You’ve been on enough trips — and dealt with enough travel crises — to know you need travel insurance. The tough part is picking the right plan. Some travel insurance plans help with catastrophes, like covered medical emergencies overseas. Some help with travel hiccups, like missing suitcases and delayed flights. And some do both.

Here’s the quick and easy way to compare travel insurance: Just answer these five questions and we’ll recommend plans for each situation.

Question 1: Are you traveling overseas or within the United States?

The most important travel insurance benefits to have when visiting another country are emergency medical benefits and emergency medical transportation benefits. Why? These benefits can cover financial losses caused by covered medical emergencies while you’re traveling —and those losses can be staggering. An emergency medical evacuation, in which you’re transported by ambulance or helicopter to the nearest appropriate medical facility, can cost more than $100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control.¹ Not only that, but U.S. health insurance, including Medicare, generally is not accepted overseas. Often, hospitals require payment up front.

If you’re going overseas, look for travel insurance that includes these crucial benefits. The more remote your destination, the more coverage you may need; a medical evacuation from the Mongolian steppes will cost much more than an ambulance ride in Paris. Options from Allianz Global Assistance include:

• The Basic Plan, an economical choice that includes emergency medical benefits up to $10,000 and emergency medical transportation benefits up to $50,000.
• The Classic Plan, with emergency medical and dental benefits up to $25,000 and emergency medical transportation benefits up to $500,000.
• The Classic Plan with Trip+, which doubles the Classic Plan limits to $50,000 for emergency medical benefits and $1 million for emergency medical transportation benefits.
• The Travelers Protection Plan, a flexible plan with up to $100,000 in emergency medical benefits ($50,000 for accidents and $50,000 for illness) and up to $250,000 in emergency medical transportation benefits.

Even if you’re traveling within the United States, you may want to opt for travel insurance with emergency medical transportation benefits, as health insurance won’t always cover an air ambulance.² Or, you can opt for a cheaper plan without it, such as the Essential Plan.

Question 2: Are you traveling with children?

Every parent and grandparent knows that kids add an element of uncertainty to travel. Active children and adventurous teens run the risk of getting injured or falling ill while traveling, and travel insurance can be invaluable. Two plans from Allianz Travel Insurance can cover kids 17 and under for free when they’re traveling with a parent or grandparent: the Classic Plan and the Classic Plan with Trip+.

Question 3: Are you planning to take three or more trips in the next 12 months?

For frequent travelers, an annual travel insurance plan is a valuable money- and time-saver. For one low price, you get 365 days of protection, wherever you may travel. Here’s a travel insurance comparison of the three annual plans we offer, all of which include collision/loss damage insurance for your rental car.

• The Annual Basic Plan includes post-departure benefits like emergency medical benefits and baggage theft/loss coverage, but not trip cancellation.
• The Annual Deluxe Plan provides robust post-departure benefits, plus up to $2,000 in trip interruption/cancellation coverage.
• The Annual Executive Plan offers a wide array of benefits, including business equipment coverage, and up to $50,000 in emergency medical benefits.

Question 4: What’s more important to you: saving money or preserving your peace of mind?

There’s no wrong answer here. If you’re traveling on a tight budget and you just want travel insurance to protect your vacation investment, then the Essential Plan may be your best bet. Our most affordable plan, the Essential Plan includes trip cancellation and trip interruption benefits, so you can be reimbursed for prepaid travel costs if you have to cancel or cut short your trip for a covered reason. You also get up to $150 in travel delay benefits, which can reimburse you for your meals or hotel room if you experience a covered travel delay of six hours or more.

If you’d prefer to travel with more robust protection, the Classic Plan is a good choice. It includes not only trip cancellation, trip interruption, travel delay benefits, but also baggage loss/damage, baggage delay, missed connection, change fee, and frequent traveler loyalty plan coverage.

Question 5: Are you a careful planner or a spontaneous traveler?

If you like to have every piece of your vacation booked ahead of time, from hotels to tours to meals, then you definitely need a travel insurance plan that includes trip cancellation — like the Classic Plan. That way, if you must cancel or interrupt the trip for a covered reason, you can be reimbursed for non-refundable prepaid expenses.

Other travelers are free spirits. If you have few pre-paid expenses, and if you might opt to extend your trip past your original return date, the Travelers Protection Plan may be the best choice for you. This flexible and affordable travel insurance plan allows you to extend coverage under certain conditions. Restrictions apply, so be sure to read your plan documents before you extend your plan.

Disclaimer: I work as an ambassador for Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) and receive financial compensation.

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