Last updated: July 24th, 2026
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Travelling to Europe or Bali to escape the brittle winter Australian weather? I am keeping it simple – because I have a ton of work to catch up on after the birth of my child – so I’m sticking with simple domestic weekend getaways to Byron and the Adelaide Hills.
But regardless of your destination, let me ask you a serious question – have you chosen the best travel insurance for your needs?
If you catch a stomach bug, like my wife Irene did a couple of years ago (in Mexico City, of all places), you may be stuck with a hospital bill that makes you want to vomit.
Back then, our American Express Platinum Card covered the $11,400 medical bill. Comprehensive travel insurance is included as one of the perks, and we relied on it to trot around the globe.
Best Travel Insurance In Australia For 2026 Is:
- Zoom Insurance – best overall, best for resort skiing holidays.
- AllClear Insurance – best for seniors, or if you have pre-existing medical conditions.
- Fast Cover – best for skiing in aggressive terrain.
- Covermore – best travel insurance for cruising holidays.
- World2Cover – best for sightseeing in Europe and the USA.
- Butter Insurance – good cheap-and-cheerful travel insurer.
- Covermore – good all-round travel insurer.
- Insure&Go – good all-round travel insurer.
Now that we’re parenting a toddler back in Australia and only take 1-2 family holidays per year, the $1750 annual fee didn’t seem like great value.
So I decided not to renew my Amex membership – but to compare a few travel insurance providers, so I could buy it on an ad-hoc basis.
With that in mind, I present you with a comparison of the best travel insurance providers in Australia.
Before I unpack each insurance provider in detail, here are my controversial discoveries that most Aussies don’t know:
1. Most Base Policies Are Almost Identical.
Don’t waste time splitting hairs between things that don’t matter.
2. Australian Government won’t pay your bills.
If you get caught offguard in a tricky situation overseas, don’t expect the Aussie taxpayer to step in and save you. This is why travel insurance is essential (even though 14% of Australians disagree – see below).
3. Travel Insurance Is Mandatory In Some Countries.
Countries like the UAE and Singapore won’t let you in unless you have proof of travel insurance. Neither will all 26 countries in the Shengen area of Europe.
Important!
Wondering why my conclusions differ from the ones you see on Canstar and Finder? Because I’m a business owner, writing about my own experiences – not a $100m corporate juggernaut selling corporate partnerships.
1. Zoom Insurance.
Best overall, best for resort skiing holidays.
Zoom’s differentiator is that it is almost always the cheapest – especially at the base policy level.
You can get a quote for a simple base policy, then tailor it around your individual risk appetite.
Pick one of three plans (medical only, standard, comprehensive), choose your excess and cancellation coverage, and toggle on any bolt-ons you want (winter sports pack, sports and adventure pack, cruise pack, etc).
Pros.
Getting a quote for Zoom Travel Insurance takes less than 10 seconds – because the website interface is seamless and remarkably fuss-free.
Bringing your kids along? No need to insure them separately – they’re included for free on your policy.
Zoom is a value insurer, so the quotes I got were almost always the cheapest, when compared with the other insurers in this review
(A month-long family holiday to Europe will cost about $350. A solo getaway to Bali – about $100).
But, just in case another insurance provider beats Zoom on price, they have a price-match function that guarantees the best deal.
I love that all plans include unlimited overseas medical cover – this comes in handy when travelling to expensive destinations like the United States.
But, to be fair to the other top Australian insurers in this review, so do most of them.
Now let’s talk about skiing.
Zoom is the best travel insurance in Australia for this. Its Winter Sports add-on pack will cover you on groomed and off-piste runs – but only if you stick within the resort’s boundaries.
Important!
The unlimited cover provides real peace of mind in the event you may need helicopter evacuation (see the “Do You Need Travel Insurance To Go Skiing?” below to understand why).
However, Zoom’s ski insurance is terrible if you’re an advanced (*cough* pretentious *cough*) skier who thinks resorts are for losers, and you spend your days exploring backcountry.
