Best Travel Insurance: The Ultimate Buying Guide

• Sep 6, 2019 (Updated: Aug 17, 2026)

Quick summary for busy readers:

The “best” travel insurance depends entirely on your trip; a backpacker on a tight budget and a family with pre-paid holiday deposits genuinely need different levels of cover.
Medical cover is the one thing worth prioritising above everything else, since overseas medical bills without insurance can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Comprehensive policies add cover for cancellation, luggage, delays and more, but they’re not always the right choice if your trip doesn’t need that extra protection.
Comparing quotes properly, not just going with the cheapest or the first result, is the only reliable way to find a policy that actually matches your trip and budget.

If you Google “best travel insurance”, you’re sure to get a wall of results all claiming to have the answer. But to be completely truthful, there’s no singular, magical policy out there that’s universally the “best”.

That’s because the best travel insurance for a solo backpacker travelling with nothing but a rucksack full of socks, undies and a puffer jacket will be vastly different to the best travel insurance for a family of four who’s already paid thousands in non-refundable deposits.

In other words, the best policy is simply the one that actually fits your trip and your circumstances. Read on to learn how to find the perfect policy for you.

Why get travel insurance?

If something does go wrong during a trip and you don’t have travel insurance, the out-of-pocket costs can be financially devastating. Seriously, we’re talking thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If you’re overseas and need medical treatment, bills can run high – even for something minor. And if you think you can just pop it on a credit card and pay it off later, think again. In some countries (like Japan and Mexico), you won’t be treated until you prove you can pay for the medical bills.

Aside from medical costs, travel insurance also protects the money you spend before leaving home. So, if you’ve paid for flights, accommodation or tours upfront and something forces you to cancel, whether that’s illness, a family emergency or a natural disaster, some policies will reimburse you.

Some policies will also cover lost luggage, delayed flights, or the legal costs if you’re found liable for accidentally causing injury or damage to someone else’s property while you’re away.

Essentially, travel insurance exists to stop a single unlucky event from turning into a financial disaster. It also gives you peace of mind, something that makes a premium worth every cent.

How to compare travel insurance:

Getting the best policy for your trip comes down to actually comparing your options rather than grabbing the first one you see or defaulting to the cheapest. That means weighing up cover limits, exclusions, excess amounts and who’s underwriting the policy as well as the price.

We’ve written a full guide on exactly what to look for when comparing travel insurance, so head there for a complete breakdown.

What items should always be in your travel insurance policy?

At a minimum, a solid travel insurance policy should include overseas medical cover and personal liability. Beyond that, whether you need a more comprehensive policy depends on your trip, how much you’ve prepaid, what you’re bringing with you and what you’re planning to do while you’re away.

To help you figure out what you actually need, we’ve put together two tables below. One compares medical-only policies against comprehensive ones, the other breaks down typical inclusions and exclusions.

Medical-only policies vs comprehensive polices:


	Medical-only	Comprehensive
Overseas medical	Included	Included
Personal liability	Included	Included
Cancellation cover	Not included	Included
Lost, stolen or damaged luggage	Not included	Included
Travel delay expenses	Not included	Included
Best suited for	Travellers with minimal prepaid costs and few belongings to protect	Travellers with prepaid flights, accommodation or tours, or valuable items to insure

For a total rundown of what a comprehensive policy should include, check out our comprehensive travel insurance guide.

Typical inclusions and exclusions:


	Typically Included	Typically Excluded
	Overseas medical and hospital expenses	Pre-existing medical conditions (unless declared and accepted)
	Emergency medical evacuation	Injuries from intentional risk-taking or reckless behaviour
	Cancellation and trip disruption	Claims involving alcohol or drug intoxication
	Lost, stolen or damaged luggage	Unattended belongings that are lost or stolen
	Travel delay expenses	High-risk activities not specifically covered or added on
	Personal liability	Claims arising from travel against government advice

Which company’s travel insurance is best?

There’s no single best provider, since the right choice depends on your trip length, destination, age, health, and what you’re planning to do while you’re away.

That said, read on to see who we think are the best providers for international travel and for seniors.

(Note: All figures were correct at time of writing.)