Is It Worth Getting Travel Insurance?

You’re an experienced traveller, you’ve seen the world; you know a thing or two about the place. You tell yourself as long as you’re careful, what can go wrong. Plus, this is an expensive holiday already. Is travel insurance really going to be the best use of your hard-earned cash?

Brought to you by Auras Insurance.

Travel insurance is never going to be the most exciting part of your trip, but you don’t want it to be the one thing you regret not having either.

Having the right travel insurance can save you a fortune, save your holiday from disaster and maybe even save your life. *

Now, we don’t want to come across as scare mongers or pessimists, but things can happen when you’re on the road. It’s part of the adventure of travel. But when the adventure takes a turn for the worst, the safety net of insurance is worth its weight.

Should You Buy Travel Insurance?

It’ll probably be no surprise to you that we’ll tell you that you should always have insurance when you’re travelling, but it can come in a few different formats *.

Sometimes your credit card will have automatic insurance included. This will only give you limited cover, but things like care hire excess and things like that are sometimes covered.

Sometimes, home insurance will cover some personal possessions while you’re away from the house.

Of course, you’ll need to check your policies.

But for comprehensive travel security, proper, specifically designed travel insurance is the only way to go. International travel insurance is still a high priority for travellers with over 75% of us taking out policies before we head overseas.

There are lots of companies and policy types out there for a host of different purposes.

From the best travel insurance for Asia from Australia to adventure sports holidays to round-the-world trips, it’s important to pin down exactly what your travel plans are so you can be as fully covered as possible.

This is key to getting the most out of your insurance budget. If you’re off on a beach holiday, there’s no point in paying the extra you need for ski cover.

But if that beach happens to be in a country that has a reputation for a difficult customs department, you might want to look at policies that cover embassy refunds if your visa unexpectedly falls foul of the country’s system.

What about travel insurance for domestic travel in Australia?

Domestic travel insurance (for Aussies travelling within Australia) is an interesting one. Over the last couple of years, companies have reported a drop in customer priority for domestic travel insurance — down to about 40% according to Southern Cross Travel Insurance.

With medical expenses already covered by Medicare and private health insurance, things like car rental excess by some premium credit cards and people driving their own vehicles for road trip holidays, it’s an understandable trend.

However, travel insurance for domestic trips does fill gaps like lost or stolen luggage, and cancellation and disruption to trips. Unexpected illness, family crisis or severe weather events probably won’t be covered elsewhere, but may be with your travel policy.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure you’re happy with your decisions before you leave and to stay as safe as possible wherever your destination takes you. We all love Type 2 Fun — horrible when it’s happening, but funny after — but let’s not go crazy.