The best travel insurance for travelers

The classic travel motto, therefore, is: „again, nothing happened to me because I paid for good travel insurance.“ It's one of the few things you have to have, but at the same time wish you never use it. So come and see how to choose the best travel insurance.

When choosing insurance, always make sure that the activities you plan are not classified as risky sports. Each of the insurance companies has a list of these activities (practically exactly the same). Mostly this box includes our favorite ferratas, rafting, diving or ski mountaineering in winter. Beware of popular balloon flights, such as in the fabulous Cappadocia, which also fall into risky sports. If this is the case, then you have to solve it with additional insurance and then you can enjoy the adrenaline in peace.

The basic types of travel insurance are limited by an altitude of 3,500 m above sea level, which is perfectly sufficient for most „normal“ tourists in Europe. If you go on a trip to South America or Himalayan / Tibetan Asia, it is how many times the starting point in a city and you will often move over 4,500 meters above sea level. So you need to watch over this as well. Definitely do not look for good travel insurance for climbers in the basic offer. The higher altitude allowed is usually in a package with risky sports, so you usually „kill two flies with one blow“.

Before taking out insurance, be sure to check that the destination of your trip is not on the list of your insurance company as „excluded“ or „risky“. If something happened to you in such an area or country, the insurance company would not reimburse your treatment costs anyway, or only partially. Unfortunately, this list is now quite extensive, and there are also areas of frequently visited countries (eg: Abkhazia and Ossetia in Georgia, Papua in Indonesia, southern Kyrgyzstan, northern Mexico and many other interesting destinations).

If you travel mainly around the European Union and several other European countries (such as Iceland, Croatia, Norway…), it will seem to you that you do not need something like travel insurance at all, if you do have a valid European insurance card. However, this card will only guarantee you the necessary care free of charge and only to the extent that local citizens have. So it may happen that you pay exorbitant sums for something that is free with us. In addition, the various regulatory fees and other services you have paid under travel insurance (assistance, liability, repatriation, etc.) do not apply to this. Another disadvantage is that the European card is valid only for state facilities, which can be quite limiting in many cases, see for example the acute problem with teeth.

At first glance, this is a great bonus that your bank will definitely offer you – often as free. However, read the terms of such insurance carefully before setting out so that you are not unpleasantly surprised in the end. Most of such insurances have very low limits, a high co-payment or contain only accident insurance. Also, make sure that you do not have to pay for the trip (trip, ticket) with the appropriate payment card in order for the insurance to pay at all.

If you are an avid traveler, it is best to arrange year-round insurance and then you practically do not have to deal with it at all and think about it. There are basically two options to choose from, depending on your travel style: – ** Lots of shorter trips ** (usually within a month or up to 45 days) – ** One long trip ** (there is usually a limit of just one year)

• ** Amount of indemnity **: Indemnity limits are a basic parameter of any travel insurance that you can compare. They should be high enough to cover all the costs of routine treatment as well as complicated operations. Also pay attention to whether the insurance also applies to treatment at the dentist. In general, the limits should not be lower than 3 million for Europe and 6 million for travel around the world. Most insurance companies have very similar limits, so you should focus more on what other services they provide. – ** Assistance services **: the quality of assistance services is what makes insurance companies different. Assistance should be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, preferably in Czech. Some of the insurance companies personally inspect hospitals (and can thus recommend really good ones), consult more complicated cases with Czech doctors and can also provide a payment guarantee for you (you do not have to pay anything on the spot, everything will be solved by the insurance company). – ** Liability for damage **: this can often involve some damage to the hotel on the road – broken doors, windows or a damaged carpet. Who travels with pets, an absolute must. Of course, this applies not only to property, but also to health. Important not only for cyclists, skiers, but also for mountaineers. Which one of you did not send a stone down the exit? – ** Insurance of cancellation or missed departure **: definitely an interesting part of the insurance, if for some reason the trip has to be canceled or you do not have time to leave your connection.

We were personally most interested in the latest (offered from 6/2017) insurance from the ERC of the European insurance company „MultiTrip“: www.gigaplaces.com/homepage-v2/out ReklamaId = 7 time limit (up to 45 days one trip), which solves the worries of arranging insurance for each trip. – In addition, you can download the perfect My European mobile application for both Android and Apple and have all the important information and documents with you, including calling the assistance service with one click. – It is not a problem to choose both Europe and the whole world, including the USA and Canada, and to pay extra for risky sports with an altitude limit of up to 5,000 meters above sea level. – High limits of insurance indemnity. – A specialized 24/7 assistance service in the Czech language will take care of you. – The insurance company has a network of help centers and partner hospitals around the world, it consults with Czech doctors on selected cases. – You can easily report any damages online, the insurance company will handle them within 7 working days. – If you need to go on a trip longer than 45 days, you can use „packaged insurance“: https: //www.ervpojis­tovna.cz/cs/po­jisteni-do-zahranici-sbaleno? Utm_source = gigaplaces & utm_medium = article & utm_campaign = multitrip, which allows you to travel up to 360 days at a time. – Do you want an additional 10% discount from the list prices? Register in the My European client zone „HERE“: https: //www.ervpojis­tovna.cz/cs/my-erv-login? Utm_source = gigaplaces & utm_medium = article & utm_campaign = multitrip

As with all financial services, travel insurance needs to be properly read and checked. The main thing is to check exactly what insurance exclusions apply. The insurance does not pay if you have been under the influence of alcohol, drugs or due to your intentional actions. Beware, there can often be a lockout even when visiting extreme climatic conditions such as the desert or polar expeditions.

Not everyone knows that it is possible to opt out of health insurance in the Czech Republic during long journeys. This option is valid only for those who have been traveling for more than half a year and at the same time have travel insurance for the entire period. You can save quite a lot of money.