Coverage · Glossary

The terms, in plain language.

Travel insurance borrows words from three industries and uses them interchangeably. Here is what the terms mean, and the two distinctions people most often get wrong.

What's the difference between a group policy and individual policies?

A group enrollment covers a whole team under one purchase: one organizer buys, and every traveler lands on the same plan, matched to the same trip. Individual policies are bought traveler by traveler, so plans and levels can differ. The coverage each person carries is comparable — the difference is who buys, and how consistently everyone ends up covered.

Group enrollment compared with individually purchased policies
	Group enrollment	Individual policies
Who buys	One organizer, one purchase	Each traveler or family separately
Consistency	Everyone under the same plan and limits	Plans and levels can vary person to person
Coverage gaps	Nobody quietly opts out and travels uncovered	Whoever forgot to buy is simply not covered
Fit	Teams, tours, and delegations moving together	Solo travelers and families on their own itineraries

Structural comparison in general terms, not a policy. Group eligibility, benefits, and availability vary by plan and by state.

How enrollment actually works, organizer’s view: group protection.

What's the difference between trip protection and team liability insurance?

Trip protection covers a traveler's own trip: prepaid costs if a covered reason cancels it, delays, bags, and medical emergencies on the road. Liability insurance covers an organization's obligations — the club, the league, the school. One pays the traveler; the other protects the institution. A team usually needs both, from different buyers.

Trip protection compared with an organization's liability insurance
	Trip protection	Team liability insurance
Who buys it	The traveler, family, or a group organizer	The club, league, or school
Who it pays	The covered traveler, per plan limits	Typically third parties, on the organization’s behalf
Typical scope	Cancellation, interruption, delay, baggage, emergency medical and evacuation	The organization’s obligations arising from running teams and events
A family’s hotel and flights	Covered per plan limits, for covered reasons	Not what it is designed for

General description of how these product types typically divide, not a policy or legal advice; what any specific policy covers is set by its own language.

The glossary

The same plain-language descriptions our plan pages use. Exact benefits and limits vary by plan and state; the binding text is always the policy as issued.

Trip cancellation: If a covered reason keeps you from taking the trip at all — an illness, an injury, and other events named in the policy — this reimburses the prepaid, non-refundable money you would otherwise lose, up to the trip cost you insured.
Trip interruption: If the trip starts and then a covered reason cuts it short, this helps pay to get you home and reimburses the unused part of the trip.
Trip delay: When a covered delay strands you — a cancelled connection, a storm — this reimburses reasonable expenses like a hotel night and meals while you wait, up to a daily limit.
Missed connection: If a covered delay makes you miss the next leg — commonly a cruise departure or a tour start — this helps pay the catch-up costs to rejoin your trip.
Baggage & personal effects: If your bags or belongings are lost, stolen, or damaged during the trip, this reimburses you up to the plan limit.
Emergency medical: The benefit most travelers are missing: many US health plans stop at the border. If you get sick or hurt during the trip, this pays for treatment where you are.
Emergency evacuation: If you need to be moved — to the nearest adequate hospital, or home for care — this covers medically necessary evacuation and repatriation.
Pre-existing condition waiver: On select plans, when the plan is purchased within the required window after your first trip deposit, the pre-existing condition exclusion is waived. Timing matters — it is the best reason to buy early.
Single-trip plan: One trip, protected door to door, with a fixed departure and return. Cancellation protection is set as a percentage of the one trip cost you insure.
Annual multi-trip plan: One plan covering every trip you take for a year — trips away from home, near or far — each up to the plan’s per-trip length limit, with a medical-first structure and per-trip cancellation limits. The plan documents define which trips qualify.
Group enrollment: One organizer enrolls a whole team or group in a single purchase: the same coverage for every traveler, matched to the destination and the dates.
Producer: The licensed party that offers and services the insurance. BonaVia is the producer, licensed in all 50 states; it is not the underwriter.
Carrier (underwriter): The licensed insurance company that issues and stands behind the policy. BonaVia works with one or more licensed insurance carriers; the carrier underwriting your specific plan is named in your policy documents and certificate.
Certificate: The document naming your coverage and your carrier. Its number is what you use when filing a claim.
Sponsorship (the giveback): When a traveler buys through a partner organization’s page, BonaVia shares up to 40% of what it collects with that organization as a sponsorship, tracked in plain dollars. It never changes the traveler’s price.

Common mix-ups

Is a group policy cheaper than buying individual policies?

Group enrollment through BonaVia is about consistency, not a different price: the same plans at the same per-traveler prices, bought in one purchase so nobody quietly travels uncovered. Pricing varies by traveler age, trip cost, and trip duration either way.

Does the team’s liability insurance cover my family’s travel costs?

No. Liability coverage protects the organization and its obligations. A family’s prepaid trip costs, delays, bags, and medical emergencies on the road are covered by the family’s own trip protection, per that plan’s limits.

Who is the carrier on my plan?

BonaVia works with one or more licensed insurance carriers, and the carrier underwriting your specific plan is named in your policy documents and certificate. Full details are in our disclosures.

What’s the difference between travel insurance and trip protection?

In everyday use they name the same thing: a plan reimbursing prepaid trip costs for covered reasons and covering medical emergencies, delays, and baggage during travel. The binding description of any plan is always its own policy language, not the label.