Travel insurance can serve as a safety net for globetrotters, insuring an array of potential mishaps from minor inconveniences to life-threatening emergencies. However, specific high-risk scenarios like war are often left out from standard policies. 

With increasing geopolitical instability in certain parts of world, understanding how — or if — your travel insurance policy provides coverage in such extreme circumstances is crucial. Here, you’ll find the answers to some commonly asked questions about travel insurance coverage for wars, terrorist incidents, and civil unrest.  

What are the definitions of war, terrorist incident, and civil unrest in relation to travel insurance? 

It’s important to note the difference between “war”, a “terrorist incident”, and “civil unrest,” as they're three distinct situations. Travel insurance companies typically define:  

• War as any official conflict between nations or states — whether it's declared or undeclared
• A terrorist incident as a violent act carried out by any individual or group with the motive of taking over or influencing the control of a government. This type of incident is recognized as terrorism by the United States Government and is not considered a civil disorder or riot. A terrorist incident is also not an act of war, whether declared or undeclared, and leads to the loss of life or causes significant property damage. 
• Civil unrest as a conflict between different groups of people living in the same country. The conflict can be violent or peaceful, and range in scale from involving a small rally with few people to a large demonstration with thousands of people. 

It's crucial to note, however, that the specifics may vary slightly from one provider to the next, and travel insurance policies can have different coverage — or lack thereof — for incidents labeled as war, terrorism, civil disorder, and riots. 

Always remember to read the details of your description of coverage and reach out to customer service to fully understand what's eligible for coverage if you're concerned. 

Does Travelex travel insurance cover war? 

Both declared and undeclared war and acts of war are excluded from coverage under all our travel insurance policies. So, if you're impacted by an unforeseen situation that occurs because of war in your destination, remember your Travelex policy won't offer coverage for this scenario.  

Does Travelex travel insurance cover terrorism? 

Our plans may offer coverage for terrorist incidents under the trip cancellation and trip interruption benefits. However, the eligible terrorism event must occur at a city within five miles of a destination listed on your itinerary within 30 days of your scheduled arrival or during your trip for coverage to apply.   

Does Travelex provide travel insurance that covers civil unrest? 

If you’re looking for travel insurance for civil unrest, it’s important to know that we don't include coverage for civil unrest in any of our plans. If you have a Travelex policy, you won't be insured if your trip is affected by or you participated in civil disorder, riots, insurrections, or unrest.

FAQs on travel insurance coverage for wars and terrorism

Do you have more specific questions about travel insurance coverage in war-torn destinations? Here are some commonly asked questions about travel insurance that covers wars and terrorism.  

How can I access Travelex’s 24/7 assistance if I’m at a destination involved in a terrorist incident, civil unrest, or war? 

If you’re a Travelex policyholder, you can access our assistance provider's help at any time in two ways:

• Via our Travelex Travel On app, which has a tap-to-call travel assistance feature. You can download the app before your trip so you can access its features and your policy details easily in the palm of your hand. 
• Via our provider's travel assistance services at 1-800-555-0870 (toll-free) if you're in the U.S. or Canada or 1-416-977-1803 (collect) if you're outside of the U.S. or Canada. 

Are there certain countries that Travelex doesn't provide coverage for? 

Our travel insurance plans don't offer coverage for a destination that has been sanctioned by the U.S. government. To understand which destinations have active sanctions, visit the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Additionally, we don't provide coverage for travel to any destinations listed on our blocked destinations page.

How do I know if my destination is affected by war or terrorism? 

It’s important to stay updated with the political climate in your intended destination. You can stay updated with the travel advisories posted by the U.S. Department of State, as well as the war travel alerts on our website that may affect your policy coverage.

As a Travelex policyholder, you can access our Travel On app, which offers real-time security alerts, location information, immediate travel assistance, and more. Downloading this as soon as you’ve purchased your policy can help you stay informed if there's an act of war or terrorist incident at your chosen destination(s). 

If I added the cancel for any reason upgrade* to my travel insurance policy, will I have travel insurance that covers war, terrorism, or civil unrest? 

Yes, this is the only instance where you may receive travel insurance coverage for civil unrest or war.

