• Are the benefits listed in my travel insurance plan just for me? Or do they cover everyone traveling with me?
• Are the maximum benefit limits per person? Or for everyone insured on the same plan?
• What does travel insurance cover if I’m paying for everyone on a family trip?
• Should I put the whole family on one plan, or buy separate plans?

These are some of the most common questions we get from travelers. We get it! Travel insurance can be confusing, especially when you get down to the nuts and bolts of dollar limits and definitions of family members. Below, we’ll tell you what you need to know.

Or, if you want the short-and-sweet answer: Only those who are named in the plan get the full benefits of travel insurance. To reduce the risk of incurring huge medical bills or losing your travel investment, we recommend that everyone traveling in a group have their own travel insurance plan. Remember that with the OneTrip Prime and OneTrip Premier plans, kids 17 and under are covered free when traveling with a parent or grandparent.

Don’t wait until it’s too late! Get a quote for your next trip.

1. When you buy travel insurance, who’s covered?

Scenario 1: Married couple Paul and Maria book a cruise to Cozumel with their 10-year-old grandson Jaxon. Maria buys the OneTrip Prime plan for herself, which covers their grandson for free. On day three of the cruise, disaster strikes: All three travelers contract a nasty norovirus and are quarantined for the remainder of the trip. Luckily, Maria has trip interruption benefits and emergency medical benefits — but does her travel insurance cover everyone?

Only the people who are named insured — that is, named in the plan — are covered by insurance benefits. In this scenario, emergency medical benefits could cover necessary medical expenses incurred by Maria and Jaxon for a covered medical emergency. Trip interruption benefits can reimburse Maria for the portion of the trip she and her grandson missed because they were sick (quarantine is listed as a covered reason for trip interruption). But Paul’s out of luck, because he didn’t buy travel insurance.

2. Are the benefit limits per person, or per plan?

Scenario 2: This time, Paul, Maria and their grandson are all covered by a single travel insurance plan: OneTrip Basic. They sign up for a cruise excursion to the ancient ruins of Tulum. On the way, their bus overturns, causing them to suffer serious covered injuries. The Assistance team arranges for all three travelers to be airlifted to a hospital in the United States for treatment. Once they’ve recovered, Allianz Global Assistance will arrange for them to be flown back home, with a medical escort if necessary. But their plan has a $50,000 limit for emergency medical transportation — will that be enough to cover costs for all three travelers?

Not to worry! The benefit limits listed in the plan are per person, not per plan. That means each named insured traveler, in this scenario, can get up to $50,000 in emergency medical transportation benefits, as well as up to $10,000 in emergency medical benefits.

It works the same way for other benefits, too. The OneTrip Basic Plan includes travel delay benefits of up to $300, with a daily limit of $150. So each traveler may be reimbursed up to $300 total for eligible, additional accommodation/travel expenses and lost prepaid expenses due to a covered departure delay of six or more hours.

Please note that with an annual travel insurance plan, the trip cancellation and trip interruption benefit limits are per person per year. If you’re worried you may exceed those benefits, you may opt to insure a big trip separately. All other benefit limis are per person, per trip.

3. Does my travel insurance plan cover my family members?

Scenario 3: Let’s say Maria buys OneTrip Prime for herself, but Paul opts out of insurance. While they’re walking the streets of Old San Juan, Paul suffers a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. Can Maria’s travel insurance help?

While travel insurance covers only the named insured, it can be useful in situations in which family members fall ill, get seriously injured or face other crises. Maria’s insurance would not cover Paul’s emergency medical expenses, because he’s not named in the plan. However, her trip interruption benefits can cover the additional accommodation and transportation expenses she incurs (up to the stated limit) while he’s in the hospital for a covered illness or injury. Her benefits also can reimburse her for the portion of the trip she misses while he’s hospitalized, because the covered illness or injury of a traveling companion and/or family member can be a covered reason for trip interruption.

Learn more: How Travel Insurance Covers Family Members

4. What does travel insurance cover when one person is paying for a family trip?

Scenario 4: Maria puts the entire cost of the cruise and airfare on her credit card. To protect this big travel splurge, she purchases OneTrip Prime for herself (which, you’ll remember, also covers her grandson Jaxon for free). Paul doesn’t buy insurance. The night before they leave, a storm floods their house, making it uninhabitable. She has to cancel the cruise —  but can insurance cover the cost of all three fares?

Yes! Even though Paul wasn’t named in Maria’s plan, her trip cancellation benefits can cover the entire nonrefundable cost of the cancelled trip, because she paid for it. (She entered the entire trip cost when she bought the plan, of course!)

Trip cancellation benefits can only cover the amount that the insured person paid for the trip. If Paul had paid $500 for the family’s shore excursions, his expenses would not be covered by Maria’s travel insurance plan.

Learn more: Family Travel Insurance: When You’re Paying, What’s Covered?

5. What’s the best option: buying one plan for a family, or insuring each person separately?

Scenario 5: Maria decides it’s wise to make sure everyone — including Paul! — is protected by travel insurance before their next trip. Should she purchase a separate plan for each traveler, or one that covers the whole family?

One plan’s probably easier. Most travel insurance products are priced based on trip cost and age of each traveler, so the cost of travel insurance is the same whether adults are on the same plan or separate plans. When children are traveling, it’s wise to include them in a parent’s or grandparent’s OneTrip Prime or OneTrip Premier plan, so they can be covered for free.

Just be aware that if you purchase separate plans, each traveler’s plan should cover their portion of the trip – not the entire trip cost. For example, when Maria’s getting quotes for OneTrip Prime for a $2,000 cruise, her travel insurance cost would be:

• $182 to cover Paul and Maria on the same plan
• $91 per person for separate plans (each entering a $1,000 trip cost)

Either way, their travel insurance costs are the same. But if she and Paul get two separate plans, and each insures the full $2,000 trip cost, then they’ll pay more than necessary: $147 per person, or $294 total.

For frequent travelers, the best family travel insurance option may be the AllTrips Premier Plan, which can cover everyone in your household (family members residing together) for all their travels in a 365-day span. The cost of AllTrips Premier varies according to the level of trip cancellation benefits you choose.

The only way to find the best travel insurance option for you is to get a quote. Enter a few quick trip details and you’ll see all your options. Bon voyage!

Disclaimer: I work as an ambassador for Allianz Global Assistance (AGA Service Company) and receive financial compensation.