RAC Travel Insurance came out on top among 20 brands with a score of 4.48/5. Out of all brands, RAC was one of the most trusted, with 97% of people surveyed considering the insurer trustworthy and reliable.
Loved Brand
Tick Travel Insurance was second place with a score of 4.45/5 overall. Tick scored among the highest for ease of application with a 4.6/5. 94% of customers we surveyed thought the insurer was trustworthy.
Loved Brand
Southern Cross came in third place this year. It scored 4.44/5 overall, with 4.6 for ease of application and 4.4 for its range of features and benefits. 97% of Aussies surveyed felt that Southern Cross was a trustworthy brand.
Top 5 travel insurance brands for customer satisfaction in 2024
To help you figure out what travel insurance company is the best in 2024, we asked over 700 Australians for their opinion and got our insurance experts to rate some of Australia's well-known brands.
Brand
Overall satisfaction
Trustworthy/reliable
★★★★★ 4.48
97%
★★★★★ 4.45
94%
★★★★★ 4.44
97%
★★★★★ 4.41
97%
★★★★★ 4.33
94%
2024 Travel Insurance Award Winners - International
Best International Comprehensive
Tick Travel Insurance won the 2024 comprehensive award because it goes further than the majority of insurers. It scored highly for cancellation costs and rental car excess. It's also competitive on price compared to the other 30 international policies we analysed.
Highly commended
World2Cover Travel Insurance ranked in highly commended for comprehensiveness out of the 30 international policies we analysed. It scored highly for features including rearrangement costs and rental car excess insurance.
Highly commended
Travel Protect ranked in highly commended for comprehensiveness. This is because it offers generous coverage limits yet remains comparatively well-priced.
Wise and Silent Travel insurance won the 2024 value award because it's cheaper on average than the other international policies we analysed, yet it covers you for more.
Highly commended
In addition to being the domestic winner, Tick is also our international value runner-up. That's because it's one of the most competitively priced policies on the market.
Highly commended
Travel Protect ranked in highly commended for the international value award, out of the 30 policies we analysed because it is well-priced for how many benefits it offers.
Tick Travel Insurance won the 2024 award for best domestic travel insurance because it scored highly for rearrangement and cancellation costs, lost and delayed luggage features and rental car excess, while remaining comparatively affordable.
Highly commended
InsureandGo Travel Insurance came highly commended in the domestic category because it has generous coverage limits while remaining comparatively well-priced.
Highly commended
Qantas' domestic policy came highly commended in the domestic category. This is because it's policy had higher benefit limits but was still at the more affordable end of the spectrum.
Finding the best travel insurance for an international holiday
The best policy is one you can afford that covers all you care about. To narrow down your travel insurance search, ask yourself the following questions:
Are you travelling somewhere with expensive healthcare? For example, America. If you become sick in a country with expensive healthcare then it'll pay to have a policy with generous medical limits.
Are you going somewhere that has a Reciprocal Healthcare Agreement (RHA) with Australia? A RHA means that you can access essential healthcare for a reduced cost or for free. So if you're travelling somewhere with a RHA with Australia, you likely don't need to fret too much about your medical coverage. Australia has RHAs with;
Belgium
Finland
Italy
Malta
Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Republic of Ireland
Slovenia
Sweden
United Kingdom
Are you travelling with a reputable airline or do you have connecting flights? Flight cancellations and delays are a pretty common issue at the airports lately. Being covered for this can save you if it causes you to miss a connecting flight, hotel check-in or prepaid activity.
Could you afford to replace your luggage if it was lost? Lost luggage is inconvenient at the best of times but if you're travelling with expensive luggage - or just a lot of the stuff - then it can be worth making sure your policy has adequate coverage for this.
Will you be driving a rental car? If yes, ensure your policy has coverage for rental car excess. This means your policy can help you pay that super expensive excess in the event of an accident.
Is it disaster prone? Does this country typically endure poor weather like storms and cyclones?
Frank's experience using travel insurance
"When I was in Fiji, I got caught in a cyclone and couldn't leave. I ended up having to stay for an additional 4 days. Thankfully, I had travel insurance via my credit card and was able to be covered for some of those extra accommodation costs."
Finding the best travel insurance - domestic travel
travelling domestically, there's a few less things to consider. The main ones to have on your radar are:
Flight cancellations and delays: Even your small flight to Brisbane can be cancelled or massively delayed.
Lost luggage: If you're getting on a plane, cover for lost luggage is always smart.
Rental car excess: Even the safest of drivers can find themselves in an accident and the excess on rentals can be sky-high.
Note: There is no medical cover for domestic travel insurance. This is because Medicare or your private health insurance is expected to cover you while you're travelling within Australia.
Our expert says
"Whenever I travel within Australia, I almost always hire a car. Here's the thing though. To make the excess on the rental car lower, I usually have to pay about $200 extra for the vehicle. But if I leave the excess at its higher amount, I can use that spare $200 to purchase a travel insurance policy that will cover me for the rental car excess and more, like flights and luggage issues. It's such a better use of cash and I get way more for my money."
There are two main levels of travel insurance; basic and comprehensive. A basic travel insurance policy can cover you for health and medical emergencies. A comprehensive policy can cover your possessions too as well as other things like cancellation.
Most policies will include some level of COVID cover so what's best can depend on how much you've spent on your trip. For example, many policies include COVID cover for up to $5,000. If your trip is costing you $9,000 then this might not be good enough for you. We've found higher limits with Medbank; here you're covered for up to $10,000 if your trip is cancelled due to COVID related reasons.
It's worth getting travel insurance as soon as you book your trip. That way, you're covered straight away. If something happens – say you get sick or your flight is cancelled or delayed – you're covered.
Single trip policies may be best if you don't plan on travelling much over the next year or, if you're going on a long trip (annual policies cap the length you're allowed to travel per trip – typically 30, 45 or 60 days).
Annual (or multi-trip) policies may be better if you're a jet-setter who intends to travel several times a year. Generally speaking, an annual policy may work out cheaper than paying for 4 single-trip policies in a year.
But be aware, annual plans have been a little harder to come by since the pandemic.
Essentially, a pre-existing condition is any medical condition you've been diagnosed with, in a specified time period, prior to taking out cover. Such conditions include heart problems, high blood pressure and diabetes.
There have been several flight cancellations and delays to Bali recently. Most travel insurance polices can reimburse you for flight cancellations. However, it's worth going with an insurer that will also cover additional travel expenses such as accommodation and pre-booked excursions. It can be very frustrating if something happens but if the cancellation is due to circumstances out of your control, your insurer is likely to cover you.
The US has a notoriously expensive healthcare system so it's worth getting a travel insurance policy that comes with unlimited medical expenses cover at the very least. Fortunately, most comprehensive policies offer this. Other important medical-related expenses worth considering are:
Hospital cash allowance. An amount you'll be given per day if you're hospitalised to pay for additional expenses.
Resumption of journey. This can help pay you to get home if you're very sick.
Peta Taylor is a publisher at Finder, working across all of insurance. She's been analysing product disclosure statements and publishing articles for over 2 years. Peta is passionate about demystifying complex insurance products to help users make well educated decisions with confidence. Peta is part of Finder's insurance awards team and works alongside editorial and insights experts to bring users the best insurance products every year. See full bio
InsureandGo Travel Insurance can save you time with a comprehensive range of policies that are easy to digest and understand. Its policies include winter sports coverage plus both single and multiple trip policies.
Domestic travel insurance can provide cover for trip cancellation (domestic flights), loss or damage to luggage and expensive items, car rental excess charges and much more. Find out why domestic travel insurance is worth getting and compare policies from Australian insurers.
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