The Rover’s Guide to Travel Insurance
Three services worth your attention — each built for a different scenario. Plan tiers, pricing, coverage limits, and what we’ve learned the hard way.
After a decade of roving across 60+ countries on six continents, one thing is clear: travel insurance isn’t optional — it’s infrastructure. Like checking your tire pressure before a long drive or confirming your passport hasn’t expired, it’s the kind of thing that separates prepared rovers from hopeful ones.
The challenge is that “travel insurance” covers a wide range of products — from trip cancellation protection to medical evacuation to comprehensive travel security — and no single provider does everything equally well. Below, we break down three services that cover different parts of the spectrum, each with distinct strengths depending on how and where you travel.
1. Medjet: Medical Transport When It Matters Most
What it is: Medjet isn’t traditional travel insurance — it’s a medical transport membership. If you’re hospitalized more than 150 miles from home, domestically or internationally, Medjet arranges air-medical transport to the hospital of your choice back home. That distinction matters. Most health insurance and travel policies will get you to the “nearest acceptable facility.” Medjet gets you home.
Why rovers should care: Standard health insurance, travel insurance, and even premium credit card benefits typically cover transport to the closest adequate hospital — which might be in a foreign city where you don’t speak the language, don’t know the healthcare system, and have no support network. Medjet bridges that gap. They don’t pay your medical bills at the foreign hospital; they get you out and home to a facility you trust.
Two Membership Tiers
Covers the core air-medical transport benefit. If you’re hospitalized while traveling, they coordinate and cover the cost of getting you to your home hospital. Medical transport can run $30,000 to $180,000 out of pocket — this membership eliminates that risk.
Adds travel security and crisis response services on top of the transport benefit. Includes 24/7 access to a global security network covering terrorism, kidnapping, political threats, violent crime, natural disasters, and wrongful detention. Unlike most travel insurance, MedjetHorizon can respond as soon as a member feels uneasy — no waiting for government-issued evacuation orders.
Cost: Annual memberships start at approximately $99 for individuals (MedjetAssist) and $270+ for MedjetHorizon, with multi-year discounts available. Short-term memberships for individual trips are also offered.
What fellow SATW members tell us: Colleagues in the Society of American Travel Writers who carry Medjet consistently cite the peace of mind it provides, particularly for extended international trips. SATW members receive preferred membership rates, which speaks to the trust the professional travel community places in this service. If you contact Medjet Assist for coverage, make sure to disclose your membership in associations. They may offer a discount for your membership.
Frequent international travelers, full-time rovers, anyone traveling to remote or developing regions, and travelers over 50 who want certainty about where they’ll receive care if something goes wrong.
2. Squaremouth: Compare Every Option, Then Buy with Confidence
What it is: Squaremouth is America’s largest travel insurance comparison site — not a single insurer, but a marketplace where you compare over 100 plans from more than 20 top-rated providers side by side, then buy at the same price you’d pay going directly to the insurer. There is no markup for using the comparison tool. With more than 20 years of experience and 4.5 million trips insured, Squaremouth has become the trusted starting point for travelers who want to make an informed decision before committing to a policy.
Why rovers should care: Trip cancellation, medical emergencies, baggage loss, travel delays, pre-existing conditions, cruise-specific risks, adventure sports — no single insurer does all of these equally well. Squaremouth’s comparison tool lets you filter by the specific benefits that matter for your trip and see which providers offer the strongest coverage at the best price. Instead of guessing which insurer is right for your itinerary, you compare them all and choose deliberately.
Plan Categories You Can Compare
The most common choice for a specific trip. Covers trip cancellation and interruption, travel delays, emergency medical, baggage loss and delay, and missed connections. Compare policies from 20+ providers side by side.
Cost-effective for frequent travelers. One purchase covers unlimited trips over 12 months, with emergency medical, evacuation, and travel delay coverage on every trip taken during the policy period.
Specifically designed for cruise travelers. Covers missed ports, shipboard medical emergencies, itinerary changes due to weather or mechanical issues, and cruise-specific cancellation scenarios.
Coverage for high-risk activities including skiing, kayaking, mountain climbing, and scuba diving. Also covers sports equipment and fees for lost or damaged gear — standard policies often exclude these activities entirely.
Designed for travelers going abroad who need extra medical coverage beyond what their domestic health plan provides. Covers emergency treatment, evacuation, and repatriation without requiring a full trip cancellation policy.
An optional add-on available on select plans that allows cancellation for reasons not covered under standard policies. Typically reimburses 50–75% of trip costs. Must be purchased within a specific window of your initial trip deposit.
Cost: Comprehensive plans on Squaremouth typically cost between 5% and 10% of your total trip cost. Medical-only plans cost significantly less. Squaremouth offers the lowest price guaranteed — the same price as buying directly from the insurer, but with the benefit of side-by-side comparison across every major provider.
What makes them stand out — the Zero Complaint Guarantee: Every policy purchased through Squaremouth comes with their Zero Complaint Guarantee. If your claim is denied and you believe the determination was unfair, Squaremouth’s team of licensed claims adjusters will investigate the case and mediate with the insurer on your behalf. If a complaint cannot be resolved to Squaremouth’s satisfaction, the provider is removed from their site and their policies are no longer sold. That is a structural commitment, not a marketing slogan — and it directly addresses the kind of claims runaround we experienced firsthand.