If you have our cancel for any reason upgrade* with our Ultimate plan, you can cancel because of war or a terrorist incident — or any other reason — up to two days before your departure date and receive reimbursement up to 75% of your insured trip expenses (up to $7,500). 

To be eligible to use this upgrade, the following must apply:  

• Your insured all prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs in your policy (up to $10,000). 
• Your trip cost is no more than $10,000.
• You purchase the upgrade with our Ultimate plan 31 days or more before your departure date and within 21 days of your initial payment for your trip.
• You insure additional travel arrangements within 14 days of booking them.

_{*Cancel for any fortuitous reason in NY.}

What if a war or terrorist incident occurs while I am already at my destination? Will I have travel insurance that covers war and terrorism? 

You won't receive travel insurance coverage for any incident that occurs because of war or an act of war.

Once you've arrived at your destination, you're eligible to receive coverage for a terrorist incident that happens while you're on your trip. If a terrorist incident occurs while you're abroad, take necessary steps to stay safe and use our Travel On app's tap-to-call travel assistance feature for support from our assistance provider.

What steps can I take to try to stay safe if war or a terrorist incident occur while I am at my destination? 

If you’re a Travelex policyholder, be sure to download our Travel On app before you depart so you can access real-time safety alerts, destination details, and tap-to-call travel assistance at any time before and during your trip.

As an American traveler, you can also enroll in the STEP program with the U.S. Department of State to receive security alerts. 

Using both methods can help you stay in the know if an act of war or terrorism occurs before or during your travels.

It’s also smart to save emergency contact numbers — such as the number for the U.S. embassy at your destination — before traveling in case a terrorist incident happens. You can access these in our Travel On app or on the government website.

Plus, you can follow the U.S. State Department’s safety guidelines for terrorist attacks on their website and monitor their posted travel advisories.

How do I file a claim for a terrorist incident? 

If you’re a Travelex policyholder, you can file a claim for a terrorist incident via our online claims portal.

If you want help filing a claim or have more questions about submitting your terrorism-related claim, please contact our claims administrator:

Zurich Travel Claims Administration

• Phone: 1-855-205-6054
• Email: [email protected]

Stay updated, safer, and protected with travel insurance

Having travel insurance is an essential consideration for any traveler, but understanding its limitations, particularly in relation to high-risk scenarios like war, terrorism, and civil unrest is equally important. Always remember to reach out to our customer service team at 1-800-228-9792 with any questions to ensure you're fully informed before you purchase.

Want to feel more protected while you travel?

Discover how our travel insurance can help support you during your trip. Get a quote now.

Devices like smartphones and laptops make our lives easier when we’re on-the-go by keeping a lot of information easily accessible in the palm of our hand or within easy reach. However, with this convenience comes greater security risks for our data privacy.

With names, passwords, addresses, birthdays, location tracking, credit card numbers, bank accounts, and more stored digitally, your devices are a vault of personal information. If your personal data protection is compromised, hackers can use your information to lock you out of your bank accounts, know where you are traveling next, steal your identity, and more.

“In today's digital age, where sensitive information and personal data are stored and accessed online, the need for robust security measures has never been more paramount,” said Frank Harrison, Regional Security Director Americas at Travelex Insurance’s assistance partner, Zurich Travel Assist.

Amidst the advancements in technology that enhance our devices, hackers’ methods have also become more developed, and the consequences of a security breach can be devastating.

“Imagine traveling abroad and losing access to your smartphone, which you rely on for communication, banking, and even flight bookings,” noted Harrison. “Outside of the security concerns, all of a sudden you’ve also lost all the information and platform access you need while you’re traveling, which can cause a lot of stress.”

To help prevent your trip from becoming a nightmare — and making you feel isolated while away from home — here are a variety of suggestions for actions you can take to enhance data protection and increase data privacy before your next vacation.

Travel safety tips for data privacy while traveling

You may have security measures in place on your devices, such as a lock screen passcode or updated software, but here are some extra precautions you can take to make sure your personal information is seen by your eyes only.

Secure your lock screen with primary and secondary inputs

It’s crucial to have a form of security set up on your device lock screen before anyone can gain access to applications. You can use a strong PIN number, password, or biometric lock on your device to help deter hackers or thieves.

