Compare Cheapest Travel Insurance: Price Comparision
This is the third post in our short series about travel insurance. If you’re interested we have posts on Backpackers Travel Insurance and Travel Medical Insurance.
After writing the previous posts about how to find and what to look for in backpackers insurance and travel medical insurance it’s now time to look at the numbers and answer the question: “How much does travel insurance cost?”
So, I’ve put together this guide comparing the cheapest travel insurance. I came up with three different scenarios and then ran them through Squaremouth and World Nomads to get price comparisons and figure out which was the cheapest travel insurance. Note that Squaremouth does not offer travel insurance directly, rather it is a travel insurance search engine (but it doesn’t search World Nomads.) So, essentially by searching with Squaremouth I am searching 20+ policies at once.
photo credit: ejhogbin
Compare Cheapest Travel Insurance:
Comparison 1:
Person Needing Insurance: A 20-year old single male citizen and resident of Washington DC, United States. Travel Information: Policy starting on September 5, 2009 and lasting for 2 weeks. A worldwide policy with the majority of travel taking place in Argentina (Squaremouth requires you to indicate where you’ll be spending the “most” time.)
World Nomads Insurance Price Results
Total Cost:
Travel Insurance Policy Includes:
Trip Cancellation: ,000
Emergency Medical/Dental Coverage: 0,000
Emergency Medical Transportation 0,000
Travel Accident: ,000
Baggage Coverage: ,500
Sporting Equipment Coverage: 00
Squaremouth Price Results:
Cheapest Policy: 2
Travel Insurance Policy Includes:
Emergency Medical: ,500 – covers preexisting conditions
Medical Evacuation: ,000
Baggage Coverage: 0
Trip Cancellation: ,000
Trip Interruption: ,000
Results: World Nomads Definitely provides more coverage at a cheaper price. However, the policy that was cheapest with Squaremouth offers preexisting condition coverage as well as trip interruption coverage.
Comparison 2:
Person Needing Insurance: A 25 year old female from British Columbia, Canada seeking a family policy.
Travel Information: Policy starting on October 4 for 1 month of travel worldwide, spending the most time in Greece.
World Nomads Insurance Price Results
Total Cost: 0 Canadian (equals 9 USD)
Travel Insurance Policy Includes:
Trip Cancellation: ,000
Trip Interruption: ,000
Emergency Medical/Dental Coverage: ,000,000
Emergency Medical Transportation 0,000
Travel Accident: ,000
Baggage Coverage: ,500
Sporting Equipment Coverage: ,500
Squaremouth Price Results:
Cheapest Policy: 2 US
Travel Insurance Policy Includes:
Emergency Medical: ,500 – covers preexisting conditions
Medical Evacuation: ,000
Baggage Coverage: 0 per person
Trip Cancellation: ,000
Trip Interruption: ,000
Results: World Nomads provides better coverage at a much more expensive price.
Comparison 3
Person Needing Insurance: A 30-year old single male citizen and resident of United Kingdom.
Travel Information: Policy starting on September 15, 2009 and lasting for 6 months.
A worldwide policy with the majority of travel taking place in Japan. Coverage for lightest level of adventure (level 1 for World Nomads price comparision)
World Nomads Insurance Price Results
Total Cost: 191 Pounds (equals 4 USD)
Travel Insurance Policy Includes:
Trip Cancellation: 5,000 pounds
Trip Curtailment/Interruption: 5,000 pounds
Emergency Medical/Dental Coverage: 3,000,000 pounds
Baggage Coverage: 1,250 pounds
Loss of Passport/Travel Documents: 600 pounds
Personal Liability: 2,000,000 pounds
Squaremouth Price Results:
Cheapest Policy: 3 US
Travel Insurance Policy Includes:
Emergency Medical: ,000 – does not cover preexisting conditions
Medical Evacuation: ,000
Baggage Coverage: 0
Trip Interruption: ,000
Deductible: 0
Results: The two have prices that are comparable — nearly the exact same amount. Even though the Squaremouth policy that is cheapest in this scenario comes up with higher emergency medical coverage, World Nomads still provides more coverage.
Overall Results
World Nomads travel insurance was the cheaper policy is 2 out of 3 scenarios and always provided more coverage for medical emergencies. However, the trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage was not always better with World Nomads.
Clearly there is no “cheapest travel insurance” rather you will find the cheapest by comparing several options. I really like Squaremouth because they compare prices and policies for you. (Any time you enter information you get a dozen or so policy options, many of which you can customize.) But, if you are younger, World Nomads generally provides more comprehensive policies for the price.
It pays to compare the policies — so just take a quick look at Squaremouth and World Nomads next time you’re searching for the cheapest travel insurance policy.
originally posted at Go Green Travel Green
Compare Cheapest Travel Insurance: Price Comparision
