I like TripInsuranceStore.com, but it looks like I can buy the same Travel Insurance plan from another website at a lower price. How can this be? I’m all for saving money, but I’m afraid I’ll get tricked into buying a different plan. Cathy

Cathy, your fears are justified. All travel insurance prices are regulated by the government so it’s the same cost no matter who you get it from.

Per person Travel insurance prices are based on 3 factors:
- the traveler(s) age(s)
- the per person trip cost that’s insured
- the trip’s length if it exceeds 30 or 31 days

The only way you could find a lower (or higher) price on the exact same plan is if any of these 3 factors are different. The most common reason is you’re getting an inaccurate quote. On 2-27-08 I wrote a post covering this: How To Correctly Quote a Travel Insurance Plan.

In addition, most travel insurance policies have a policy fee. Some companies let you put multiple travelers on a single policy and save the policy fees. The drawback is that it makes any claim more complicated because the claim paperwork is only sent to the person who’s name is listed first on the policy. Plus, some policies have coverage limits that are per policy, not per person.