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Cheap Travel Insurance to America
Find Cheap Travel Insurance to America
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Cheap Travel Insurance to America
What to look for, and what it costs -
Premium Travel Insurance to America
Add-ons and extras worth considering -
Do I Need Travel Insurance to America?
Why it matters for UK travellers
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Pre-Existing Medical Conditions
Travel Insurance to America with Medical Conditions -
Travel Insurance for Families
What to look for when travelling with children -
Cost
How Much is Travel Insurance to America?
We gathered pricing data for Single Trip travel insurance to America from over 100 policies from dozens of insurance providers. The right policy for you will depend on your budget, the value of your trip, who you're travelling with, and any planned activities. Use the information in this guide to understand what to look for and what you should expect to pay.
Cheap Travel Insurance to America
Travel insurance to America is among the most expensive of any destination in the world, and for good reason: the American healthcare system is one of the costliest on the planet. An emergency room visit alone can cost upwards of $1,000, a serious injury requiring surgery can run to tens of thousands of dollars, and a stay in intensive care can exceed $150,000. Repatriation back to the UK on top of that could add many thousands more. These are not theoretical figures — they reflect the real costs that UK insurers pay out on American claims.
That said, there is still meaningful variation in price between budget and premium policies, and a well-chosen budget plan can give you the core protection you need — particularly on the medical side, which matters most for the USA.
Budget single trip policies for a healthy adult on a two-week trip start from around £30 for entry-level cover, with more comprehensive 3-star Defaqto cover from around £37 to £40. Families of four should budget from around £94 for 3-star cover. Premium 5-star policies start from around £60 to £65 for a solo adult. These figures are notably higher than for any other region — expect to pay two to three times what you'd pay for the same trip to Europe or even Australia.
When comparing, filter by Defaqto star rating alongside price. For the USA specifically, we'd strongly recommend not going below 4 stars. Medical expenses can escalate very quickly in America, and a budget policy with lower medical limits or a high excess can leave you significantly out of pocket even when the policy pays out.
The key things to look for in any USA travel insurance policy are:
- Emergency Medical Expenses of at least £5 million — ideally £10 million or more. Even a straightforward fracture or appendicitis in the USA can cost tens of thousands of dollars to treat. Higher cover limits cost only a little more in premium but provide a much bigger safety net.
- Repatriation back to the UK for serious illness or injury. Medical repatriation from the USA is among the most expensive in the world given the distance, and must be explicitly included in your policy.
- Cancellation/Curtailment cover sufficient to match the total non-refundable cost of your trip. Return flights to the USA from the UK often cost £500 to £1,000 or more per person, and hotel and activity pre-payments can add considerably to that.
- Baggage/Personal Belongings cover for loss, theft or damage. Check the single-item limit — many budget policies cap this at £200 to £400, which is unlikely to cover a smartphone or camera.
- Baggage Delay to reimburse essential purchases if your luggage doesn't arrive.
- Travel Delay for disruption to your outbound or return journey.
Also worth checking: personal liability cover, passport loss or theft, and Gadget cover for expensive devices, as mobile phones are frequently excluded from standard Baggage cover.
Top tip: Always check annual policy prices too
This is particularly important for USA travel insurance. We've regularly found that a worldwide annual multi-trip policy — which covers the USA plus every other destination — costs the same as or even less than a single-trip policy for just one USA holiday. Annual multi-trip cover for the USA can start from as little as £39 for a 3-star policy, compared to £37 or more for a single trip alone.
If there's any chance you'll take a second overseas trip in the next 12 months, compare annual policy prices before you buy a single-trip policy. You might pay the same amount and get cover for all your trips across the whole year. Just make sure the annual policy explicitly includes USA cover — many annual "worldwide" policies exclude the USA, Canada and the Caribbean.
Premium Travel Insurance to America
Those with higher-value trips — business class flights, longer itineraries, luxury hotels, pre-booked tours — or those travelling with expensive luggage or gadgets will benefit from the higher limits and broader cover of a premium policy. Premium single-trip policies for a solo adult heading to the USA start from around £60 to £80, with further variation depending on age, trip length and chosen add-ons.
Key add-ons worth considering at the premium tier:
- Higher Medical Expenses limits of £10 million, £20 million or unlimited. For the USA in particular, the gap between a £5 million and £10 million medical limit matters — complex cases, specialist treatment, or a prolonged ICU stay can cost far more than the lower limit covers. The marginal premium difference for higher medical limits is small relative to the potential exposure.
- Gadget cover protects phones, tablets, cameras and laptops for loss, theft or accidental damage. Limits typically range from £1,000 to £3,000, with a single-item cap of £500 to £1,000. Standard Baggage policies almost always exclude mobile phones or set limits too low to replace them, making this add-on especially worth having in major US cities where theft is a risk.
