A student travel protection plan — often searched for as student travel insurance — is optional coverage a traveler buys separately from the trip itself. On a Landmark Educational Tours trip, plans are underwritten by battleface Insurance Services, LLC, and any traveler on your group can request a quote and purchase a plan directly. It is not included in the trip price, and buying it is each family’s decision rather than the school’s.
The reason it matters on a school trip more than on a family holiday is simple: the money goes out early and it does not come back easily. Deposits are paid months ahead, payment schedules run on fixed dates, and a group itinerary cannot bend around one traveler who cannot go. A protection plan is what stands between a family and the full cost of a trip their child misses.
Travel Protection or Travel Insurance — What Is the Difference?
Mostly the words. Families search for student travel insurance or school trip insurance; the industry, and most tour operators, say travel protection. In practice both describe the same thing: an optional plan a traveler buys to cover specific things that can go wrong on a trip.
The distinction worth caring about is not the label but the coverage. Two plans called the same thing can behave very differently, which is why what follows is about what the plan does rather than what it is called.
Below is what these plans generally cover, what they do not, what drives the price, when to buy, and how to claim. Get a coverage quote whenever you are ready.
Student Travel Protection at a Glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Is it included in the trip? | No. It is optional and purchased separately by each traveler. |
| Who underwrites it | battleface Insurance Services, LLC |
| Who decides | Each family, not the school or the organizer |
| Who is it for | Any traveler on the trip, students and adult chaperones alike |
| When to buy | As early as possible, ideally once deposits are paid |
| Airfare | Quoted separately from the trip, and often the largest non-refundable amount a family has at stake |
| Support | battleface support is available 24/7 at 855-998-2928 or [email protected] |
| Claims | Filed online through the Landmark claims portal |
What a Student Travel Protection Plan Covers
The table below lists the coverages highlighted on Landmark’s travel safety and support page, with what each one is for in plain terms. This is a summary of plan highlights, not the policy. Limits, conditions and exclusions vary, and the plan documents you receive at purchase are what actually govern your coverage.
| Coverage | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Trip Interruption | When a trip already underway has to be cut short and a traveler needs to get home early. |
| Trip Delay | Costs that pile up when travel is held up — an unplanned night, meals, essentials. |
| Missed Connection | When a delay on one leg causes a traveler to miss the next one and rejoin the group late. |
| Accident & Sickness | Medical treatment a traveler needs while away from home. |
| Medical Evacuation | Moving a traveler to appropriate medical care when local treatment is not adequate. |
| Security & Natural Disaster Evacuation | Getting a traveler out of an area affected by a security incident or a natural disaster. |
| Baggage Loss/Damage | Luggage that does not arrive, or arrives damaged. |
| Baggage Loss/Damage & Personal Effects | Personal belongings lost or damaged alongside the bag itself. |
| Baggage Delay | Replacing essentials when luggage catches up late — the most commonly used coverage on a school trip. |
| Repatriation of Remains | The coverage nobody wants to read about and every group organizer should know exists. |
Accurate as of September 2026. Coverages, limits and availability can change and vary by state of residence, so confirm current terms when you request your quote.
Trip interruption is not the same as trip cancellation
This is the distinction families most often get wrong, and it is worth being plain about. Trip interruption applies once a trip is already underway and has to be cut short. Trip cancellation — recovering money when a traveler cannot go at all — is a different coverage, and it is not among the highlights listed above.
If getting money back for a trip a student never takes is the thing you are worried about, do not assume a plan handles it. Ask battleface directly what is available before you buy, and read your trip agreement alongside it, because the agreement is what sets out deposits, payment dates and what happens on cancellation.
Why It Matters More on a School Trip
Families who skip protection on a weekend away often assume the same logic applies here. It does not, for four reasons specific to group travel.
The money leaves early
A school trip is paid for over months, starting with a deposit that reserves the group’s place. By the time most things go wrong, a family has already paid a substantial share of the trip.
The itinerary cannot flex
A private group trip runs on a fixed schedule with a fixed roster. Hotels, the motorcoach, the Tour Director and every scheduled entry are contracted around a group. One traveler dropping out does not reduce what has already been committed.
The traveler is usually a minor, away from their parents
If a student becomes unwell on a trip, the decisions and the costs land on a parent who is several states away. Coverage that includes medical treatment and evacuation is what turns that from a crisis into a phone call.
Airfare is the biggest exposure
Airfare is quoted separately from the trip and is usually the largest single non-refundable amount a family holds. For any group that flies, that alone is often the argument.
What a Protection Plan Does Not Do
Being straight about the limits is more useful than a list of benefits, and it prevents the worst outcome — a family who thought they were covered and were not.
