Top 5 Travel Insurance Plans For Travel in Asia
Winnie Wu
8th July 2014 - 6 min read
It can be disheartening to be the only one patiently waiting at the baggage hall only to realise that your belongings have been left on a different flight by mistake. For every smart traveller, there is one essential item to pack – the right travel insurance plan. A comprehensive travel insurance policy will protect you from unexpected mishaps or illness, allowing you to make claims for overseas hospital bills, missing luggage, injury to people under your care, or even accidental death.
Choosing the ideal policy
How do you make sure you are getting the best-value travel insurance policy? Below are some criteria that should be considered:
- Don’t break the bank paying for an expensive travel insurance plan that has coverage for things you don’t necessarily need, such as pet care and golf equipment benefits, especially if you are planning to have a long holiday. If you do in fact have pets, leave them with the neighbours!
- Most travel insurance companies offer policies for different categories: individual, couple, and family. The individual policy covers only one person, while the couple policy covers a pair of husband and wife. A family plan, on the other hand, is designed to protect the insured person, the spouse, and their children. It will be cheaper to fit all your family members into a family travel insurance plan than to purchase one policy for each of them.
- Should you buy a single trip or an annual plan? The answer is easy. If you are a frequent traveller, or have work that requires you to fly often, get yourself an annual plan – it will save you hundreds of ringgits on premiums. An annual plan, known also as a multi-trip policy will provide protection for all the travelling you do in a calendar year, subject to limits on the length of each trip.
- Extra coverage – Whether you’re planning to go skiing at the world renowned Swiss Alps, or scuba diving in the clear waters of the Carribean sea, some policies can provide additional coverage for the more hazardous and risky activities.
Top 5 Travel Insurance to Travel in Asia
So without further ado, let’s take a look at what these plans have to offer!
Tune Insure AirAsia One-Way Travel Protection
Premiums: As low as RM7.50
Package: Individuals only
Tune Insure AirAsia One-Way Travel Protection is designed exclusively to offer travel protection for guests who have purchased one-way flight tickets from AirAsia or AirAsia X online via airasia.com. This insurance covers you from death or permanent disablement caused by accident and travel inconvenience such as delayed luggage and flights. Unfortunately, this insurance does not allow you to claim for medical expenses caused by an illness while overseas.
As your insurance policy is attached to your AirAsia Travel Itinerary, if you do decide to purchase a return ticket, your policy will then be replaced with the Tune Insure AirAsia Return Travel Protection. Bear in mind that the premium will be higher, but you will have additional protection.
The good: Low premiums; Online purchase; No extra costs
The bad: For individuals only; Max 30 days coverage; No medical expenses benefit
Etiqa World Traveller Care Platinum
Premiums: As low as RM14.50
Package: Individual, couple, and family
Etiqa World Traveller Care Platinum stands out with one of the highest sum insured for personal accident benefits, with reimbursements of up to RM1,500,000 for the family plan. In general, this insurance not only offers great personal accident benefits, it also offers good coverage of medical related expenses of up to RM1,500,000 and travel inconvenience coverage of up to RM2,000,000.
The good: Highest Personal Accident coverage; Early cancellation with full refund
The bad: No domestic annual plan
AXA Affin Smart Traveller Plan VIP
Premiums: As low as RM35
Package: Individual and family
AXA Affin Smart Traveller Plan VIP covers most travel inconveniences you may encounter during your trip – and even ones that you probably wouldn’t such as ransom payments for kidnap and hostage situations for up to RM100,000 per person. AXA Affin also understands that coverage for personal accident and medical related expenses are just as important, with coverage of up to RM900,000 for each.
The good: Highest Travel Inconvenience coverage; Early cancellation with full refund
The bad: High premium
Kurnia Travel Supreme Plan A
Premiums: As low as RM16
Package: Individual and family
With only RM112, you can purchase an annual travel insurance plan with Kurnia’s Travel Supreme Plan A, making it one of the cheapest choices in the market for muti-trip coverage across Asia. Additionally, this travel insurance will pay out for any loss of limbs or eyes due to an accident for up to RM100,000 per person – a rarity for travel insurance plans.
This insurance also covers you for other unexpected events that may occur during your travels such as an illness or travel inconvenience related matters such as luggage delay and flight delay. Unfortunately, the annual plan is for individuals only.
The good: Low premiums for multiple trips
The bad: No family annual plan
Hong Leong Mach Travel Insurance
Premiums: As low as RM32
Package: Individual, couple, and family
Not only will the Hong Leong Mach Travel Insurance provide total cover for personal accidents, but it will also include financial support for a child education fund upon the accidental death of an insured parent. Other extra benefits featured in this policy would include child care, one way cover for students studying abroad, and reimbursement for acts of terrorism and hijacking.
Depending on your age, the premium for the Asia annual plan will vary. If you are between the ages of 18 to 69, you will have to pay only RM230. Otherwise, you will be paying a maximum of RM290.
The good: Extra travel benefits; High age limit
The bad: High premiums; No family annual plan
Want to know more about travel insurance? Welcome on board, take a seat and dive head first into our travel insurance guide. Not your cup of tea? Some credit cards will provide automatic travel coverage if you use them to pay for your travel arrangements. Do check out the credit cards with the best travel perks and benefits.
About THE AUTHOR
Winnie Wu
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