The best new company out there

We may receive compensation from Faye as an advertising partner. However, this does not influence our ratings. Our opinions are our own.

I’ve been writing about travel for nearly two decades, and in that time I’ve watched the travel insurance industry change at roughly the speed of a glacier. For years, the narrative was always the same: Buy a policy, hope you never need it, and if something goes wrong, prepare for a marathon of paperwork and a check that arrives somewhere between “eventually” and “you’ve forgotten you ever applied.”

I have personally been the recipient of that evasion. So have most travelers I know. It’s something you have to deal with. After all, you should never, ever, EVER travel without travel insurance. You don’t want to end up needing a GoFundMe to pay your bills and get home if something goes wrong. (You can’t predict the future!)

Now, there are many players in this space, but one I want to highlight today is Travel insurance for Fayewhich I think is doing something unique.

fay is a digital travel insurance company that launched coverage in the US in 2022, so it is fairly new to the US market considering brands like World Nomads or Allianz have been offering coverage for over twenty years.

Faye relies on a fairly simple idea: travel insurance shouldn’t sit there waiting for things to go wrong. You should actively help everything turn out well.

That means protection for the entire trip (your trip, your health, your stuff, even your pet), an app that’s actually useful while you travel, 24/7 access to real human customer support, claims that are processed in days instead of months, and a digital wallet that reimburses you almost instantly instead of waiting for a check in the mail, which some companies still do today.

It is available in all 50 states.

A well made plan

fay It has a plan for domestic and international travel, which makes things very easy. Many travel insurance companies have many plans and you end up looking at coverage tables trying to figure out which one won’t leave you stranded and has the minimum coverage you need. Faye created a single comprehensive plan that covers most of what travelers really need:

• Trip cancellation and interruption
• Emergency medical care for travel outside the US (up to $250,000)
• Emergency medical evacuation (up to $500,000)
• Trip cancellation (up to 100% of trip costs non-refundable)
• Trip interruption (up to 150% of the trip cost non-refundable)
• Trip delay (up to $2,100/trip ($300/day) after a delay of more than 6 hours)
• Lost connection (up to $200, after a covered delay of more than 3 hours)
• Non-medical emergency evacuation (up to $100,000)
• Lost, stolen or damaged belongings (up to $2000/trip (limited to $150/item))

These limits are pretty standard, especially in medical coverage. If you want to add things, they have some optional plugins that I think are really cool and unique:

• Cancel for any reason (CFAR) – up to 75% of non-refundable travel costs refunded, if you purchase within 14 days of your initial travel deposit and cancel up to 48 hours before your departure date
• Damage to the rental car – covers collision, theft, vandalism, natural disasters
• Adventure and extreme sports – for bungee jumpers, freedivers and skydivers
• Damage to vacation rentals – for the inevitable spilled wine on someone’s Airbnb couch
• pet care – Veterinary expenses up to $2K if your pet travels with you, kennel costs if your pet is delayed returning home

CFAR insurance is really useful and I have rarely seen a company that allows it to be added to a policy. It’s usually already built in at a higher rate, but this creates an affordable add-on. I also love the pet sitting add-on as more and more people travel with their pets.

All about the application

This is where fay It really separates. Faye built something completely different! Here’s what you can actually do within the Faye app:

Buy a policy in as little as 60 seconds – Enter your trip details, get a quote and get covered.

Get real-time flight tracking and alerts: You will receive information about delays, gate changes or baggage carousel numbers when you land! Many apps do this, but this is a nice add-on.

Telemedicine – Faye gives you access to a network of 20,000 telemedicine doctors in 21 languages ​​when you travel abroad. If you wake up with food poisoning in a city where you don’t speak the language and don’t trust local hospital reviews, you can talk to a doctor from your hotel bed. (As someone who has had to search for doctors in other countries, this feature is awesome!)

Find a doctor, pharmacy, emergency room, or ATM near you. The app does the work of figuring out where to go when you’re disoriented and just need to find the nearest pharmacy open at 11 pm in a city you arrived in five hours ago. (As someone who has had to do this in other countries, this feature is awesome!)

Get free airport lounge access – If your flight is delayed by three hours or more, Faye will take you to a lounge – and who wouldn’t want lounge access with free food and drinks during a long delay?

Keep your documents safe – Securely upload your passport, visa, insurance card, vaccination records. If something is lost or stolen, you have digital copies.

Check out destination essentials before you travel: Visa requirements, types of plug adapters, local emergency numbers, weather, currency conversion and even local apps worth downloading.

Chat with real humans, 24/7 – Real customer experience specialists, available every day of the year, including weekends and holidays.

Buy an eSIM – The app also allows you to purchase an eSIM, meaning you can avoid annoying physical SIM changes and connect to the internet right when you land.

File a claim

That’s how it works Faye: something bad happens. You open the application. File a claim in minutes by uploading photos of your receipts. If it’s a qualifying issue, like a delayed baggage or flight, you may receive a refund almost instantly. Funds go directly to Faye Wallet, an in-app digital payment card that connects to Apple Pay or Google Pay. You tap and pay, right then and there, for whatever you really need: a new suit, toiletries, a dinner, a hotel.

For larger or more complex claims, Faye aims to resolve them within 48 hours. to receive the necessary documentation.

If you don’t want to use the digital wallet, you can transfer the funds to your bank account or get a paper check.

What it costs

Pricing depends on the cost of your trip, destination, duration, state of residence, and age (same as all insurance products), but prices start at around $5.16 per day for international travel, which is much more competitive than other companies out there.

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I have used many travel insurance companies over the years. Most of them are fine. Some are horrible. Faye is the first that appears to have been designed by people who really understand modern travel and understand that we book trips on our phones, communicate on apps, and expect the same digital convenience from insurance that we get from everything else.

The combination of protection throughout the trip, the app, Faye Wallet, real human support and fast claims has really changed the way I think about this category. Travel insurance used to be the thing you bought and forgot about.

If you are going on a trip soon, check it out on confaye.comGet a quote and see for yourself.

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