If that’s you, FastCover (below) is the far better insurance product. If I was going heli-skiing, that’d be the one I use. Dude.
Cons.
One thing to watch out for – Zoom’s cancellation cover starts 72 hours after you purchased the policy. If you buy Zoom travel insurance last minute, the day of your departure, you won’t be covered if something happens.
My other three favourites (Butter, AllClear, Fast Cover) start the moment you enter your credit card.
But don’t expect to take the piss by buying insurance the moment your car broke down – the claim will be denied if you “reasonably” expected a delay or cancellation to happen.
Zoom’s pre-existing condition definition is one of the most restrictive. It includes conditions you or your travelling partner had “at any time in your life”.
That’s an enormous surface area for potential denial of claims – you might get denied because you had heart, respiratory, neck/back or any recurring illness 20 years ago.
They’ll charge you a double excess for any ski-related claims (usually $200, so you’ll cough up $400).
This leaves a bit of a sour note when claiming anything minor. For example, if I break or lose a $1,000 set of skis, I’ll be glad that I’m not up for the full grand, but I’m not exactly happy about shelling out the $400.
Verdict.
Zoom travel insurance took the #1 spot in my comparison of the best travel insurance in Australia.
You get unlimited medical coverage at a lean starting price, and a smart tier system that you build up your coverage.
Plus, it’s best for beginner to intermediate skiers who don’t plan to venture outside of the resort’s boundaries.
You get coverage for all the essentials – piste closure, heli evacuation, equipment loss – without having to pay for backcountry heroics you have no intention of attempting.
| Assessment Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Cost Of Cover | 5 |
| Ease Of Claim | 5 |
| Ease Of Signup | 5 |
2. AllClear Insurance.
Best for seniors, or if you have a pre-existing condition.
AllClear wins the second spot in my roundup of best travel insurance providers because it’s not trying to be everything to everyone.
Instead, it solves the hardest part of insurance shopping for older travellers and people with health histories.
Important!
This becomes even more important when you get older. AllClear does appear to be mostly aimed at seniors, but they’ll cover anyone above the age of 18.
Pros.
Requesting a quote is easy and seamless – almost as easy as with Zoom.
The only difference is that AllClear Insurance wants you to provide names and dates of birth of all travellers before showing a quote – this gets a little clunky if you just want to compare a few quotes.
If you have all documents handy, it will take you less than 7 minutes to submit your documents and obtain your quote.
Speaking of ailments, AllClear’s marketing propaghanda says that the company covers you for 1300 different pre-existing conditions. And apparently 62% of its customers have more than one.
My wife actually has some chronic conditions that have the potential to mess with our travels, which is why I view AllClear as one of the best travel insurance options for us.
The difference is that the base policy (Traveller) isn’t a bare-bones medical-only product. It includes goodies like $3,000 luggage cover and $5,000 travel delay cover.
The other difference is that Gold and Gold Plus plans have no upper age limit – which is quite unique among Aussie insurers, and is excellent for seniors.
But the majority of the value seniors get from AllClear is not immediately obvious – and is buried in the fine print.
For example, its trip cancellation cover can be triggered by an illness of your carer or close business associate – while Zoom limits the same cover to just you and your close relatives.
When making a claim, you get a personal claim manager, who you can call back on their own phone line. This means you don’t have to call the main switchboard and get routed to a different person every time.
This one is easy to overlook, but it makes all the difference when making a claim.
Don’t know about you, but I don’t want my insurer to sound like they’re doing me a favour when discussing a payout. I want to feel cared for.
Cons.
The claims process is one of the best of all providers in this review – but not perfect.
AllClear Insurance outsources it to a 3rd party provider (Europ Assistance / Gallagher Bassett), and it sometimes gets under some people’s skin.
You’ll see plenty of reviews online, with people complaining about slow claims (AllClear doesn’t have the 10-day claim guarantee, as Zoom does) and repeated document requests.
