Best Travel Cancellation Insurance Germany [2024]

Key takeaways

• Travel cancellation insurance pays the trip cancellation costs if you have to cancel your vacation unexpectedly.
• Trip cancellation insurance is worthwhile if you have booked an expensive vacation or are traveling with kids and older people.
• Frequent travelers can take yearly travel cancellation insurance to cover all their trips in the year.

This is how you do it

• Annual travel cancellation insurance is cheaper than single-trip cancellation insurance.
• Can you cancel your travel package for free? If yes, you don’t need travel cancellation insurance.
• Cancellation insurance from TravelSecure* offers the best price-performance ratio. Policies from CosmosDirekt and Europ Assistance* offer the best coverage. On the other hand, plans from Barmenia* and LVM are cheap and offer decent coverage.
• Travel health insurance is more important than cancellation insurance.

Table of Contents

Best travel cancellation insurance in Germany

After comparing the travel cancellation plans recommended by Stiftung Warentest, insurance brokers, and Finanztip, we found that the following plans are the best.

Best insurance plan in the market (Expensive)

• CosmosDirekt or Europ Assistance*: Reise­rück­tritts­ver­sicherung – Ein­mal­schutz (single trip), Jahresschutz (whole year)

Best price-performance ratio

• TravelSecure (Würzburger)*: Reise­rück­tritts­ver­sicherung – Topschutz (single trip), Basispacket (whole year)

Cheap plans with decent coverage

• LVM: Ein­mal­schutz Sing­letarif ohne SB
• Barmenia*: Reise­rück­tritts­ver­sicherung Travel+

You can read how we found the best travel cancellation insurance later in this guide.

What is travel cancellation insurance in Germany?

Travel cancellation insurance protects you financially if you cancel your trip for unexpected reasons. The insurance covers the cancellation costs that most tour operators charge in the event of a travel cancellation.

Travel cancellation insurance is called Reiseruecktrittsversicherung in German.

The cancellation costs vary depending on how long before the trip you cancel. If you cancel a week before the start of the trip, you may lose 80% of your money. This is when travel cancellation insurance steps in and reimburses all the costs.

Types of Travel Cancellation Insurance in Germany

There are four types of travel cancellation insurance plans in Germany.

• Insurance tariff for a single trip for an individual
• Insurance tariff for a single trip for a family
• Insurance tariff that covers all the trips in a year for an individual
• Insurance tariff that covers all the trips in a year for a family

The travel cancellation insurance for a single trip covers only your insured trip. On the other hand, a yearly plan covers all the trips you go on in the year.

A yearly travel cancellation insurance is a better choice as

• it’s cheaper than single-trip contracts, and
• cover all your trips in a year.

When does travel cancellation insurance pay? 

Travel cancellation insurance pays if you must cancel your trip for one of the following reasons.

• sudden illness,
• accident,
• death of a relative,
• you lose your job,
• have to take an exam,
• are summoned to court,
• your close relative falls ill,
• you missed your flight, train, or ship because public transport was delayed by more than two hours, and
• costs that arise because a person traveling with you must cancel at short notice.

When does travel cancellation insurance not pay?

Your travel cancellation insurance won’t pay in the following cases.

• You have a chronic illness for which you received medical treatment within the last six months. The insurer doesn’t consider a check-up to be a treatment. So, the insurer will not pay cancellation costs if you cancel the trip due to this chronic illness.
• The same applies to mental illnesses. Some trip cancellation insurance companies don’t cover the costs if you cancel the trip due to a mental illness.
• War and uprisings in the holiday destination
• Travel to countries with a travel warning from the Foreign Office
• Addictions
• Loss of aids, such as glasses or hearing aids.

The scenarios in which the travel insurance company will not pay the costs differ from provider to provider. So, you must carefully read the insurance’s general terms and conditions.

NOTE: Some insurance providers also have a list of countries that they don’t insure. So, if you are traveling to such countries, your travel cancellation insurance won’t apply.

What should you consider before getting travel cancellation insurance in Germany?

• Every travel cancellation insurance company has a deadline for when you can take out a policy. It’s usually 30 days before the start of the trip. If you booked a trip on short notice, you must get a policy within 3 to 4 days after booking the trip.
• Travel cancellation insurance must also cover the costs if you cancel the trip because a close relative falls ill. The insurance plans we found cover your parents, spouse, and children, regardless of whether they are traveling with you.
• You should get a plan with no deductible.
• Ensure you take the policy with an insured sum that covers the whole travel cost. 
• If you are getting a yearly travel cancellation plan, estimate the cost of your most expensive trip. Then, take a policy with an insured sum that covers your most expensive trip. Don’t worry; you can also increase the insured sum after taking the policy.
• Ensure your travel cancellation policy also includes travel interruption insurance (Reiseabbruch).
• Good insurance companies participate in the insurance ombudsman’s arbitration proceedings.
• Check the duration of the trip your insurance contract covers. Some insurers limit the vacation length to 30 days, which is fine for most. If you plan a longer vacation, ensure your insurance policy covers the entire trip.

NOTE: Never get travel cancellation insurance from a travel booking portal, airline, credit card, etc. You should always buy it separately.

Travel cancellation insurance via credit cards only applies if you paid for the trip with your credit card. Moreover, family members are usually not insured.

NOTE: Travel health insurance is more important than travel cancellation insurance. So, buy travel health before cancellation insurance.

