Anyone who loves to travel the world loves saving money, and you can count me in that group of people as I tend to be very analytical with each expense that comes along with travel to make sure I not only live like a local, but also stay within my budget.
One of the expenses that is always there is travel insurance.
After spending my 20’s and early 30’s traveling the world, it’s one expense I don’t skimp on.
This was a lesson learned from our founder, Tim Schmidt. He tragically lost his Father to cancer in 2019 which started acting up while he was with his mother in Australia. While I won’t go into the entire story, you can credit travel insurance to air lifting his father back to the United States on four different private planes after spending over three weeks in an Australian hospital that decided he didn’t have long to live and needed to start chemotherapy. This simple expense saved over $1,000,000 (and counting) of medical bills in what may be one of the most extreme cases of travel insurance saving the day.
After being around for that, I knew that at whatever cost, travel insurance was something to not take lightly.
While I’ve never had such a tragic and heartbreaking situation like that, I’ve lost baggage and needed medial attention while traveling abroad.
Thanks to investing in travel insurance, I’ve saved money and been able to explore the world with the peace of mind knowing that I’m covered should something happen. I’m here today to share my story about my go-to travel insurance company, SafetyWing.
Who is SafetyWing?
SafetyWing was founded in 2018 and is the California-based insurance provider I recommend over all other companies. Their core focus is on digital nomads like myself as well as budget travelers, but even if you are a luxury travel type of person you can’t go wrong with this company. Founded in Norway by expatriates and digital nomads, this company knew from the get-go what to offer people who like to live life on the road.
You can opt for “Nomad Insurance” at a fraction of what you’d pay a larger company and only lose a small part of comprehensive coverage. I have analyzed many companies in this industry and find them to be the best at providing travel insurance.
If you are between the ages of 10 and 39, you can take advantage of their low-cost Nomad Travel Insurance coverage for just over $45, and this provides four weeks of coverage. I challenge you to find a better price offering the same coverage from any reliable travel insurance provider.
If you are over the age of 39 they still have options for you, but anyone who is between 65-69 will pay more, which last I checked was $157 for monthly coverage.
If you want to include travel to the USA, you will pay a premium of $83.44, but again, that’s a lower cost than you will find from other reputable companies.
Today I’ll provide further color on their coverage, company reputation, and all of the details you should know about prior to buying Safety Wing travel insurance prior to your next voyage.
What Coverage Does SafetyWing Offer?
As I mentioned above, the most popular plan is their standard plan called the “Nomad” plan. At just over $45 for every four weeks that’s roughly $150 daily.
If you are under the age of 64, the plan offers the following coverage:
- Emergency Medical Coverage: $250,000
- Emergency Dental Care: $1,000
- Medical Evacuation: $100,0000 – I should note that it’s $25,000 if it’s from a pre-existing condition.
- Evacuation from political unrest: $10,000
- Trip interruption: $5,000
- Travel delay: $200
- Death or dismemberment: $12,500 – $25,000
- Repatriation of remains: $20,000
Note that prices are subject to change, but they are current as of the date of this blog post.
I personally find Safety Wing to cover all of the basics to my satisfaction. For $1.50 per day, I really haven’t found a better option.
One sticking point I found from other bloggers who did SafetyWing reviews mentioned that the travel delay compensation is on the low end, but a lot of the major airlines offer assistance with travel delays, lounge access if you have a travel credit card, and other perks that can make this a non-issue.
Another downer is that they won’t cover any electronic items that are on the more expensive side, so if you have a travel camera or other audio / visual tech gear you may want to look elsewhere. For me, I use the Sony ZV-1 Vlogger camera and my iPhone for pics and videos and don’t need extensive coverage so this suits me well. Pretty much all of the media you find on my blog articles come from those two devices so you can see the quality they provide.
Looking around at other travel insurance plans, SafetyWing is on par with them in terms of not including pre-existing conditions and even some adventure activities, so if you are traveling abroad for some extreme hunting or other dangerous activity, this may not be right for you. I’m about as adventurous as they come, and my activities of zip lining and hiking is just fine with this policy, but check in with them if you have questions about your specific activity.