It’s also more expensive than most. I compared a few different quotes, and they consistenly were about 10-20% more expensive than Zoom.
Verdict.
AllClear Insurance is in second place overall, and is best for people with bodies that have unfortunately started to let them down. If that’s you, AllClear’s policy structure is built around your needs.
It sits behind Zoom not because it’s a worse insurance provider, but because it’s far more specialised.
| Assessment Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Cost Of Cover | 4 |
| Ease Of Claim | 4 |
| Ease Of Signup | 5 |
3. Butter Insurance.
Best for healthy minimalists.
If AllClear Insurance (above) is for seniors and people with deep medical histories, Butter Insurance is anti-AllClear.
It’s a no-frills insurer designed for
Pros.
Butter’s policy around medical conditions is the simplest one here.
It simply lists 50 conditions that it will cover you for (as long as you’ve not been hospitalised for them within the past 24 months, and the meds you take for them haven’t changed for the past 6 months).
These “conditions” made me chuckle – because they’re mostly mild or borderline negligible (e.g., gastric reflux and plantar fasciitis).
Interestingly, Butter doesn’t even give you the option to declare another pre-existing condition – even if you want to pay for it.
In doing so, it makes a clear statement about the types of people it wants to do business with – healthy people without a meaningful medical history.
But – and this is a big but – it’s the only value insurer in this review with a huge age upper limit – 99 years of age.
Important!
This gives it a strange niche – a fit, medication-free 87-year-old (whom Zoom and Fast Cover won’t insure at all, because they cap at 85 and 87, respectively) can choose Butter over AllClear – and pay far lower fees.
(Although the overall level of coverage will also be lower).
The cost is Butter’s other main drawcard. It’s one of the cheapest here – almost as cheap as Zoom.
It’s also the only one to offer extended coverage for pet boarding arrangements at checkout.
Cons.
Butter’s cancellation ceiling tops out at $40,000. It’s OK, but can make one feel nervous when going on a substantial holiday with the entire family.
This datapoint acts as a gentle reminder that Butter is likely targeting younger, healthy people and couples who are doing short adventures (e.g., hikes, Bali getaways and Perisher ski trips).
Not well-off families from eastern suburbs indulging in the 5-star opulence of Portofino.
While Zoom is OK with you going off-piste – as long as you stay within the resort’s boundaries – Butter insists you stay on groomed runs only.
Verdict.
Butter is insurance for people who think they don’t need insurance. Young, healthy adventurers.
It’s similar to Zoom, but is about 20% more expensive, which is why I placed it in the #3 spot. But I do suggest you get quotes from both – you may get a better deal than I did.
| Assessment Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Cost Of Cover | 5 |
| Ease Of Claim | 4 |
| Ease Of Signup | 5 |
4. Fast Cover.
Best travel insurance for aggressive ski terrain.
Most Australian travel insurers treat advanced skiers as a risk they need to avoid. Read the fine-print of a PDS and you’ll notice the same caveats – your cover is valid only within resort boundary lines.
Granted, some resorts have off-piste sections that let you experience powder.
You’ll go exploring proper back-country. You’ll be trying to ski glaciers. You’ll be eyeing off that helicopter in the sky and wondering how much it costs to do a heli drop – if you split it with 5 mates.
Basically, you’ll be doing everything that standard ski insurance frowns upon.
Pros.
Enter Fast Cover. The company is a Sydney-based specialist insurer, underwritten by Lloyd’s of London. Yep, that Lloyd’s, with that pedigree.
A 338-year-old company that insures everything from SpaceX launches to oil tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
As you’d expect, the signup process is rapid. Fast Cover’s website recently got an update, making it the most usable and modern-looking one here.
Tick “I’m going skiing” – and you’re covered for snow cat, heli, off-piste, snow mobiling and all advanced terrain.
You also get a choice of three excess levels – $100, $200, and $500 – although choosing the most expensive one doesn’t drop the fee by a lot.
