Media release from AAA – The Auto Club Group:
ATLANTA (August 6, 2026) — Only a handful of weeks remain in the summer travel season, yet millions of Americans still have vacations planned before Labor Day. However, those trips may coincide with some of the season’s biggest travel threats, including hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, and severe weather. This prompted AAA to explain the importance of travel insurance and how timing can affect coverage availability.
According to a recent AAA survey, 53% of Georgians plan to travel between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Yet only 30% said they plan to purchase travel insurance.
“Many travelers don’t think about travel insurance until they see a storm in the forecast or hear about disruptions affecting their destination,” said Montrae Waiters, spokeswoman for AAA – The Auto Club Group. “The good news is that you can often purchase travel insurance up to the day of your departure. However, some options may not be available to those who wait until the last minute.”
How Travel Insurance Can Help
Travel insurance can help cover eligible expenses if a trip is canceled, interrupted, or delayed due to a covered reason. Depending on the policy, coverage may also help with losses related to:
- Prepaid, non-refundable trip costs lost because of a covered disruption
- Delayed or lost luggage
- Medical emergencies while traveling
- Unexpected hotel stays, meals, and transportation during covered travel delays
How Weather Can Disrupt Travel
Severe weather can disrupt travel plans in many ways. Hurricanes, wildfires, flooding, and severe storms can:
- Cancel or delay flights
- Close cruise ports and alter itineraries
- Shut down roadways and transportation routes
- Force hotel or resort closures
- Cause missed connections and overnight stays
- Create unexpected travel expenses
Even when severe weather occurs hundreds of miles away, the effects can ripple across the transportation network and impact travelers far from the actual event.
Real-World Example
Air travel is often one of the first parts of a trip affected by severe weather.
Imagine a traveler flying to a cruise departure city when severe weather cancels their flight. The airline may rebook the passenger on a later flight or offer a refund for the canceled flight. However, weather-related disruptions are generally considered outside the airline’s control, which may limit additional assistance.
That traveler could still be responsible for:
- An unexpected overnight hotel stay
- Meals during the delay
- Local transportation
- The cost of catching up with the cruise at a later port
- Certain prepaid, non-refundable trip expenses that cannot be recovered elsewhere
Depending on the policy, travel insurance may help reimburse eligible expenses associated with covered delays and may help protect certain prepaid trip costs that might otherwise be lost.
Timing Matters with Travel Insurance
Many travelers assume it’s too late to buy travel insurance once their trip is only days or weeks away. In many cases, coverage can still be purchased before departure.
However, waiting may limit available options. Travelers who purchase coverage at the last minute may still have protection for travel delays, baggage issues, or medical emergencies, but fewer options for protecting prepaid trip costs.
Travelers also shouldn’t assume they can wait until a hurricane, wildfire, or other disruption is already developing and receive the same coverage options that may have been available earlier.
“If you still have travel plans on the calendar this summer, now is the time to review your options,” Waiters said. “The closer you get to departure, the fewer choices you may have. Taking a few minutes to understand your coverage today could save a lot of stress and expense later.”
For more information on travel insurance, visit AAA.com/TravelInsurance.
About the AAA Consumer Pulse™ Survey
The AAA Consumer Pulse™ Survey was conducted online among 400 Georgia residents from April 17–26, 2026. Results have a maximum margin of error of ± 4.9 percentage points and are weighted by age and gender to represent the state’s adult population.
About AAA – The Auto Club Group
The Auto Club Group (ACG), named a 2026 Forbes Most Trusted Company in America, is the second-largest AAA club in North America, with more than 13 million members across 14 U.S. states and two U.S. territories. ACG and its affiliates provide members with roadside assistance, insurance products, financial services, travel offerings and more. ACG is part of the national AAA federation, which serves more than 66 million members across the United States and Canada. AAA’s mission is to protect and advance freedom of mobility and improve traffic safety. For more information, download the AAA Mobile app, visit AAA.com, and follow us on social media.
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