Why compare travel insurance with Finder?
We compare prices from more travel insurance brands than any other site in Australia
We don't ask for your phone or email to see prices
You pay the same price as buying directly from the travel insurer
Finder makes money from featured partners, but editorial opinions are our own.
Compare these brands and more
Compare these brands and more
How do I compare travel insurance?
- Use the travel insurance quoting tool
- Tell us your trip details like destination, trip length and age
- Get a list of quotes from your favourite travel insurers - you can even get these results emailed to you
- Create a shortlist. Select up to 4 policies to compare benefits side by side
What does travel insurance cover?
Medical costs
Most travel insurance policies give you unlimited cover for medical expenses and 24/7 emergency medical assistance.
COVID-19 cover
You can get cover for COVID-related medical expenses now and up to $5,000 towards cancellation or rearrangement costs.
Flight cancellations
It can also pay to get you on an alternative flight. Plus, many will cover your accommodation costs if your trip is disrupted.
Lost luggage
You can get around $250 a day if your luggage is delayed by the airline. Many also cover stolen or accidentally damaged luggage.
Is there any travel insurance that covers COVID?
Our research shows that more than 20 insurers now offer some cover for COVID-related expenses. Here's a rundown of what this typically includes:
- Medical costs if you get sick from COVID-19. This can include hospital expenses and RATs if you catch COVID-19 while overseas (but not mandatory PCRs).
- Trip rearrangement costs. For example, if you catch COVID and are forced to change your plans. Many let you claim up to $5,000 towards these expenses.
- Expenses if you need to isolate. For example, if you or someone you're travelling with catches COVID-19, travel insurance can cover the costs to push back your flight and stay in your accommodation longer.
| Brand | COVID-19 medical expenses | COVID-19 related cancellation | COVID-19 related cancellation limit | Apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Unlimited | Bonus | ||
 | $10,000 | Bonus | ||
 | $5,000 | Get quote | ||
 | Optional | Cover chosen | Get quote | |
 | $5,000 | Finder AwardBonus | ||
 | Optional | $10,000 | Bonus | |
 | Cover chosen | Bonus | ||
 | Cover chosen | Bonus | ||
 | $2,500 | Bonus | ||
 | Get quote | |||
 | $5,000 | Finder AwardBonus | ||
 | Reasonable costs | Get quote | ||
 | Reasonable costs | Get quote | ||
 | $3,500 | Get quote | ||
 | $5,000 | Bonus | ||
 | $5,000 | Finder Award | ||
 | $10,000 | Get quote | ||
 | $10,000 | Get quote | ||
 | $10,000 | Bonus | ||
 | $5,000 | Get quote | ||
 | Get quote |
A few insurers go even further and can cover you for the following:
- The accommodation or venue you planned to stay at is suddenly closed.
- A prepaid activity that's booked in Australia or New Zealand is shut down.
- If you're denied boarding on transport due to symptoms.
- Extra child care costs if you get COVID.
- Added pet care costs if you're infected and can't return home.
What's not covered by COVID travel insurance?
Your policy won't typically offer cover for these COVID-19-related events:
- You cancel plans due to government-enforced border closures or lockdowns.
- You enter into quarantine or self-isolation that you knew about in advance.
- You ignore a doctor's advice that you aren't well enough to travel.
- You travel to a country deemed by unsafe by Smartraveller (Level 3: Reconsider your need to travel or Level 4: Do not travel)
- PCR or rapid tests where you are required to be tested in order to travel.
Some providers, including Cover-More and Easy Travel Insurance, won't accept COVID-related claims within 21 days of your trip. Just one reason you should get insurance as soon as you book your trip.
Compare Finder's travel insurance award winners
Customer satisfaction winner
Tick travel insurance has ranked first place for customer satisfaction in 2023.
This survey was conducted by Dynata, where 95% of respondents said they would recommend Tick to a friend, and it scored the highest in the 'value for money' category.
Travel insurance - comprehensive winner
Southern Cross Travel Insurance has taken the top position in the 'Travel insurance - Comprehensive' category for the 2023 Finder Awards. Why? It's got to do with its wide COVID-19 coverage and how it handles cancellations due to unexpected events.
Adding to that, its average pricing was pretty affordable compared to other brands who offer less coverage for a higher price.
Value travel insurance winner
Fast Cover is the winner of the 2023 Finder Awards for the 'Travel insurance - Value' category. How? We compared the average prices of 28 international travel insurance policies, and Fast Cover came out on top.
But what does 'value' mean? It means we looked at more than just price. Fast Cover doesn't include everything on its policies, but it offers good value.
