The Best ‘Cheap’ Backpacker Travel Insurance: SafetyWing

To set off on an adventure without backpacker travel insurance can be a huge financial mistake. Having good backpacker travel insurance is peace of mind and has proven to be a good investment for me over the years, receiving more in claims than I’ve paid in premiums!

The old quote is, ‘If you can’t afford travel insurance you can’t afford to travel.’

The Best Backpacker Travel Insurance

In this post, I’ll discuss my favorite travel insurance provider, as well as what you should look for when choosing a good backpacker travel insurance policy. At the end of this post, I’ll also give a short explanation of each claim I have personally made and what the result was so you get an idea of what is regularly covered.

While many companies position themselves as cheap backpacker travel insurance (and I’ve used most of them), my favorite affordable provider is SafetyWing. Their plans are flexible and affordable, with comprehensive coverage plans available on top of their essential offerings. My wife and I have both used SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance to cover major surgeries following accidents abroad and continue to trust them with our travel medical needs.

What is SafetyWing Insurance?

SafetyWing is a travel medical insurance provider created for remote workers and businesses. They aim to build a global safety net encompassing travelers, digital nomads, and remote teams. I’ve written a full review of their services here.

SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance is both affordable and flexible. You can choose when to start and end your coverage, even after your trip abroad has begun. You can also add on extras like electronics theft coverage or adventure sports coverage. These are smart additions for backpackers staying at hostels or engaging in adventure sports or activities.

You can choose an end date for your policy, or subscribe to the service, with renewals occurring every 28 days for the next year. It’s an ideal backpacker travel insurance due to its flexibility to cover multiple countries or travels that don’t have a set end date.

With no lock-in contract, you can switch it on or off for the next month with just one click. Each month the policy is active, it’s automatically paid from my bank account just like any other subscription service. It’s how modern backpacker travel insurance should be.

Backpacker Travel Insurance: SafetyWing Nomad Insurance

Safetywing Nomad Insurance currently comes in two versions, Essential and Complete. The Essential Plan is typically what most backpackers are looking for, while the Complete Plan is better for longer travels, digital nomads, and people who simply prefer more coverage.

The Complete Plan is a great choice if you’re in need of comprehensive health care. However, most people searching for backpacker travel insurance are happy with the Essential Plan. It’s more affordable and covers the basics of what you want from travel insurance.

Backpacker Travel Insurance: Essential Plan

SafetyWing’s Essential Plan is what I use anytime I need backpacker travel insurance. The Essential plan offers coverage for unexpected medical issues while abroad. This includes a US $250,000 overall limit and standard travel coverage for events like trip interruptions and travel delays.

What’s covered, up to the limits above:

• Medical treatment for unexpected injuries
• Emergency dental
• Hospitalization
• Ambulance
• Diagnostics
• Motor accidents
• Injuries from leisure sports
• Lost checked luggage
• Trip interruption
• Travel delay
• Evacuation from local unrest
• Arrangements upon death

What’s not covered:

• Preexisting conditions
• Cancer
• Maternity care
• Routine medical care, ie. vision & dental
• People aged 70 and over
• Limited coverage for visits to your home country or the US

Comparing Backpacker Travel Insurance Plans

It can be tough to find backpacker travel insurance plans, and even harder to get an accurate quote without having to input all your information first. From my personal experience, SafetyWing is the most simple platform and they make all the inclusions and exclusions clear. Unlike many insurance companies, they aren’t trying to catch you out with hidden fees or exclusions.

With other insurance providers, the exclusions are often hidden in fine print, and you only find out you aren’t covered for certain activities in specific countries when it’s too late. Other than extreme activities specific to you, the main things you NEED to be included in your travel insurance are the following:

• Medical Expenses & Hospital Cover: While you may have free hospital care in your own country (if you are a lucky Australian for example) spending a night in a hospital in the USA or many countries around the world can cost you a five-figure sum. That’s no exaggeration, it is truly staggering. You want this limit to be high as you anticipate the worst-case scenario where you are in hospital for a few weeks or more after a major accident or health crisis.
• Emergency Evacuation: This is another big one and is usually only considered when it’s too late. Does your insurance provider have the coverage to evacuate you in an emergency, or will you need to pay $10,000 plus for a helicopter rescue?

Those are the two that are most likely to rack up a huge bill. Hospital bills and evacuation are the big-ticket items that can have a catastrophic financial impact on you.

