Whether you wish to rent a car for the weekend or plan a month-long tour of the best spots in Asia, travel insurance is a must. Travel insurance smoothens things out if and when the going gets rough when you’re on the road. While people don’t always need all the aspects and riders that are associated with all the policies, the best travel insurance could literally be a lifesaver possibly, in case you have to suddenly cancel a vacation and wish to cover the cost for the same, or you have your stuff stolen on a vacation, or you need expensive medical care while on vacation or in case, god forbid, you have an accident.

So how does one choose the best travel insurance? Check out these five major coverages:

• 24/7 worldwide assistance: You shouldn’t be limited by time or geographical location to seek help with travel-related assistance or medical emergencies during your trip
• Medical evacuation & repatriation: Arrangement and payments for returning you home or medical transport to a treatment center.
• Baggage delay/loss: Coverage for damaged/stolen/lost baggage or personal items; reimbursement for essential items.
• Trip cancellation/interruption: Reimbursement for non-refundable, prepaid expenditures like tours/hotels/flights in case you need to cut short/cancel a trip.
• Emergency medical care: Coverage for medical emergency treatment during travel.

Listed below are the best travel insurance options for 2017:

Travelex Insurance

Travelex Insurance, which has been voted the best travel insurance for families, covers adult children under 21 years of age, teens and kids, all under one policy and charges no extra fees. It has the distinction of being the only travel insurance to provide coverage to kids under 21 at no extra cost. However, there are a few restrictions – travelers will need to purchase the middle-tier “Travel Select ”  coverage, which caps the medical treatment coverage at $50,000. Also, the total cost of the trip cannot be more than $25,000.

Travelex also packages its optional coverage in a wonderful way as “Lifestyle Paks” that are molded around particular trip types. For instance, the “Active Family Pak” includes coverage for medical protection for pets traveling with you, child care cancellation, and also covers rental movie reimbursement if one is delayed overnight. The “Adventurer Plus Pak” works well for the thrill-seekers –it provides a whole lot more medical coverage, as well as activities such as helicopter rides and motorcycle rides, and even offer reimbursement for stolen sports equipment and search-and-rescue. If your equipment is damaged or stolen or if you have to cancel your trip for work reasons, the “Professional Pak” has got you covered for reimbursement. The benefits grouped in “Paks” makes the policy more personal and doesn’t add a grim feeling to it. Travelex also has great customer service, right from answering phone calls to answering e-mails. Knowledgeable and friendly reps add to it, making the experience refreshing and better. Besides, Transamerica Casualty Insurance, which is Travelex’s underwriter, has an “A” rating from A.M. Best.

John Hancock

John Hancock has been considered as the best travel insurance for solo travelers. The travel insurer features comprehensive coverage, coupled with knowledgeable and friendly customer support. Its customer service evaluation is excellent, especially during stressful and unexpected situations when the customer is traveling alone and is far away from home. In fact, it is Seven Corners which manages John Hancock’s customer support, so this extra layer of policy makes John Hancock’s offering first-rate. The travel insurer features three comprehensive policy tiers – Gold, Silver, and Bronze – and also offers add-ons in case you have to cancel for any reason as well as for extreme sports/activities. The Silver and Gold have comprehensive coverage including tiny details like coverage of up to $150/day for meals and other expenditures in case one’s flight is delayed by 3 hours. This is extremely good as opposed to the 5-12 hours that is standard with every other company. The travel insurer, however, charges extra for kids, considering them as additional travelers.

IMG

IMG has been voted as the best travel insurance for adventure travelers and lovers. The travel insurer has a level of protection covers adventure sports such as moped rentals, helicopter rides, and scuba diving excursions. IMG offers a single comprehensive travel package – the iTravelInsured LX – which is designed to work for tropical and remote locations, including coverage for search and rescue, extreme activities, as well as a provision for automatic interrupt/cancel for any reason. The company also has great customer service. The only downside of IMG’s travel insurance is that baggage delay and trip delay coverage doesn’t kick in until one is delayed by 6 and 12 hours respectively. Apart from that, IMG’s travel insurance coverage is pretty great.

Allianz Global Assistance

Allianz Global Assistance is the best travel insurance provider for long trips. For instance, if you’re planning a global year-long tour or planning to spend a semester abroad, then Allianz provides coverage for you for up to 365 days. Allianz has one plan – the Classic Plan with Trip+ – which meet all travel insurance criteria; just one exception – it doesn’t have the “no cancel for any reason” or the “hazardous activities” provisions.