AAA Travel Insurance Review and Pricing 2024)

Our Thoughts on AAA Travel Insurance

Pros and Cons

How AAA Travel Insurance Scored in Our Methodology

Since AAA offers travel insurance through Allianz, our team analyzed Allianz for this review. Using our travel insurance methodology, we gave Allianz 4.1 out of 5 stars. It earned perfect scores in our coverage details and customer service and reviews categories, but lost points for not offering CFAR coverage.

For transparency, note that our scores reflect Allianz as a general company — not the plans offered explicitly through AAA. According to our research, each AAA club’s policy offerings may differ from the plans typically provided by Allianz.

Compare AAA Travel Insurance to the Competition

Compare AAA travel insurance through Allianz to other providers we’ve rated and reviewed using the table below.

AAA Travel Insurance vs. Faye

AAA travel insurance and Faye have several similarities between comparable plans. Allianz’s TripProtect Deluxe and Faye’s Travel Protection plans offer 100% trip cancellation and 150% trip interruption benefits. These plans also offer $2,000 in lost baggage coverage.

However, Allianz’s plan has the upper edge regarding emergency evacuation limits and baggage delay coverage. On the other hand, Faye offers more travel medical expense coverage and trip delay benefits. While both have similar average costs, the plans cost more than the average travel insurance policy, which we found is $221 across 20 different providers.

Learn more in our Faye Travel Insurance Review. 

AAA Travel Insurance vs. Travelex

AAA travel insurance and Travelex have few similarities when comparing Allianz’s TripProtect Deluxe plan and Travelex’s Travel Select policy. Both offer the same trip cancellation and trip interruption limits. Travelex offers higher trip delay coverage. Otherwise, Allianz’s plan provides higher coverage limits for everything else, including medical expenses, emergency evacuations, and lost or delayed baggage.  

Another difference worth noting is the average cost of these plans. Travelex is, on average, 23% more expensive than Allianz. If you don’t mind sacrificing higher coverage limits for a cheaper overall cost, Travelex’s plan may be worth considering over Allianz’s.

Learn more in our Travelex Travel Insurance Review.

What Does AAA Travel Insurance Cover?

AAA partners with Allianz to offer various travel insurance policies to club members in certain states across the country. However, plan offerings and coverage will likely vary by AAA club. We took a closer look at Allianz-backed plans available to AAA Auto Club Group members, which includes members in states such as Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina and more.

Based on the plans AAA provided us, an Allianz-backed plan includes coverages such as trip cancellation, trip interruption, baggage coverage, emergency medical and emergency transportation. In addition, plans cover trips lasting up to 180 days and offer a 15-day review period. Learn more about these two plans in the sections below.

AAA Travel Insurance Policy Options

AAA offers two plans in partnership with Allianz travel insurance, known as TripProtect Select and TripProtect Deluxe. Based on our experience, getting a quote through the AAA Auto Club Group was straightforward. To access quotes, you only need to provide your state of residence, total trip cost, departure and return dates, initial deposit date and age.

Our research found that TripProtect Deluxe offers the same coverage but with higher limits than the TripProtect Select plan. Coverages include trip cancellation, trip interruption, baggage delay, emergency transportation, emergency medical, trip change protector and more. Perks that come with both plans include 24-hour hotline assistance and concierge services. If you qualify, you can also apply for a pre-existing health condition waiver for both TripProtect Select and Deluxe. However, this waiver limits your total trip cancellation and interruption benefits.

During the purchasing process, AAA informed us we may be eligible for financial default coverage if we used a qualifying travel supplier, which would offer reimbursement if the supplier went out of business and impacted the trip. However, this benefit may differ depending on the AAA club for your location. Find a direct comparison between Allianz’s TripProtect Select and Deluxe in the table below.

AAA Travel Insurance Optional Add-on Coverage

Based on our research into Allianz plans through AAA’s Auto Club Group, only one optional add-on coverage is available to club members — Rental Car Damage Protector. Available for purchase with both the TripProtect Select and Deluxe plans, this add-on can protect domestic and overseas rental cars with up to $50,000 in coverage for collision, loss and damages.

Rental Car Damage Protector also includes 24-hour emergency hotline assistance alongside trip interruption and baggage loss benefits. Note that Allianz offers this add-on for a flat rate of $11 per day.

How Much Does AAA Travel Insurance Cost?

Our team gathered quotes through AAA Auto Club Group’s partnership with Allianz to learn more about the average cost of a policy. From this research, we found the average cost of a policy is $271. This is almost 23% more than the average cost of travel insurance we calculated using quotes from 20 different providers.

Your exact policy costs will vary based on factors such as your age, destination, total trip cost and more. With AAA plans backed by Allianz, we found that naming your destination was optional when obtaining quotes. However, our research has found that most other providers consider your destination when calculating your quote.