- It is not the school’s liability insurance. Landmark carries its own coverage and is an approved vendor with districts that review it; a traveler’s plan is a separate, personal thing.
- It does not replace the trip’s own terms. Your trip agreement sets out deposits, payment dates and what happens on cancellation. Read both documents; they answer different questions.
- It is not automatic. Nobody is enrolled by default. If a family has not purchased a plan, that family has no plan.
- It does not cover everything. Every plan has exclusions, conditions and limits, and some benefits depend on when the plan was purchased relative to the event.
- We cannot advise on it. Landmark is a travel company, not an insurance advisor. Questions about what a plan covers go to battleface, whose support line is open around the clock.
How Much Does Student Travel Protection Cost?
There is no flat price, because a plan is priced for the traveler and the trip rather than sold as a fixed add-on. The quote takes a few minutes and gives a number before any commitment.
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Trip cost per traveler | The amount at risk is the main input. A longer or farther trip carries more. |
| Trip dates and length | How many days of coverage the plan has to run for. |
| Traveler age | Priced individually, which is why a chaperone’s quote and a student’s can differ. |
| State of residence | Plan availability and terms vary by state, which is why the quote starts there. |
| Destination | Domestic and international trips are not priced the same way. |
| Whether airfare is included | Airfare is quoted separately from the trip and is often the largest amount a family has at stake, so it belongs in the figure you insure. |
Two practical points. Insure the amount you would actually lose, including airfare, rather than only the trip invoice. And get the quote before you decide — families frequently find the number smaller than they assumed, and it is free to find out. Request a quote.
What about pre-existing medical conditions?
Plans generally treat pre-existing conditions as their own category, often with timing rules attached to when the plan was purchased. If a traveler in your group has an ongoing condition, that is a question to put to battleface before purchasing rather than after, and it is another reason to buy early rather than late. We are not able to advise on it.
When Should Families Buy It?
As early as they reasonably can, and the reason is structural rather than promotional. Some benefits on travel protection plans generally depend on how soon after the first trip payment the plan is purchased, so a plan bought the week before departure may not behave like the same plan bought the week after the deposit.
The practical advice for a trip organizer is to mention protection at the same moment you announce the payment schedule, not later. Families making one decision about money are far more likely to make both.
If you are still setting that schedule, how to start planning a student trip covers the sequence, and when to book a spring trip covers the calendar.
How to Get a Quote and How to Claim
Getting a quote
Each traveler requests their own quote through battleface’s guided flow, which starts with country of residence and asks about the trip and the travelers to be covered. It takes a few minutes and produces a price before any commitment.
Request a coverage quote — the link is tagged to Landmark, so a quote started here is recognized as coming from your group.
Making a claim
Claims are filed online through the Landmark claims portal. Keep receipts, any written confirmation of a delay or cancellation, and medical documentation where relevant — claims are settled on evidence, and the documentation is far easier to gather at the time than a month later.
battleface support is available 24 hours a day at 855-998-2928 or [email protected], before and during the trip.
What Trip Organizers Should Do
You are not selling insurance and you should not try to. What you can usefully do is make sure nobody is surprised.
- Tell families protection exists, and that it is optional. Say it once, in writing, alongside the payment schedule.
- Share the quote link rather than advice. Point families at battleface and let them decide.
- Do not characterize what is covered. Even a well-meaning summary can be wrong for a particular family or state.
- Keep a record that you told them. An email in the file is worth a great deal if a family later says they were never offered it.
What the trip price itself covers is a separate question, and worth being equally clear about with families. What is included in a school trip package sets that out, and how much a school trip costs covers the number itself.
Safety Beyond the Policy
A protection plan handles the financial and medical consequences of something going wrong. Most of what keeps a trip from going wrong in the first place is operational.
On a Landmark trip that means leaders trained in safety protocols before every departure, student-appropriate hotels with overnight security, safety wristbands carrying trip information, a Landmark Tour Director traveling with the group for the whole trip, and support available around the clock. Our travel safety and support page covers it, and our accreditations are published with their numbers so they can be checked.
Supervision is the other half, and it stays with school staff rather than with us — how many chaperones you need covers that distinction.
Protect Your Trip Today
Coverage is optional, it is each traveler’s own decision, and it is quickest to sort out early. Get a coverage quote in a few minutes, or read the plan highlights on our travel safety and support page first.
Planning a trip rather than protecting one? Tell us your dates, group size and destination and a Travel Consultant will build an itinerary and send a written quote at no cost. We are employee-owned, more than twenty years in, and every group travels privately with a Tour Director of its own.
This page summarizes highlights of plans developed by battleface Insurance Services, LLC. It is not insurance advice and it is not a policy. Coverage, limits, conditions and exclusions vary by plan and by state of residence, and the plan documents provided at purchase govern in every case.