Domestic travel insurance winner
InsureandGo has taken the top place for the 'Travel insurance - Domestic' category in the 2023 Finder Awards.
Why? We analysed 23 domestic policies and found that InsureandGo were generous with their benefit limits for things like cancellation and rental car excess insurance.
Seniors travel insurance winner
Southern Cross Travel Insurance is the winner of the 'Travel insurance - Seniors' category in the 2023 Finder Awards. Why? It has higher age limits and generous benefits.
We also appreciated SCTI's easy-to-read product disclosure statement. This means that customers can easily understand their policies, and travel with confidence.
Insurance innovation finalist
Fast Cover Travel Insurance's COVID-19 Benefits & Refund Policy earned it a place among the finalists in the Insurance Innovation category of this year's Finder Innovation Awards.
It goes further than many other insurers, covering COVID medical expenses and evacuation, up to $5,000 for COVID-related cancellations and additional expenses.
Meet our experts
Our team of insurance experts have published over 450 guides on travel insurance and are regularly cropping up on TV shows, including Sunrise, Seven News and 10News, with the latest travel insurance tips and tricks.
Whether you're heading overseas with the family or exploring somewhere closer to home, we're passionate about helping you get the best policy for your holiday.
Some top tips from travel insurance experts
Good to know – only a handful of insurers including SCTI and CoverMore can cover you for trip cancellations or changes before your journey because of an unexpected event. The majority don't do this. They only cover you for certain reasons. So for example, if your flight was cancelled or delayed for a reason not listed in the PDS, you might not be covered.
Gary Ross Hunter
Finder's insurance and innovations editor
Like many others, I’ve had plenty of delays and even flight cancellations while travelling since the pandemic. Insurance has a place in these events. I've just been lucky that none of these was due to COVID. For me, taking out a policy with high benefit limits for COVID coverage offers heaps of peace of mind. I don’t know why you'd risk travelling without it.
James Martin
Finder’s insurance editor
Many people don't realise that travel insurance can include cover for your rental vehicle excess. Not knowing this means people may choose to reduce their rental vehicle excess instead of relying on their travel insurance coverage, and end up paying an additional fee to the rental car company. We recommend that you check your travel insurance policy to see if you can avoid paying the rental car company’s excess reduction fee.
Jo McCauley
CEO - Southern Cross Travel Insurance
If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel… plain and simple. Things can and do go wrong and you want to be covered for everything from losing luggage to needing prohibitively expensive medical treatment.
Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Freelance finance journalist
Some top tips from travel insurance experts
Good to know – only a handful of insurers including SCTI and CoverMore can cover you for trip cancellations or changes before your journey because of an unexpected event. The majority don't do this. They only cover you for certain reasons. So for example, if your flight was cancelled or delayed for a reason not listed in the PDS, you might not be covered.
Gary Ross Hunter
Finder's insurance and innovations editor
Like many others, I’ve had plenty of delays and even flight cancellations while travelling since the pandemic. Insurance has a place in these events. I've just been lucky that none of these was due to COVID. For me, taking out a policy with high benefit limits for COVID coverage offers heaps of peace of mind. I don’t know why you'd risk travelling without it.
James Martin
Finder’s insurance editor
Many people don't realise that travel insurance can include cover for your rental vehicle excess. Not knowing this means people may choose to reduce their rental vehicle excess instead of relying on their travel insurance coverage, and end up paying an additional fee to the rental car company. We recommend that you check your travel insurance policy to see if you can avoid paying the rental car company’s excess reduction fee.
Jo McCauley
CEO - Southern Cross Travel Insurance
If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel… plain and simple. Things can and do go wrong and you want to be covered for everything from losing luggage to needing prohibitively expensive medical treatment.
Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon
Freelance finance journalist
Travel insurance: 4 things you need to know
Travel insurance doesn't protect you from yourself
Your claim will be voided if the insurer finds that you failed to act responsibly. Consider this before you have a few too many drinks on your trip or jump on a moped without a helmet.
Rules about renting motorcycles and scooters on your holiday
Travel insurance will only cover you if you're riding with an Australian motorcycle licence or a valid licence in that country. You also need to be wearing a helmet and stick to a specific engine size.
You might need to pay more for activities such as skiing and motorcycling
This can be added when applying online. You'll find that most Australian insurers have a list of activities in the PDS which are covered for free.
