Outstanding Value Travel Insurance Winners For 2017

Canstar’s 2017 Star Ratings for Travel Insurance rated 96 domestic policies and 169 international policies to reveal which policies offer outstanding value for travellers.

Every year, Canstar researches and rates the travel insurance policies on the market to find those that offer outstanding value to Australian travellers. If you’re planning on travelling overseas sometime soon, then keep reading to find out which policies give the strongest combination of price and features.

Travelling to any of the countries listed below? Click on your destination to view a selection of top-rated travel insurance policies for that country and find out how much the average premium costs. 

2017 Travel Insurance Award Winners

After extensive research, Canstar has found these 5 institutions to be worthy winners of this year’s Outstanding Value Travel Insurance Awards:

• World2Cover Travel Insurance – International Travel Insurance, Domestic Travel Insurance, Seniors Travel Insurance and Cruise Travel Insurance
• Southern Cross Travel Insurance – International Travel Insurance
• Go Insurance – Domestic Travel Insurance
• RACV – Seniors Travel Insurance
• 1^st for Women – Cruise Travel Insurance

How did we pick the winners?

This year, Canstar’s Research team assessed 169 international and 96 domestic travel insurance policies, comparing the price and coverage offered across five unique consumer profiles:

• Single
• Couple
• Family
• Senior single
• Senior couple

Using our sophisticated ratings methodology, Canstar recognised insurers that provide Outstanding Value to travellers in the following four award categories:

1. Domestic Travel Insurance
2. International Travel Insurance
3. Seniors Travel Insurance
4. Cruise Travel Insurance

To be eligible for this year’s awards, each travel insurance product must meet the following minimum requirements:

• 24-hour emergency helpline available
• Ability to extend cover while travelling (international only)
• $5 million or more family overseas medical and hospital cover (international only)
• $5 million or more family cover for repatriation and evacuation services (international only)
• Must cover claims arising from cruising holidays in domestic and international waters (cruise only)
• Must be available to travellers aged 65 and above (senior only)

For a more detailed explanation of how Canstar has arrived at these conclusions, you can read our Star Ratings methodology for travel insurance.

Compare Travel Insurance

The table below displays a snapshot of travel insurance policies on Canstar’s database sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest), with links to providers’ websites. Please note the products and Star Ratings displayed are based on a couple travelling to New Zealand aged under 70.

 

World2Cover Travel Insurance

World2Cover Travel Insurance won both the Domestic and International Awards for Travel Insurance in 2016 and has impressively followed up that performance with an award for all of the categories assessed in this year’s research; international, domestic, seniors and cruise travel insurance.

World2Cover excelled in both price and features this year. On average, consumers can expect to pay anywhere between $25 and $200 lower than the market average depending on their destination of choice. In addition, some key benefits that make World2Cover stand out are the following:

• Unlimited medical- Customers have access to unlimited medical cover when travelling overseas without any excess
• Dependent coverage- Children and grandchildren under the age of 25 are fully covered when travelling with a guardian
• 24/7 assistance- World2Cover’s worldwide assistance team is available 24 hours a day online and via phone
• Winter sport and ski cover- Optional cover is available for those travelling to cooler climates

 

Southern Cross Travel Insurance

Southern Cross Travel Insurance is an online-only provider of travel insurance in Australia and New Zealand and offers a wealth of expertise to thousands of travellers every year. Southern Cross is one of this year’s recipients of Canstar’s 2017 International Travel Insurance Award.

In winning this award, Southern Cross’ TravelCare product achieved a 5-Star rating across all of the profiles Canstar Research considers. Southern Cross Travel Insurance has some of the lowest premiums for single travellers heading to Europe in particular.

For those customers wishing to take out cover with Southern Cross Travel Insurance, they can also expect the following benefits:

• Medical cover- Southern Cross Travel will cover the cost without any excess
• Travel delays- Southern Cross Travel Insurance will pay up to $3,000 per person, to a maximum of $6,000 per journey, towards alternative transport that will enable you to get to your event on time
• Rental car excess- If, as a result of an unexpected event, the rental vehicle you have hired is stolen or damaged during your journey, Southern Cross Travel Insurance will reimburse you for any non-refundable excess payable to the rental vehicle company of up to $5,000
• Dependent coverage- Children under the age of 18 are fully covered when travelling with a guardian
• 24/7 assistance- Southern Cross Travel’s worldwide assistance team is available 24 hours a day via phone
• Lost or stolen documents- the cost involved in replacing important documents is covered

Compare International Travel Insurance with Canstar

Go Insurance

Go Insurance is a Brisbane-based travel insurance provider with over 70 years of experience in the industry and has won the Domestic Travel Insurance Award on the back of a strong performance due to both price and features.

Taking out a policy with Go Insurance enables customers to save time whilst gaining access to flexible policies designed to suit the needs of travellers with any requirement, budget or itinerary. In addition, Go Insurance enables customers to choose from a list of extensive additional cover options to maximize protection, flexibility and peace of mind in the event of a claim.

Their top performing Go-Plus product has achieved a 5-star rating across all profiles considered within the award. This achievement has been strongly driven by their feature leadership across all single, couple and family profiles.

Notable features include:

• Cover is offered to those up to age 75, with no difference in premiums for travellers between 18 and 59 years
• Coverage for cancellation fees and loss of deposit
• Full online and telephone claim services available

In terms of activities and events cover, they have standard cover for motorcycle incidents (with and without a licence), and for incidents involving jet skis and other water sports.

Compare Domestic Travel Insurance with Canstar

RACV

RACV is a Victorian organisation that provides travel insurance as well as home and car insurance, and currently has 2.1 million members. RACV has a range of travel insurance policies to suit all kinds of travellers, and it has deservedly won the Canstar Award for Seniors Travel Insurance in 2017.

RACV has a great combination of price and features for seniors; premiums are nearly $90 lower than the market average for a group that tends to be more expensive than others, according to Canstar’s travel insurance research. As well as this below average price, RACV policy holders are entitled to the following noticeable benefits:

• Unlimited emergency medical & evacuation

Compare Seniors Travel Insurance with Canstar

1^st for Women

 

1^st for Women is one of this year’s recipients of the Cruise Travel Insurance Award. Founded in 2002, 1^st for Women is an insurance provider that produces tailor-made policies for Australian women and their families.

1^st for Women have demonstrated their strength in providing superior coverage for couples and families wishing to be covered for cruise holidays. Their Comprehensive product has been awarded for its flexibility and additional coverage options which are able to be tailored to your specific needs.

1^st for Women also offer a number of beneficial features and inclusions, like:

• Cover for cancellation fees and lost deposits
• Overseas emergency medical assistance
• Cover for emergency travel arrangements (up to $160,000 family limit)
• Cover for luggage and personal effects

Compare Cruise Travel Insurance with Canstar

The table below displays a snapshot of travel insurance policies on Canstar’s database sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest), with links to providers’ websites. Please note the products and Star Ratings displayed are based on a single aged under 70 travelling to the United Kingdom.

For more information on the winners and other providers in the market, you can read our 2017 Star Ratings Research in full, or compare travel insurance on the Canstar website:

Compare Travel Insurance