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3 in 4 Australians Willing to Switch Travel Booking Platforms for Automatic Protection
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Australian consumers are showing a clear preference for protection that is built directly into the digital platforms they already use and trust.
New research from Cover Genius, the global infrastructure for embedded protection, finds that 75% of Australians would be willing to switch travel booking platforms if protection were automatically included with their purchase. The finding points to a potentially significant opportunity for travel platforms looking to differentiate their customer experience and strengthen loyalty through embedded protection.
The research surveyed more than 860 consumers across Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom as part of a broader study examining how consumers understand, purchase and value protection.
Australians Are Risk-Aware, but Prefer Familiar Channels
The research suggests that Australian consumers are highly conscious of potential risks when making major purchases or booking travel, with 87% saying they consider potential risks.
However, that awareness does not necessarily translate into willingness to purchase protection through newer channels.
Only 8% of Australians surveyed said they had purchased protection through a marketplace app, compared with 21% in the United States and 12% in the United Kingdom.
Trust also remains concentrated around established financial and commercial relationships. Australians most commonly prefer their bank or credit card provider (39%), followed by the platform they book through (24%) and dedicated insurers (24%) when considering where protection should come from.
The findings suggest that familiarity and integration remain important factors in how consumers evaluate protection.
Automatic Protection Could Influence Booking Decisions
The strongest opportunity identified by the research is the willingness to adopt protection when it is seamlessly incorporated into the purchase journey.
Three in four Australians (75%) said they would be more likely to book through an online travel platform if protection were automatically included.
The appeal extends beyond convenience. 76% of Australian respondents said they would be more likely to purchase protection if it paid out automatically without requiring them to make a claim.
Together, the findings point toward a broader shift in consumer expectations: protection can become more attractive when it feels like a native part of the transaction rather than an additional product customers must actively research and purchase.
For travel platforms, that creates a potential competitive lever, particularly in a market where consumers appear willing to change booking behavior in exchange for a simpler protection experience.
Emergency Medical Cover Leads Demand
Among the protection products examined, emergency medical coverage while travelling ranked highest among Australian consumers.
80% of respondents rated emergency medical protection highly, giving it a score of four or five out of five. That compares with 77% in the UK and 66% in the US.
Other highly valued categories included cyber identity theft protection at 72% and trip cancellation or interruption protection at 70%.
The results highlight the types of risks consumers consider most relevant when purchasing protection, particularly those that could create significant financial or practical consequences while travelling.
AI Still Has a Trust Gap
While AI is increasingly being integrated into digital purchasing experiences, Australian consumers remain cautious about allowing it to make protection decisions independently.
More than a quarter of Australians, 26%, said they would not allow AI to make a purchase on their behalf. Another 20% said they would not share personal information with any AI system.
The preferred approach is largely one that keeps the consumer in control.
The most popular model, selected by 39%, was for AI to suggest protection while allowing the customer to make the final decision. Only 3% wanted AI to handle protection automatically without asking.
That distinction is important for companies exploring AI-enabled insurance and protection experiences. The research suggests consumers may be open to AI as a decision-support tool, but remain reluctant to hand over full purchasing authority.
The Untapped Value of Existing Card Benefits
The research also highlights a significant awareness gap around protection that consumers may already have access to through their financial products.
Only 30% of Australians surveyed said they had ever successfully used a protection feature associated with a payment card.
Meanwhile, 27% said they did not know what protection their primary card provided.
Overall, 46% said they were unaware of, did not trust, or did not consider the benefits included with their card.
For financial institutions, the finding points to an opportunity to improve how existing benefits are communicated and surfaced within digital banking experiences.
When respondents were asked what would make bank-purchased protection more appealing, clear explanations of what is covered ranked first at 54%, followed by a seamless banking app experience at 48%. Competitive pricing ranked at 44%.
Embedded Protection as a Growth Opportunity
The findings point to a broader opportunity for travel and financial platforms to rethink protection as part of the customer experience rather than as a separate insurance transaction.
Consumers appear particularly receptive when protection is automatically integrated, easy to understand and capable of resolving claims or payouts with minimal friction.
For travel platforms, the potential impact could extend beyond incremental protection sales. If three quarters of Australian consumers are willing to consider switching platforms for automatically included protection, embedded coverage could become part of the broader value proposition used to attract and retain customers.
For insurers and financial institutions, the challenge is similarly moving beyond simply offering coverage toward making its value more visible and accessible within the digital journeys consumers already use.
Leadership Perspective
Angus McDonald, CEO and Co-Founder of Cover Genius, said Australian consumers remain highly risk-conscious while their purchasing behavior has yet to fully catch up with newer digital channels.
He pointed to automation and native integration as important growth levers for embedded protection, particularly when coverage is incorporated into checkout and claims can be resolved quickly.
The implication is straightforward: the easier protection becomes to understand, purchase and use, the less it resembles an optional add-on and the more it can become part of the customer experience itself.
Looking Ahead
Australia's protection market appears to be at an interesting intersection.
Consumers are demonstrating strong awareness of travel and purchase-related risks, but trust remains anchored in familiar institutions and established digital platforms. At the same time, there is significant appetite for protection when it is integrated seamlessly into existing purchasing journeys.
The challenge for travel, banking and insurance businesses will be translating that appetite into experiences that combine convenience, transparency and consumer control.
For platforms able to get that balance right, embedded protection could become more than a risk-management product. It could become a meaningful driver of customer preference and loyalty.
About the Research
The findings come from Cover Genius's Embedded Protection Consumer Survey, a structured survey of 1,392 consumers conducted in March and April 2026 across seven countries and four generations.
The findings highlighted in this article draw from Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, with 225 Australian respondents, 482 US respondents and 155 UK respondents.
Participants answered 23 core questions covering risk awareness, protection preferences, purchasing behavior and attitudes toward emerging embedded protection models. To qualify, respondents had to have engaged in at least one qualifying financial or travel activity during the previous 12 months and had previously been offered a protection or insurance product.
The research was conducted in partnership with Gather, an independent third-party research and content provider.
The Australian sample of 225 respondents is relatively modest, so the Australian findings should be viewed as directional.
About Cover Genius
Cover Genius is a global infrastructure provider for embedded protection. The company operates across more than 60 countries and all 50 US states, providing protection experiences for customers of digital businesses across travel, financial services, commerce and other sectors.
Cover Genius says it has protected more than 70 million customers globally across 240 million policies, with USD $3.2 billion in gross written sales.