Learn how the ‘Cancel for any reason’ benefit can help protect Americans against the unexpected.
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For information relating to policies purchased prior to October 2 2024, please check the Policy Wording provided with your purchase. You can contact us if you need this sent to you again. For plans purchased after October 2 2024, please see below.
You’ve dreamed of that bucket list vacation forever and worked hard to budget for it. Maybe you’ve saved up for a safari in South Africa on a search for the Big 5. You could also be embarking on the ultimate European adventure - exploring places like France, Italy, and Great Britain.
We know those international trips aren’t cheap and can be a big investment. This isn’t a quick weekend getaway - this is a trip that you’re super excited for and planned meticulously - possibly far in advance.
Nobody plans to cancel a trip like this, but unexpected things can happen. Cancelling that dream vacation can be even more painful when you lose all the money you spent in advance. Because of life’s unexpected curveballs, you may want to consider a travel insurance* plan that has an optional cancel for any reason benefit.
When you’re searching for the most suitable travel insurance plan, one thing to consider is if it includes trip cancellation coverage and the ability to add an optional cancel for any reason benefit. So, what is the difference?
Trip cancellation coverage gives you the opportunity to cancel your trip before you depart, but only for covered reasons. You could be reimbursed for unused, forfeited, prepaid, non-refundable expenses that you paid for in advance if your situation is one of the cancellation reasons listed in your plan wording.
If you get sick before your trip and your doctor advises you not to travel at that time, you may be covered. Even if your travel buddy gets sick and must stay home, you may still be reimbursed. A few other covered situations may include being subpoenaed or required to serve jury duty, inclement weather that causes your common carrier airline to completely stop services for at least 12 hours, or a terrorist incident at your destination in the previous 30 days prior to your departure date.
While there are several unforeseen circumstances that are covered by trip cancellation insurance, there’s times that you may need to cancel for other reasons that aren’t covered.
What happens if you just change your mind and don’t want to go? Or if you and your partner break up, and you don’t want to travel alone? Those are not going to fall under any of the covered reasons for trip cancellation insurance. However, US residents do have the ability to add-on the “cancel for any reason” benefit that would offer partial reimbursement in cases like these. In a circumstance where you’ve invested a lot in your trip, this may be something you want to consider looking into when you get a quote for travel insurance.
As a US resident (except if you live in New York or Washington State), you can add cancel for any reason coverage when you purchase travel insurance from World Nomads. This is an optional add-on for our Explorer and Epic plans, and isn’t automatically included. It costs additional money and is only available during the time sensitive period.
If you don’t want to take a chance on losing the money you invested in your expensive getaway, this additional coverage may be something you want to consider. If you purchase the Explorer Plan with the additional cancel for any reason add-on, you could cancel your trip for any reason that’s not otherwise covered by your plan and you could be reimbursed for 50% of the prepaid, forfeited, non-refundable payments or deposits you paid. With the Epic Plan, you could be reimbursed for up to 75% of those costs.
There are a couple of important things to remember if you want to add the cancel for any reason add-on to your travel insurance plan though. First, make sure you purchase the cancel for any reason coverage during the time sensitive period, which is within 7 days of the day you make the first deposit or payment on your trip. This means after you first pay money for anything related to your trip, you have up to 7 days to add this coverage to your Explorer or Epic plan. That first money spent includes things like your accommodations, plane ticket, or guided tours. You will not be eligible for reimbursement if receipts show you added this benefit outside of this window.
The other thing to remember is that even though you may have the travel insurance benefit that allows you to be able to cancel for any reason, you’ll need to do so at least 2 days prior to your departure if you plan to make a claim.
When you’re getting a quote for travel insurance, you’ll see the additional option to add-on cancel for any reason coverage. Yes, you’re going to pay more for it. At that point, you may ask yourself if cancel for any reason travel insurance is worth it.
Only you can determine the best travel insurance for your needs, but just remember, there’s some things you can’t predict - especially when you’re planning a major trip. With the optional cancel for any reason benefit, some of the additional reasons you could cancel include:
Adding the cancel for any reason benefit to your travel insurance plan could cover a multitude of different reasons why you may want to skip out on your planned trip - even if you just change your mind. However, there’s some things that aren’t covered. Some reasons you wouldn’t be covered include:
*All information we provided here is a brief summary. It does not include all terms, conditions, limitations, exclusions, and termination provisions of the plans described. Please carefully read your state specific plan documents for a full description of coverage. Travel insurance is included as part of your travel protection plan which contains both insurance benefits and non-insurance assistance services. Material included on this page does not represent, nor is it specific to, United States Fire Insurance Company or travel insurance benefits provided on United States Fire Insurance Company’s travel protection plans.
I arrived in Delhi from Rome. Baggage claim help desk informed me that my bag had been delayed in transit. I was without my bag for almost a week before it was finally delivered to me. It was cold in Delhi (being winter, December) and my warm jacket was in my bag, requiring that I purchase a jacket and other items of warm clothing that I had not taken in my carry-on.
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Here are our most frequently asked questions about 'cancel for any reason'. You can also find the answers to other questions in our Help Center or you can ask the customer service team.
In order to get the cancel for any reason benefit, you must add it on to your World Nomads travel insurance plan within 7 days of when you make your first deposit or payment on your trip. If you intend to make a claim, you must do that at least 2 days before your scheduled departure.
Make sure you have all of your documentation together if you need to cancel your trip. You’ll need to show proof of the unused, non-refundable things that you’ve purchased in advance, such as flights and hotel accommodations, and the receipts need to show the dates of the purchases. World Nomads will need to be able to verify that you bought the cancel for any reason add-on coverage within 7 days of when you first put money down on your trip. Once you have everything together, you can log in to your member account online to start a claim. If you didn’t create one previously, you can still create an account.
Before your trip, check the latest government advice for any travel alerts for your destination.