Hi
I had a quick search through the forums and could not find much on travel insurance so thought I would ask a quick question..........Any recommendations for a travel insurance provider for an Indo trip?
Thanks.
If you pay for your airfare by credit card some providers give you a free travel insurance.
I used this lot last time I went OS...
www.travelinsurancedirect.com.au/
Worked out a hellova lot cheaper than getting staff discount with the insurance company I was working with - go figure !
I have a quick shop around each time before i go. Last time found Alianz to have the cheapest cover for what i needed and they reimbursed me very quickly for the expenses i had when i busted my head open.
There are that many different options too take out insurance through.
I've been round the world lots of times with no insurance. Saved at least 10-15k. Plenty of semi-dodgy places too.
The one time I had insurance I got pickpocketed on new year's eve in Spain, lost a lot of cash, and they refused to pay anything. Never again.
The only time you really really need it is if you get some rare disease and have to be medivac'd back to Oz with a team on surgeons on a specially chartered 747.
I looked into it last time with my wife, and once you start reading the fine print nothing is covered, I mean nothing. Checked your bags? not covered. Leave your bags in the hotel? not covered. Bags in any way out of your sight? Not covered. Read all 35 pages of fine print before you pay for anything!
Private hospital food is unreal these days, My Mum was in recently, I'd take her home made food so I could eat the hospital food. So if they made me stay in hospital til the bill was paid It would be alroight with me ;)
I'm off to Finland for 9 months. Paid my flights with Gold Visa but the travel insurance is only valid if the return ticket is inside 4 months. So now I have to pay $800 for travel insurance.
Should have booked for 4 months and then paid $60 to change the return ticket after the insurance was issued. Then I would have only had to pay a balance of $300.
Live and learn.
Thanks for all your responses and advice fellas......I will be taking insurance out as I am what you would term 'risk adverse' on these matters - probably has something to do with my day job. Sadly I am not financially well off enough to self insure just yet so I need to take a few precautions. Never had to use it yet and fingers crossed that remains the case! I would love to not have to pay car insurance and after 20+ yrs of driving and having never had an at fault incident I would have been well ahead.........my GF on the other hand is a whole different story.
FiremanSam's suggestion looks the best value from what I can see.
Ta for the reminder on the gold card cover.
Wifey booked a trip recently and also got extra travel cover thru the agent, who neglected to mention we were already covered by gold card.
Refund coming our way.
For a few bucks the potential saving on overseas hospys etc are massive.
Go the extra for peace of mind I reckon.
BTW Woodo - WTF is that in your avatar? Seriously WTF is that - a Wetta on roids or sumpin !? 
Be careful with the credit card insurance... I don't think it is that simple. Particularly if you need a policy number for the activiites you are doing O/S.
My credit card provider recently refused to give a policy number, and stated they would assess each claim on a claim by claim basis. In order to do the O/S stuff, I needed to provide a policy number... Gave up on the credit card thing and just got a separate policy...
If you really think you need travel insurance, best to talk to your credit card provider and see exactly what it is they offer.
BTW - Funky, are you a kiwi, bro
Seriously, no one in Oz knows what a wetta is
As for the avatar... think bigger, think underwater, think delicious
Nah - not a Kiwi brew.
My mate married a choice kiwi check tho and got to meet some of the cool family and kiwi checks over 6 days in Straddy Island (Qld). Bloody funny mob.
Kia ora to the Auckland crew.
There is a bloke on SB called Weta and his avatar shows one. In the meantime:
Lil bit creeepy 
Still can't quite make out what the tasty sea creature is (not a MB bug?).
I'd feel a lot better abouta a weta if they tasted like crayfish.
WHAT THE F#CK IS THAT THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks like a gigantic cricket!!! Imagine the noise that would make hiding in your bedroom at night!!!
I always take out travel insurance when travelling and have gotten my moneys worth over the years, esp if hiring a vehicle. Most hire car companies charge $15-20 per day to reduce your excess to nothing instead of $2-3000. Travel insurance usually around $120, so in 6 days you have paid for your travel insurance.
