AIG Travel Guard Insurance Coverage Review

Q: Does AIG Travel Guard cover flight cancellations due to COVID?

AIG Travel Guard, like other travel insurance companies, does not cover canceling a flight due to the fear of getting ill. However, if you become ill from COVID-19 and have to cancel your trip, you may have coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, or emergency medical if should become ill during your trip.

Purchasing insurance for your home, auto, or your life, can be complicated and time-consuming if you want to compare coverages and premium costs between companies. Fortunately, the process of purchasing travel insurance is quite simple, and you can secure immediate coverage within minutes.

It all starts with determining the coverages that most important to you, securing a quote, then making sure you’re purchasing from an established, highly-rated company. One such established travel insurance company is AIG Travel Guard.

With over 25 years of experience and high ratings from premier insurance financial rating company A.M. Best, AIG Travel Guard was named the best travel insurance company of 2020 by Forbes. Its Travel Guard Deluxe policy was also given a top 5-star rating by Forbes’ insurance analysts.

We’ll certainly discuss AIG Travel Guard’s policy offerings in our article today but we also want to discuss why you’d want to purchase travel insurance, whether travel insurance covers COVID-19, the process for obtaining a quote, and additional resources to help ensure you’re receiving good value.

Plus, if you’re wondering if you need to purchase travel insurance or whether you might have enough coverage elsewhere, you’ll want to read on.

Table of contents

Why Purchase Travel Insurance
AIG Travel Guard — Coverages and Policy Options
- Core Coverages
- Optional Coverages for an Additional Fee
AIG Travel Guard and COVID-19
Additional Information — AIG Travel Guard
How Does AIG Travel Guard Compare
- To Other Travel Insurance Companies
- To Credit Card Travel Insurance
The Value of Travel Insurance Comparison Websites
Final Thoughts

Table of Contents

Why Purchase Travel Insurance
AIG Travel Guard — Coverages and Policy Options
- Core Coverages
- Optional Coverages for an Additional Fee
AIG Travel Guard and COVID-19
Additional Information — AIG Travel Guard
How Does AIG Travel Guard Compare
- To Other Travel Insurance Companies
- To Credit Card Travel Insurance
The Value of Travel Insurance Comparison Websites
Final Thoughts

Why Purchase Travel Insurance

While the primary reasons for purchasing travel insurance are to protect your economic investment and to cover unexpected additional expenses you might incur due to trip disruptions, purchasing travel insurance has another, more intangible, purpose.

Purchasing travel insurance can provide peace of mind prior to and during your trip as you won’t be worried that an unforeseen event will result in an economic loss. Knowing you have evacuation insurance when you’re traveling to a remote area on safari, for example, could be tremendously reassuring, even if you never use the coverage.

Here are some sample situations where travel insurance may provide coverage:

Your sister is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and you must cancel your trip
You broke your ankle and will not be able to go on your skiing trip
You become ill and cannot travel
You or your traveling companion is terminated or involuntarily laid off from your job
You are summoned to jury duty or other legal action such as requiring you to appear as a witness

If your trip is expensive, complicated, or you need medical coverage while traveling, a travel insurance policy is a must.

Bottom Line: In addition to protecting your trip investment and covering unexpected expenses due to trip disruptions, travel insurance can also provide peace of mind before and during your travels.

AIG Travel Guard — Coverages and Policy Options

AIG Travel Guard homepage — It’s easy to get an online quote via the AIG Travel Guard website. Image Credit: AIG Travel Guard

There’s probably nothing more boring than listing insurance coverages but it’s important to know the types of coverages you can expect when purchasing an AIG Travel Guard policy.

First, AIG Travel Guard offers 3 policy options for U.S. residents (not including NY residents), 3 separate options for NY residents, and 1 policy for Canadian residents.

Travel Guard Essential
Travel Guard Preferred
Travel Guard Deluxe
Travel Guard Essential Expanded — available to NY residents
Travel Guard Protect Assist — available to NY residents
Travel Guard Tour, Cruise, & Travel — available to NY residents
Gold Trip Cancellation Policy — available to Canadian residents

Coverage options and limits will vary by policy, however, you can expect to find the core and optional coverages listed here.

Core Coverages

Here are the types of coverages you’ll find offered on AIG Travel Guard policies and the applicable coverage limits for each type of policy.

