Two different jobs
Almost every question about travel insurance comes down to one split. Travel medical insurance looks after your health while you're away — emergency treatment, a hospital stay, and the evacuation that gets you to proper care or home. Trip cancellation (the heart of a comprehensive "trip protection" plan) looks after your money — the flights, hotels, tours and deposits you've already paid for and can't get back if the trip falls apart.
The same plan can carry both, but they solve different problems, and the trip usually makes one of them matter far more than the other.
When travel medical matters most
- You're going abroad, where your US health plan typically pays little or nothing and Medicare generally pays nothing at all.
- Care could be far away — a cruise, a safari, a rural region, a small island — so an evacuation would be the real expense.
- The trip isn't especially expensive to cancel, but a medical bill overseas could be enormous.
Here the numbers that matter are the emergency medical limit and the evacuation limit. Read more in our guide to whether your health insurance covers you abroad.
When trip cancellation matters most
- You've prepaid a lot you can't get back — a tour, a cruise, non-refundable flights and hotels.
- Your plans could realistically change for a covered reason: illness, a family emergency, jury duty, a named disaster.
- You want the option to cancel and be reimbursed rather than eat the cost.
Here the number that matters is your total non-refundable trip cost, because that's what you insure and what a claim pays back.
You can have both
A comprehensive trip-protection plan bundles medical, evacuation, cancellation, interruption, delay and baggage into one policy. A travel medical plan centers on health and can add some trip benefits. Which combinations you can actually buy, and what they cost, depend on your home state and the trip itself — so the honest way to choose is to compare real prices, not a sample.
How to decide in one minute
Ask two questions. What would a medical emergency here cost me, and would my health plan pay? How much of this trip can't I get back if I cancel? Whichever answer is scarier points to the side you should weight — and for most trips abroad with real prepaid cost, the answer is "both, in one plan." Run a quote, enter your dates, home state, ages and trip cost, and we'll show the live prices and benefit amounts from the insurers we represent. Nothing on this page sets a price or decides a claim; the plan document does.
Medical and evacuation limits on the plans we offer
Taken from each plan's own record, the same wording as its plan page. Where an amount says "(most states)", it can differ for your state: your quote shows the certificate for the state you live in, and that certificate decides.
- Pathway Essential (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $250,000 (most states)
- Pathway Plus (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $350,000 (most states)
- Pathway Premier (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $1,000,000 per person
- Safe Travels Advantage (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: $100,000, $100,000, no dollar limit, no dollar limit (for the $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 and $150,000 limits) for your coverage period, no deductible
- Safe Travels AnyReason (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation and medically necessary repatriation: Up to $100,000
- Safe Travels Elite (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: $100,000 (Economy, Basic, Silver); no dollar limit (Gold, Platinum); $50,000 (Diamond, Diamond Plus) for your coverage period; no deductible
- Safe Travels Elite PPO (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: $100,000 (Economy, Basic, Silver); no dollar limit (Gold, Platinum); $50,000 (Diamond, Diamond Plus) for your coverage period; no deductible
- Safe Travels Outbound (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $500,000
- Safe Travels Rental Plus (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation and return of remains: Up to $250,000 (one combined limit)
- Safe Travels Sailaway Cruise (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $500,000 (most states)
- Safe Travels Sailaway Essential (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $250,000 (most states)
- Safe Travels Sailaway Luxury (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $1,000,000
- Safe Travels USA (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $1,000,000, no deductible
- Safe Travels USA Comprehensive (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $1,000,000, no deductible
- Safe Travels USA Cost Saver (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $1,000,000, no deductible
- Stay Secure (Trawick International)Emergency evacuation: Up to $1,000,000
Cancellation and interruption on the plans we offer
Taken from each plan's own record, the same wording as its plan page. Where an amount says "(most states)", it can differ for your state: your quote shows the certificate for the state you live in, and that certificate decides.
- Pathway Domestic (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)
- Pathway Essential (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)
- Pathway Plus (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: Up to 125% of trip cost (covered reasons only)
- Pathway Premier (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip costTrip interruption: Up to 150% of trip cost
- Safe Travels AnyReason (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost, maximum $10,000 (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: 100% of trip cost, maximum $10,000 (covered reasons only)
- Safe Travels Outbound (Trawick International)Trip interruption: Up to $7,500 (covered reasons only)
- Safe Travels Rental Plus (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost, maximum $10,000 (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: Up to 125% of trip cost, maximum $12,500 (covered reasons only)
- Safe Travels Sailaway Cruise (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: Up to 125% of trip cost (covered reasons only)
- Safe Travels Sailaway Essential (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)
- Safe Travels Sailaway Luxury (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: Up to 150% of trip cost (covered reasons only)
- Safe Travels USA (Trawick International)Trip interruption: $5,000, no deductible
- Safe Travels USA Comprehensive (Trawick International)Trip interruption: $5,000, no deductible
- Safe Travels USA Cost Saver (Trawick International)Trip interruption: $5,000, no deductible
- Stay Secure (Trawick International)Trip cancellation: 100% of trip cost (covered reasons only)Trip interruption: Up to 150% of trip cost (covered reasons only)
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between travel medical and trip cancellation insurance?
Travel medical pays for emergency care and evacuation while you're away from home. Trip cancellation reimburses the prepaid, non-refundable cost of the trip if you have to cancel or cut it short for a covered reason. One protects your body, the other protects your money.
Which one do I actually need?
If the main risk is a medical emergency far from home — especially abroad, where your US health plan usually won't pay — travel medical is the priority. If you've prepaid a lot you can't get back, trip cancellation is the priority. Many trips want some of both.
Can one plan do both?
Yes. Comprehensive trip-protection plans bundle both sides, and travel medical plans can add trip benefits. Which combination you can buy — and at what price — depends on your home state and the trip, so compare live prices before deciding.
When should I buy either one?
As soon as you make your first trip payment. The pre-existing condition waiver and Cancel For Any Reason are only available within a short window of that payment, usually 10–21 days depending on the plan.
This guide is general information, not financial or insurance advice.
Terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. See the plan details on our website before you buy.