Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection Review 2024

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Berkshire Hathaway is a multinational conglomerate currently helmed by Warren Buffett. It has a particularly robust insurance department, operating widely known auto insurer GEICO. It also provides a wide variety of travel insurance policies fitting for a major player in insurance market. 

This review will help you understand what Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has to offer and guide you toward the right insurance package for your needs.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Insurance Review

Berkshire Hathaway offers a whopping eight plans that cover a wide variety of trips, whether you are planning a road trip, taking a cruise, or focusing on luxury or adventure. If you’re unsure of what you need, the flagship ExtraCare product covers the essentials.

With such a variety of plans, Berkshire Hathaway landed a spot in our guide on the best travel insurance companies. It offers low cost options and generally keeps premiums low, even for older travelers. Additionally, all of its policies, excluding its air travel-only plan, offer pre-existing medical condition coverage.

That said, there are a few key exclusions that hold Berkshire Hathaway back. For one, its cancel for any reason coverage is reserved for the most expensive LuxuryCare tier, and it only covers 50% of trip costs when most of the best CFAR travel insurance policies offer 75% back. Additionally, Berkshire Hathaway’s claims system is reportedly spotty, and the company rarely engages with its customer reviews

Types of Policies Offered by Berkshire Hathaway

Berkshire Hathaway offers several travel insurance policies for diverse needs. 

The most popular policy, ExactCare, will work for most travelers. ExactCare’s travel-agnostic insurance package offers 3 coverage tiers: ExactCare Value, ExactCare, and ExactCare Extra. Each of these policies covers up to 100% of trip cancellation costs, a minimum of up to $750 in luggage losses, and 24/7 worldwide travel insurance. 

Additional coverage options from Berkshire Hathaway

Category-specific insurance plans are available as well for the following types of travel:

Road trip coverage (ExactCare Lite): ExactCare Lite is a low-coverage policy for nonrefundable costs on domestic road trips such as hotel rooms, attractions, and event tickets. ExactCare Lite also includes emergency medical and medical evacuation coverage for covered events occurring more than 100 miles away from your home.

Importantly, if you have pre-existing conditions that require ongoing care such as diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., a preexisting conditions waiver can be purchased within 15 days of the initial trip payment. Similarly, coverage for your kids can be included if purchased within 15 days of the initial trip payment.

Cruise coverage (WaveCare): WaveCare covers nonrefundable costs and medical emergencies on cruises, covering cancellations up to $25K per person and medical evacuation coverage up to $750K, which is important since sea to land evacuations can be costly. 

Adventures and activities coverage (AdrenalineCare): If you’re taking a bucket list trip with increased risk, higher costs, or complex travel details, take a look at AdrenalineCare. This comprehensive policy offers higher coverage ceilings for trip cancellation or interruption, equipment delay, license fee refunds, medical emergencies, lost baggage, and medical evacuation.

This product is especially useful if you’re planning a trip with tight connections for transit, such as short times between connecting flights or a risky transfer from a vehicle to a boat or plane since the plan includes coverage for missed connections. Coverage for pre-existing conditions, financial default, and terrorism is included.

Flight coverage (AirCare): AirCare covers expenses specific to aviation travel including unexpected aircraft and tarmac delays, equipment failure, lost luggage, flight diversions, and late-night travel delays. This product is a good fit for travelers who are comfortable managing other aspects of travel risk on their own but want additional peace of mind in the event of flight-related hiccups.

AirCare sells a standalone policy or as an add-on alongside Berkshire Hathaway’s lower-tier travel insurance plans.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Insurance Cost

The premium you pay will depend on various factors, including the age of the travelers, destination, and total trip costs. The average cost of travel insurance is 4% to 8% of your travel costs.

After inputting some personal information, such as your age and state of residence, along with your trip details, like travel dates, destination, and trip costs, you’ll get an instant quote for Berkshire Hathaway plans available for your trip. And from there, it’s easy to compare each option based on your coverage needs and budget.

Now let’s look at a few examples to estimate Berkshire Hathaway’s coverage costs.

As of 2024, a 23-year-old from Illinois taking a week-long, $3,000 budget trip to Italy would have the following
travel insurance quotes:

• ExactCare Value: $61
• ExactCare: $112
• ExactCare Extra: $99
• LuxuryCare: $121
• AdrenalineCare: $115

Premiums for Berkshire Hathaway plans are between 2% and 4% of the trip’s cost, well within the average cost of travel insurance.

Berkshire Hathaway provides the following quotes for a 30-year-old traveler from California heading to Japan for two weeks on a $4,000 trip:

• ExactCare Value: $135
• ExactCare: $178
• ExactCare Extra: $178
• LuxuryCare: $247
• AdrenalineCare: $233

Once again, premiums for Berkshire Hathaway plans are between 3.4% and 6.2% of the trip’s cost, within and below the expected range of travel insurance costs.

A Texas family consisting of two 40-year-old parents with a 10-year-old and 4-year-old on a two-week trip to Australia for $20,000:

• ExactCare Value: $509
• ExactCare: $430
• ExactCare Extra: $771
• LuxuryCare: $972
• AdrenalineCare: $933

Quotes for this trip cost between 2.15% and 4.9%, within the average cost of travel insurance. 