Coverage	Travel Guard Deluxe	Travel Guard Preferred	Travel Guard Essential
Trip cancellation	100% of trip cost, $150,000 maximum		100%, $100,000 maximum
Trip interruption	150%, $225,000 maximum		100%, $100,000 maximum
Trip delay	$1,000 ($200 per day)	$800 ($200 per day)	$500
Missed connection	$1,000		N/A
Travel inconvenience benefits	$750		$500
Baggage insurance	$2,500	$1,000	$750
Baggage delay	$500	$300	$200
Travel medical/dental	$100,000/$500	$50,0000/$500	$15,000/$500
Emergency evacuation and repatriation of remains	$1,000,000	$500,000	$150,000
Accidental death/dismemberment	$30,000

There are also additional coverages that may be included at no extra charge, depending on the policy type selected. Terms and conditions apply.

1 child under 17 per covered adult is included for no extra charge
Pre-existing conditions waiver
Trip exchange coverage
Single occupancy fee coverage
Evacuation for a security reason
Non-flight accidental and dismemberment insurance
Worldwide travel and medical assistance services

Optional Coverages for an Additional Fee

You may secure any of the following add-on coverages by paying an additional fee.

Cancel for Any Reason Insurance — covers trip cancellation for any reason
Rental vehicle damage — coverage for collision damage when renting a vehicle
Pet bundle coverage — pet care, medical expenses, and adds pet illness to trip cancellation benefit
Adventure sports coverage — coverage for higher risk adventure activities
Increased lodging expense bundle — increases the amount covered under travel inconvenience benefit
Wedding bundle — coverage when a destination wedding is canceled
Name a family member bundle — select a traveler to be covered as a family member

Hot Tip: For more information and tips on purchasing travel insurance, start here in our article on travel insurance basics.

AIG Travel Guard and COVID-19

Travel insurance, in general, is designed to protect you from financial loss due to unforeseen events that may cause you to cancel your trip, or to cover disruptions that could occur during your journey. It is not meant to cover voluntary trip cancellations due to fear of getting ill.

Voluntary cancellations, including those that are related to the fear of getting ill, are not covered on travel insurance policies. However, there is 1 option for obtaining coverage for voluntarily canceling your trip.

Cancel for Any Reason insurance (CFAR) is an optional coverage that can be added to select travel insurance policies allowing you to cancel your trip for any reason you deem necessary and be covered for partial reimbursement.

AIG CFAR — CFAR insurance is available as an add-on to the Deluxe and Preferred plans. Image Credit: AIG Travel Guard

AIG Travel Guard offers CFAR coverage as an optional add-on to add to its Preferred and Deluxe plans, with these stipulations:

Must be purchased within 15 days of the initial trip deposit
The trip must be canceled more than 48 hours prior to departure
The full cost of the trip must be insured for at the time of purchase

Cancel for Any Reason insurance does not cover the entire cost of the trip. In this case, to add CFAR insurance to the Deluxe and Preferred plans above, the additional premium would be $53.31 for coverage to cover up to 50% of the trip price. Additional options may be available to cover up to 75% of the cost of your trip.

The above prices are for a single trip 1-week in length for a traveler of 40 years of age at a cost of $3,000.

AIG Travel Guard policies, even without the CFAR insurance add-on, offer coverage for trip cancellations due to COVID-19 related illness and also medical coverage should a covered traveler become sick with COVID-19 during their travels. Terms and conditions apply.

Bottom Line: While trip cancellation, trip interruption, and emergency medical may offer some coverage for illness, you must purchase Cancel for Any Reason insurance to have coverage for canceling a trip due to the fear of getting ill. AIG Travel Guard offers this coverage on its Deluxe and Preferred plans.

Additional Information — AIG Travel Guard

Point-of-Sale Availability — In addition to offering travel insurance package policies directly to the public, AIG Travel Guard offers travel insurance products via several travel providers including airlines and various travel services. You’ll find the option to purchase Travel Guard protection during the checkout process with companies such as United Airlines or Frontier Airlines when purchasing a flight and when making a travel purchase via Costco Travel.

Call for Additional Quotes — While AIG Travel Guard does sell annual multi-trip policies, you must call to request a quote. Adventure sports coverage, medevac coverage, and rental vehicle damage coverage quotes are also available via phone.

15-Day Free Look Period — If you decide, after you have reviewed your purchased policy, that you do not want it, you may receive a full refund.

Cruise Insurance Option — AIG Travel Guard offers cruise insurance that includes cruise diversion and other applicable coverages.

