Travel Insurance

[lamberra]

Has anyone done a comparison of travel insurance deals out there? I'm trying to decide between CoverMore and Allianz for a 2 mth trip...CoverMore is more expensive but seems to ahem....cover more?

Anyone with better tips or experience?

Cheers!

 

[Guest]

Has anyone done a comparison of travel insurance deals out there? I'm trying to decide between CoverMore and Allianz for a 2 mth trip...CoverMore is more expensive but seems to ahem....cover more?

Anyone with better tips or experience?

Cheers!

Covermore (the one flight centre upsells you to) is underwritten by Allianz and is a pretty solid policy, a lot of agents brand it as their own.

Go by price, unless theres a major difference!?

 

[NM]

On the occasions I have needed to purchase travel insurance, I have used http://www.travelinsurance.com.au as a good source of comparing many providers and obtaining their discounted rates.

 

[lamberra]

Thanks. I didn't realise Covermore was underwritten by Allianz as well...
I just purchased 2 days of insurance from travelinsurancedirect.com.au which sells Allianz insurance, and I'm about to buy my second uninsured portion from World nomads as it seems to be the cheapest for a long period.

Guess there really isn't all that much difference.

 

[Guest]

On the occasions I have needed to purchase travel insurance, I have used http://www.travelinsurance.com.au as a good source of comparing many providers and obtaining their discounted rates.

wow awesome site!!! added that baby to the bookmarks

thanks NM

 

[DJT]

I have used www.choice.com.au to understand (i.e. coverage and issues) and compare travel insurance. Choice provides reports (small cost) for entirely independent and very professional analysis for consumers. In this instance, they have produced a travel insurance report - see http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=101705&catId=100292&tid=100008&p=1

At the very least it gives a good guide as to what you should be thinking about.


DJT

 

[cssaus]

Check out http://www.travelinsuranceaustralia.com.au/ .

I've used them on a number of occasions and they do provide comparisons.

 

[Guest]

I wish travel insurance policies would list what they DONT cover!

 

[infoworks]

I would also suggest you check your credit cards. They often provide cover if you buy your ticket with the card. Certainly the higher level AX cards do. Over the years I have found having the higher cost has been well offset by the travel insurance savings.

I've had to claim from AX twice and both times were straightforward and no fuss.

 

[cssaus]

I wish travel insurance policies would list what they DONT cover!

They usually do but most people don't take the time to study in detail the fine print. It pays to read the Policy Disclosure Statement carefully when looking at travel insurance.

 

[markis10]

I have been using the frequent traveller for a while, yearly policy for around $500, covers domestic and international travel all year with a max trip of 90 days. I like the domestic car hire excess cover of up to $4000, means you can renegotiate rates form the rentals for a $4000 excess which drops costs. Usually get it through flight centre, have cmailed once for a trip to a conference that was cancelled by SARS using points, got back $2K for the 90000 points we lost!

https://www.qbetravelinsurance.com....POLICYEX&ins=1683BBAAB9D4986732E06EF9FA9E736B

Available online through travel.com

 

[DJT]

For rather competitive pricing see also www.columbusdirect.com.au

Great suggestion Infoworks re credit cards. Have not looked at that.

 

[Guest]

I have been using the frequent traveller for a while, yearly policy for around $500, covers domestic and international travel all year with a max trip of 90 days. I like the domestic car hire excess cover of up to $4000, means you can renegotiate rates form the rentals for a $4000 excess which drops costs. Usually get it through flight centre, have cmailed once for a trip to a conference that was cancelled by SARS using points, got back $2K for the 90000 points we lost!

https://www.qbetravelinsurance.com....POLICYEX&ins=1683BBAAB9D4986732E06EF9FA9E736B

Available online through travel.com

I got my renewal notice for this same policy just last week... one of the first line illudes you tothink the policy not coverring domestic flights!

 

[clifford]

For overseas travel, I would strongly recommend the "free" travel insurance that comes with certain Gold Visa/Mastercards. In particular, my experience with the ANZ gold Visa has been excellent. For less than AUD 100 pa, you get unlimited coverage for overseas trips, subject to a $200 excess for some claims (which is pin money anyway).
You can't come close to that with the conventional insurance policies.

And, I hear you wondering, how can such a cheap policy actually pay up in the event of a claim? Well, I can tell you that I have made several claims on my ANZ Visa policy (underwritten by CGU) in the last few years, and they were settled in full within a couple of months of the claim being made, with no fuss at all.

Travel insurance isn't something I worry about (but you can if you wish!).

 

[CWM]

I got the best insurance price from Columbusdirect, haven't had to use it so I don't personally know how good it is! On paper it seems fine.....

Last time I flew using FF points I looked very carefully at the wording on my Westpac Gold MC (which includes insurance cover) and also spoke to Westpac. I concluded that my OS trip using FF points would NOT be covered due to the FF points contributing to most of the cost - check the fine print! Also watch that you are covered whilst taking domestic internal flights whilst overseas if you did not purchase these using the same CC. I understand ANZ CC insurance is better in that you only need to pay for part of the trip using their card for cover, rather than all of the trip with Westpac.

Another thing to watch is cover on rental car use, especially whilst OS. If you don't take the rental companies own cover and have an accident they can hit you for rental whilst the car is off the road being repaired which may not be covered by typical travel insurance. Depends on how nasty the rental company is I guess.....

 

[beardoc]

Discount of 25% on Travel Insurance

I haven't seen anyone mention Neville Ward Direct for travel insurance here. Nev Ward is a discount broker for virtually everything financial, and gives a straight 25% the Toursafe brand of travel insurance.

http://www.nevward.com.au - click on "Travel Insurance" up the top.

I've used them and been quite happy with them - I looked at the cover and it seemed fine for me, but I'd be grateful for anyone else who has a better idea of these matters who might be able to say whether the policy is good or terrible!

A 25% discount is not too bad though. Just goes to show what inflated comissions there are on these things.

 

[serfty]

For overseas travel, I would strongly recommend the "free" travel insurance that comes with certain Gold Visa/Mastercards. In particular, my experience with the ANZ gold Visa has been excellent. For less than AUD 100 pa, you get unlimited coverage for overseas trips, subject to a $200 excess for some claims (which is pin money anyway).
You can't come close to that with the conventional insurance policies. ...

Be careful there, an important issue is many of these gold cards provide cover for Accidental injury BUT NOT illness.

 

[serfty]

Re: Discount of 25% on Travel Insurance

... A 25% discount is not too bad though. Just goes to show what inflated comissions there are on these things.

You can also get a 25% discount by going through "The Entertainment Book". For example, a Frequent Traveller Annual Policy from $410.

 

[drron]

Re: Discount of 25% on Travel Insurance

... A 25% discount is not too bad though. Just goes to show what inflated comissions there are on these things.

You can also get a 25% discount by going through "The Entertainment Book". For example, a Frequent Traveller Annual Policy from $410.

I use www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au where an annual business travel insurance policy is $340.The policy is underwritten by Allianz and reading through the fine print there is very little difference between any of the annual policies on sale in Australia.

 

[serfty]

Re: Discount of 25% on Travel Insurance

... I use www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au where an annual business travel insurance policy is $340.The policy is underwritten by Allianz and reading through the fine print there is very little difference between any of the annual policies on sale in Australia.

That is not to shabby at all; even covers significant others and dependants as well as loss of FF point value.

Specifically: Annual Multi Trip travel insurance.

Just shows how much commission there is on these policies; a similar policy via QF & QBE costs $615 and you get 2000 points.