Experienced travelers know that trip cancellation benefits are a must-have to protect their trip investment. But what about trip interruption benefits?

Trip interruption is a vital part of your travel insurance plan. In essence, it protects you from financial loss when your travel plans change during your trip due to certain circumstances that are out of your control. Trip interruption doesn’t just mean ending your trip early. It also can mean pausing your trip, extending your trip, or altering your travel plans.

Here are just a few common travel scenarios in which trip interruption benefits can save the day.

1. You get injured or fall ill during your trip.

It’s Day 2 of your eight-day cycling tour of Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast. After a hearty breakfast of burek and yogurt, you’re ready to explore the scenic island of Hvar. You’re cycling along a seaside road when your wheel slips on some gravel—next thing you know, you’re sprawled on the asphalt with a broken clavicle. Your emergency medical benefits can cover your medical care, but what about the rest of your trip?

A disabling illness or injury, such as your bike-crash fracture, can be a covered reason for interrupting your trip. If you have trip interruption benefits, you can be reimbursed for the nonrefundable trip costs you don’t use—in this case, the remaining six days of the tour.

If you have to stay on the island for an extra day or two because of your injury, trip interruption benefits can cover your hotel room (up to the maximum limit in your plan). Your benefits also can pay for reasonable transportation expenses you incur to return home.

You should know: If you or a traveling companion experiences a disabling illness, injury, or medical condition while traveling, you should consult a doctor before interrupting your trip. A medical provider must confirm the decision to interrupt the trip within 72 hours of that decision.

2. A family member experiences a serious illness or injury during your trip.

You’re reading a book on the beach at your  Aruba resort when your phone pings. It’s your sister, and she has some bad news: your dad is in the hospital for emergency coronary bypass surgery. You need to get home, right away. But how?

Being far from home when a loved one falls seriously ill is a traveler’s nightmare. Allianz Travel Insurance is here to help.

The first thing you should do is contact 24-hour assistance and explain what’s going on. We can research flight options and help you catch the first available trip home. Your trip interruption benefits can pay for reasonable transportation expenses for you to travel to your primary residence.

Your lost vacation is the last thing on your mind, but insurance can help with that too. If you have to cut your trip short for a covered reason, you can be reimbursed for your unused prepaid trip costs.

You should know: To be considered a covered reason for trip interruption, a family member’s illness, injury or medical condition must be considered life-threatening by a doctor or require hospitalization.

3. Unforeseen circumstances cause you to miss half of your trip.

You’re out on the town in Miami with your two besties, enjoying a fun girls’ night before embarking on a Caribbean cruise the next day. You’re walking back to the hotel when you realize you left your jacket at the restaurant—and in the pocket is your passport. You rush back to get it, but your jacket’s not there. The cruise line won’t let you board without a passport. What are you supposed to do?

First, we advise making a police report, so you have a record of the theft. Then, contact 24-hour assistance. Our travel experts will do their best to expedite processing of a new passport for you. They can’t get you a new one instantly, but luckily, Miami is a major city with a U.S. passport agency. So in this scenario, you might be able to get your new passport within a few days.

The cruise is only four nights, however, and you’d still have to fly to a port of call to catch up with the ship. Realistically, you have to accept that you’re going to miss your vacation. You feel sorry for yourself, thinking of your friends having the time of their lives… but here’s something that can cheer you up. Your trip interruption benefits can reimburse your unused trip expenses when you miss at least 50% of the length of your trip due to a covered reason (such as lost or stolen travel documents).

You should know: When your trip gets delayed or disrupted, don’t give up right away! Call 24-hour assistance for help making alternate travel plans.

4. You or a traveling companion must quarantine during your trip.

You and your brother are taking the trip of a lifetime: a two-week journey through Japan. You’ve got your backpack, your Japan Rail Pass, and a list of your must-see sights, from Mount Fuji to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Kyoto. Unfortunately, you never make it out of Tokyo. Your brother starts feeling sick when you arrive, and a rapid test confirms he has COVID. That means he’ll have be quarantined. And you have a tough decision to make: Should you continue your trip solo? Or stay with your brother?

Once again, trip interruption benefits can help in multiple ways! When you read your travel insurance documents and see everything that’s covered, you come up with a plan.

First, your travel insurance can cover your extra accommodation and transportation costs if a covered trip interruption (such as your travel companion being ordered to quarantine) means you have to stay where you are longer than planned. Your plan benefits have a limit of $250 per day for five days, however. So you decide to stay in Tokyo for the five days, long enough to make sure your brother’s OK, and then continue your trip on your own.

You should know: You can check our interactive map for the latest information on travel requirements and entry restrictions for international destinations, including COVID-19 testing, vaccination policies, necessary travel documents and quarantine periods. (Content is provided by Sherpa, an affiliated third party).

5. A travel delay prevents you from reaching your destination for at least 24 hours.

You’ve spent a few days staying with family in Chennai, and now you and your husband are headed to Goa, on India’s western coast, for some R&R by the beach. But the morning of your departure, airport employees announce a general strike. All flights are grounded. What should you do now?

In a trip interruption scenario like this one, you actually have a few options. One is to find another way to reach your destination. We can help! Contact 24-hour assistance, and we’ll try to identify some alternative modes of travel for you, such as the express train between Chennai and Goa. Your trip interruption benefits can reimburse you for the cost of reasonable alternative transportation, minus any refunds the airline provides. You’d also get reimbursed for any prepaid accommodations you don’t get to use because of the delay.

But maybe a 15-hour train trip just isn’t going to work, because you’d only planned to spend three days in Goa anyway. In that case, you could cancel the beach portion of your trip and get reimbursed for the unused trip costs.

You should know: Once you discover you need to interrupt your trip, you must notify all of your travel suppliers within 72 hours.

There are many more covered reasons for trip interruption beyond these five scenarios! Read your plan documents before you leave, so you understand how you’re protected.

Need travel insurance for your upcoming trip? Don’t wait until it’s too late. Get a quote now so you can find the perfect plan.

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^{*- Benefits for quarantines only apply when an eligible traveler is specifically named and individually ordered to quarantine by order or official directive of a government, public regulatory authority, or the captain of a commercial vessel on which that eligible traveler is booked to travel during the covered trip, based on that eligible traveler’s exposure to COVID-19. The benefit does not cover travel restrictions (whether or not they are referred to as “quarantine”) that apply generally or broadly (a) to some segment or all of a population, geographical area, building, or vessel (including without limitation shelter-in-place, stay-at-home, safer-at-home, or other similar restriction), or (b) based on to, from, or through where the person is traveling. Coverage may not cover the full cost of your quarantine and is subject to applicable benefit limits. Read your plan documents for details.}