Filing a claim — to initiate a claim, you can either call AIG Travel Guard at 866-478-8222 or access travelguard.com to begin the process. You will need your policy number handy. Once your claim is submitted, you can check the status at claims.travelguard.com/status.

How Does AIG Travel Guard Compare

First, know that when purchasing a policy from AIG Travel Guard, you’re buying from a highly-rated established insurance company. Here’s how the company stacks up in relative comparison with other travel insurance companies.

To Other Travel Insurance Companies

AIG Comparison — Image Credit: Squaremouth

Comparing travel insurance policies can be complicated as coverage limits and prices vary widely. We looked at a 1-week trip to Mexico for a traveler 40 years of age and a total trip cost of $3,000 as criteria for obtaining a quote.

AIG Travel Guard’s Preferred plan, which prices out at around $200, aligns with the John Hancock Bronze policy above. Add in CFAR coverage, however, and the comparison costs are closer to AIG Travel Guard’s $254 premium for its Preferred level plan that also includes CFAR.

Squaremouth travel insurance — Comparing policies that include a CFAR add-on will change the relative cost differences. Image Credit: Squaremouth

This 1 example uses the criteria of a specific trip for an individual traveler of a certain age and may not reflect the same relative premium costs as other comparisons.

Your own individual traveler information, the number of travelers, trip length, destination, state of residence, selected coverages, and the total cost of your trip will ultimately determine the premium cost. Our example is just a narrow snapshot comparison.

Bottom Line: Travel insurance policy coverages and costs vary dramatically. To ensure you’re receiving good value, determine the coverages that are most important to you, compare policy options, and purchase from a reliable company.

To Credit Card Travel Insurance

The travel insurance coverages that come complimentary on your credit cards are no substitute for a comprehensive travel insurance policy. With that being said, the coverage that comes with your credit card could be enough to cover some trips.

Here are some examples of trips where you may not need travel insurance and the coverage you have on your credit card could be sufficient.

The trip consists of only a round trip domestic flight and hotel stay
The trip is a road trip by car
The trip does not include any non-refundable trip expenses
The trip does not have several travel providers involved
Your health insurance covers you while traveling and you are not worried about having additional medical coverage during your trip

Also, keep in mind that coverage offered on your credit card is generally secondary versus a primary travel insurance policy. This means you must first file a claim with other applicable insurance, including coverage with the airline or travel provider, for example, before the credit card coverage will kick in.

Bottom Line: If you have a significant investment at stake, several travel providers involved, or want medical coverage during your travels, you should purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy for your trip and not depend on a credit card with travel insurance.

The Value of Travel Insurance Comparison Websites

Travel insurance is widely available and competitive. You won’t have trouble purchasing some level of coverage regardless of your situation. Additionally, there are travel insurance comparison websites that make it easy to find a policy that fits and purchase coverage that is effective immediately.

These travel insurance comparison websites are each easy to use, have qualified people to assist, and all feature policies offered only by highly-rated companies.

Travelinsurance.com

Instant coverage
Simple format, easy to secure a quote quickly
Guarantees the best price for the policy you’re purchasing

Squaremouth

Features 20 companies with nearly 120 different policy options
Its customer service team is award-winning
You can access thousands of customer reviews

InsureMyTrip

Educational content to assist you in understanding coverages
Features 21 highly-rated companies
Licensed agents can answer questions and assist with a claim

Bottom Line: Travel insurance comparison websites provide quick easy access to securing a quote, compare several high-rated travel insurance providers at once, and the benefit of receiving immediate coverage.

Final Thoughts

While airlines and travel providers have made significant changes to cancellation, refund, and exchange policies, it’s still important to consider purchasing travel insurance if you’re uncomfortable with the possibility of losing your trip investment or incurring unexpected expenses during your journey.

In addition, if you need medical insurance coverage during your trip, you won’t find that coverage on a credit card or with the airlines — you’ll need to purchase it.

The fact that AIG Travel Guard does not exclude COVID-19 related claims under certain coverages and offers a Cancel for Any Reason add-on is significant as not every travel insurance company can make that claim.

Also, if you have children traveling with you, you may find good value with AIG Travel Guard having those under 17 included for no extra charge (1 per premium-paying adult).

The bottom line when purchasing travel insurance from AIG Travel Guard is that if you can secure the coverages you need at a price you’re comfortable with and you’ll know you’re completing that transaction with a highly-rated established company.