All the other stuff I liked about Zoom applies here too – especially unlimited medical cover.
Cons.
One caveat you must know about – the advanced terrain cover only applies if you’re skiing with a professional instructor.
Most heli-ski and cat-ski operators will insist that you have one, anyway – unless you’re a total pro. But if you’re pro, you’re likely not browsing this site, anyway.
Important!
Luggage cover is for $15K – which is outstanding. But if you’re planning to take your ski gear with you, make sure you specify the items – that will remove the depreciation.
Fast Cover’s cruise offering is materially thinner than Zoom’s and AllClear’s. No cabin confinement. No missed port insurance. No formal wear cover. Definitely not a fit for a lover of the high seas.
Verdict.
Fast Cover earned a 3rd place in my comparison of best travel insurance because it includes everything an advanced skier wants – while Zoom and other insurance providers actively exclude it.
But Fast Cover isn’t just for skiers. It actually offers decent travel insurance for the general public.
Your mum can use it to insure her sightseeing vacation and be relatively happy. Except if she plans to take a cruise ship there.
| Assessment Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Cost Of Cover | 3 |
| Ease Of Claim | 4 |
| Ease Of Signup | 4 |
5. Covermore.
Best travel insurance for cruising holidays.
Covermore had a few rough years, with customer feedback falling steeply. In fact, there are currently 69 reviews of it on Google, with an average rating of 2 stars.
I do take these reviews with a heavy dose of salt – because happy people tend not to leave reviews. And to complicate things further, not all negative reviews are credible.
Many people whose claim gets rejected on legitimate grounds jump online to vent.
Nonetheless, Cover More remains popular – and appears to be bundled with some of CBA’s travel products.
Pros.
Cover More has a genuine cruise-specific benefit schedule that Zoom, Fast Cover and AllClear lack.
If your cruise operator insists that you must remain in your cabin (e.g., if you catch a stomach bug), you’ll get cabin confinement cover at $100/day (but only up to $1,500).
If on top of that you miss non-refundable shore excursions, Cover More will cover up to $1,000 worth of those.
But, just as Zoom isn’t a one-trick pony limited to ski aficionados, Cover More isn’t just the #1 pick for lovers of cruising.
Underwritten by Zurich, it has impressive pedigree – and its benefit is one of the most comprehensive in this review (e.g., you get around $50,000 cancellation cover).
Important!
This is why most online reviews overlook its cruising street cred – and view it as a comprehensive generalist travel insurer.
Cons.
Unfortunately, because Cover More tends to overpack its policies with goodies, it tends to be on the more expensive side.
Expect your policy to cost about 10% more compared with the rough equivalent with my #1 overall pick, Zoom.
It’s still very much usable – but definitely a generation behind the others. Don’t expect a sleek user experience.
The travel delay benefit deserves a special mention because it’s surprisingly thin for a market leader.
You’ll get only $300, and only after a 6-hour delay – and another $300 per full 24-hour period after that.
Zoom, in contrast, pays out $2,000 straight away (although its exclusions rule out far more triggers – e.g., cyber incidents, weather and mechanical breakdowns).
So, Cover More is likely to provide you with cover in more scenarios (I guess hence the name, ha!), but is more likely to be stingy about it.
Verdict.
Cover More wins the cruising category for a structural reason – its cruising policy appears to be designed by someone who thought deeply about what typically goes wrong at sea:
- Cabin confinement money to offset the fact that you’re relegated to
solitary confinementyour cabin until your body shakes off the virus. - Generous $1,000 payout when the captain announces over the PA that the high swell levels have taken a port day off your itinerary.
- If the shore operator keeps your prepaid excursion fees after your ship fails to dock, Cover More will reimburse you for those, too.
Yes, the high volume of negative reviews is a bit of a concern for me, but if I was looking for strong cruise-specific cover, I’d probably turn a blind eye to them.
| Assessment Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Cost Of Cover | 3 |
| Ease Of Claim | 3 |
| Ease Of Signup | 4 |
6. World2Cover.
Best for sightseeing in Europe and the USA.