It's recommended that you set up more than one method of unlocking the device, as well as two different inputs for each method. For example, if you use a fingerprint to unlock your laptop, you can set up the biometric lock to store your left and right index fingerprints.

Use strong passwords

Have you seen your device suggest a “strong password” while setting up login information on a website? Strong passwords are more complex and, therefore, harder for hackers to obtain. To make a password that is more likely to be resilient to data privacy breaches, include a variety of letters, numbers, and symbols in a random sequence.

Use two-factor authentication

Want to make it harder for hackers to gain access to your accounts? With two-factor authentication, the “additional layer of security makes it significantly harder for cybercriminals to breach your accounts, even if they manage to crack your password,” shared Harrison.

If you set up two-factor authentication, or two-step verification, you'll be asked to share two forms of identification before you can log into your account. For example, you might have to enter both your password and a code that was sent to your smartphone.

With two-factor authentication in place, even if a cybercriminal steals your password, they will not be able to access the account and all the personal information that it holds. Without the additional form of identification, your data protection may be at risk, and hackers may even be able to lock you out of your own accounts.

Don’t use public Wi-Fi networks

It can be convenient to use easy-to-access public Wi-Fi networks, but they are not a secure way to access the internet. Open Wi-Fi networks that don't require a password may lack encryption, contain harmful malware that can infect your device, and more. To maintain data privacy, stay off public Wi-Fi and instead use a virtual private network (VPN) as a private hotspot or a Wi-Fi network that you know is secure.

It’s a smart idea to turn off the auto-connect feature for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to prevent open access to your device. This way, you won’t be unknowingly connected to another device or an unsecure public Wi-Fi network.

Install security applications and software

Add data defense to your devices with credible security applications and software, such as TotalAV, Norton Antivirus, and McAfee. Your data protection applications should have anti-malware and anti-phishing features to prevent cybersecurity breaches.

It's good practice for data privacy to consider turning on automatic updates for all applications and software on your device so they have the latest security features.

Install software updates

It's essential to download and install software updates for your mobile and computer devices before and during a trip, particularly given recent attacks on devices globally. This proactive approach safeguards your data from potential cyber threats and the vulnerabilities hackers exploit. Regular updates ensure your device has the most recent security features.

Keep your devices in-sight and backed up

If your devices are not in-sight, they can be easily grabbed and stolen. It may be hard to remember to keep an eye on your phone, tablet, or laptop while you’re traveling, but it is important to prevent theft of the device and any personal information it stores. Try to prevent strangers from handling your devices for any reason.

Consider continuously backing up all the files on your devices to Cloud-based storage. If your device is ever lost or stolen, you will still have access to your files in the Cloud and can download them to a new device.

Protect your financial security

Just like a physical credit card can be skimmed, the financial information on your device can be vulnerable to cyber attacks. Always enable at least one layer of authentication to safeguard your financial apps from potential theft.

Check your device security settings

Have you thought about how you handle location settings for your device while traveling? In certain situations, keeping your location tracking off may help stop hackers from determining your location. However, there are benefits to keeping your location services turned on.

For example, if your device is lost or stolen and you want to remotely track, disable, or erase it, or you use a travel safety app like our Travelex Travel On app, which uses your location to send you important updates on real-time safety risks in your area and more.

So, if you are traveling in an area where your device may fall into the wrong hands or you want to stay on top of safety alerts that could affect you, you might want to keep location services enabled.

Extra data safety tips:

• Try not to share your location on social media, especially before or during your trip. Cybercriminals may see that you are away from home and attempt to break in or steal valuables.

• Make sure your privacy settings are set up to protect your personal information, such as how your information is shared.

   

Enjoy your trip without the loss of data privacy

“Adopting a security-first mindset and being vigilant about the latest cybersecurity threats can significantly reduce the chances of falling victim to cyberattacks,” said Harrison.

If you remember to be aware of your surroundings and keep these travel safety tips in mind, you can increase personal data protection and enjoy a smoother trip.

Ready to secure your journey?

If something goes wrong during your trip, travel insurance with Travelex can help. Get a quote now.