- Scheduled Airline Failure (SAFI) and End Supplier Failure (ESF) cover protects you if your airline or a pre-booked travel supplier — hotel, tour operator, car hire company — goes into administration before or during your trip. SAFI is more widely available than ESF; look for limits of at least £2,500 on a premium policy.
- Travel Disruption / Catastrophe cover extends standard Travel Delay benefits to include events like hurricanes, wildfires, volcanic ash clouds and other natural disasters — all of which are real possibilities in various parts of the USA. Parts of the south-east are prone to hurricane season (June to November), California to wildfires, and the Pacific coast to earthquakes. A policy with explicit Catastrophe cover is worth considering depending on where and when you're travelling.
- Cruise cover if you're sailing in American or Caribbean waters, as standard policies rarely include cruise-specific protections such as Cabin Confinement, Missed Port Departure or Itinerary Change. Cruise add-ons roughly double the cost of a USA policy, but are necessary for proper cover on a cruise holiday.
- Winter Sports cover if your trip includes skiing at Aspen, Breckenridge, Park City or any other US resort. Standard policies almost never cover winter sports, and skiing without the add-on in place can invalidate the rest of your policy. Expect to add around £25 to £40 per person for winter sports cover on a US policy — more than for European ski resorts due to higher medical costs.
- £0 excess on Cancellation or medical claims eliminates your out-of-pocket contribution towards a successful claim. Given how high US medical costs can be, a £0 excess policy offers maximum peace of mind.
Do I Need Travel Insurance to America? Why it's Important
Travel insurance is not a legal requirement for UK visitors to the USA, but there is arguably no destination in the world where it matters more. There is no reciprocal healthcare agreement between the UK and America, and the US healthcare system is entirely private for foreign visitors. Your GHIC card — which covers emergency treatment in EU countries — is not valid in the USA and cannot be used there under any circumstances.
Without travel insurance in place, a single medical incident in the USA could result in a bill of tens of thousands of pounds. A routine emergency room visit typically costs $1,000 or more. A serious accident requiring surgery, hospitalisation and specialist treatment can cost $100,000 or more. A stay in intensive care can exceed $150,000. And all of that would be before any repatriation costs to bring you home to the UK.
Beyond medical cover, the USA has several specific risk factors worth keeping in mind:
- Natural disasters: different regions of the USA face distinct natural hazard risks — hurricanes in Florida and the Gulf coast, wildfires in California, earthquakes along the west coast, tornadoes in the central states. Travel insurance with Catastrophe cover provides a safety net if your trip is disrupted by one of these events.
- High cancellation costs: flights to the USA are among the most expensive of any destination from the UK. If you have to cancel before departure, the Cancellation section of your policy is what protects your investment.
- Prescription medication: prescription drugs are typically far more expensive in the USA than in the UK. Make sure you travel with adequate supplies of any regular medication, and keep the original pharmacy packaging and a letter from your GP.
- ESTA requirement: UK citizens travelling to the USA must apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) before departure if entering by air. An ESTA costs around £17, is valid for two years or until your passport expires (whichever comes first), and should be applied for at least 72 hours before travel. You may be denied boarding without one.
The UK's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) recommends that all UK travellers to the USA take out comprehensive travel insurance before they depart.
If you'd like more detailed information on the ins and outs of travel insurance plans, you can read more in our Travel Insurance Guide.
How To Pick a Good Travel Insurance Plan for You
Here are the key features to look for when choosing a travel insurance plan for America:
- Emergency Medical Expenses of at least £5 million, with £10 million or unlimited strongly preferred for the USA given the cost of healthcare.
- Repatriation back to the UK in a medically supervised capacity if needed.
- Cancellation/Curtailment cover at least equal to the total non-refundable value of your trip.
- Baggage/Personal Belongings with a single-item limit sufficient to cover your most valuable items.
- Baggage Delay and Travel Delay for disruption to your journey.
- Catastrophe/Natural Disaster cover relevant to the regions you'll be visiting and the time of year.
- Activity cover if you plan to ski, go on a cruise, or take part in any higher-risk activities.
- 24-hour emergency assistance accessible from the USA — there is up to an eight-hour time difference from the UK, so 24-hour availability matters.
Use the Defaqto star rating as a guide to comprehensiveness. For the USA, we'd suggest not going below 4 stars, and 5 stars is worth considering for any trip where the total non-refundable value is high.
Single Trip or Multi Trip Cover
You'll need to decide between a Single Trip or Annual, Multi-Trip plan. For the USA especially, it is always worth comparing the prices of both before you decide. We have repeatedly found that an annual worldwide policy — covering the USA and all other destinations — costs the same as or less than a single-trip policy to the USA alone.