What Needs to be Included in Backpacker Travel Insurance

So, I’ve detailed the two non-negotiables in the section above. Those should be standard but you also want to have coverage on the smaller and more likely-to-occur types of incidents. These six items should be included even in cheap backpacker travel insurance. For cheaper policies, they’re often additional items, so don’t forget to add them!

• Your coverage should apply in most/all countries in the world
• Coverage on damaged, lost, or stolen personal items (with a decent limit)
• Easy access to customer service with a live chat or 24/7 hotline
• Coverage for adventurous activities (the fun stuff!)
• Repatriation coverage to bring you back to your home country in an emergency
• Flexibility if you plan to stay on your travels longer

Backpacker Travel Insurance: My Experience

I’m a pretty seasoned traveler but I can tell you right now, I have made an insurance claim in every single year that I have traveled. These are the claims I have made:

Medical Bills for motorbike crash in Bali: I knocked out two and a half teeth, had 8 stitches to my chin, a hairline fracture to my wrist, and considerable grazes to my body. Result: I didn’t have travel insurance but flew to Australia for high-quality healthcare.

Stolen money from my hotel room: $500 was stolen from my passport wallet in my hotel room when the door was locked. I believe it must have been the cleaner. Result: $250 payout as there is a limit of $250 on stolen/lost cash but a higher limit on personal items. Still good to get some back.

Medical Bills in Indonesia for another motorbike crash: I had x-rays and a cast put on my wrist for a hairline fracture after a crash in the Philippines days earlier. Result: All medical expenses were covered

Broken Camera: My camera stopped working after I was caught on a hike in the rain. Even inside my bag, the ferocity of this storm flooded my Sony A7ii. Result: Insurance covered the price of the repair and said if the repair was more than a replacement they would buy a new one for me.

Fractured ankle and ruptured ligaments while hiking in Australia: I required MRI, X-ray, Surgeon appointment, and then Surgery. The total cost in Australia was $7000. Result: I received full reimbursement minus the $100 excess from my SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Plan.

Helicopter evacuation from Makalu Advanced Basecamp: I had a nerve infection related to the old root canal from my first motorbike accident. Result: Luckily I had a high altitude helicopter rescue insurance (definitely not priced for backpackers), and my $8000 rescue was covered fully.

Spinal cord injury and spinal fusion: My wife had a freak accident in the waves at the beach which caused a herniated C6/C7 disk and spinal cord bruising and swelling. She had a spinal fusion worth $100,000 in the US. The cost in Australia was $4,000. Result: SafetyWing covered her entire surgery and all imaging minus her $250 deductible from their 2023 policy.

Tips for Making a Travel Insurance Claim

While it should be straightforward it isn’t. Most claims department are usually looking for any holes in your claim to avoid paying it, although SafetyWing has always paid out for us.

The main thing that will help create a successful claim and payout is having all of your documents to back up your claim. If there was a theft or any damaged items, I highly recommend getting a police report, which solidifies your claim and shows the insurance provider that this truly did happen beyond doubt. You will also need receipts or proof that you owned the items you are claiming were lost or stolen. I always keep all my electronic receipts in a folder.

I’ve had insurance claims take between 2 – 4 weeks for the smaller claims. SafetyWing took a little longer with 5 weeks passing between my submission of the claims and the payout, but it was a larger amount of $7000 so they likely looked into it carefully.

Things That Usually Aren’t Covered by Backpacker Travel Insurance

There are limits to what you can or cannot claim. You can expect that items on the list below will NOT be covered by your backpacker insurance policy.

• Extreme Activities: Some policies will exclude highly dangerous activities like skydiving, cliff-jumping, and more. If you are someone who regularly participates in extreme adrenaline activities make sure to discuss this with your provider before taking out a coverage plan. SafetyWing’s Adventure Sports add-on covers many extreme activities, but ensure yours is on the list before going full send.
• Pre-existing conditions: If you bring a sickness or injury into the policy period it usually won’t be covered. It makes sense. The idea is to purchase the policy and then be covered for the illness or injury not to only purchase the policy once you become sick. That isn’t how insurance works.
• Traveling against Government warnings or restrictions: Traveling to countries or reasons that are on no-travel lists or have been advised against by your government can sometimes void your policy due to increased risk of evacuation needs, injury, or incident. Your insurance company is expecting you to go on vacation, not to a war zone.

I hope this guide helped to give you an understanding of what to look out for when purchasing backpacker travel insurance. There are lots of options but SafetyWing has been the most comprehensive and reliable for my travel needs. Hopefully, you never need to make a claim because your trip runs smoothly but in case you do, make sure you are covered! Stay safe out there and adventure hard.