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USAA Travel Insurance Review: An Option for U.S. Military Members

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• Flexible packages with several optional add ons.
• CFAR upgrades available.
• Medically-focused policy option.
• Not available to everyone, must have US Armed Forces service (some family members also eligible).

If you currently serve, or have served, in the U.S. armed forces and are planning a vacation, did you know that you have access to travel insurance benefits through USAA?

Founded in 1922 by a group of U.S. Army officers, USAA is a well-established Fortune 500 company with more than 13 million members as of 2020. USAA offers financial products including banking, investing and insurance to people and families who serve or have served in the U.S. military.

When you become a member of USAA (which is free if you qualify), you have access to various benefits, products and discounts, including travel insurance, which can help protect you and your nonrefundable plans if something derails your vacation. USAA’s trip insurance plans are administered by Travel Insured International , a company with over 25 years in the industry.

Here’s a look at various travel insurance options offered by USAA to help you decide if the policies are right for you.

» Learn more: What to know before buying travel insurance

What travel insurance plans does USAA offer?

USAA offers single-trip plans. Coverage begins when you purchase a policy and ends when you return home from your trip.

Because you have to be a member to view USAA plans, NerdWallet reached out to a USAA representative with two sample trips: a two-week trip to Italy by a 40-year-old from Hawaii ($5,000 estimated cost) and a one-week trip to Mexico by a 60-year-old from Nebraska ($3,000 estimated cost).

For both trips, we received three travel insurance plan options to choose from:

Worldwide Trip Protector, which also offers Cancel For Any Reason, or CFAR, as an optional add-on.

Worldwide Trip Protector Lite.

Travel Medical Protector.

It's important to note that travel insurance policies depend on your state of residency; your USAA travel insurance plan options may differ from above if you live in another state.

USAA travel insurance cost

The total cost for coverage typically varies based on your total trip cost and your age. Generally, USAA's Travel Medical Protector plans are more affordable than its other options. This difference in price is due to benefits and limits offered in each of the plans (more on this next).

How much does USAA travel insurance cost? Here's how it breaks down between our two sample itineraries.

Trip 1: $5,000, two-week trip to Italy by a 40-year-old from Hawaii

Trip 2: $3,000, one-week trip to mexico by a 60-year-old from nebraska.

» Learn more: The best travel insurance companies

About USAA's travel insurance benefits

Below is the list of benefits offered broken down by plan, along with the limits.

If you already have a premium travel credit card and you’re satisfied with the travel insurance limits, you may be fine with just getting the Travel Medical Protector plan. But if the limits offered on your credit card are insufficient or you don't have a credit card that provides travel insurance, the Worldwide Trip Protector Lite or Worldwide Trip Protector plans are solid options.

Worldwide Trip Protector Lite benefits

The Worldwide Trip Protector Lite plan offers basic coverage, but still provides benefits like 100% trip cancellation and 100% trip interruption , $300 trip delay, $100,000 in medical evacuation and $10,000 for medical expenses, among other benefits. The maximum trip length is 30 days.

This plan also offers some add-on options including car rental damage, Cancel For Work Reason and optional flight accident. The Cancel for Work Reason add-on would allow you to cancel a trip for a work-related reason as long as the cancellation meets the guidelines set in the policy.

Worldwide Trip Protector benefits

The Worldwide Trip Protector plan is more comprehensive, with 100% trip cancellation, 150% trip interruption, $1,500 trip delay, $1 million in medical evacuation, $100,000 for medical expenses and many other benefits. The maximum trip length is 180 days.

This plan also offers a host of add-ons to choose from including CFAR coverage, rental car damage, electronic equipment and many others.

CFAR lets you cancel a trip for any reason whatsoever and receive up to 75% of your nonrefundable deposit back (as long as you cancel within 48 hours before departure and you add all of your travel arrangements to your trip within 21 days of the initial payment). If you’re worried that something may derail your nonrefundable trip, CFAR is a good option to have because of its flexibility.

Optional electronic equipment provides up to $2,000 to replace your owned or leased cell phone, laptop or other equipment if it is stolen, lost or damaged while you’re vacationing.