If you take even one other overseas trip in a year, an annual policy almost certainly works out cheaper overall. The key things to check on an annual policy: that USA cover is explicitly included (many "worldwide" annual policies exclude USA/Canada/Caribbean), and that the Maximum Trip Length is sufficient for your trip (most cap individual trips at 30 to 45 days).
For a more detailed look at the costs involved, see our article on the average cost of travel insurance to the USA.
Travel Insurance with Pre-Existing Conditions to America
With no reciprocal healthcare arrangement and the highest medical costs of any destination, the USA is the last place to travel without insurance when you have a pre-existing condition. Any treatment costs related to a known, undeclared condition would fall entirely to you — and in an American hospital, those costs can be catastrophic.
Always declare your condition fully and accurately when getting a quote. Any undisclosed condition that later gives rise to a claim will typically result in that claim being rejected, regardless of whether the condition directly caused the incident. Key things to check when buying cover with a condition:
- Whether your condition is covered — some conditions are accepted automatically, others incur an additional premium, and some specialist providers are needed for more complex medical histories.
- The medical expenses limit — for the USA, a higher limit of £10 million or more is particularly important for those with conditions that carry any risk of a serious medical episode abroad.
- Whether repatriation is explicitly covered, including medically supervised transfer back to the UK, which is often required for complex medical cases.
Specialist travel insurance providers known for covering travellers with medical conditions include goodtogoinsurance.com, JustTravelcover.com, OK To Travel, Saga, AllClear and Virgin Money. Fit2Travel and Free Spirit are known to cover travellers where mainstream providers may not. Bear in mind that you are likely to pay considerably more for USA travel insurance with a pre-existing condition, given the high underlying cost of medical care.
Travel Insurance to America for Families
The USA is a perennially popular family destination — from Florida theme parks and New York city breaks to California road trips and Hawaiian beach holidays. Total trip costs for a family can run very high, making Cancellation cover particularly valuable. And given that the USA has the most expensive healthcare system in the world for uninsured foreign visitors, solid medical cover for every member of the family is essential.
A few things to prioritise when buying family cover for America:
- Emergency Medical Expenses for all family members, including children. Children are more prone to unexpected illnesses and minor injuries while travelling, and in the USA a trip to an urgent care clinic or emergency room is expensive even for relatively minor complaints.
- Baggage Delay cover to reimburse essentials if bags don't arrive — this is particularly useful for families travelling with young children where essential items like nappies, clothing and formula need to be replaced quickly.
- Travel Delay cover for food and refreshments during extended airport waits — more relevant than ever given ongoing disruption to transatlantic routes.
- Activity cover for theme park activities, water sports, skiing or any other activities your family plans to do.
- Gadget cover for older children and teenagers travelling with phones, tablets and cameras, as standard Baggage cover rarely covers these adequately.
On cost: family policies for the USA typically price at around 2.5x the individual adult rate (slightly higher than for other destinations), as children are included at no extra charge but the underlying cost of USA cover is high. Single-trip family cover for the USA starts from around £94 for a 3-star Defaqto policy.
Average Cost of Travel Insurance to America
Travel insurance to the USA is the most expensive of any popular holiday destination from the UK, owing entirely to the cost of American healthcare. Single-trip cover for a healthy adult starts from around £37 to £40 for a 3-star Defaqto policy, £49 for a 4-star policy and £63 for a 5-star policy for a 10-day trip. Annual worldwide multi-trip cover — which also covers the USA — starts from around £39 for a 3-star policy, making it worth comparing with single-trip prices every time.
Prices rise steeply with age for USA policies — more sharply than for any other destination — with costs roughly tripling for travellers aged 70 and rising further again for those aged 80 or over. Pre-existing conditions also add significantly more to USA premiums than to European ones.
Key factors affecting what you pay:
- Your age — premiums rise steeply with age for USA cover, with significant increases at 65, 70 and 75+.
- Trip length — the longer you're away, the higher the risk of a medical claim.
- Level of cover — 5-star Defaqto policies cost more but provide higher limits across Medical, Cancellation and Baggage, and typically a lower or zero excess.
- Excess — a higher excess reduces your premium but increases your out-of-pocket contribution on any claim.
- Add-ons — cruise cover roughly doubles the cost; winter sports cover also adds significantly. Gadget cover adds £10 to £25 depending on the limit.
- Pre-existing conditions — premium increases are typically larger for USA cover than for any other destination.
- Annual vs single-trip — an annual worldwide policy can cost the same as or less than a single USA trip policy. Always compare both.
If you're interested in comparing the cost of travel insurance to other countries, see our other country-specific guides:
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