Has anyone used trip insurance before? I’m about to spend 4 weeks in Australia with my wife and it seems like a good idea. I’m looking at a policy that would cost $193 for both of us. Problem is that I really don’t trust insurance to actually pay if something happens.
Anyone have an opinion on the matter?
Thanks
Make sure you read the fine print on what is covered and what is not covered. Then google the insurance company, check tripadvisor.com, etc. to see if other travelers have experience with that particular insurance company.
It depends where you buy it from and what the policy covers. I know Priceline offers insurance so if your plans change you can get money back or rebook. Priceline is very reptuatable. People don’t like Priceline because they have hard and fast rules and never vary at all. People mistake not reading carefully for being cheated.
And to be honest, Priceline does make it difficult to read everything should, but it is there. Too often people learn the hard way.
What insurance are you going to purchase? Who are you getting it from? And what will it cover? Once we know that, someone will be able to help you with specifics
I was thinking of going with World Nomads, they were recommended by YHA/HI.
Get insurance. That is my main advice. 
I bought it once, used it and was disappointed. This really wasn’t the fault of the insurance company, but I have never bought it since. We bought it for a trip to the Outer Banks during hurricane season. Sure enough a hurricane came.
So our trip was for two weeks and we arrived on Saturday of week one. Evacuation started to seem like a good idea by Friday. On Sunday the authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order which was lifted on Tuesday. By then we were home and 7 hours away, with four days left on our vacation. It just wasn’t worth returning.
So the insurance paid for the days of Sunday, Monday and Tuesday even though we really lost many more days than that. In this case it really was barely worth the bother after we subtracted the price of the insurance.
I always get travel insurance. I just consider it a necessary cost of any holiday.
Get insurance for a big trip like this.
My husband and his paralyzed father are going to germany in a few weeks and they are getting insurance, despite going to visit and staying with family and both speak the language fluently ( but medical stuff might be a problem. Somethings don’t translate well), because my father in law is a crapshoot of medical problems due to his paralyzation ( is that a word?).
Also, take with you your doctor’s phone number and a list of all your meds you take and why. If you have any allergies, put it there too. Keep it in your wallet. If some weird emergency comes up, it will be at the ready.
Have a great time!
Your health insurance provider should offer supplemental coverage for overseas visits (assuming overseas care isn’t already covered by your policy). Get that.
Trip insurance for what?
Cost of travel (tickets), lost baggage, rental vehicle, missed appointments, medical, etc.? Advice is easier if you explain what you want to protect.
Get insurance for a trip that big. Things to look for: Make sure they’ll reimburse both of you if either of you cannot make the trip for a covered reason (illness, injury, etc.) There are policies out there that are written so narrowly that they basically expect the healthy members of a party (even if related) to continue on the vacation and leave the injured one behind. Also, IIRC you’ll be diving on the GBR. If that trip is of any great length or cost, see if you can get a rider that will cover you if you get too sick to dive, but not sick enough to curtail the vacation (like a bad cold). ISTR having such a policy when we did a liveaboard in Australia, but may be mistaken.
Are you members of Divers Alert Network (DAN)? You should look into their dive accident insurance also. Chambers are expensive.
The OP’s location is in Canada. He’s covered by his provincial health insurance plan, but only to the limits of the plan as they would be in Canada–if the cost of the foreign provider is more than the provincial limits, he’s on the hook for the rest.
It is quite common for Canadians travelling internationally to buy additional medical insurance, such as the OP noted was available from World Nomads. I have no experience with them, but I’d recommend some form of supplementary insurance if travelling in Australia; I’ve always bought it for my trips there.
I travel a lot, ranging from overseas exotic developing world-type places, to ordinary western-touristy-type places (a cruise, say, or Italy, etc).
You can figure out if you want trip cancellation insurance on your own. What kind of tickets did you buy; what’s the cancellation/exchange penalty, etc…
If you are like me, the main concern is untoward medical event emergencies. I recommend that type of insurance and I recommend you carefully review the evacuation options depending on where you are going. You basically want to get local bills covered and have good options of getting your sick or busted butt back home.
One of my associates just got handed a bill for his med-evac jet from the Caribbean: $25G. Just because he can afford it did not make it that much less painful. As with any insurance, check on your current coverage and take your own plunge. YMMV.
I thoroughly enjoyed the “Am I covered” section on the WorldNomads site: Learn about what’s covered on our Travel Insurance policies.
*
“For example, if you are wildlife-watching in the extremes of Alaska and are attacked by a polar bear, are you covered? It depends. You see, if the bear attacks you while you were watching them as a part of a wildlife safari or trekking, then YES we would cover you (assuming the bear didn’t catch you of course), but if you were chasing the bear having had a beer too many the night before and you thought it would be a laugh… err… then NO, we wouldn’t.”*
Makes me wanna trust 'em right there, but I have no experience with them.
I have an annual policy with ihi Bupa, mostly for the medical coverage. They are a company based in Denmark. They provide 100% coverage with no deductible and upper limit for emergency medical treatment and evacuation. I’ve only made a claim once when I got sick on a trip and went to the doctor. The bill was only like USD 70, but they did reimburse me.
Trust me, if you get hurt out there, you’ll wish you had insurance. Go get it. I speak from painful (and lion intensive) experience.
Medical insurance is a must anywhere (very,nauseatingly, close to a horrific moped accident on a small island in Thailand convinced me of that pretty quickly).
And we have the bitiest and most venomous of biters here
… animals, not people…
mostly.
Hospital cover is free in Australia. ( do not know if that extends to visitors, however I expect it does).
In going overseas I always take out an insurance coverage. I don’t really care about coverage in case of hijacking _ I’d probably be dead anyway- but it can also have advantages such as covering excess for hire cars. You don’t need to pay extra at the hire company.
I have year-round travel insurance on a policy that provides me with enough cover for a serious amount of medical care, and for repatriation costs if necessary. I have never needed to claim on it but I would certainly never travel without it. It’s additional peace of mind, if nothign else.
My in-laws travel extensively and swear by insuremytrip.com. I can think of at least 2 times in recent memory where they’ve been paid back for expenses related to flight delays.
No, it doesn’t, unless you’re from one of the countries with which Australia has a reciprocal health care agreement - the UK, Malta, Finland, Sweden, Italy, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium. (Info here.)
I always consider travel insurance just a necessary part of any overseas travel budget. I certainly wouldn’t even consider going without it to a country (such as the USA for us, or here for you) where I couldn’t afford to get medical attention.