AIG Travel Guard Review: Is It Worth It?

Do you purchase travel insurance when you travel? If you do, congratulations – you’re quite wise! But if you don’t, then you should. We all hope that nothing terrible or even a little bad will happen to us when we travel for work or for pleasure. But, it’s just one of those things that are better to have and not need than need and not have.

Many of us travel on a regular basis and have been very lucky thus far. However, all it takes is one accident or issue to make you wish you bought insurance.

Getting injured, robbed, or delayed on an international or domestic trip can not only ruin the trip, but it can cost you a lot of money in both the short and long run, too.

That’s why buying travel insurance is a smart thing to do. The cost is small but the benefits are huge.

The first time you end up needing to use a travel insurance policy, you’ll thank your lucky stars that you got into the habit of buying it, even if you bought it and never used it dozens of times before.

One of the best companies that offers travel insurance to travelers is AIG Travel Guard. AIG Travel Guard is affordable and covers most problems and issues that you’re likely to encounter during your travels.

Read on to learn more about it; once you see all the benefits of buying AIG travel insurance, you’ll likely never want to travel without it again.

What Is AIG Travel Guard?

AIG Travel Guard offers insurance coverage for travelers. Whether you travel often, occasionally, or rarely, in the United States or outside of it, or for business or for pleasure, buying travel insurance from AIG is a smart move.

This company will cover you for almost everything that could happen to negatively affect your trip.

Your trip may not turn out the way that you hoped – that part is out of AIG’s hands – but if something unsatisfactory does happen, at least you can rest easy knowing that you’ll be financially compensated for the issue.

AIG is an excellent choice for travel insurance because this company has so much experience in this area. It is the largest travel insurance provider in the United States; over six million travelers per year opt to buy travel coverage through AIG.

The coverage that they offer is broad and thorough, and they are quick to respond to claims.

If you’re thinking about buying travel insurance for your next trip, you should put AIG at the top of your list for consideration.

What’s Included in AIG Travel Guard Policies?

One of the best things about buying travel insurance through AIG is the vast number and variety of options that they offer.

This company knows that travel insurance isn’t a one-size-fits-all sort of thing. Different travelers have different wants and needs and different budgets too; therefore, the company offers something for everyone.

When buying travel insurance, there are a number of different coverages that you should expect.

No matter who you buy insurance from, you should be looking for policies that include things like coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, baggage delay, medical expenses if you’re in an accident, and emergency medical evacuation for the worst-case scenario type of situation.

Pretty much any travel insurance company is going to offer the above things.

However, the amount of coverage that they offer for each of those things will vary, as will the specific situations in which you can expect to be reimbursed. That’s usually in the fine print, but with AIG Travel Guard, your coverages are broad and clear.

The most common plans sold through AIG Travel Guard are the Travel Guard Essential Plan, the Travel Guard Preferred Plan, and the Travel Guard Deluxe Plan. Let’s investigate each one a little further.

Travel Guard Essential Plan

The Travel Guard Essential Plan is AIG Travel Guard’s most budget-friendly option. The coverage offered by this plan is quite good for the price.

Travelers who buy this plan will be covered for up to 100% of the trip cost for trip cancellation if the trip is canceled under certain circumstances, and they will also be covered for up to 100% of the trip cost for trip interruption as well.

Lost or damaged baggage will be covered for up to a $750 reimbursement, and if you experience a baggage delay, you can get up to $200 to buy items to hold you over while you wait. If you need to see a doctor on your trip, you’re covered for up to $15,000 for that, too.

And, if you need emergency medical evacuation to another location for medical care, $150,000 of that cost will be covered as well.

Travel Guard Preferred Plan

The Travel Guard Preferred Plan costs just a little more but has a lot more coverage. The company says it is its most popular plan.

This plan has everything that the Travel Guard Essential Plan has and more. Like that plan, this plan offers up to 100% of the trip cost for trip cancellation, but it has something in that realm that the Essential Plan does not.

