverage levels.
Company, Plan name
Basic coverage cost
Low-cost with full coverage.
GoReady, Pandemic Plus
USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services, Ruby
24-hour Accidental Death & Dismemberment coverage, plus coverage for pre-existing medical conditions.
Seven Corners, RoundTrip Basic
Hurricane and work.
John Hancock, Silver
Baggage loss and missed connections.
Travel Insured International, Worldwide Trip Protector
Weather delays, financial default, medical evacuation, baggage delay.
Here’s a breakdown of the different insurance companies and why they stood out among the best. Note that these plans offer 75% of your total costs back if you cancel your trip.
What makes Battleface a top choice for CFAR insurance:
Absolute cheapest CFAR insurance option.Also solid second-cheapest plan — the Explorer Plan — includes extras such as trip interruption, emergency medical and travel delay reimbursement.
The Battleface Explorer Plan offers terrific baggage loss, missed connection and travel delay insurance.
For our test trip, two of Battleface’s plans came out significantly cheaper than all the others. The Discovery plan lacked much of anything but CFAR coverage, which is still a decent offering considering it’s just $285.03 and you’ll still receive 75% of your trip costs refunded if you cancel.
What makes GoReady a top choice for CFAR insurance:
Less expensive than average. Reimburses 150% of expenses in the event of a trip interruption. Includes financial default coverage. Offers $50,000 in primary medical insurance.Our third-best option is GoReady, whose $603 offering is expensive but still costs less than average. With 150% for trip interruption, primary emergency medical and a $50 deductible for care, the GoReady plan offers comprehensive coverage for nearly any situation.
What makes Tin Leg a top choice for CFAR insurance:
Employment layoff is covered if employed for three years. $500,000 in primary emergency medical. $500,000 for medical evacuation and repatriationTin Leg stands out for its massive medical budget. Although some of its coverage isn’t as good as others, it makes up for it with a combined million dollars in emergency medical and evacuation.
Read our reviewWhat makes USI a top choice for CFAR insurance:
No medical deductible. $250,000 in primary emergency medical. Includes $15,000 for 24-hour accidental death and dismemberment coverage.This plan from USI doesn’t have a single standout feature; instead, it’s a well-rounded plan that provides coverage across a wide range of scenarios, including mandatory evacuations, terrorism and travel delays.
Learn MoreWhat makes Seven Corners a top choice for CFAR insurance:
Hurricane warnings covered. Employer layoff, if employed for one year. $500 per person for baggage delay after 6 hours.Seven Corners’ RoundTrip Basic plan is reasonably costly at $768.22 for the trip, but you’ll receive better-than-average coverage.
This includes reimbursement if you get laid off after working somewhere for just one year — other companies have a three-year minimum.
read our reviewWhat makes John Hancock a top choice for CFAR insurance:
$1,000 per person for baggage loss; $1,000 specific item limit. $750 for missed connection after a three-hour delay. $750 for travel delay after a three-hour delay. $100,000 for 24-hour AD&D.John Hancock’s best feature is its reimbursement for travel woes. If you’re delayed, your bags are lost or you end up missing a connection, John Hancock’s plan offers some of the highest coverage around.
And unlike other companies, it doesn’t limit missed connection reimbursements to cruises or tours only.
read our reviewWhat makes Travel Insured International a top choice for CFAR insurance:
$1,000,000 for medical evacuation and repatriation. $150,000 for non-medical evacuation. $1,500 for travel delay after three hours. $500 for baggage delay after three hours.As our most expensive option, Travel Insured International may be a hard sell. This is especially true if you’re looking for basic CFAR coverage.
However, it’s worth researching as the plan includes high-dollar reimbursements after very short delays, such as $1,500 for a three-hour travel delay.
read our reviewTake a look at these other resources if you’re trying to decide when and where to purchase travel insurance.
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