Travel insurance emerges as new voluntary benefit add-on

• Key Insight: Discover how employer-offered travel insurance is becoming a strategic voluntary benefit.
• Expert Quote: Workforce mobility pushes travel insurance forward, says Marc Flood, SVP, Crum & Foster.
• Supporting Data: Travel insurance spending hit $5.56B in 2024, up 46% since 2019.
• Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

With travel delays and uncertainty dogging employees in both their work and leisure time, travel insurance could be a worthy consideration as part of a voluntary benefit plan. 

Almost a quarter of all flights were delayed, and 1-3% were cancelled in 2025, due to factors like weather or operational issues, according to data from Flighty, which tracks flight info and airline statistics. To protect their plans, travelers spent $5.56 billion on travel insurance in 2024 — a 46% increase since 2019, according to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association. This surge not only points to a growing importance of travel protection, but a clear opportunity for benefit providers to meet a rising demand among employees. 

"Post-COVID, we've got a population that really understands why travel insurance is important, because they can now live and work anywhere," says Marc Flood, SVP of insurance agency Crum & Foster's accident and health division. "The workforce is mobile now more than ever, and it has pushed travel insurance to the forefront." 

Read more: How to combine work and leisure travel — while staying safe

The company recently rolled out its own travel insurance benefit, available for individual consumers, or as an employer-provided offering. Insurance costs $94 per traveler, and covers any travel over 100 miles from home — for both work or leisure — including baggage delays, trip interruptions, lost or stolen luggage and medical emergencies. When offered as a voluntary benefit, the payroll deduction for employees could be less than $5 a month, but the coverage can work as an extension of existing healthcare benefits, Flood says. 

"If your employee is on vacation and rolls their ankle and needs to go to the emergency room or get a cast, those simple expenses are covered," Flood says. "Even if they experience [something more serious] like a bad fall or a heart attack, medical evacuation is available to them." 

Annual travel insurance products have existed for years, Flood says, but are often cost-prohibitive, with prices ranging from $300-700, and coverage lasting only for the duration of the trip. For employees that only travel a couple times a year, that price tag is  steep, prompting them to forgo the service altogether. As a result, nearly one in five travelers have lost money by skipping travel protection, according to a report from travel insights site UpgradedPoints, usually to non-refundable flights, hotels and tours. 

Read more: Travel assistance, telehealth, urgent care: A benefits checklist for summer vacation safety

"People know they're going to be offered travel insurance as part of the booking process, but they probably think they'll just go on their trip, come back and it will all be okay," Flood says. "But unfortunately, everyone has a travel horror story that has either happened to them or someone they love." 

Boosting ratings and utilization

Before making it available to the public, Crum & Foster launched the benefits as a pilot program to their 2,600 employees. More than 11% signed up in the first year, with utilization increasing to 15.15% in the second year, and 83% of first-year enrollees renewed their coverage. The most dramatic growth came from spouses and dependents, according to Flood, with enrollment in that group jumping 201%, highlighting rising interest in extending the benefit to families. 

"What that told me as a business leader and provider is that the people that bought it liked it enough to buy it again," Flood says. "That means this benefit definitely has legs and value and people will continue to be interested." 

Read more: How this leader built a flexible and personalized benefit strategy

While the company hasn't partnered with any organizations as of yet, Flood says that the best way to stay relevant and competitive in a changing market is to think outside the box. Benefit leaders should consider new ways to reach their employees with offerings that address their needs in and out of the office. 

"It's about recognizing where employees are and meeting them there," he says. "You need to understand where people are seeking more and better experiences, and it's up to us to help fill that gap."