Compared with other travel insurance providers, World2Cover offers a $10,000,000 legal liability cover – the highest of any other provider.
Like Fast Cover, World2Cover offers unlimited coverage for medical, cancellation and emergency expenses.
What worries me most is that the feedback they receive online is appalling.
I get that online reviews always tend to skew negative (happy customers are less likely to leave reviews, as they have better things to do), but World2Cover’s reputation is in a class of its own.
My point of view on it is as follows. A lot of the negativity is due to World2Cover’s particularly bureaucratic claims process – not (what can seem like) greedy intent to deny people their cover.
Unfortunately, it means a lot of people have their claims mistakenly denied, and have to go back-and-forth with the company to resolve the issue.
| Assessment Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Cost Of Cover | 3 |
| Ease Of Claim | 3 |
| Ease Of Signup | 3 |
7. Insure&Go.
Good all-round travel insurer.
Insure&Go is one of the cheapest travel insurance providers in this review.
My wife has used them twice when we visited Bali, and found their prices unbelievably cheap. I verified this by getting a quote for a 1-month holiday in Europe, and it came in at $380. Out-bloody-standing. This makes it 20% cheaper than World2Cover and 15% cheaper than Zoom Insurance.
What I don’t love is that they don’t cover you for pre-existing conditions.
This makes Insure&Go great for younger folks – if you’re older than 40 years of age, I recommend you go with AllClear instead.
| Assessment Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Cost Of Cover | 2 |
| Ease Of Claim | 2 |
| Ease Of Signup | 5 |
Why Do You Need Travel Insurance?
I watched an SBS News special recently that revealed Australians are a pretty risk-averse bunch – 86% of Aussie travellers have travel insurance cover when venturing abroad.
However, the remaining 14% expose themselves to significant levels of risk by travelling uninsured, and are most likely to be:
- Migrants (23%).
- Young people aged under 30 (23%).
Andrew Hall, the Chief Executive Officer of Insurance Council of Australia, had a stark warning to those doubting the value of travel insurance:
That puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?
Do You Need Travel Insurance To Go Skiing?
Short answer – hell yes. Especially if you go off-piste.
Irene and I love anything related to the mountains (whether it’s driving, hiking, or skiing) – especially in Europe.
If you’re the same, remember that medical help in the mountains can be absurdly expensive – especially if you need an air ambulance.
What If You Need An Air Rescue When Skiing Overseas?
With a few minor exceptions (that you shouldn’t count on), you’re 100% liable for the cost of a helicopter rescue in overseas skiing destinations like Austria, Germany, Italy and France.
Above: Irene and I skiing in Saalbach, Austria a couple of seasons ago.
If one plucks you from the side of a mountain, you’ll pay about £100 (AU$165) for every minute the helicopter is in the air – this includes the time it spends getting to you.
A short hop to the local medical centre will take about 30 minutes (15 to get to you, and 15 to return) – that’s £3,000 (AU$4,950).
The worst case scenario is one where your injury is too severe to be treated at the local clinic, or the weather is too severe for the chopper to land there.
You’ll end up flying to a regional hub like Sallanches in France or Innsbruck in Austria, which will cost about £10,000 (AU$16,500).
Important!
Emergency medical evacuation from the mountain is not the same as search and rescue. The former is almost always covered by travel insurance. The latter almost never is.
What If You Need An Air Rescue When Skiing In Australia?
Ski emergencies in Australia can be even more expensive, with Victoria’s air ambulance being the priciest of them all.
If you break a leg skiing in Mt Hotham and require an airlift to Melbourne, you will pay just over $13,175 for the privilege.
New South Wales is dirt cheap in comparison – the state’s ambulance service charges a combination of flagfall and per-kilometre rate, which is capped at $7,299 – regardless if they send you by road or by air.
So yeah. Even a “simple” rescue can cost more than your whole ski trip.
