Why travel insurance may fall short

The upshot: Vacationers who miss some or all of their trip might not be reimbursed by their insurer for various nonrefundable costs like flights, hotels or tours. Those stranded abroad may not be compensated for out-of-pocket costs incurred for extra meals or hotel nights.

“There are many situations where travel insurance will not cover you,” said Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet.

However, much depends on the specific insurer and the fine print of the insurance policy, experts said.

For example, the “domino effect from military action” — such as delayed flights or missed connections — may be covered under certain policies with benefits for a travel delay, Lauren McCormick, a spokesperson for Squaremouth, a travel insurance comparison site, wrote in an e-mail to CNBC.

Airspace was closed over large parts of the Middle East after the U.S. and Israel launched coordinated attacks against Iran on Saturday, killing the nation’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other top officials.

Iran launched counterattacks against multiple cities in the Middle East, including Qatar and Dubai.

“As a result, major airlines have suspended flights to and through the region, shut down major global travel hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha,” McCormick wrote in a website post on Monday.

It’s unclear how long the military conflict will last.

President Donald Trump, in his first public event since the conflict began, said Monday that it’s projected to last four to five weeks but could go on “far longer than that.”

The travel chaos came less than a week after the Mexican army killed the cartel leader known as “El Mencho,” leading airlines to halt flights to certain areas and cruise lines to reroute ships. They also come about two months after the U.S. operation to extract Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, snarling air traffic around the Caribbean.

“Two months into 2026, and we have already seen three major U.S. military actions in Venezuela, Mexico, and Iran, each of which boiled over to affect regional and travel routes,” McCormick wrote.

Standard travel insurance policies exclude coverage for military action, acts of war, political unrest and government-related airspace closures, according to experts.

This means many travelers affected by attacks in the Middle East may not qualify for financial reimbursement, experts said.

However, each policy and travel situation is different, McCormick told CNBC.

There may be certain instances when a policy covers military action, for example, so it’s important to read a policy’s fine print to see what applies, she said.

For example, those coverage limitations often apply specifically to trip cancellation and interruption — meaning, respectively, if a traveler wants to cancel their trip outright before traveling or cut it short during the middle of the trip, McCormick said.

Certain travelers may be covered by their insurance policy if military action leads an airline to reroute flights due to factors like hub disruptions, crew rescheduling or mechanical issues caused by tighter turnaround schedules, McCormick said.

Also, travelers who bought specific benefits — “cancel for any reason” or “interruption for any reason” coverage — may be able to recoup some of their trip costs.

Cancel-for-any-reason policies apply to those who haven’t yet departed, while interruption-for-any-reason coverage is for those in the middle of an excursion.

These policies are generally more expensive and come with caveats, such as limits on how much money can be reimbursed and when a traveler can cancel.

“If you have questions about your coverage, we recommend contacting your provider directly and saving all correspondence with both the insurer and the airline,” McCormick wrote in an e-mail.

Airlines are obligated to issue a refund to customers if they cancel a flight and the traveler chooses not to rebook.

But many airlines are also giving fliers “really flexible opportunities” to change their flights due to the Middle East unrest, French said.

For example, certain United Airlines passengers scheduled to fly through Dubai or Tel Aviv airports through March 7 can reschedule their trip without paying change fees or fare differences, according to a United travel alert.

That flexibility extends to a broader roster of airports — Abu Dhabi, Beirut, Dubai, Erbil and Tel Aviv — for those scheduled to travel between March 8 and March 31, the United alert said.

French recommends that travelers who can take advantage of such offers do so.

“This is a better option than travel insurance anyway,” she said. “Just go on their website and pick a new flight.”

However, this compensation won’t necessarily cover all out-of-pocket expenses travelers incur, such as foregone tour or hotel fees.

“The airline’s not going to help you if you miss your safari,” French said. “That’s where something like travel insurance is going to have to be key.”

Such travelers should call their travel providers, like hotels and tour operators, and see if they’re willing to be flexible in such cases, French said.