For an additional fee on top of the upgrade, you can add in the option to cancel for any reason as long as you do so more than forty-eight hours before the scheduled trip departure.

Furthermore, the coverages on everything else are at much higher amounts.

With the Preferred Plan, you’ll be entitled to up to 150% of your trip cost for trip interruption, up to $1,000 on lost or damaged bags, up to $300 for baggage delay, and up to $50,000 in travel medical expenses.

Any type of emergency medical evacuation will be covered up to $500,000.

With this plan, there are additional add-ons you can add too, but more on that in a minute.

See Related: World Nomads Insurance Review

Travel Guard Deluxe Plan

The Travel Guard Deluxe Plan has the highest coverages of all. It’s also the most expensive plan offered by AIG Travel Guard, but you’ll have great peace of mind if you choose this one.

This includes everything that the Preferred Plan has, including the option to add on Cancel for Any Reason coverage, but the dollar amounts of the coverages are again higher.

Like the Preferred Plan, people who choose the Deluxe Plan will get up to 100% of their cost back if their trip is canceled, and they can receive up to 150% of their trip cost for trip interruption.

But they’ll get much more money back for other issues; baggage coverage is up to $2,500 with this plan, and baggage delay can get you $500. Travel medical coverage is covered for up to $100,000, and emergency medical evacuation is covered all the way up to $1,000,000!

Optional Add-Ons for AIG Travel Guard Preferred and Deluxe Plans

What’s great about Travel Guard Preferred and Travel Guard Deluxe Plans is the fact that you can customize them to your needs.

Not everyone participates in adventure sports during their vacations, and no one should have to pay for coverage that he or she will never need.

AIG Travel Guard is set up so you can pick and choose what you want and need and not pay for what you don’t. Here are some of the many options this insurance company offers.

Adventure Sports Bundle

Are you the adventurous type when you travel?

Do you want to try whitewater rafting, mountain biking, surfing, parasailing, or horseback riding on your trip?

If so, it might be wise to add on the Adventure Sports Bundle. That way, if you hurt yourself doing something you’ve never done before (or even doing something you’ve done tons of times before…), you’ll be covered.

Pet Bundle

If you have a furry friend that travels with you, then you’ll want to make sure that he or she is covered, too!

AIG’s Pet Bundle covers your pet for illness or injury while traveling, and also will give you the option to cancel your trip at the last minute if your pet is in critical condition or dies.

Wedding Bundle

We all want to hope that no wedding we’ve been invited to will be canceled, but sometimes it happens. If there’s no wedding or party to go to anymore, then you’ll probably want to back out of the trip altogether, and with this coverage add-on, you can and you’ll be covered.

Do you think the couple might call it quits before the big day? If so, buy this add-on just in case.

Rental Vehicle Damage Coverage

Not everyone rents a car when they travel but if you do, and if you’re not covered by your own insurance or by any of your travel credit cards, rental vehicle damage coverage can be a lifesaver.

This add-on is well worth it if you’ll be driving a car you don’t know in an area you don’t know and will save you thousands of dollars if you’re in even a minor accident.

Inconvenience Bundle

There are lots of different things that can make your trip become a nightmare or, at the very least, not what you dreamed it would be.

This bundle covers a lot of little things that can feel like big things when you’ve been planning for months.

If you buy this add-on, you’ll be covered for things like closed attractions, accidentally being locked out of your rental house, hotel construction, hotel infestation, credit or debit card cancellation, and more.

Security Bundle

This is a good add-on to consider if you’ll be traveling somewhere where there might be some sort of political crisis or civil unrest.

If you need to be evacuated for your own safety due to riot or civil disorder, this will cover the costs of your last-minute flight. It also will cover you for evacuation due to natural disasters, as well.

