The best travel insurance – 3,000 policy features analysed (seriously…!)

• Pros and cons

  • It's affordable compared to other popular insurers including Cover-More and Allianz.
  • Its PDS is much easier to understand compared to the other 28 other international policies we looked at.
  • High customer ratings on Finder (4.16/5) and other popular review websites such as product review (4.7).

  • Our awards data suggests Fast Cover and Medibank tend to be slightly cheaper.
  • Customers rated Tick more highly in the Finder Customer Satisfaction Awards.
  • $2,500 cap on cancellations is low and risky for expensive trips. For example, it's unlimited with Fast Cover.

• How Southern Cross Travel Insurance compares

  Here's a snapshot of how SCTI stacks up against 2 of Australia's most popular travel insurers.

  Provider	Example quote	Excess	Overseas medical	Cancellation fees	Rearrangements costs for COVID-19	Customer satisfaction rating
  Southern Cross Travel Insurance	$100	$100	Unlimited	$2,000	$5	★★★★★ 4.16/5
  Cover-More	$240	$250	Unlimited	$3,000	$5,000	★★★★★ 4.16/5
  Allianz	$117	$200	Unlimited	$5,000	Included. Limit not specified	★★★★★ 4.11/5

  *Example quote based on a single 40-year-old travelling to Bali for 2 weeks. Comprehensive policies. Data collected in October 2023.

• Why we picked it

  SCTI has one of the best claims experiences and an easy-to-read PDS. It's not just us that thinks so. It earned a finalist spot for General Insurance Claims Team of the Year at The International Travel & Health Insurance Journal Awards and won the Best Plain English Legal Document at the most recent Plain Language Awards.

  SCTI also received a mere 3 complaints to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) in the latest period. By comparison, Mitsui, which underwrites insurers including InsureandGo, received 47. Very large insurers such as Zurich and AWP (Allianz) received 325 and 95.

  It's also consistently good value. On average, it's one of cheapest comprehensive travel insurers, according to our 2023 Finder Awards research. Out of 28 policies, only Fast Cover and Medibank were marginally cheaper.

9.7

Excellent

See how this score is calculated

The majority of comprehensive travel insurance policies cover COVID now but Medibank is a standout. Its $10,000 limit for COVID related trip cancellations is double the majority of insurers. Considering that 42% of Australians spend an average of $6,765 on holidays, Medibank is a safe choice. It also has a helpline that lets you chat to a doctor at any time.

• Pros and cons

  • $10,000 cap for COVID cancellation costs and unlimited medical expenses.
  • It's cheap – $233 less than average, according to 300+ quotes we gathered.
  • 15% discount for health members (making it the cheapest out of 28 policies).

  • ahm and Travel Insurance Saver also cover up to $10,000 for cancellations.
  • Only Medibank and ahm health members can access discount.
  • $15,000 cap for luggage. SCTI and Cover-More have a $25,000 cap.

• How Medibank Travel Insurance compares

  Here's a snapshot of how Medibank stacks up against 2 of Australia's most popular travel insurers. In this instance, it costs more than Allianz. However, Allianz does not specify how much it will cover you for Covid related cancellations.

  Provider	Example quote	Excess	Overseas medical	Cancellation fees	Rearrangements costs for COVID-19	Customer satisfaction rating
  Medibank	$148	$250	Unlimited	$2,500	Up to $10,000	★★★★★ 4.13/5
  Cover-More	$240	$250	Unlimited	$3,000	Up to $5,000	★★★★★ 4.16/5
  Allianz	$117	$200	Unlimited	$5,000	Included. Limit not specified	★★★★★ 4.11/5

  *Example quote based on a single 40-year-old travelling to Bali for 2 weeks. Comprehensive policies. Data collected in October 2023.

• Why we picked it

  Out of 19 comprehensive travel insurance policies, Medibank was one of three to come with a $10,000 cap on COVID related cancellations. ahm and Travel Insurance Saver also cover COVID related cancellations. However, Medibank has a higher Finder Score.

  Additionally, our research showed a Medibank international policy cost $353 on average for a 2-week trip overseas. That's $233 cheaper than average, according to our research of 28 policies. It's even cheaper if you're a Medibank or ahm member. It could knock $53 off a $353 policy.

• Pros and cons

  • It's very cheap. Out of 23 insurers, it's $180+ less than average.
  • Get 10% off your travel insurance policy, using the code Finder10.
  • Up to $7,500 towards car rental excess cover. That's $2,500 better than most.

  • We found its PDS can be confusing and hard to understand.
  • Cover-More, Fast Cover and SCTI also offer reasonably priced domestic policies.
  • You absolutely need to read the PDS beforehand. There are lots of conditions attached to every benefit.

• How InsureandGo Travel Insurance compares

  Here's how InsureandGo's Domestic Gold policy stacks up against 2 popular travel insurers.

  Provider	Example quote	Excess	Overseas medical	Cancellation fees	Rearrangements costs for COVID-19	Customer satisfaction rating
  InsureandGo	$62	$200	$50,000	$8,000	$7,500	★★★★★ 4.05/5
  Southern Cross Travel Insurance	$70	$100	Unlimited	$15,000	$6,000	★★★★★ 4.16/5
  Cover-More	$72	$50	$1,000 more info button	$5,000	$5,000	★★★★★ 4.16/5

  *Example quote based on a single 40-year-old travelling in Australia for 1 week. All are domestic policies. Data collected in October 2023.

• Why we picked it

  It's competitively-priced and won Finder's 2023 Best Domestic Travel Insurance Award. We looked at 23 domestic travel insurance policies as part of the awards and scored the same 14 features for every policy. These benefits included COVID rearrangement costs, theft or damage to luggage and rental car excess cover.

  InsureandGo scored highly for a number of benefits including rental car excess cover, COVID cover, cancellation cover and luggage cover. You get up to $50,000 for cancellations, $25,000 for travel delays, $8,000 for lost luggage, $5,000 for COVID cancellation and rearrangement costs and $7,500 for rental car excess cover.

  Similarly, it's good if you plan to rent a car while you're away. InsureandGo's top policy will cover the rental car excess for up to $7,500 if your car is damaged, stolen or involved in an accident. The average is $5,000. This sometimes isn't enough to cover the excess rental car companies charge.

  It is also cheaper on average. Overall, it ranked in first place.

  Top 5 policies in travel insurance – domestic

  1. InsureandGo Gold Domestic
  2. Australia Post Domestic Travel Insurance
  3. Cover-More Domestic Comprehensive Travel Insurance
  4. NRMA Domestic Comprehensive Travel Insurance
  5. Southern Cross Domestic Travel Insurance

  Its main drawback is its Product Disclosure Statement which contains lots of conditions and could leave room for instances where you won't be covered. For example, it can cover cancelling your trip before departure but only for a specific number of reasons. These include: "your unforeseeable death, injury or illness; you have to go to court to be a witness or be on a jury (but not as an expert witness); there is an accident involving a vehicle you were planning to travel in, which happens within seven days before the date you planned to leave and means you cannot use the vehicle (This only applies to self-drive holidays)."