Last updated: August 2026
Holiday Extras reviews for travel insurance sit inside a bigger, more familiar brand. Most people know the company for airport parking, hotels and lounges, not insurance, and that context matters once you read the ratings below. Its policy rates 4.66 out of 5 from 3,687 responses on Smart Money People’s insurance-specific page, and carries a Defaqto 5-star rating. It’s also the only insurer here to include gadget cover as standard on every tier, not just its most expensive one. This guide checks that evidence, the policy itself, and one recurring complaint worth knowing first.
| What you get | The detail |
|---|---|
| The business | Parking, hotels and insurance under one brand |
| Underwriter | Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited |
| Insurance-specific reviews | 4.66/5 from 3,687 reviews |
| Gadget cover | £750 included as standard |
Holiday Extras reviews: the short answer
Read the ratings carefully, because most of them aren’t about insurance at all. Its Trustpilot score, 4.4 out of 5 from 56,573 write-ups, blends parking, hotel and lounge bookings in with insurance, and Reviews.io’s 4.4 from 10,071 leans the same way, with sampled write-ups almost all about parking rather than policies. Smart Money People is the one platform with a dedicated travel insurance page, and it’s stronger there: 4.66 out of 5 from 3,687 responses. That’s the figure worth trusting if you’re judging the insurance specifically, not the wider business.
Advertisement
Holiday Extras Cover Limited sells three tiers, Bronze, Silver and Gold, each with optional add-ons. Single-trip cover has no upper age limit. Annual multi-trip generally runs to age 85, or 90 on the Gold tier, and maximum trip length rises with the tier too: 22 days on Bronze, 31 on Silver, 45 on Gold. The product carries a Defaqto 5-star rating, the independent ratings agency’s top score for a travel insurance policy.
“Holiday Extras isn’t primarily an insurance brand, and that’s not a criticism. It’s worth knowing before you read the reviews, because a 4.4 Trustpilot score blended with parking bookings tells you less than the 4.66 you’ll find on the insurance-only page. Don’t judge this policy by the brand’s general reputation. Judge it by the one review platform that’s actually rating the product you’re buying.”
Kate Acaster, Chief Editor, Flight Tribe
Is your money protected if Holiday Extras goes bust?
Yes, broadly. Holiday Extras Cover Limited sells the policy. Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited underwrites almost all of it, the same insurer behind Staysure and Avanti. Legal expenses, gadget cover and flight delay come from separate underwriters: ARAG, Taurus Insurance Services Limited and Astrenska Insurance Limited. Because Great Lakes is PRA/FCA-authorised, its policyholders sit inside the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, covering 90% of a valid claim with no upper limit. One quirk: the wording names ERGO Travel Insurance Services Ltd alongside Great Lakes, though ERGO administers the policy rather than sharing the risk.
Holiday Extras’ cover, compared
| Tier | Medical cover | Cancellation | Baggage | Excess |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver | £20,000,000 | £2,500 | £3,000 | £99 |
Cover for COVID-19 and other pandemic costs is excluded, under an open-ended clause for any epidemic the World Health Organisation declares. Every insurer we’ve checked applies the same exclusion. Travel to a destination the FCDO advises against is a hard eligibility gate here, ticked before the quote tool shows a price, rather than an exclusion applied only if you claim. Gadget cover of £750 is included as standard, rising to £1,250 on Gold, with only a higher “Enhanced Gadget” limit sold as an add-on. Winter sports stays an add-on only, and isn’t available at all past age 65.
Auto-renewal: the complaint, checked
Auto-renewal is the theme that comes up most often in lower-star reviews across Holiday Extras’ platforms. The pattern is a familiar one in UK travel insurance: an annual policy rolls over automatically at renewal, and the renewal price isn’t guaranteed to be the most competitive one on the market that year. If you hold an annual policy with Holiday Extras, get a fresh quote before it renews rather than letting it roll over into a price you haven’t checked.
