As a traveler, you can get separate travel insurance for each trip, or you can get long-term travel insurance that covers all of your trips. In this guide, moneyland.ch compares prices to show you when getting long-term travel insurance makes financial sense.
Travel is a very popular pastime, but it also comes with financial risks. What would happen to your expensive travel bookings if you had an accident and couldn’t take your planned holiday? For that reason, it can be worth getting travel insurance that reimburses the cost of bookings if you are unable to travel as planned.
If you do decide to get travel insurance, the next question to ask is: Should you insure each booking individually, or could it work out cheaper to get long-term travel insurance? In this guide, moneyland.ch explains the differences and compares the costs to help you decide which option is better for you.
What is single-trip travel insurance?
When you buy a travel package, airline ticket, hotel stay, or car rental, the booking platform or other travel service provider will typically offer you travel insurance. This insurance covers your travel bookings made on that platform. It only applies to that one trip.
What is long-term travel insurance?
Many Swiss insurance providers offer travel insurance that you keep permanently, until you choose to terminate it. This insurance covers all eligible travel bookings for all the trips you take. If you have long-term travel insurance, there is no need to get single-trip travel insurance for your travel bookings.
When does getting long-term travel insurance make sense?
Getting long-term travel insurance makes sense if the annual premium you pay is lower than the total cost of insuring all your trips in one year individually. The table below compares the cost of single-trip insurance and long-term travel insurance.
As the table above shows, getting long-term travel insurance can work out cheaper than single-trip insurance in many cases. That can be true even if you only take one trip per year, depending on how many people you are and the cost of your bookings.
However, the table also shows that there are situations in which using single-trip insurance is the cheaper option. If, for example, you only take one low-cost trip per year, then getting insurance for that trip alone is often more affordable.
What does single-trip insurance cover?
The cover is typically similar to what is included in the cheapest long-term travel insurance offers. All single-trip insurance offers include trip cancellation cover and trip interruption cover. Most include luggage insurance as well. Some also have additional cover, such as medical insurance and cover for extra costs due to trip delays.
Because each booking platform has its own insurance, the cover you get can vary substantially depending on where you make your bookings. Some platforms give you several different options, each with different insurance coverage and pricing.
What does long-term travel insurance cover?
One benefit of using long-term insurance is that you always have the same cover no matter where you make your travel bookings. As with single-trip insurance, the cover varies between offers. However, you generally have a lot more choice with regards to the types of travel insurance cover you want, and how high the limits on cover should be. For example, if you often rent cars when traveling, you can use an offer that includes insurance for rental cars.
The interactive travel insurance comparison on moneyland.ch makes it easy to filter and sort offers based on your specific needs.
Watch out for double insurance
If you have long-term travel insurance, you do not need to get additional single-trip insurance that covers the same things. Keep this in mind when booking travel packages, hotels, flights, events, and rental cars. Make sure to turn down the insurance offered by the airline, booking platform, or rental car company if your long-term travel insurance already covers these things.
Take time to study the terms and conditions carefully before you buy travel insurance, and make sure you understand what is and is not covered.
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