Travel & Holidays Travel again

I always purchase travel insurance separately to be safe, I never trust free credit card insurance. I bet it's loaded with caveats that make it impossible to lodge a claim! (happy to be proven wrong though, I'd prefer not to have to spend extra if I don't need to, I've just never been able to get a straight answer on this one).

 

I think this is wise

Last major trip in US did the same. Imagine not having appropriate health cover in USA? Scary stuff

 

A family friend got a stroke while in Singapore...no insurance. Had to sell the family home to pay for her time in ICU.

People often talk about how great insurance is cause if you lose your iPhone you get a new one. Nah, even the poorest people can afford to replace an iPhone. Or a ticket if you miss your flight. Or your expensive $500 Samsonite suitcase. Who cares. ICU in a first world country? That's what should terrify you. That's why I can't bring myself to trust free CC insurance. "free" is always a big red flag IMO...there's no such thing as a free lunch!

And travel insurance isn't even that expensive...I think for my 3 weeks in the states I only spent a few hundred, tops.

 

Shocking

My SIL got hit with $10,000 bill in USA, this was for a Doctors visit, medication for a virus. Not sure if it was 1 day in hospital. Drugs are not government subsidised, very costly.

 

I had to be admitted to a hospital in HK for emergency treatment once. No insurance. This was before I wised up. I looked around and it was my own private room, after hours, and being treated in a world class facility. I was sweating bullets about the bill. Luckily it was only a few thousand.

 

Ok, dodged a bullet….. but was the food good

 

Yeah always is

 

Actually I find hospital food is always the best.

After you've been forced to fast before a surgery or treatment, anything they put in front of you looks delicious.

There's nothing like being starved to make you appreciate anything and everything.

 

Our work policy no change however existing conditions such as Covid interruptions are excluded.
Medical requirements still covered.

 

That's cheap! and HK is the expensive of the SEA bunch.

 

Yes to this day I'm not sure why it was so cheap. The hospital had some christian / religious name so I wonder if it was church subsided or something...

An emergency + overnight stay in a first world country, I'm not sure how I lucked out.

 

I tend to think medical treatment and emergency repatriation are the major things people need travel insurance for.
Who cares if your luggage goes missing.

 

Private health insurance I've had in Switzerland (compulsory) and Spain covers the whole world not just the country you live in, so no need for travel insurance. In Switzerland it was just 7 CHF a month more to cover the world instead of just Switzerland.
Private policies in Australia don't also have that option?

I recall years ago travel insurance in the UK was also very cheap, I used to paid about 100 pounds for annual overseas travel cover, medical only, unlimited trips. Medical only was less than half the price of the all frills policies which people used to abuse a lot. Australian policies used to seem very expensive by comparison.

 

It's cheap. And it's all relative. But it's still cheap. Say it was 3x what you paid (300 pounds for a single holiday) - I'd still consider that cheap, if compared against the worst possible outcome. Whenever I pay for insurance I don't even look at the price. The price is the price. I pay what it takes for me to avoid becoming homeless, and it ain't much!

 

This would suck.'You joking?': Woman's Thailand holiday turns to quarantine horror — Yahoo News Australia

 

To get into thailand these days you need compulsory insurance - which is cheap at around $90 for a month. So they should be covered for the costs of the quarantine. Not sure what she is complaining about, but travelling anywhere these days there is a chance you will test positive and have to quarantine. No big deal, unless your trip is just 10 days long perhaps.

 

I used to pay for travel insurance from a 3rd party but last few trips had relied on the bank's insurance given the coverage if $x was spent on the credit card to book the holiday. Hopefully it is enough coverage.

 

Off to Melb in Feb. Yay

 

Nope…. Off to Melb March. Finally