A 65-year-old couple looking to escape New Jersey for Mexico for two weeks with a trip cost of $6,000 would have the following quotes:

• ExactCare Value: $272
• ExactCare: $526
• ExactCare Extra: $462
• LuxuryCare: $582
• AdrenalineCare: $584

Premiums for Berkshire Hathaway plans for older-age travelers are between 4.5% and 9.7%, which is well within the average cost for travel insurance. While it’s certainly more expensive than coverage for younger travelers, it’s on the lower end of what travel insurance companies often quote for older travelers. 

How to Purchase and Manage a Berkshire Hathaway Policy

Berkshire Hathaway’s online quote generator is intuitive and easy to use. You’ll need to provide the following information for a quote: 

• Destination country
• Travel dates
• Date of booking
• Traveling method (Car, plane, ship)
• Number of flight segments
• Postal code
• Number of travelers
• Traveler(s) age 
• Trip cost per traveler
• Email address

Once you submit those details, you’ll get a list of eligible travel insurance policies and the cost comparison. If you’re traveling by air, you’ll have to input your flight information. You can also add bonus coverage options and riders to your insurance shopping cart before completing the transaction online.

How to File a Claim with Berkshire Hathaway Travel Insurance

Berkshire Hathaway customers can file a claim through the claims portal, by emailing claims claims@bhtp.com, or calling (844) 411-2487 and choosing option 5 (+1 (715) 303-6333 for people abroad). Customer service representatives are available between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday, and the company is closed for national holidays. Callers can also reach an emergency operator 24/7 for travel or medical assistance by selecting options 1 or 2.

You can also file a claim using the dedicated app, available for both iOS and Android devices. That said, customer reviews have mentioned that the app doesn’t work, so a more traditional route may be more reliable.

Customers have a year from when the loss occurred to file a claim, though Berkshire Hathaway encourages claimants to file as soon as reasonably possible. For certain types of claims, such as lost baggage, you only need to submit a photograph of the claim you filed with the airline in addition to some basic information about the situation.

Berkshire Hathaway Customer Service and Claims Experience

Berkshire Hathaway boasts an average of 4.31 stars out of five on its Squaremouth page. Most of the positive customer reviews center around peace of mind. Customers were glad they had their policy but didn’t have to file a claim. Many of these reviews focus on the buying process, which is fast and customer service is responsive. Reviews note easy processing if you need to push your trip back (and use the same policy for your new trip).

That said, reviews where a claim was involved were more checkered. Customers reported difficulty reaching Berkshire Hathaway’s claims team and long wait times, which may be more pronounced during high travel seasons.

While reviews allow customers to air their grievances or sing the praises of their insurance company, they’re also a great way for customers to get a response from a company when all other communication methods fail. Many travel insurance companies regularly respond to customer reviews on SquareMouth, Trustpilot, and the Better Business Bureau. Unfortunately, Berkshire Hathaway is not one of these companies. 

Compare Berkshire Hathaway Travel Insurance

Learn more about how Berkshire Hathaway compares to top travel insurance providers.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection vs. Nationwide Travel Insurance

Berkshire Hathaway is ranked favorably next to Nationwide, which is one of the most popular travel insurance providers in the market. You can’t go wrong picking a plan from either company. Both offer similarly priced and customizable policies for different types of travelers. These plans are highly ranked by both the Better Business Bureau and thousands of positive customer reviews.

Read our Nationwide Travel Insurance review here.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection vs. WorldTrips Travel Insurance

If you’re in the market for one of Berkshire Hathaway’s budget insurance policies, you may also want to consider options from WorldTrips. Like Berkshire Hathaway, WorldTrips is an industry leader providing low-cost plans with great coverage for most trips at competitive rates.

If you need travel medical insurance for a study abroad program, WorldTrips offers an international policy designed to meet students’ needs. Keep in mind, WorldTrips has exclusions for pre-existing conditions on many policies. So if you’re planning on being abroad for an extended period, you should make prior arrangements for things like diabetes, asthma, or other chronic conditions.

Read our WorldTrips Travel Insurance review here.

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection vs. Credit Card Travel Insurance

If you’re considering the ExactCare Lite or AirCare travel plans from Berkshire Hathaway, you might find equal or even superior credit card travel protection.

Some credit card providers offer travel insurance benefits with sizable payouts. This includes reimbursements for lost or delayed baggage far exceeding Berkshire Hathaways coverage limits. Similarly, some of the best credit cards offering travel insurance also advertise generous ceilings for medical insurance and evacuation benefits extending coverage into the million-dollar range.

Read our guide on the best credit cards with travel insurance here

Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection FAQs

Why You Should Trust Us: How We Reviewed Berkshire Hathaway Travel Insurance

To review Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, we looked at coverage limits, cost, customer service, claim limits, how plans can be customized, and much more. Then we compared these factors with the best travel insurance companies.

We named Berkshire Hathaway as a top pick in Insider’s best travel insurance companies guide because of the company’s long-standing reputation in insurance. Berkshire Hathaway’s travel insurance policies provide a slew of coverage options at different price points for various types of travelers. Furthermore, the company offers great customer support, intuitive resources, and a big name giving customers peace of mind.

Learn more about how we rate travel insurance companies.