Other Coverage Options with AIG Travel Guard

Although the Essential, Preferred, and Deluxe Travel Guard plans are the most common and popular plans sold by the company with our without add-ons, they are not the only travel insurance plans or options that they offer.

There are two other plans – the Pack N’ Go Plan and the Annual Travel Plan – that are tailormade for specific types of travelers.

And, there are several other plans that are not available online, but that travelers can purchase through a phone call with the company. In case you’re curious to know what these plans entail, they are described below.

Pack N’ Go Plan

Some of us love spontaneous, last-minute travel. When you get a great deal that departs in the coming week or weeks, you’re going – you won’t have any need for trip cancellation insurance coverage.

The Pack N’ Go plan covers you up to 100% for trip interruption, up to $1,000 for trip delay coverage, up to $1,000 for baggage coverage, up to $500 for missed connections, up to $200 for baggage delay, up to $25,000 for travel medical coverage, and up to $500,000 for emergency evacuation.

Annual Travel Plan

Are you someone who travels often and throughout the year?

If so, then AIG’s Annual Travel Plan might be the best option for you. This plan will cover you for multiple trips.

You’ll be covered for trip interruption (up to 100% of your trip cost), trip delay (up to $1,500), missed connections (up to $500), baggage (up to $2,500), baggage delay (up to $1,000), medical expenses (up to $50,000), security evacuation (up to $100,000), and emergency evacuation (up to $500,000).

Travel Guard Plus

If the Travel Guard Deluxe Plan still doesn’t seem like enough coverage for you, then you might consider Travel Guard Plus.

This plan includes the Adventure Sports Bundle at no additional cost and also offers AIG’s highest level of medical expense coverage.

Medevac Per Trip Plan

Travelers who are planning to spend an extended time period overseas might opt for AIG’s Medevac Per Trip Plan to make sure they are covered for emergency medical evacuation as needed. This plan can cover you for a trip of up to 365 days in length.

Flight Guard

AIG’s Flight Guard will cover you for accidents while flying on a commercial plane. There are five different levels of coverage in this category.

See Related: Best Travel Insurance for Travel Nurses

AIG Travel Guard vs. Other Travel Insurance Companies

As you can see, AIG Travel Guard has so many different options for travelers, but how does it stack up against other trip insurance plans?

Every travel insurance policy should include things like coverage for trip cancellation, trip interruption, baggage, medical expenses, trip delay, and so on.

When you start to research them, you’ll find that they do. Two of the most popular companies for travel insurance besides AIG are World Nomads and Travelex.

Both of these companies include all of the above and both of them are excellent choices for travel insurance too.

However, you won’t get the same flexibility with those companies as you will with AIG travel insurance plans.

World Nomads covers all of the above but only has two different levels of coverage: Standard and Explorer.

Travelex has more options – Travel Basic and Travel Select for international travel and Travel America for domestic travel, plus a number of optional add-ons – but it still doesn’t have the levels of coverage or immense flexibility that AIG Travel Guard does.

All of the above companies will cover you in case of emergency, but which is most likely to make you financially whole again no matter what the situation? The answer is AIG Travel Guard insurance.

How to Get an AIG Travel Guard Quote

If you’re interested in getting a travel insurance quote for your upcoming trip, or even for a trip you’re just daydreaming about, you can do so easily on the AIG Travel Guard site.

Simply follow the prompts, fill in your information, and you’ll get an instant quote that you can compare to quotes from other companies.

Some of AIG’s plans and add-ons will require you to make a phone call to the company, though, so an insurance agent can speak with you one-on-one to determine and design the best travel insurance policy for you.

If you have specific needs such as pet insurance or questions about adventure sports coverage, then it’s best to give them a call.

Once you’ve found a quote that you like and want to purchase a plan, you can do so online through the AIG website.

The sooner you do this, the better; some coverages only apply – such as Cancel for Any Reason coverage – if you buy insurance soon after you book your trip, so keep that in mind, too.

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