Travel insurance is non-negotiable when it comes to planning your overseas adventure – as essential as your passport, your sunscreen and a cute holiday ‘fit. And you need to ensure you’re choosing a policy that actually gives you the cover you need.
Research by Smartraveller found that one in four Australian travellers experienced an insurable event on their last overseas trip – this includes anything from lost luggage, to delayed or missed flights, or more serious medical emergencies.
And although reading small print isn’t as much fun as researching luxury hotels, the devil is in the details – insurance policies are not all created equal.
In fact, we’ve compared international travel insurance policies from over 30 insurers (over 100 policies in total) and found that many have tricky exclusions, miserly limits, or just don’t offer good value for money.
What makes a good travel insurance policy?
CHOICE travel insurance expert Jodi Bird says the best policies cover your needs for a good price. They should cover where you’re travelling to and the activities you’ll be doing, whether that’s cruising, riding a moped or skiing.
And as we’re all trying to save a few bucks where we can these days, they should also be competitively priced based on your age, and include cover for any medical conditions you might have.
In our travel insurance comparison you can compare policies on the cover they offer, and view how each policy compares on cost using our ‘price score’.
CHOICE tip: You’ll save money and get better cover with insurance policies recommended by CHOICE. Unlike other insurance comparison websites, we don’t get paid by any of the insurers we’re comparing. CHOICE is nonprofit, so your membership fees help us fight for fair consumer rights, and empower you to get the best products.
Annual or single-trip policy?
If you’re just going on one holiday, you only need a standalone or ‘one-trip’ travel insurance policy.
We’ve listed the worst value single-trip policies below so you know which ones to avoid. If you travel often, you might like to consider an annual multi-trip policy. If you visit our insurance review, and filter by annual policies, you’ll find these policies can provide good value for money. Check the fine print as some can restrict the length of each trip you take.
The best CHOICE Expert Rating we’ve given a one-trip policy in our review is 71%. The policies we list below get 56% or less.
We rate travel insurance based on the value you get for the price. The lowest rated policies cover overseas emergency medical and hospital expenses, so they’re better than no cover at all, but there are cheaper policies out there with better cover.
CHOICE experts recommend you give these policies a wide berth in your travel planning.
Text-only accessible version
Travel insurance policies to avoid
1. Flight Centre Silver Travel Insurance CHOICE Expert Rating: 48%
2. Flight Centre Gold Travel Insurance CHOICE Expert Rating 50%
3. 1Cover Medical Only
CHOICE Expert Rating: 55%
4. World Nomads Standard
CHOICE Expert Rating: 56%
1. Flight Centre Gold and Silver Travel Insurance
CHOICE Expert Rating: 50% (Gold); 48% (Silver)
Cover score: 78% (Gold); 67% (Silver)
Price score: 8% (Gold); 19% (Silver)
The lowest ranked policies in our comparison are good examples of why it pays to shop around. Both of these policies have good overall cover, with the Gold policy scoring among the highest for cover. But the high cover comes at a price – some of the highest prices in the market, in fact. With just a bit of research, you can get better cover at a cheaper price from a policy recommended by CHOICE.
This is a medical-only policy, which means it will only provide coverage for certain types of medical expenses, and not for other travel-related costs such as lost baggage or missed flights.
Unfortunately, CHOICE experts say that even with the lower than average price, the minimal cover means it’s not a great deal.
This is a perfectly average policy with average cover at an average price. If you want average, this is the policy to get. But there are a lot of other policies with a cheaper than average price that offer better than average cover. We suggest you buy one of those policies instead.
Pru Engel is the Audience and engagement editor at CHOICE. Her job is to ensure as many Australians as possible know about the great work we do at CHOICE.
She works closely with our testers and experts to find the gems of information in our data and research that will resonate with Australian consumers and help them make the best decisions, whether they're purchasing an air fryer, looking for a new mattress or trying to find the cheapest car insurance. She also helps to drive meaningful change for consumers by collaborating with our Campaings team on content covering issues such as product safety and scams.
Prior to CHOICE, Pru worked as an editor at many of Australia's leading food and lifestyle titles.
Pru has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Find Pru on LinkedIn.
Pru Engel is the Audience and engagement editor at CHOICE. Her job is to ensure as many Australians as possible know about the great work we do at CHOICE.
She works closely with our testers and experts to find the gems of information in our data and research that will resonate with Australian consumers and help them make the best decisions, whether they're purchasing an air fryer, looking for a new mattress or trying to find the cheapest car insurance. She also helps to drive meaningful change for consumers by collaborating with our Campaings team on content covering issues such as product safety and scams.
Prior to CHOICE, Pru worked as an editor at many of Australia's leading food and lifestyle titles.
Pru has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication (Journalism) from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Find Pru on LinkedIn.
Jodi Bird is the Managing Financial Content Editor at CHOICE. Previously at CHOICE, he worked as Travel project lead and as a Finance specialist.
Jodi has over 30 years experience in financial services, having worked with major banks such as CBA, Westpac and Credit Suisse. He enjoys breaking down complex consumer decisions into easy to understand steps and holding companies to account for failing their customers. He is regularly called upon for expert commentary by major broadcasters such as the ABC, SBS, and Channels 7, 9, and 10.
Jodi has a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Economics from the University of Wollongong. He is RG146 compliance certified to provide general advice for General Insurance and is a Responsible Manager on CHOICE's Australian Financial Services License.
Find Jodi on LinkedIn.
Jodi Bird is the Managing Financial Content Editor at CHOICE. Previously at CHOICE, he worked as Travel project lead and as a Finance specialist.
Jodi has over 30 years experience in financial services, having worked with major banks such as CBA, Westpac and Credit Suisse. He enjoys breaking down complex consumer decisions into easy to understand steps and holding companies to account for failing their customers. He is regularly called upon for expert commentary by major broadcasters such as the ABC, SBS, and Channels 7, 9, and 10.
Jodi has a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Economics from the University of Wollongong. He is RG146 compliance certified to provide general advice for General Insurance and is a Responsible Manager on CHOICE's Australian Financial Services License.
Find Jodi on LinkedIn.
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