Most people love to travel and explore new places and experience new things. Some might like cold and dry places while others warm and sunny. Some people prefer to travel to the mountains over the beach and vice versa.
I am firmly in the beach faction as I love basking in the slightly warm sunlight as I read books while lying on the beach. But with the growing risk of covid during 2020-2022, I could not visit my favourite travel destination, Thailand.
After four long years, I was ready to pack my bags and head to Thailand when a friend asked me if I had travel insurance. He said it was mandatory when he went, and I remembered hearing something similar but never checked. After checking and confirming that travel insurance Thailand was not required, I breathed a sigh of relief.
But after checking the Thai government’s strong recommendation, I decided to get the insurance. This trip was so fun that my family plans to visit a few more countries now. Not to repeat the same panic as last time, I thought I should read up more on travel insurance, which countries require it for a visa, and how to get one.
What is travel insurance?
For the uninitiated, travel insurance is a financial and peace of mind protection offered to the insured when they travel. It provides coverage for risks associated with both domestic and international travel.
These risks can adversely affect your vacation or family time if not mitigated or thought of beforehand. This kind of insurance mostly removes that need and enables you to travel without worries.
What are the benefits of travel insurance?
There are several benefits linked to having insurance for travelling. These benefits are divided into base benefits offered by the bare bones plan and the additional covers and benefits, which can be picked up based on the needs and requirements of the insured.
This division allows for a balance between affordability and comprehensiveness. You are not paying for what you don’t need, so it’s cheaper, but you can choose whatever you do to get complete protection.
The insurance I use for my travel purposes is Niva Bupa. It offers everything I need, packaged at a neat and affordable rate to keep travelling worry-free without breaking the bank on insurance premiums.
The base benefit offered are:
- Emergency in-patient medical treatment
- Maternity care
- Newborn baby cover
In case you need them, Niva Bupa also has 40 more additional coverage options for everything from emergency outpatient treatment, emergency road ambulance, hospital daily cash, dental treatment, medical evacuation, extension to in-patient care, personal accident to accidental death and disability, repatriation of mortal remains.
The additional options are:
- Coverage for total loss of or delay in checked-in baggage
- Trip delay, interruption, cancellation
- Missed connection flight
- Loss of important documents
- Loss of laptop, tablet, mobile phone, camera,
- Hijacking allowance in case of travelling to a dangerous location
- Adventure sports
There are like 20 more additional options which I can’t even remember. There is something for everyone’s needs and requirements.
Which countries mandate travel insurance?
There are more than 30 countries that require travel insurance to allow for entry and visa approval. These include the Schengen area of Central Europe, which consists of 27 countries and requires insurance of at least 30,000 Euro, Australia, Cuba, Fiji, Israel, Jordan, Nepal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Seychelles, Togo, Turkey, and the UAE.
These countries have different requirements and conditions, and in some instances, exceptions, so make sure to check if your nature of trip requires you to have insurance for these countries.
How to get travel insurance?
It was effortless for my friend to get his travel insurance USA and he guided me through the process of getting my travel insurance Thailand. I just followed these steps and bought them for my travel.
- Visit the Niva Bupa website and click on Travel Insurance in the header.
- Put the destination country or countries you are visiting along with the departure and return dates and phone number on that page.
- After that, click on view plans to see a few destination-specific plans.
- You can then select whether it is an independent trip or a corporate visit; there are plans for students and senior citizens.
- Once you have reviewed the plans and chosen what best fits your upcoming travel plans, fill in all the necessary details.
- After this, one of their executives will call you and help you complete the final process quickly and prepare you for your trip.
Conclusion
That is what I found out, and I have already planned my next trip. Now I want to explore the beautiful archipelago of Seychelles and spend a week surrounded by the beautifully blue Indian Ocean.
These are the countries that require travelling insurance. And now that you know how to get one, you can quickly get travel insurance Canada, visit British Columbia, and look at the beautiful scenery or Vancouver for work.
