Which Travel & Medical Insurance to Buy?

Summary:

We will use this page to update our experiences with the travel insurance we have purchased.

This is not a paid post, and we are writing this post simply for the benefit of our readers.

Fact: Medical insurance is something you don’t think about if you work for a big company, as we did before quitting our jobs to travel around the world. But it becomes a major topic when you are on the road traveling to different countries and exploring different territories.

You don’t want to be caught in the middle of a civil war or get your leg broken while in the middle of a jungle without knowing you are covered, right?

Prior to our travel, we did some research on which travel and medical insurance we should use on our round-the-world journey. We wanted medical insurance that was cheap and reliable, and an insurance company we could depend on.

We checked several travel blogs and consulted many travelers’ recommendations about what they use and why they think it’s the best choice. Most travelers (we also checked out their profiles) recommended World Nomads as the best travel and medical insurance company that works well with backpackers and travelers like us.

While we think that this is probably true, we can also see that for people traveling around the world for an extended period—or traveling permanently—this option will be very expensive, especially when you have a tight budget, as we do. Also, in our case this cost will be multiplied by two, as we are a couple.

So World Nomad was our first choice, and we were very close to purchasing the insurance until I bought my ticket to Egypt with Thomas Cook! This was a turning point in our plans, and we decided to give it a try.

Thomas Cook Airlines A330 by kenjet, on Flickr

Thomas Cook insurance was very cheap when compared to other insurance companies, and the company is well known for its great service to travelers and backpackers. We managed to get travel and medical insurance for a whole year for around $300 from their office in Cairo, Egypt. Thomas Cook also offer plans up to 1095 days of travel, meaning that you don’t need to worry about renewing your policy ever year, which can also be a significant factor for long-term travelers.

The drawback so far from our point of view is that the insurance doesn’t cover sports activities e.g. Underwater sports which will also effect any long term travelers decision.

So far we haven’t used our insurance—thanks to God—but we will maintain this page to provide feedback for first-time travelers about what medical and travel insurance will work for them if they are also on a tight budget.

Which travel & medical insurance did you pick?