See the table below for a breakdown of costs for a TripProtect Select and TripProtect Deluxe plan from Allianz through AAA. The costs are outlined for seven of our sample traveler profiles, which we used when weighing the cost rating factor in our methodology.

Does AAA Offer 24/7 Travel Assistance?

According to our research, AAA offers 24/7 travel assistance services through Allianz for each travel insurance policy. However, exact offerings may vary by AAA club and the exact plan. Travel assistance staff is multilingual, according to Allianz, and can help assist you with flights, accommodations, destination information, emergency language translation, legal referrals, prescription replacement, lost baggage and more. Note that you’re responsible for costs associated with any of the services offered.

AAA also offers concierge services through its Allianz-backed plans. The concierge can help with event planning, business services, specialty services — such as flower delivery and personal care referrals — and more.

How To Buy a Policy From AAA Travel Insurance

Our research team obtained travel insurance quotes through AAA and its partner, Allianz, to better understand how the quote and purchasing process works. In our experience, it is not easy to access any portal other than the one designated for your location. Some locations, such as California, have multiple AAA clubs associated with the state. For this article, we went through AAA Auto Club Group, which serves 14 states and Puerto Rico, to gather quotes for an Allianz plan.

Starting the quote process through the Auto Club Group portal is relatively simple. To gain access to quotes, you provide your state of residence, total trip cost, departure and return dates, initial deposit date and traveler ages. You can choose to enter your destination, but our quotes were the same with or without this information.

From here, AAA will take you to a page that provides information on Allianz’s plans. We felt the information could have been more detailed to help us better understand what we’d receive with each plan. For example, some standard coverages — such as vehicle return and trip change protector — would have benefitted from an explanation of what precisely this coverage is. Browsing through plan details, which seemed to be a sort of sample contract, didn’t provide us with much clarity.

Once you choose the plan you’d like, AAA directs you to fill in additional trip and travel information. If you’re purchasing a plan through AAA Auto Club Group, the company will ask for personal information such as your address, email, phone number and more. You’ll need to provide your flight information, if applicable, so Allianz can proactively assist you if you experience a flight delay. Once you’ve entered payment information, you can finalize your purchase. While our research team wishes that AAA provided more details on each coverage, we found the purchasing process easy overall.

AAA Travel Insurance Customer Reviews

Because Allianz is the policy administrator for plans through AAA, we examined its customer ratings and reviews on third-party platforms to better understand what consumers like and dislike about the company. At the time of writing, Allianz has a 4.3 out of 5 star rating on Trustpilot and a 3.5 out of 5 star rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Learn more about what we found from customer reviews below.

What Customers Like

• Easy claims filing: Several policyholders noted that filing a claim was an easy and quick process, noting that they appreciated how it was a fully online process.
• Fast claims processing: Many reviewers, such as this one, spoke of how quickly and efficiently Allianz handled their claims.
• Helpful customer service agents: Customers such as this reviewer noted how friendly Allianz’s customer representatives were and how quickly they resolved any issues.

What Customers Don’t Like

• Claim denials: A reviewer felt Allianz denied their claim despite its validity and proper documentation during the claims process.
• Drawn-out claims: We found multiple reviewers, such as this one, expressing frustration over the time it took to resolve their claim, even with full proof and receipts.
• Documentation requests: Several reviewers, such as this policyholder, were frustrated with the amount of documentation requested for their claim.

We reached out to AAA for comment on the negative customer reviews associated with Allianz but did not receive a response.

How To File a Claim with AAA Travel Insurance

Filing a claim with a AAA travel insurance policy requires going through Allianz, the plan provider and administrator. You can file a claim with Allianz through the claims portal on its website or by using its TravelSmart app, which is available through the Apple App Store and Google Play. If you’d prefer a customer representative to help walk you through the claims process, Allianz’s customer service number is easily accessible on its website.

Note that you’ll need supporting documentation for your claim. Allianz provides an online document checklist that helps you see what you need for your specific claim. Once you’ve filed your claim, you can monitor its status through the provider’s app or online.

Is AAA Travel Insurance Worth It?

Whether or not a AAA travel insurance policy through Allianz is worth it is up to you. Our research shows that the AAA Auto Club Group offers comprehensive travel insurance coverage for travel and medical emergencies abroad. We also like that you don’t need a AAA membership to purchase a plan. However, we found only two travel insurance options to choose from, and costs were higher than the average price of a general travel policy calculated by our research team. In addition, your Allianz plan options may vary based on the AAA club tied to your geographic location.

For best practice when choosing a travel insurance plan, we encourage you to get quotes from multiple providers, compare costs and coverage details, and review customer reviews from third-party aggregators. By following this process, you can more easily find the best travel insurance provider for your needs.

Methodology: Our System for Rating Travel Insurance Companies