Gadget cover, on every tier
Avanti and Goodtogoinsurance both sell gadget cover as a paid add-on, whatever tier you pick. Staysure only includes it as standard on its priciest tier. Holiday Extras includes it on all three tiers, Bronze, Silver and Gold, without an upgrade, a saving on the extras most rivals charge for separately. It won’t suit everyone: cruise passengers should look at Avanti’s specialist cover, and anyone declined elsewhere over a health condition needs Goodtogoinsurance’s screening approach instead. For an ordinary family holiday, though, it’s a real point in Holiday Extras’ favour.
Should you buy Holiday Extras travel insurance?
Consider Holiday Extras if you already use it for parking or lounges, or if included gadget cover matters to your trip. Its insurance-specific score, 4.66 on Smart Money People, holds up once you separate it from the brand’s larger, parking-heavy Trustpilot profile, backed up by the Defaqto 5-star rating. You’re covered if the insurer failed, thanks to the same FSCS safety net behind Staysure and Avanti. Renewal is the thing to watch: get a fresh quote each year rather than let a policy roll over unchecked. To check current cover, visit Holiday Extras directly.
Frequently asked questions
Is Holiday Extras travel insurance any good?
Yes, on its insurance-specific review evidence. Holiday Extras rates 4.66 out of 5 from 3,687 reviews on Smart Money People’s dedicated travel insurance page, and the product carries a Defaqto 5-star rating.
Does Holiday Extras cover gadgets as standard?
Yes, on all three tiers. £750 of gadget cover is included as standard, rising to £1,250 on the Gold tier, with only a higher optional limit sold as a paid add-on. Avanti and Goodtogoinsurance sell it as an add-on regardless of tier, and Staysure only includes it as standard on its most expensive tier.
Who underwrites Holiday Extras travel insurance?
Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited underwrites almost all of the policy, the same insurer that stands behind Staysure and Avanti. Legal expenses, gadget cover and flight delay are arranged with separate specialist insurers.
What does Holiday Extras’ FSCS protection actually cover?
Great Lakes Insurance UK Limited, the insurer behind almost all of the policy, is a member of the FSCS. If it ever failed, the scheme would pay out 90% of a valid claim, with no upper limit, since travel insurance isn’t one of the classes of cover protected in full.
Is there a downside to Holiday Extras?
The recurring complaint across reviews is auto-renewal. Run a fresh quote before an annual policy renews rather than letting it roll over automatically, since the renewal price isn’t guaranteed to be the most competitive one available.
Is there an age limit for Holiday Extras travel insurance?
No upper age limit applies to single-trip cover. Annual multi-trip generally runs to age 85, or 90 on the Gold tier.
Does Holiday Extras cover COVID-19?
No. Cover is excluded under an open-ended clause for any epidemic or pandemic declared by the World Health Organisation, the same exclusion every insurer in this comparison applies.
More on travel insurance and your trip
For the biggest UK brand by review volume, see our Staysure reviews, for a cruise-cover specialist, our Avanti reviews, or for serious and complex medical histories, our Goodtogoinsurance reviews. Deciding whether to buy an airline’s own bundled cover instead? See our guides on whether Ryanair’s travel insurance, easyJet’s travel insurance, TUI’s travel insurance or Virgin Atlantic’s travel insurance is worth it. For the wider picture on package holidays, including what protection you get if a company collapses, see our guide to package holidays.
Kate Acaster is Chief Editor at Flight Tribe. She writes about practical travel planning, budget airlines, baggage rules, city breaks, beach holidays and good hotels that do not cost daft money.
Kate has travelled through Europe, South America and beyond, usually with a notebook, a half-formed plan and a strong opinion on airport snacks. At Flight Tribe, her work focuses on helping UK travellers understand what is included, what costs extra, and whether a trip is worth booking at the price shown.
How Kate works
Kate checks the details that can change the value of a trip, including cabin-bag rules, airline fees, hotel location, seasonality, travel dates and booking conditions. She is especially interested in offers that look useful on the surface but need a proper reader-first check before they are worth recommending.
Editorial standards
Flight Tribe covers deals and travel advice for readers first. Affiliate links do not decide whether an offer is worth writing about.
