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WAS Travel Insurance review

Our verdict: WAS Travel Insurance is a decent option if you’re looking for no-fuss insurance with the flexibility to add more cover to your policy to suit your particular needs.

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By

James Martin

Edited by

Jason Loewenthal

Updated

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Pros

  • On top of unlimited overseas medical expenses, you'll get up to $20,000 in funeral expenses if you die while on your trip.
  • WAS gives you the option to be covered for up to $40,000 in trip cancellation or interruption costs. By comparison, Tick Travel Insurance caps its benefit limit at $20,000.
  • Its COVID Essentials policy covers the basics in case COVID-19 impacts your travels.

Cons

  • There's no cover for domestic travel within Australia.
  • Only 4 covers are included as standard. Yes, this means you can avoid paying for unnecessary coverage – but it means you might also overlook key add-ons such as trip cancellation, luggage and personal liability cover.
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Find a WAS travel insurance policy

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Updated regularly
Name Product COVID-19 medical expenses Theft or damage to luggage Rental car excess insurance Standard excess
Wise and Silent Travel Insurance - Covid Essentials
ExclusiveBonus
Wise and Silent Travel Insurance - Covid Essentials
No Cover
No Cover
$250
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Wise and Silent International Travel Insurance - Discovery Ultimate
ExclusiveBonus
Wise and Silent International Travel Insurance - Discovery Ultimate
$2,000
Optional
$250
⭐Finder Exclusive: Get 8% off a travel insurance policy with Wise and Silent. Use the promo code FINDER8. T&Cs apply.
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Summary of WAS's Discovery policy

Overseas medical and hospital expensesUnlimited
Cancellation and amendment feesCover chosen (option to increase up to $40,000)
Luggage and personal effects$2,000
Maximum age limit99

Table updated March 2024

What policies does WAS offer?

WAS has 2 travel insurance policies to pick from. These are COVID Essentials and Discovery. These are some of the main insured events a policy can cover you for:

Corona Virus

Covid Essentials

Travel plane luggage passport

Discovery International

The cooling-off period is 21 days meaning you can change your policy or cancel within this period, and WAS will refund your premium in full. By opting for a higher excess – the amount you need to contribute to a claim – you can score a lower premium.

Here's a breakdown of WAS Travel Insurance features

Standard features
Optional add-on
Exclusions

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Standard features

Here are some of the key policy benefits to help you find out if WAS can give the right cover for you:

  • Overseas medical expenses – unlimited (for up to 12 months of treatment)
  • Funeral expenses if you die on your trip (up to $10,000 with COVID Essentials or up to $20,000 with Discovery)
  • Daily hospital benefit – $50 (up to a maximum of $500 with COVID Essentials or up to $5,000 with Discovery)
  • Airfare reimbursement – up to $2,500 (Discovery only)
  • Certain pre-existing medical conditions as stated by the policy
  • Pregnancy – up to 24 weeks with a single child; or up to 19 weeks with twins or multiple children

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Optional add-on

WAS offers a wide range of optional extras. You need to add these after you choose which policy you want to take out.

We've listed the core add-ons with the Discovery policy here:

  • Trip cancellation or interruption. You choose a benefit limit of up to $40,000 in case an unforeseen event means you're forced to make big changes to your travel plans.
  • Personal accident cover of $50,000.
  • Luggage and personal items. Choose up to $10,000 to cover your lost, stolen or damaged items including belongings such as your laptop, phone, camera and travel documents.
  • Travel delay. Get $50 per 6 hours if you're delayed.
  • Personal liability. Covers the compensation for damages, bodily injury or death to third parties including legal expenses. Pays up to $2.5 million.
  • Rental vehicle excess. Drive your hire car with peace of mind that you'll be covered for up to $6,000 in case you need to pay your rental company should your vehicle be damaged or stolen.
  • Pet boarding. Get your beloved pet taken care of in case your return to Australia is delayed by 24 hours or more. This benefit pays up to $1,400.
  • Cruise pack. Enjoy peace of mind against emergency medical costs, and lots more, if you're going on a cruise.
  • Motorcycle and moped pack. Protect yourself and your bike against the unexpected.
  • Snow pack. Get additional cover in case you injure yourself, or damage your equipment, or a ski run is closed, while skiing or snowboarding.

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Exclusions

As with any travel insurance plan, some events won't be covered. General exclusions with WAS include the following situations:

  • Any pre-existing condition that's excluded from your policy
  • Pregnancy after the 24th week
  • Childbirth at any stage of pregnancy
  • Activities such as snow sports – to be covered, you'd need to have taken out an activity pack with your Discovery policy
  • Indirect losses including loss of enjoyment or business opportunity
  • A criminal or dishonest act by you or a person with whom you're in collusion
  • Loss from, or related to, impairment due to alcohol
  • Acts of war
  • Going to a country with a "Do not travel" warning from the government

Make sure you read WAS's PDS for more detail on policy exclusions and restrictions.

Here's the bottom line about WAS

WAS offers 2 easy-to-understand policies with some competitive cover benefits. Both policies are aimed at international travellers. If you're one of the 27% of Aussies who intend to holiday in Australia in the next 12 months*, you'll need to look elsewhere.

Being able to add coverage of up to $40,000 for trip cancellation or interruption should be plenty for most travellers. On the other hand, its rental vehicle excess of $6,000 is half of the $10,000 limit offered by Southern Cross Travel Insurance (SCTI). WAS's website is refreshingly easy to navigate – not a given when it comes to insurance.

Don't forget to take out cover as soon as you've confirmed your travel dates, to get the most protection from your policy.

*According to a Finder survey in February 2023

If you're still not sure about WAS, you can compare other travel insurance companies here.

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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Jason Loewenthal as part of our fact-checking process.
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Written by

Editor

James Martin was the insurance editor at Finder. He has written on a range of insurance and finance topics for over 7 years. James often shares his insurance expertise as a media spokesperson and has appeared on Prime 7 News, WIN News, Insurance News, 7NEWS and The Guardian. He holds a Tier 1 General Insurance (General Advice) certification and a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification, both of which meet the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio

James's expertise
James has written 255 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Car, home, life, health, travel and pet insurance
  • Managing the cost of living
  • Money-saving tips
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