All information and content provided by Upgraded Points is intended as general information and for educational purposes only, and should not be interpreted as medical advice or legal advice. For more information, see our Medical & Legal Disclaimers.

Featured Image Credit: Lonely Taws via Pixabay

Frequently asked questions

Is AIG Travel Guard a good travel insurance company?

AIG Travel Guard is a highly-rated established travel insurance company. It is rated A by the prominent insurance financial rating company A.M. Best and has been in business for over 25 years.

It was also named the best travel insurance company of 2020 by Forbes.

Does AIG Travel Guard cover trip cancellation?

Yes, AIG Travel Guard will cover trip cancellations but only for covered reasons listed in the policy. Examples of situations that may be covered include becoming ill and having to cancel your trip, being called for jury duty or other covered legal obligation, or your home becomes uninhabitable.

Does AIG Travel Guard cover flight cancellations due to COVID?

AIG Travel Guard, like other travel insurance companies, does not cover canceling a flight due to the fear of getting ill. However, if you become ill from COVID-19 and have to cancel your trip, you may have coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, or emergency medical if should become ill during your trip.

How do I make a claim with AIG Travel Guard?

You can file a claim with AIG Travel Guard by calling 866-478-8222 Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST. You can also initiate a claim online at travelguard.com using your policy number and last name.

Once you have submitted a claim, you can check the status of your claim at claims.travelguard.com/status, using your claim number and last name.

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About Christine Krzyszton

Christine was born in Northern Michigan but spent most of her career operating her own business developing and managing insurance and financial services offices throughout the state. Her previous experience involved building and writing business plans in the mergers and acquisitions sector in New York, as well as staffing in the insurance and financial technology software field. Her successful insurance and financial services career has been an excellent foundation from which to source her knowledge for many of Upgraded Points’ travel insurance articles.

Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.

