Interesting views on travel insurance and where to buy!

I suppose that as we have never had any problems health wise when OS we have become a bit complacent and 'blase' with the insurance. Having said this when checking out the cheaper options I did compare all of the 'covered amounts'.... then went for the one that was cheaper but not too crappy. I suppose like a lot of insurance items you can't really test them out until something goes wrong!!

Due to some currently health problems that I am having I will have to be more careful next trip.

Louize

Insurance for 12 days in Thailand through http://www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au
Price was $140 for the family plan which I have taken out for my upcoming trip in Dec/Jan
All the bells and whistles included in the policy. Underwritten by Allianz.
As opposed to the Covermore option that flight centres and harvey world try to flog. The covermore plan 1, area 3 for 12 days came in at $120 per adult with less benefits.
Just goes to show how much these travel agents make on insurance sales. I suppose they need make as much as they can from whatever they can because most clever folk are now booking their hotels and tours online.

With Covermore, we pay around $600 for the both of us for 12 months, so it works out pretty well for us.

Just a quick note on travel insurance, for our next trip we have gone with Covermore for the first time - their full price is very expensive compared to other companies with policies just as good. We normally use Vero - booked thru Westpac Bank or Defence Travel.
This trip the travel agent asked for a copy of the policy (from both companies) to send Covermore, Vero was hundreds of dollars cheaper. Surprise, surprise Covermore will match the price and no wonder as the policies issued by Covermore are exactly same and issued from VERO.
So make sure you really check into the Covermore price the travel agents quotes you as you could save lots of money by either buying the same policy direct from Vero or at least having Covermore match the price.

A question for the Aussies - Dont you guys get fee travel insurance if you have a Gold credit card. It is standard in NZ. The insurance is underwritten by top insurance company and the conditions are as good as , sometimes better than purchased travel insurance.The only catch is that at least 50% of travel and accomodation must be paid for with the card. Not a great concern.

Re Travel agents and package deals.
It is comforting to know that an agent is lining up a good deal and you dont have to book a flight and then hope you can get the accomodation where you want it for the correct days.
However from my experience the perceived "buying power" and extra clout the TA may not be as good as we thought.

Fromm here on in I will be booking my flights on the net and then spending a nervous few hours lining up the accomodation. For a family of 5 it means a fair bit of spondooly can be saved.

MH

Heres an example I did recently asa academic exercise. Local travel agent offering return trip Wellington/ Singapore special internet fare $NZ1652 on Singapore Airlines. Could not give me a price for Wgtn / Phuket return. Singapore airlines website $NZ1438 return Wgtn Phuket return. Both fares include taxes etc.
Travel agents these days dont get the commissions they used to from the airlines and travel wholesalers hence they have to get their money elsewhere. Travellers pay.
One can always use the TA price as the datum and if you cant beat it yourself you can always go back to them.

Yes we do get free travel insurance with our Visa card, but it's not as comprehensive as Covermore. The service with Covermore is faultless too, having used them in an emergency, I feel very safe knowing they're there to back us up.

Travel Insurance offered on Australian credit cards can be a bit confusing. DO NOT rely on the credit cards "transit accident insurance" as it is very limited and only pays out if you are wiped out on public transport.

Some GOLD cards do offer reasonably comprehensive travel cover.

My St George Gold card gives me free travel insurance underwritten by Zurich for up to 3 months cover for myself and dependant family members travelling internationally with me provided that 90% of airline tickets are paid for on the card.
Untill I start travelling to a litigous place like USA I am happy with this basic cover.

MH

I guess from the comments above having a NZ Gold Card is another benefit of living in GODZ OWN