Does Your Travel Insurance Policy Cover Air Rescue?
This one is worth double-checking.
And no – you don’t need to read 40 pages of fine print. Scan the PDS for the following (the phrasing may vary):
- Emergency Medical Coverage Limit: Heli rescue is usually taken from your emergency medical pot. Make sure it’s high enough to cover your adventure. As I just showed, even a mild trip near the ski resort can result in an eye-watering bill.
- Helicopter Specific Excesses And Sub-Limits: Some policies have heli-specific caps and excesses – even when the medical limit is high.
Most travel insurers give you the option of adding a skiing-specific add-on to your policy.
But these “ski packs” or “winter sports” add-ons are NOT primarily a rescue benefit. Instead, it’s a set of ski-specific benefits layered on top of your basic policy. For example:
- Your resort is closed due to avalanche disruption or lack of snow, and you want to recover the cost of unused lift passes.
- You break or lose rented ski equipment. (My current obsession for carving is the Stockli Laser WRT – what’s yours? Let me know in the comments. They’re super fun, but cost about $2,500 to replace).
Zoom Insurance is the outlier here, which is why I like it the most. It goes further than paying for damaged skis and unused ski passes – it’s a legitimate snow-sports medical assistance and expense cover.
Above: Irene overlooking Stelvio Pass in Italy – one of the best driving roads in the world. Although I think Grimsel and Susten Passes in Switzerland are better.
Do I Need Travel Insurance To Go On A Cruise?
OK, let me be 100% honest here – I’m not a fan of cruising. Not yet, anyway.
I’m 45 years of age, and still in the “hotel + adventure travel” stage of my life. The idea of being on a boat with a few thousand people just doesn’t appeal as much as driving through mountain passes of Europe with my family.
Sometimes you just want to switch off – while an army of waiters and entertainers take care of every single one of your needs.
So while I don’t have first-hand experience with cruising, I did my best to understand the risks – and ways travel insurance can solve them. Here are the top three that I found:
- Stormy seas are common. They can cause trips and falls, especially in older people. If you break a bone, you will need to be evacuated to a reputable hospital.
- Unexpected life events happen. If you find out that a family member passed away as your ship is docking in Singapore, you will want your travel insurance to cover the cost of your immediate flight home.
- Cruise ships are the perfect breeding ground for respiratory viruses and stomach bugs. If your case is severe, you may need to be evacuated from your cruise ship with a helicopter. Everything I described in the heli evac section above applies here, too. Except that distances may be even greater, and your costs far higher.
Important!
Even if cruising in Austrian domestic waters, the ship’s doctors may not be part of an Australian medical system, so you may not be able to claim their costs via Medicare or private health insurance.
Do I Need Travel Insurance To Go On A Domestic Cruise?
Yes. Because emergency expenses you incur on a ship are likely not covered by Medicare.
A doctor working on a cruise is unlikely to have an Australian Medicare provider number. His license is likely registered in Italy or Greece.
And his name is likely Antonio. Or Pablo.
This is why it’s important to be covered by an international travel insurance policy – even if sailing in Australian waters. Or a domestic insurance policy with a specific cruising add-on.
Which Destinations Are Not Covered By Travel Insurance?
Planning an action-packed holiday in the Strait of Hormuz? Don’t expect any of the providers to cover you.
Always start your travels by checking the threat level of your destination on the Australian government’s SmartTraveller website.
Above: Lake Atitlán in Guatemala – arguably prettier than the much more famous Lake Como in Italy.
Personally, I use these with a heavy grain of salt – because, in my experience, they significantly overestimate the risk level.
For example, I’ve travelled extensively through huge parts of Mexico, as well as Guatemala and Cuba.
According to the infinite wisdom of the Australian government, they are always stuck at threat levels of 3 and 4.
But these areas are home to a huge number of Australian expats who’ve built extraordinary lives there, many of whom I now call friends.
The bigger problem is that Level 4 destinations are likely not to be covered by standard travel insurance policies.