What is the difference between trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance in Germany?

Travel cancellation insurance covers costs that arise if you cannot start your trip or start it late. Travel interruption insurance (Reiseabbruchversicherung) pays if you have to end a trip earlier or later than planned.

Travel cancellation insurance usually also includes travel interruption insurance.

Examples of when travel interruption insurance pays:

• Your child falls sick during the trip, so you must return early.
• Your close relative died, and you must return home immediately.
• The flights are canceled due to bad weather, and you must stay longer than planned. In this case, trip interruption insurance will cover the cost of your stay, food, transport, etc. 

NOTE: You need travel health insurance to cover the costs of medical treatment outside Germany. Travel cancellation insurance doesn’t cover these costs.

Travel health insurance is more important than travel cancellation insurance. So, ensure you get one before traveling outside Germany. 

You need travel health insurance even if you are traveling within Europe. Your German health insurance doesn’t offer comprehensive medical coverage outside Germany.

What expenses do travel cancellation and interruption insurance pay?

• Cancellation costs that you incur in the event of travel cancellation
• Additional costs due to late arrival or departure.
• Additional costs due to early departure.
• Accommodation and meal benefits in the event of delayed public transport.
• Services not used in the event of late arrival or cancellation of the trip.

In short, travel cancellation insurance covers all the costs related to your trip. It doesn’t matter how you paid.

For example, if you paid for a service using bonus miles, the travel cancellation insurance must compensate for it, too.

NOTE: Travel cancellation insurance only covers the costs you actually incur. It won’t cover the costs of tours or sightseeing you planned but never booked.

How does travel cancellation insurance calculate the expenses incurred?

• Some providers pay based on pro rata for the days the vacation had to be canceled prematurely.
• Other providers pay the entire trip cost if you cancel the trip in the first half or up to the eighth day of your vacation. If you cancel your vacation from the ninth day or in the second half, you will receive a pro-rata refund of the costs.

Is travel cancellation insurance worth it?

Travel cancellation insurance is worth it

• For expensive vacations that cost more than a thousand euros.
• For frequent travelers.
• You booked a vacation package that cannot be canceled on short notice.

Travel cancellation is not worth it if you booked the flights and hotel yourself.

Most hotel bookings can be canceled on short notice. Additionally, you can get the flight taxes and airport fees back in the event of flight cancellation.

How do you claim travel cancellation insurance benefits in Germany?

• Inform the insurance company about the trip cancellation immediately to avoid reduced reimbursement. This is because the earlier you cancel, the fewer cancellation fees you will incur.
• Suppose you become seriously ill two weeks before your trip. However, you canceled the trip one week before it started. The insurance company considers this gross negligence. In this case, the insurer reimburses the costs that would have been incurred if the trip had been canceled two weeks before the start of the trip. 
• If you cancel the trip due to illness, submit the medical certificate with diagnosis and treatment details. Some insurers require a medical certificate from a certain doctor, so check with your insurer if that’s the case.
• Submit your insurance and travel booking documents.
• If you extend the trip, submit all the expense receipts.
• If you cancel the vacation in between, get confirmation from the service provider for the services you couldn’t use but paid for.
• If your trip is interrupted, you should check with your insurer, who should book the return flights. Clarify whether the insurance company will reimburse the costs if you or the travel agency book the return trip.

How much does travel cancellation insurance cost?

The cost of travel cancellation insurance depends on

• the insured sum (travel costs),
• the destination (within the EU, worldwide, or worldwide including USA and Canada), 
• the number of people insured (single or family), and
• the age of the insured. 

Here is the cost of travel cancellation insurance in different scenarios. We assume you take the yearly insurance contract with worldwide coverage, including the USA and Canada.

Age	Under 67
Insured sum per trip	Single	Family
1500 €	66€ to 77€ p.a.	94€ to 107€ p.a.
3000 €	106€ to 110€ p.a.	134€ p.a.
5000 €	166€ to 189€ p.a.	184€ to 215€ p.a.
Age	67 and above
1500 €	138€ to 170€ p.a.	188€ to 230€ p.a.
3000 €	228€ to 230€ p.a.	268€ p.a.
5000 €	298€ to 350€ p.a	348€ to 380€ p.a.

NOTE: An annual contract is automatically renewed if you do not cancel it in time.

This is how we found the best travel cancellation insurance plan in Germany

We reviewed all the travel cancellation insurance plans rated “very good” and “good” by Stiftung Warentest. We then added the plans recommended by the insurance blog (Finanztip) and insurance brokers (Schleeman and Beirl).

This gave us a list of 14 insurance companies. We shortlisted the list further by filtering the plans without deductibles. 

We reviewed the top plans of these insurance companies. In our review, we compared the services and the price of the plans. 

We gave extra points to the plans recommended by two more experts. 

Ultimately, we shortlisted five travel cancellation insurance plans that offered the best price-performance ratio.

Best insurance plan in the market (Expensive)

• CosmosDirekt or Europ Assistance*: Reise­rück­tritts­ver­sicherung – Ein­mal­schutz (single trip), Jahresschutz (whole year)

Best price-performance ratio

• TravelSecure (Würzburger)*: Reise­rück­tritts­ver­sicherung – Topschutz (single trip), Basispacket (whole year)

Cheap plans with decent coverage

• LVM: Ein­mal­schutz Sing­letarif ohne SB
• Barmenia*: Reise­rück­tritts­ver­sicherung Travel+