Can you add travel insurance after booking a flight?

Unexpected events can happen when you’re traveling, whether you’re seeing the bright lights of New York City or the ancient ruins of Rome. Travel insurance can help protect you from financial losses when the unexpected happens.

Learn more about travel insurance, including how to add it after you book your flight.

What you'll learn:

• Travel insurance can cover canceled flights, lost luggage, unexpected medical expenses and more.

• It’s common to buy travel insurance for a flight soon after it’s booked. Travel insurance can typically be added later as well, closer to a flight’s departure. 

• Travel insurance is offered to some Capital One Venture and Venture X cardholders through Visa® and Mastercard®.

Travel insurance is designed to help protect people from financial losses related to travel. 

Travel insurance policies can be bought in several ways including online, from a travel insurance company or through a tour operator. Some credit cards offer travel insurance as well—often through credit card networks like Visa and Mastercard. For more information about your card’s benefits, check out its benefits guide.

The cost of travel insurance varies by policy. So does the coverage. For example, comprehensive travel insurance typically includes major events as part of a single plan. There may also be policies to cover specific events.

Major events that might be covered by travel insurance include: 

• Trip delay or cancellation

• Lost luggage or personal belongings

• Medical expenses incurred during travel

Some insurance plans may also cover expenses related to lost passports, rebooked flights and cash wires.

Planning a trip can come with a long to-do list. There’s everything from putting together your packing checklist to deciding on the best time to book a flight. You may also decide to get travel insurance. Before you do, you may want to check your credit card’s guide to benefits since some cards offer travel insurance as a benefit.

When it comes to timing, one option is to buy travel insurance soon after you’ve booked your flight. 

Depending on your card, you may be able to add travel insurance later, closer to your flight’s departure. One potential benefit of waiting is added flexibility. You’ll likely have more details about your trip then and could better match the insurance you buy to the needs of your travels. But keep in mind that buying close to your flight could affect your coverage options.

While you’re thinking about timing and flexibility, it may help to know that Capital One cardholders can take advantage of flexible booking options when they book through Capital One Travel. For example, you can add the option to cancel a flight for any reason.¹ You can also add the option to quickly rebook a delayed or canceled flight on any airline we offer—or, if you’re not satisfied with your rebooking options, get back 100% of your original ticket cost and keep your flight with the airline.²

Travel insurance can help protect you financially from unexpected events that can happen with travel.

Some travel credit cards come with travel insurance when you book using that card. Check your card’s benefits guide for more information. And if you’re a new Venture or Venture X cardholder, you have the opportunity to earn 75,000 bonus miles that you can redeem for flights, hotels, vacation rentals and more.