20 comments

stanley brazzon December 22, 2020
Don’t buy insurance from AIG Travel Guard, they are refusing to pay COVID claims. I’ve been fighting with them for 7 months now and have not received a penny. All they did was take my money and give me the runaround. There is a class action lawsuit being started online. Also, look up BBB complaints about this company.
Reply
- Christine Krzyszton December 22, 2020
  Hi Stanley. Sorry for your experience. Normally, travel insurance does not cover COVID-related claims unless you contract the virus or have purchased Cancel for Any Reason Insurance. Can you elaborate on what type of claim you had?
  Reply
- Tammy Shotwell April 14, 2022
  Yes! These people are a joke and completely ignore any cancellations and do not want to give any kind of reimbursement at all. DO NOT buy any kind of insurance with these people. I am still fighting to get my money back.
  Reply
LeRoy Fryer May 18, 2021
Definitely not worth the money! I’m sure like many others when I bought the insurance we all thought it would cover almost anything, especially something like a COVID death to a member of the wedding party would be grounds to get a refund. If I purchase insurance why should I have to purchase extra insurance “Cancel for Any Reason insurance (CFAR)” to cover more than what this coverage covers? Why not just be upfront and offer one good insurance that covers everything under reason? If you don’t cover what someone is using the insurance for you should refund the insurance amount. That would be the right thing to do.
Reply
Layton Dutton July 19, 2021
Do not use AIG or Travel Guard (this is the company that Expedia uses when you get insurance). They do not pay on claims. The only thing I received from them is excuses. I wrote to the Better Business Bureau and posted about them on social media so others would not fall for their deceptive practices.
Reply
Yazmin Valencia and Marc Batet July 29, 2021
We bought insurance for our trip to Spain, unfortunately, we had a problem with my son’s passport.
At the airport, the person from the airline told us that if we could travel but we had to return 5 days before according to the laws of Europe, So since we bought travel insurance, we called the airline to change our return dates, they told us that we had to do it through Travelocity since we bought our plane tickets through them. When we called Travelocity they told us that they could not change the dates, that the airline had to do it, in short we were calling back to the airline, they did not help us or Travelocity either. The plane left and we were sad, frustrated. The following days we tried to change the dates without any success at all, none of the airlines or Travelocity helped us, the only thing they did was make excuses, cross, what if they told us, call Travelocity, and vice-versa. We were balls from hand to hand. After so much emotional wear and tear, we called the insurance company and made a claim, which was rejected. they don’t want to refund my money, and they haven’t let me speak to a supervisor. What does AIG Travel Insurance protect?
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Ana August 19, 2021
Scammers! Our flight got canceled and they refused to reimburse us for our hotel expenses.
Reply
Rajeshwar s Bains October 30, 2021
It’s so true, They just want your money and will not pay you back for any given reason. I will never buy travel insurance from AIG or any other Ins carrier. What a waste of time.
Reply
Tim December 7, 2021
I’m seeing a pattern here, we purchased AIG travel insurance in case a college event that we were going to was cancelled. Well the college event was indeed cancelled and AIG is refusing to pay now. Out $980.
Reply
- Christine Krzyszton December 8, 2021
  Hi Tim. Sorry for your experience. Unfortunately, travel insurance does not normally cover canceled events, only trip cancellation for the limited reasons listed in the policy.
  Reply
  - Aamir April 23, 2022
    Hi there. Can you please tell me if the trip has been canceled by the airline and rescheduled after a week’s time, is there any chance I can get something from the insurance company?
    Reply
    - Christine Krzyszton April 23, 2022
      Hi Aamir. Depending on the policy you purchased, trip insurance would cover costs that you incurred as a result of the change. For example, you may have non-refundable expenses that you lost due to the change (hotel, tours, etc.). If you were charged any change fees, those may also be covered. Travel insurance coverage is designed to reimburse you for expenses you incur due to cancelation or disruption of your trip but not for inconvenience.
      Reply
Tommy January 23, 2022
If a tour is canceled, what happens to insurance payments?
Do I get refunded fully?
Reply
- Christine Krzyszton January 23, 2022
  Hi Tommy. If you purchased coverage for just 1 trip and the trip was canceled, the insurance company normally refunds the amount of the policy or allows you to move the dates if the trip was rescheduled. If you just decide not to go on the tour, there would be no coverage unless you purchased Cancel For Any Reason insurance.
  Reply
Rishi Paudel January 28, 2022
Give your money to some persons in need or donate to a charity but never give to this kind of cheating insurance company. I would say they are stealing money in a legal way. They don’t give it back to you at any cost.
Reply
C Watts February 24, 2022
My husband tested positive for Covid a day before we were supposed to leave and AIG paid our claim. It took longer than 15 business days, but the Team was responsive to all my calls and questions.
My advice: Keep all your receipts and try to get all correspondence in writing from your travel suppliers. Also, file your claim and/or call your travel insurance company on the same day of your event.
Reply
- Christine Krzyszton February 25, 2022
  Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. This is exactly the purpose of having travel insurance in place. I hope your husband is recovering quickly.
  Reply
Trina madden. June 30, 2022
My flight was cancelled from South Africa due to fuel shortages. So they say? But all other airlines were flying out. Only United cancelled. They said they could put us on another flight in seven days. But we couldn’t wait that long to get home, my daughter was in college. I paid for my daughters and I tickets one way back home and it was $2300.00 a piece. Crazy. I’m still waiting to hear back! We’ll see. After reading all these negative posts I don’t think I’ll see a dime. Time to lawyer up!!
Reply
Rosella Barella December 31, 2022
Do not purchase travel inurance from AIG!
They have no regard for you as their customer. It took 3 month’s for them to deny us ,plus you can’t talk to anyone except for an answering service which is a dead end. We did have our travel agent trying on this also but he had no luck either. So beware they want your money and that’s all!! We have bought their insurance on probably 10- 13 trips this was the 1st time we filed a claim. NEVER AGAIN!
Reply
Calista P. March 31, 2023
Do NOT purchase travel insurance through AIG unless you are a master at reading and understanding their policy documents. Signed up for travel insurance for an upcoming cruise and knew that I would need the Cancel For Any Reason coverage. No receipt after sign-up to confirm the details so reviewed my policy documents when I got them. Saw that a rider was attached for the CAFR so figured I was covered.
Several months later, circumstances will prevent me from going on the cruise so called AIG to file the claim. Was told I didn’t have CAFR, that the rider was ‘just for informational purposes’, and that I should have known that it wasn’t included. How?? I saw the rider as ‘attached and part of’ the policy, with NO indication that it was ‘informational’. Had I known that it was NOT included, I would have called within the 15 days to MAKE SURE IT WAS ADDED. Since the Rider was part of the policy, I thought I was covered. I depended on their policy layout to determine my coverage and have learned that it is deceptive and misleading, resulting in a financial loss to me, and wasted payment for coverage that didn’t exist.
Reply

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