If you want high limits and the ability to add many a la carte benefits to your travel insurance policy, the Worldwide Trip Protector Plus is the plan to go with. However, if you’re just looking for basic coverage and some add-on options, consider the Worldwide Trip Protector Lite plan.

» Learn more: Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) travel insurance explained

Travel Medical Protector benefits

The Travel Medical Protector plan is designed to offer medical coverage when you’re traveling outside the U.S. The benefits are mainly focused on medical care, with $50,000 for medical expenses, $1 million for medical evacuation and repatriation, $150,000 for nonmedical evacuation, $5,000 for trip interruption and $1,000 coverage for delays.

» Learn more: Travel medical insurance: Emergency coverage while you travel internationally

If you don’t need pre-departure trip cancellation coverage and are mainly concerned about unexpected medical emergencies, this is a good plan to consider. Additionally, if you hold a premium travel card that offers trip cancellation insurance (like the Chase Sapphire Reserve® ) and the limits are adequate, a standalone medical plan might be the most cost-effective option.

The Cancel For Any Reason supplement is offered only on the Worldwide Trip Protector plan, so if you’re looking for this benefit, that’s the plan you’ll want to go with.

What’s not covered by USAA travel insurance

Although travel insurance covers many events, not everything will be covered, including:

Fear of travel. Wanting to cancel a trip because circumstances have changed and you’re now scared to travel will not qualify as a covered reason. If you’d like the option to cancel your trip for any reason whatsoever, you’ll need to purchase the CFAR supplement, which you can add to your Worldwide Trip Protector policy.

Specific events. General exclusions not usually covered by insurers won't be covered here either. Example events include self-harm, war, participating in dangerous activities (e.g., skydiving), committing a felony or getting into an accident while intoxicated. You’ll need to review the policy's fine print to know exactly what is and isn’t covered.

» Learn more: The majority of Americans plan to travel in 2022

How to get a USAA travel insurance plan

If you’re currently serving or have served in the U.S. military, joining USAA could offer some money-saving benefits, including travel insurance. Since USAA travel insurance plans are available only to members, you will need to purchase a USAA membership before seeing plan options. Then log in to your member portal to see plan quotes.

If you have any questions, reach out to USAA at 800-531-8722.

Determine if your quotes are a good deal

One way to check if USAA travel insurance is the best value is to compare your USAA quotes to those listed on an insurance comparison site like Squaremouth . To see what other plan options are available, input your trip details and cross-reference the cost and coverage of those plans to what you’re seeing with USAA.

» Learn more: The best credit cards for travel insurance benefits

USAA travel insurance plans offer trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, medical evacuation and repatriation, and medical expense coverage, among many other benefits. There are several plans to choose from including a plan that is focused on medical coverage when traveling outside the U.S.

You must be a USAA member to purchase a travel insurance policy from USAA. Those eligible for membership include those who serve or have served in the U.S. military along with their family members.

The Cancel For Any Reason supplement is available only on the Worldwide Trip Protector plan, which is the most comprehensive travel insurance plan offered by USAA.

Going on a trip without any travel insurance is a risky move because if something derails your trip or you experience a medical emergency, you may lose your nonrefundable deposit and incur high medical costs. Even if you’re a USAA member, it's still advisable to do a price comparison of different travel insurance options to make sure that you’re getting the most value when choosing a policy.

How to maximize your rewards

You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2024 :

Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card

No annual fee: Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card

Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®

Luxury perks: The Platinum Card® from American Express

Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

on Chase's website

1x-10x Earn 5x total points on flights and 10x total points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Travel℠ immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually. Earn 3x points on other travel and dining & 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases.

75,000 Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's $1,125 toward travel when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1x-5x 5x on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries, 2x on all other travel purchases, 1x on all other purchases.

75,000 Earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. That's over $900 when you redeem through Chase Travel℠.

1x-2x Earn 2X points on Southwest® purchases. Earn 2X points on local transit and commuting, including rideshare. Earn 2X points on internet, cable, and phone services, and select streaming. Earn 1X points on all other purchases.

85,000 Earn 85,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.