You won't always be covered for natural disasters and pandemics
If you buy your policy after a natural disaster or a pandemic becomes a "known event" (e.g. it's in the news), you typically won't be covered, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We recently had to cancel a trip to Europe due to a family emergency, resulting in thousands of dollars lost in tickets, accommodation bookings and more. Thankfully we had travel insurance through our credit card which made sure we were covered from when we booked. We received all money lost back in full for anything we couldn’t cancel.— Elizabeth Barry, money expert & avid traveller
Find out more about the type of travel insurance you need
Compare and save. Check out our latest deals
Not only will you be paying the same price as buying directly with the insurer, we regularly run deals with our partners – that means policies can be even cheaper. Check out some of our current offers below:
| Store | Discount | |
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Save 10% on InsureandGo policies with Finder Use this coupon code to save 10%. Ts&Cs apply. Last verified |
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Get 10% off Freely travel insurance policies Use this promo code to get a 10% discount. T&Cs apply. Last verified |
Coupon code ends |
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Qantas Travel Insurance’s BIGGEST offer ever is on now Earn up to 15,000 Qantas Points for every policy. T&Cs apply Last verified |
Deal ends |
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Get 17% off Kogan travel insurance policies Use this promo code to get a 17% discount. T&Cs apply. Last verified |
Coupon code ends |
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Get 10% off on Tick travel insurance policies Use this code to get a 10% discount. T&Cs apply. Last verified |
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ahm and Medibank members get 10% off travel insurance Get this discount if you're an ahm or Medibank Private member and save. Last verified |
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Earn Velocity Points with Cover-More Get 3 Virgin Velocity Points for every $1 spent on travel insurance with Cover-More. Last verified |
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 Wise and Silent
Exclusive
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Get 8% off your Wise and Silent policy Use the promocode to get 8% off travel insurance. T&Cs apply. Last verified |
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15% off travel insurance for Medibank Private members Get this discount if you're a Medibank Private member and save. Last verified |
Travel insurance guides for our most popular destinations
Why you can trust Finder's travel insurance experts
You pay nothing. Finder is free to use. And you pay the same as going direct. No markups, no hidden fees.
You save time. We spend 100s of hours researching travel insurance so you can sort the gold from the junk faster.
You can trust us. We say it like it is. We aren't owned by an insurer and our opinions are our own.
Frequently asked questions
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Ask a Question
How long before I travel should I purchase travel insurance?
Hi Lorelei,
Thanks for getting in contact with us at Finder!
We always recommend buying travel insurance as early as possible. This is so that you can take advantage of cancellation benefits in case something out of your control happens.
Most policies cost the same if you buy it today, versus if you but it later, so generally; you’ll get better value out of buying it earlier.
I hope you found this helpful.
Kind regards,
Jessica
How can I get travel insurance for a boat cruise for the 25/02/2020 going to the South Pacific islands. Our ages are 78 and 75 respectively. Is there any chance on getting yearly insurance or is it just for a single trip. Thank you.
Hi Delia,
Thanks for getting in contact with us at Finder!
From my research of over 15 of our travel insurance partners, InsureandGo travel insurance offers annual multi-trip policies for people up to the age of 100. Their annual multi-trip policies also offer automatic cover for on-board hospital and medical expenses as long as any pre-existing conditions are declared.
If you decide to choose a single trip policy instead, head to our cruise travel insurance page and enter your trip details into the comparison tool to compare quotes for eligible policies.
I hope this has been helpful.
Kind regards,
Jessica
Are there any insurance companies that cover Outdoor Rock Climbing without a guide. My son has already left Australia.
Hi Matilda,
Thanks for your message. Yes, there are insurers offering rock climbing travel insurance, however, they require all climbs to be with a professional/guide. Given that your son is already overseas, you may want to reach out to insurers for travellers outside Australia. As a friendly reminder, carefully review the Product Disclosure Statement of the product before applying. You may also contact the insurance provider should you have any questions about their policy.
Hope this helps and best of luck in finding an insurer for your son!
Best,
Nikki
Hi Maureen,
Thanks for getting in touch with Finder.
You might find our pages about seniors travel insurance and pre-existing conditions to be helpful.
Some things to note:
Best of luck and enjoy your trip!
Cheers,
Jess
Hi my daughter is travelling to the US and are looking for insurance however she has Cystic fibrosis. can you assist
Hi Eddie,
Thanks for your question.
There are travel insurance with pre-existing medical conditions. You can use our table to know which pre-existing conditions are automatically covered by the travel insurance brands on Finder. The page gives you a guide on how to apply for one and an online form that gives you a list and estimated quotes relative to your daughter’s case.
As a friendly reminder, carefully review the Product Disclosure Statement of the product before applying. You may also contact the insurance provider should you have any questions about their policy.
Hope this helps! For any further questions, feel free to reach out to us again, we’re here to help.
Best,
Nikki