Cancel for Any Reason Travel Insurance: How It Works and Best CFAR Options

Cancel for any reason (CFAR) is an optional coverage addition to your travel insurance that gives you the flexibility to cancel your trip for any reason and get a 50% to 80% reimbursement of your nonrefundable travel expenses.

Unlike standard travel insurance that covers only specific circumstances like illness or severe weather but covers 100% of your nonrefundable trip costs, CFAR allows you to cancel for reasons outside the standard ones.

Cancel for any reason coverage is available on mid-tier and premium travel insurance policies. CFAR coverage costs 40% to 60% of your base travel insurance plan cost or about 3% of your trip cost. CFAR policies share common requirements:

• Buy within 7 to 21 days of making your first trip payment.
• Cover your entire trip cost. You'll need to insure 100% of what you prepaid.
• Everyone cancels or no one does. If you're traveling as a group, you can't have some people cancel while others go.
• Give at least 48 to 72 hours' notice before your departure date.
• You need to be healthy enough to travel when you buy the policy.

When you use your CFAR option, you cancel your trip and your nonrefundable travel expenses get reimbursed at a set rate. Standard travel insurance covers cancellations for reasons like illness, death in the family, natural disasters and airline issues. CFAR covers every other cancellation reason, like anxiety, work schedule conflicts or just changing your mind.

We researched the best cancel for any reason policies from 13 major travel insurers to determine which companies had the best reimbursement percentages, lowest costs and most flexible terms and conditions. Here are the best CFAR plans:

Allianz leads with its "Cancel Anytime" coverage, offering better terms than any other CFAR policy. Only available on OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier plans, this upgrade pays back 80% of prepaid, nonrefundable costs — the highest reimbursement rate.

What Makes Allianz Stand Out:

• 80% reimbursement (most competitors offer 75%)
• 14-day purchase window from your first trip payment
• Cancel up to departure day (competitors require 48 hours' notice)
• Up to $16,000 per traveler in coverage
• Available on: OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier

You'll need to call to add Cancel Anytime (it's unavailable online),and you must insure your full trip cost. The extra step is worth it for the 80% reimbursement and flexibility to cancel on the same day you leave.

IMG offers CFAR across three iTravelInsured plans with 75% reimbursement, covering up to $112,500 — the highest maximum benefit. You also get interruption for any reason (IFAR) coverage bundled in, which protects you if you need to cut your trip short.

What You Get With IMG:

• 75% of your nonrefundable costs back
• 20 to 21 days to add CFAR after your first payment (timing varies by plan)
• Cancel at least 48 hours before departure
• Up to $112,500 in coverage on SE and LX plans
• Three plan options: Choice, Travel SE, Travel LX

IMG doesn't sell CFAR to residents in New York, Missouri or Washington. The Choice plan limits trip coverage to $10,000, which means a $7,500 maximum CFAR payout. SE and LX plans cover trips up to $150,000, giving you that $112,500 maximum benefit. These higher coverage limits make IMG your best bet for expensive trips.

Tin Leg gives you more CFAR choices than any other insurer, with reimbursement rates from 50% to 75% depending on which plan you pick. This flexibility lets you balance cost against coverage based on your budget.

What Tin Leg Offers:

• 50% to 75% reimbursement (pick the level that fits your needs)
• 14 days to add CFAR after your first payment
• Cancel at least 48 hours before departure
• No coverage cap (your benefit matches your total trip cost)
• Four plans to choose from: Gold (75%), Silver (50%), Luxury (75%) and Adventure (75%)

Tin Leg sells CFAR to residents in all states. Whether you want bare-bones protection at the lowest price or comprehensive coverage with a higher reimbursement rate, Tin Leg has an option that works.

CFAR increases your travel insurance cost by 40% to 70%. Based on our analysis of 13 major travel insurers, CFAR costs an average of $79 for a $2,500 trip, $191 for a $5,000 trip and $302 for a $10,000 trip. These costs are roughly 3% of your trip value across different amounts, making CFAR a good buy for expensive vacations where even partial recovery provides financial protection.

