Travel insurance or just take a credit card?

bainbridge

bainbridge

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We're going on a dream (to us) holiday in September to Bali and I'm weighing up the pros and cons of whether to buy travel insurance or not.

I've been looking at insurance prices and it's around £135 to £150 to get cover for us, but the list of exclusions is as long as your arm. As an alternative I'm considering taking a credit card, which has a 10k limit and zero balance (I just use it for fuel and pay it off each month).

My thinking is just to go over there and have fun, and in a worst case scenario if we're fit to fly home I'd just take the hit on a couple of plane tickets.

If we're not fit to fly, we're screwed anyway.

We've not travelled out of Europe for 5 years and when travelling within Europe we haven't been bothering with travel insurance, and instead have been carrying those European health cards and a credit card.

What does GD think?
 

SixTwoSix

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Additionally, as I posted in another thread when I went on holiday a few months back...

One thing I became aware of with a recent trip is that with most insurers, if you haven't declared everything that's happened in the last two years that resulted in either a doctor/hospital appointment or prescribed medication, the entire policy can be voided for everyone on it. This can be as simple as not declaring a course of antibiotics.

I stumbled upon this as I have a pending MRI and son with an allergy and had to declare that, then went into a rabbithole of questions about all recent issues across all people covered.

Prior to this, i'd just used the bank insurance or bought a cheap one and assumed all was covered.
Click to expand...
 

div0

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Madness to not get travel insurance for somewhere like that, IHMO.

My wife was taken to hospital in the Caribbean and it was hundreds of pounds every time the doctor spoke to us. Never mind ambulance costs and actual treatment.

All handled by insurance after a couple of quick and easy calls.
 

Megahurtz400

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Being slightly morbid but realistic, say the absolute worse were to happen and someone needs to fly you home after you pass away, a quick google says that this can cost up to £20,000, and that will be on top of potentially tens of thousands of medical costs.

You'd feel like a right fool if something did happen and you couldn't get at least some of that back through insurance!
 

Uther

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If you need a repatriation flight you'll be screwed. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Be very grateful if you have no pre existing conditions, my insurance for two weeks in Ireland was over £250 for a couple. Still paid it.
 

Feek

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I wonder when you booked the holiday?

Travel insurance doesn’t just cover what happens when you’re on holiday, it also covers you if something happens to stop you going between the time you take out the insurance and the holiday starts.

Don’t leave travel insurance to the last minute. Book it the day after you book the holiday.
 

LACKERKNACKER

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It’s down to your own risk appetite not ours. A quick online search shows travel insurance is not just about medical cover extending to a range of other things.

Personally though, I would not travel without it, I do know of friends who are in specific situations where they have taken a risk, a friend has terminal cancer and on trips to Europe has a couple of credit cards to cover the cost of flights home if needed - the cost of any insurance for them and the exclusions make this approach less of a risk.
But, an extra £150 on top of the costs of a dream holiday, I’d pay it.
 
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Pipe & Slippers

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bainbridge said:
My thinking is just to go over there and have fun, and in a worst case scenario if we're fit to fly home I'd just take the hit on a couple of plane tickets.
Click to expand...

I can think of many scenarios where you wouldn't be able to fly home

My father suffered a severe stroke while visiting my sister in NZ (on his 50th wedding anniversary!). We reckon the insurance company paid out upwards of £30k after a 3 month stay in hospital, paying for accommodation for my mum, and flying them both home. This was in a country with effectively free healthcare for UK citizens. Not going to happen to you? You never know

Do you want to be that fool you see on facebook that has to set up a GoFundMe appeal?
 

OldKitMan

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This is beyond stupid. What if you get hit by a car and get seriously injured - you're not going to be able to buy a plane ticket home. For the tiny %age that insurance is compared to the total overall cost of this holiday what you suggest makes no sense at all.

Just make sure you declare any pre-existing medical conditions.
 

Raymond Lin

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At the very minimum is if you have a credit card or bank card that give you travel insurance. But I would just get tranvel insurance because these freebies are never as good for coverage.

Amex Gold Travel Benefits | Gold Card Rewards | AMEX UK

With the Amex Gold Travel benefits our Gold Cardmember have access to exclusive hotel perks, and many other rewards, from car rentals to Airport Lounges.
www.americanexpress.com
 
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