Guide to Contiki travel insurance
Don't forget to pack travel insurance for Contiki tours... it's compulsory.

Yes, you will need travel insurance if you're taking a Contiki tour. Here's the exact wording that Contiki uses on its website:
"It's a requirement of travelling with Contiki that you take out comprehensive insurance cover for cancellation, personal injury, death, medical expenses, repatriation expenses, evacuation expenses, personal liability & loss of personal property and Covid related expenses before you travel with us. It's also super important to check that your insurance covers all of the activities you'll be trying out, particularly any adventure activities (for all you adrenaline junkies)."
That about wraps it up - you need travel insurance on every Contiki tour you take. We agree with the policy, frankly - travel insurance might seem like something you can do without, but the impact of having to pay out-of-pocket for medical or cancellation outside your control is way to high. Plus, travel insurance isn't that expensive.
Compare travel insurance quotes from 16 brands – that's more than any other site in Australia.
Contiki isn't the only tour operator, and most of the alternatives require you to have travel insurance, including other popular companies like G Adventures.
For example, to travel with G Adventures, you must have travel medical insurance with minimum coverage for medical emergency evacuation and repatriation of US$200,000 (or equivalent). It also highly recommends cancellation cover, although it is not compulsory.
Tour | What service is provided? | Travel insurance? | Details |
---|---|---|---|
Contiki | Group tours for 18–35 year olds |
| Travel insurance with cover for medical and evacuations, personal injury and cancellation expenses is compulsory for all travellers. |
G Adventures | Small group travel tours |
| Travel insurance with medical cover is compulsory. Cover for cancellation expenses is highly recommended for all G Adventure tours. |
Baz Bus | South Africa's hop-on hop-off service |
| Baz Bus highly recommends travellers have travel insurance with medical cover. |
Vodkatrain | Small group tours across Asia and beyond |
| Travel insurance with medical cover and for the loss of personal items is compulsory for travellers on all Vodkatrain tours. |
Busabout | Flexible hop-on hop-off service for backpackers |
| Travel insurance with cover for emergency medical expenses and repatriation is compulsory for trips to Asia and Turkey. |
Stray Asia | Guided network for adventurous travellers in South-East Asia |
| Travel insurance is compulsory for Stray Asia tours. Travel insurance with cover for medical expenses, personal baggage, cancellation, public liability and personal accident is highly recommended. |
Bamba Experience | Travel solution for independent traveller in Latin America |
| Travel insurance that can cover whitewater rafting and sand buggies is compulsory for Bamba tours. |
Dragoman | Truck holidays in a variety of exotic locations |
| Travel insurance with cover for emergency medical expenses and repatriation is compulsory for Dragoman tours. |
Moose Travel Network | Coast to coast bus tours in Canada |
| The Moose Travel Network strongly recommends travel insurance with cancellation cover is purchased. |
Bundu Bus | Grand Canyon tours connecting with major American cities |
| Bundu Bus recommends travel insurance for unforeseen circumstances. |
The reason Contiki tours and most other tour operators insist on travel insurance is because of the risks inherent in travel. Some of the costs that can arise from these risks include:
"I took a couple of Contiki tours when I was younger, one in New Zealand and one in South East Asia. I was really glad that they forced me to get travel insurance - I was young and invincible, so I probably wouldn't have taken it out otherwise. In both cases I didn't need to claim, but I was also doing extreme sports on both trips, so I was opening myself up to some really expensive bills if things had gone wrong. I don't remember the exact amount, but the travel insurance policy I ended up taking out was really affordable."
Each tour provider has its own cancellation policy. Typically, the closer you are to the commencement of your trip, the more you have to pay in cancellation fees. If you need to cancel your trip unexpectedly (e.g. a relative passes away), this is where travel insurance comes in handy.
Tour | Cancellation fee policy | Fee details |
---|---|---|
G Adventures More info | Depends on how many days between when you cancel and when your tour begins. |
|
Contiki More info | Depends on how many days between when you cancel and when your tour begins. |
|
Baz Bus More info | Depends on how many days between when you cancel and when your tour begins. |
|
Vodkatrain More info | Depends on how many days between when you cancel and when your tour begins. Vodkatrain will only accept cancellations in writing. |
|
Busabout More info | Depends on how many days between when you cancel and when your tour begins. Cancellation fee rates also vary between tours. | For all tours
Based on Asia Adventures tour
|
Stray Asia More info | Depends on how long between when you cancel and when you depart. |
|
Bamba Experience More info | Depends on how many days between when you cancel and when your tour begins. Cancellation fee rates may also vary between tours. | Based on bus pass bookings
|
Dragoman More info | Depends on how many days between when you cancel and when your tour begins. 10% deposit is non-refundable. |
|
Moose Travel Network More info | Depends on how much time between when you cancel and when your tour begins. Cancellation fee rates will vary between tours from the west coast and east coast (of Canada). | East coast tours
West coast tours
|
Bundu Bus More info | Depends on how much time between when you cancel and when the start date of your pass begins. |
|
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Just wonder whether you have the figure for Malaysia, Indonesia,India, the Phillipines and Thailand….Being a Malaysian I think Malaysia is one of the most dangerous place to drive ! They have no road manners…very few of them care about speed limits…and few traffic police officers to enforce the law.
Hi Aiikay,
Thanks for getting in touch. Unfortunately, we don’t have that data at the moment. We did recently look at dangerous roads in OECD countries frequented by Australians.
All the best,
Richard