Squaremouth has been recognized with 8 Stevie Awards, 6 Magellan Awards, and 3 Best in Biz Awards, and has been featured in the New York Times, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Bloomberg. Their customer service team is available by phone at 1-800-240-0369, 8AM–10PM ET daily. If you contact Squaremouth, disclose your membership in any professional or travel associations — they may offer a discount.
Any traveler who wants to compare options across multiple providers before buying; travelers who aren’t sure which insurer or plan tier is right for their specific trip; anyone who has experienced a denied claim before and wants the added protection of a third-party advocate; frequent travelers considering annual plans; and RVers with complex itineraries who need coverage that matches exactly what they’re doing.
3. Arch RoamRight: The Under-the-Radar Contender
What it is: Arch RoamRight is the consumer-facing travel insurance brand of Arch Insurance Company, a global specialty insurer with an A+ (Superior) financial rating from A.M. Best and an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau. Despite being less of a household name, RoamRight has built a strong reputation among experienced travelers for customer service quality and claims processing speed.
Why rovers should care: RoamRight consistently earns some of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the travel insurance industry, particularly for claims handling — which is the moment that actually matters. It’s easy for any insurer to sell you a policy. The real test is what happens when you need to use it. RoamRight’s track record here is genuinely impressive.
A 90-year-old fellow FRVA member suffered a stroke while traveling. Arch Insurance stepped in — flew a relative out, covered the RV drive home, paid lodging for his wife. No runaround. No denied claims.
What fellow travelers report — a real story: We’re FRVA members ourselves, which means we’re covered under their Medical & Travel Assist program underwritten by Arch Insurance. We know firsthand that the program works because we watched it work for a friend.
A 90-year-old fellow FRVA member suffered a stroke while traveling and was unable to drive his RV home. The Arch-underwritten plan stepped in and covered the cost of flying a relative to his location to drive the RV back, paid the relative’s travel expenses, and covered lodging and related expenses so the man’s wife could travel home alongside the relative driving the RV. No runaround. No denied claims. The plan did exactly what it promised — at a moment when a family needed it most.
That kind of real-world performance, under pressure, with a 90-year-old claimant, tells you more about an insurance company than any marketing brochure ever could. While the FRVA program is a membership benefit (not the same as purchasing a RoamRight retail policy directly), both are underwritten by the same company — Arch Insurance Company, NAIC #11150. The operational quality and claims philosophy are the same.
Plan Options for the General Public
Arch RoamRight offers four plan tiers available to anyone, no association membership required:
Up to $15,000 trip cancellation, emergency medical, evacuation and repatriation, baggage protection, 24/7 assistance. One child under 18 free per adult. ~$84 for a $2,000 domestic trip.
Up to $25,000 cancellation, $75,000 medical, $1M evacuation, 150% interruption. Pre-existing condition waiver within 21 days of deposit. ~$95 for a $2,000 domestic trip.
Last-minute coverage when you’re already traveling. Return flight reimbursement, trip delay, baggage delay, and emergency medical.
Unlimited trips up to 30 days each. Customizable cancellation up to $10,000 per trip. One purchase, 12 months of protection.
Additional Highlights: Primary medical coverage (RoamRight pays first, no filing with your regular insurer) · Pre-existing condition coverage on Pro Plus (within 21 days of deposit) · Optional adventure sports add-on · 14-day free look period · Security, political and natural disaster assistance on all plans · Mobile app with security alerts and 24/7 emergency access · 4.52/5 customer rating on Squaremouth (2,000+ verified reviews) · A+ (Superior) from A.M. Best · A+ from the BBB.
Note: Pricing varies based on trip cost, destination, traveler age, and trip length. Sample prices above are based on published quotes for a 35-year-old domestic traveler. Older travelers and international trips will cost more.
Travelers who prioritize claims experience over brand name, RVers and road trippers (given Arch’s deep partnership with the RV community through FRVA), families (free child coverage on Pro and Pro Plus), senior travelers, adventure travelers who need activity-specific coverage, and anyone with pre-existing medical conditions.
Which Service Do You Need?
Quick Reference — Three Services
- Compare & Buy Trip Insurance
- Squaremouth → 20+ providers · 100+ plans · Zero Complaint Guarantee · 4.5M+ trips insured · 1-800-240-0369
- Medical Transport Membership
- MedjetAssist → Air transport to your hospital · 150+ miles from home · From ~$99/year · 24/7 global crisis response
- Direct Trip Insurance
- Arch RoamRight → Primary medical · 4.52/5 on Squaremouth · A+ BBB · from ~$84 · Pre-existing conditions covered
- The Full Story
- Our Costly Travel Insurance Mistake → What happened when we filed a claim — and what we learned
A Note on Our Approach
We approach insurance the same way we approach everything — analytically. We’ve researched these providers thoroughly, consulted with fellow professional travel writers and RV association members who have used them, and evaluated their coverage, reputation, financial stability, and claims track records.
We believe in transparency: the affiliate links above support RoverTreks at no cost to you, but our recommendations are based on the quality of these services, not the commission structure. Travel insurance is too important to recommend carelessly.
As always — read the policy details before purchasing. Coverage varies by plan, state, and trip specifics. What works for a weekend domestic flight may not be adequate for a three-month international rover expedition. If you purchase coverage, make sure you adhere to the terms. From personal experience we know claims will be denied if, by our actions, we did not meet all of the terms of the plan.
Safe Travels
Travel insurance is infrastructure — not optional. Read the terms before you buy, keep a copy after you purchase, and layer your coverage for the best protection.
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Originally published 2026 · Updated May 2026