The lowest rates don't necessarily mean the best CFAR coverage. Every company's CFAR terms and conditions differ, affecting reimbursement percentages, purchase windows, cancellation notice requirements and geographic restrictions. Rates vary widely; some companies cost over three times more than others.

The three cheapest CFAR providers are BHTP ($44), Travel Guard ($46) and Seven Corners ($47) for $2,500 coverage, but see above for each company's terms and conditions to get a policy that meets your needs.

CFAR makes financial sense if there's more than a 4% to 5% chance you'll need to cancel your trip. 

When is CFAR coverage best?

• High-risk travelers benefit most from CFAR flexibility. Business professionals with demanding schedules, people with elderly or declining family members and travelers to politically unstable regions get the most value. First-time international travelers and those booking far in advance also have higher uncertainty.
• Expensive trips justify CFAR costs. Luxury vacations, once-in-a-lifetime experiences and multi-generational family trips with high total costs make paying the CFAR cost a better option than losing what you spent on your trip.
• Uncertain circumstances warrant protection. Consider CFAR when personal situations may change. These include pregnancy during travel dates, job instability, health conditions that might worsen or family situations requiring your presence for caregiving responsibilities.

When should you skip CFAR?

Low-risk situations where cancellation probability is under 4% don't justify CFAR's cost. Short trips close to home and travel with refundable cancellation terms rarely need the extra protection. Healthy travelers with stable personal and work situations have lower cancellation risk.

Beyond financial protection, CFAR provides peace of mind that can enhance your travel experience. CFAR reduces "commitment anxiety" by providing an exit strategy. Knowing you can recover most of your costs if circumstances change allows you to book trips with confidence and helps these travelers:

• Nervous flyers who worry about getting to the airport
• Business travelers facing unpredictable work demands
• Family caregivers concerned about leaving dependents
• Health-conscious travelers during flu seasons or pandemics
• First-time international travelers feeling overwhelmed

The peace of mind alone can be worth the cost, even if you end up not canceling your trip.

If CFAR doesn't fit your budget, consider these alternatives:

• Book with flexible cancellation policies. Many airlines and hotels let you cancel for free, especially when you book directly rather than through third-party sites.
• Check your credit card benefits. Premium travel cards often cover trip cancellation for specific reasons. You might already have protection without realizing it.
• Stick with standard travel insurance. Regular policies cover common cancellation reasons like illness, severe weather and family emergencies. Review what your plan already covers before paying extra for CFAR.

Our Research Approach

Shopping for CFAR coverage means comparing policies with wildly different terms. Some reimburse 80%, others pay only 50%, and purchase windows range from 7 to 21 days. We designed our methodology to cut through this complexity and identify which CFAR options deliver the best value for your situation.

How We Scored CFAR Plans

We evaluated 13 travel insurance companies offering cancel for any reason coverage using five criteria, weighted by what matters most when you actually need to cancel:

• Reimbursement rate (50%): Getting 75% to 80% back versus 50% makes the biggest difference when you're recovering thousands of dollars.
• Cost (20%): How affordable the CFAR add-on is compared to competitors.
• Time to buy (10%): Whether you get 7 days or 21 days to add CFAR after making your first payment.
• Cancellation deadline (10%): Can you cancel the day you leave, or do you need to give 48 to 72 hours' notice?
• Where it's sold (10%): Which states allow CFAR coverage.

Our Cost Analysis

We collected 678 CFAR quotes across all companies for trips costing $2,500, $5,000 and $10,000. Every quote used the same traveler profile (single travelers aged 30) so you can compare apples to apples. We averaged each company's rates across all their CFAR plans and left out annual policies and cruise coverage to focus on standard single-trip protection.

What You're Actually Getting

These are real prices, not estimates. When we say BHTP charges $44 for $2,500 coverage and AXA charges $151 for the same thing, those numbers come straight from quote requests. You'll see these exact prices when you shop. This lets you spot which companies offer real value and which ones charge more without giving you better coverage.