What Isn’t Covered by Safety Wing?
Insurance for nomads sold by any company typically cover extreme scenarios such as medical emergencies as well as the basics like lost luggage, but it’s important to talk about what is not covered by in their nomad insurance policy.
- Any accident induced by alcohol or drugs
- Extreme activities (as mentioned above)
- General medical check ups and pre-existing conditions
- Cancelled Trips
- Losses due to misplacement or theft
Again, this is standard among most companies basic nomad policies.
What are the Deductibles With SafetyWing?
Most of the companies offering travel insurance don’t have deductibles, but on the flip side they cost much more on a monthly basis.
For most instances, SafetyWing charges $250, which will come out of your pocket before you are paid back for any of your covered expenses.
So if you have a cost of $10,000 for a medical emergency, you’ll have to take care of the $250 fee while SafetyWing will pay the rest.
When you have an expense of $10,000 or more like the example I described, the $250 is a no-brainer. On the bright side, you are only charged this fee once so if you do happen to have another experience where you need help, you are only out $250.
Travel insurance was really only set up for major emergencies, so if you have anything minor happen, it’s safe to assume you just come out of pocket for anything less than $250.
If you are planning on traveling or working abroad for a longer period of time, you’ll want to select the top tier.
Making a Claim
When making a claim with SafetyWing, you simply use their online portal to do so. You’ll have to be prepared with all medical documents, so take screen shots of all of this and submit them through the portal and wait for a reply. They do advise that most claims are worked on and settled within 45 days, so like any other travel insurance, it does take some time to be re-imbursed.
Some SafetyWing claims reviews I read online cite negativity along the lines of not knowing the amount of the $250 deductible or the 45 day time frame but that’s why I’m here giving you a thorough SafetyWing review so you know all of this in advance and the information is crystal clear. Some people just don’t like reading the actual terms and then get all mad at small things. To me, life is too short for that!
Pro’s and Con’s of Safety Wing Travel Insurance
PROS | CONS |
Most affordable travel insurance out there | High deductible ($250) |
Offers coverage for COVID-19 | Limited coverage for gear/electronics |
You can buy plans online even if you’re already on your trip | Limited coverage for adventure activities |
Easy to submit claims online | No trip cancellation coverage |
After being abroad for 90 days, you keep your medical coverage for 30 days in your home country (15 days if you’re from the U.S.) | Only covers up to age 69 |
Up to 2 children under 10 per family (1 per adult) can be included for free | |
24/7 assistance hotline | |
No need to set an end date (subscription renews every 4 weeks) |
As I stated before, I don’t travel anywhere without travel insurance. It’s a small cost to potentially save thousands, (or almost a million dollars in Tim’s families experience) as well as a lot of headaches.
Next time you book a trip, consider Safety Wing.
What I Like About Safety Wing
As someone who lives and works abroad more than half of the year, I am a true testimonial to the brand and have even left them remarks on major review websites echoing that.
If you would like to get a free quote, you can use the tool below or click through any link in this review.
Safety Wing Complaints
When I look online for Safety Wing complaints, there’s a common theme that they don’t cover pre-existing conditions. In all fairness, this wouldn’t be a fair review if I didn’t point out what some users said about their experience using this company. That was the most common complaint on TrustPilot, but again, in fairness, what travel insurance provider covers pre-existing? I haven’t found one yet. There are other Safetywing complaints saying claims were rejected, which would probably lead me to leave a bad review, but that could be said true for any company offering travel insurance. I take these with a grain of salt, as claims are rejected every day by all companies. Whether we agree with their judgement or not, is always something in the eye of the beholder and looking at “internet rants” is something I view through a different lens as we don’t know the real story and a lot of emotion comes out in these types of commentaries.
Conclusion
I’m a huge advocate of this company and the thought of travel insurance in general. Definitely do your homework and do what’s best for you, but I’ve always had a positive experience with this company and am confident you will as well.