Two insurances, two moments
The difference is simpler than the names suggest. Cancellation insurance is about the time before departure: you have booked and paid, and then something happens that stops you going. Travel insurance is about the time during the trip: you are there, and something goes wrong.
So they do not replace each other. A broken leg a week before departure is cancellation insurance. The same leg broken in Marrakech is travel insurance. Many guests take out both, but you do not have to; that is your choice.
Sultan Travel does not sell insurance itself. You arrange it yourself after booking.
The deadline you can miss: seven days
This is where it goes wrong in practice. a.s.r. states that cancellation insurance must be taken out within seven days of booking. Wait longer and you can no longer take it out for that trip.
Travel insurance has no such pressure: you can still arrange it later, as long as it is before departure. So cancellation insurance is the thing you do straight after the booking confirmation, or not at all.
Other insurers apply other deadlines. If you insure elsewhere, check what applies there.
What the two contain at a.s.r.
This is what a.s.r. states on its own site, as of November 2026. The terms are binding, this overview is not.
Cancellation insurance comes in a standard version and Allrisk. The standard version covers cancelling or cutting short the trip, including unused travel days, for reasons such as the death of a partner or family member, serious illness, an accident, a pregnancy or sudden unemployment. Allrisk additionally reimburses 75 per cent of cancellation costs for certain personal reasons outside that list. No longer feeling like going, or bad weather, is not included. You can insure up to four stand-ins.
The short-term travel insurance has three levels: Basis, Comfort and Optimaal. On top of that you choose separate modules: baggage, medical costs, legal assistance, skiing and snowboarding, vehicle assistance and hire, accidents and cash. You can also extend cover worldwide and insure extra sports equipment.
The medical costs module raises the most questions. Whether you need it depends on what your own health insurance does outside the Netherlands. That is in your policy, not in ours.
What GGTO does and does not do
With us, your travel money is protected through the GGTO guarantee fund. That protection is about one thing: what happens to your money if we become insolvent. It comes from the European package travel directive and therefore also applies to travellers from Belgium, Germany, France and the rest of the EU.
GGTO does nothing if you cannot go, and nothing if something happens during your trip. That is exactly the gap insurance covers. Anyone who thinks GGTO protection replaces insurance is in for a shock the moment things go wrong.
How you arrange it, and what we do not do
As soon as your booking confirmation arrives, you take out the policy yourself. If you would rather not search, these two a.s.r. links are ready.
- Short-term travel insurance: https://reis.asr.nl/verzekeringen/kortlopende-reisverzekering/ikkieszelf/afsluiten?int=800052
- Cancellation insurance: https://reis.asr.nl/verzekeringen/annuleringsverzekering/ikkieszelf/afsluiten?int=800052
You are tied to nothing: any insurer will do, and comparing is sensible. We do not advise you on which cover suits you. We are not permitted to, and it would not be right either: we do not know your health insurance, your baggage or your employment situation.
If you do not live in the Netherlands, first ask a.s.r. whether you can take it out there. If not, arrange it with an insurer in your own country; the protection you need is the same.