Your guide to the ‘Cancel For Any Reason’ travel insurance benefit: what can be covered, what’s not, and how it works.
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The best trips are often the ones you’ve planned months in advance. But you can’t predict the future and unexpected situations can sometimes happen prior to your trip. What happens if you lose your job and realize you can’t afford a vacation? Or you get in a fight with your partner and don’t want to travel together? Big trips usually come with the biggest investment and canceling that dream vacation can be even more painful when you lose all the money you spent in advance.
Trip cancellation coverage is included in all single-trip and annual travel insurance plans offered by World Nomads and gives you the opportunity to cancel your trip before you depart – but only for covered reasons. You may be reimbursed for unused, forfeited, prepaid, non-refundable expenses that you paid for in advance if your situation is one of the reasons listed in your plan wording. For example, if you get sick before your trip and your doctor advises you not to travel at that time, you may be covered. If your flight is canceled by an airline due to inclement weather that causes your common carrier to completely stop services for at least 12 consecutive hours and you aren’t able to make it to your destination, you may also be covered. (This is a real issue – almost 100,000 flights were canceled by U.S. air carriers in 2024.) While there are several unforeseen circumstances that are covered by the trip cancellation insurance benefit, there’s times that you may need to cancel for other reasons that aren’t covered.
‘Cancel for any reason’ coverage allows you to cancel for any reason that’s not otherwise covered by your plan. Broke up with your partner? You can cancel your trip. Sick dog? You can stay home to care for your fur baby. Change your mind about traveling? There’s no judgment here.
‘Cancel for any reason’ coverage isn’t automatically included, but it’s an optional add-on you can select if you purchase the Epic or Explorer plan. Optional ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ must be purchased within seven days of the date your first trip payment is received (hotel reservation, flight booking, trip deposit, etc). This is called the ‘time sensitive period’. If purchased, the ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ benefit could offer partial reimbursement of the prepaid and non-refundable deposits and payments you made towards your canceled trip. Additional terms apply.
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Standard Plan |
Explorer Plan |
Epic Plan |
Annual Plan |
| Not available Get a quote |
Up to 50% of the prepaid, forfeited, non-refundable payments or deposits you paid, not to exceed $5,000 Get a quote |
Up to 75% of the prepaid, forfeited, non-refundable payments or deposits you paid, not to exceed $11,250 Get a quote |
Not available Get a quote |
There’s an additional charge to add the optional ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ coverage, and the exact amount varies based on your specific trip. When you get a quote for travel insurance and non-insurance services, you may have the option to add on this coverage if you purchase the Explorer or Epic plan offered by World Nomads. Terms and conditions apply.
Should you need to cancel your trip for reasons not otherwise covered by your plan, make sure you do it at least two days prior to your trip departure if you plan to make a Cancel for Any Reason claim.
You can file a claim online, and you’ll need to provide required documents that could include:
Here are our most frequently asked questions about cover for 'Cancel for Any Reason' travel insurance. You can also find the answers to other questions in our Help Center or you can ask the customer service team.
No. ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ coverage is an additional add-on that is available to US residents (except those that live in New York) who purchase either the Explorer or Epic plan within the time sensitive period.
When you get a quote for travel insurance and non-insurance services and choose either the Explorer or Epic plan, you’ll see the option to add-on ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ coverage if you’re within the time sensitive period and you are not a resident of New York
Yes, all of the travel protection plans offered by World Nomads Travel Insurance include trip cancellation coverage. You may be reimbursed for unused, forfeited, prepaid, non-refundable expenses that you paid in advance, but only if your situation is one of the cancellation reasons listed in your plan wording. The optional ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ add-on allows you to cancel for reasons not otherwise covered by your plan. .
Yes, as long as you cancel your trip no later than two days before your scheduled departure date, you can cancel for any reason if you added the additional ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ coverage during the time sensitive period – even if you just change your mind.
All US residents (except those that live in New York), can add optional ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ coverage when they purchase either the Explorer or Epic travel protection plans from World Nomads. There is an additional charge for this coverage, and you can only purchase it during the time sensitive period.
US residents (except those that live in New York) who purchased the Explorer or Epic plan from World Nomads Travel Insurance within seven days of the date of the receipt of the first deposit or payment towards a trip and added the optional ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ coverage, can file a claim online. You’ll need to make sure you cancel your trip at least two days prior to your scheduled trip departure date if you plan to make a claim. You may also need to provide receipts that show that you purchased the ‘Cancel for Any Reason’ coverage within the time sensitive period. Be sure to save all your trip receipts, as well. You’ll need to show proof of those non-refundable expenses when you submit a claim.
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