Level 3 destinations, meanwhile, vary between providers. So check – and double check – the Product Disclosure Statement of your insurer.
Important!
The threat level may rise after you’ve booked your trip. For example, Cuba recently became a Level 4 destination, after Trump’s interference with its fuel supply started to have adverse effects on its economy. Check whether your insurance policy covers cancellations if this happens.
Why Is Travel Insurance So Expensive?
A part of me has always resented having to pay for travel insurance. Even when the quote appeared modest, I always baulked at the idea of paying it.
(Probably because that money doesn’t go towards purchasing anything tangible – but rather, a reduction in risk).
But recently a businessman I respect taught me a perspective that changed how I view travel insurance forever.
He said,
That was a game-changing reframe for me, because it put the value of travel insurance in stark contrast.
I’d give up a single-digit value of an asset to protect its near-full value every day of the week.
How Much Should Travel Insurance Cost?
When shopping around, it helps to know whether your travel insurance quote is sensible or excessive. Here are the ballpark costs you can expect to pay.
| Destination / Duration | Single Person ($) | Couple / Family ($) |
|---|---|---|
| Bali, 2 weeks | $130 | $240 |
| UK, 3 weeks | $182 | $350 |
| USA, 3 weeks | $285 | $545 |
| Thailand, 2 weeks | $155 | $240 |
| New Zealand, 2 weeks | $100 | $160 |
How I Compared The Travel Insurance Providers.
The biggest problem with choosing travel insurance is that they all appear the same. Nearly all provide the same combinations of single-trip or multiple-trip cover, with optional bolt-ons for specialty trips. Such as:
- Ski trips (on and off-piste).
- Golf trips (with lost golf club replacement).
- Cruise trips.
Moreover, each provider allows you to dial in the amount of cover you want, depending on your budget.
For example, AllClear gives you three levels, with the main difference being the top amount of cover you get for things like luggage loss.
To make like-for-like cost comparison between different providers meaningful, I requested quotes from providers for five types of trip, common in Australia:
- I Need A Vino: Sydney to Perth flight, 1-week stay at a winery.
- Bogan Express: Sydney to Bali, 2-week stay at a villa.
- Annual Family Pilgrimage: Sydney to Rome, 4-week hotel stay.
- European Ski Nut: Melbourne to Switzerland, 4 week hotel stay.
- Ski Trip With The Boyz: Sydney to Mt Hotham, 1 week cabin stay.
I then added up the costs to arrive at an average figure for each travel insurance provider.
I also assessed two main other areas: ease of claims and ease of signup.
Does A Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) Substitute Travel Insurance?
11 countries have reciprocal agreements with Australia that act as a shared safety net for the cost of medical treatment.
I didn’t even know these agreements existed – until I ended up in a Milan hospital after slipping in a hotel bathroom.
To my amazement, they simply asked for my Australian Medicare card, and told me that payment was taken care of.
Important!
The RHCA is not a replacement for travel insurance, as it doesn’t cover you for any consequences of your injury – e.g., adjustments to travel plans.
The RHCA doesn’t cover anything outside of immediate emergency treatment in the public system, either – so you will be out of pocket for expenses like an ambulance.
Also, some countries are more stingy than others – and will expect you to co-contribute to your bill. For example, Belgium will expect you to pay between 25% and 40% of a GP’s fee.
Limits Of Travel Insurance You Need To Know About.
OK, this is something I discovered the hard way. If your airline screws up (e.g., a delayed flight causes you to miss a connection, or a cancelled flight means you miss a Taylor Swift concert), your travel insurer won’t help.
But ultimately, in Australia, airlines are responsible for any issues that arise as a result of their operations. It is their responsibility to offer you a replacement flight and, if applicable, accommodation.
This seems reasonable, except that noone appears to be liable for the losses you incur (e.g., whose responsiblity is it to reimburse you for that missed concert ticket?) Yours, it seems.
Enjoy your travels!
Steven
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