Cheap travel insurance for students is out there - most cover medical expenses at minimum.
If you're studying abroad, long-term travel insurance is a good option.
At the end of the day, comparing policies is the best approach, student or not.
What is travel insurance for students?
There isn't a specific product called student travel insurance – but there are a bunch of budget-friendly travel insurance options out there. A very basic policy (sometimes known as medical-only travel insurance) will cover you for unlimited medical expenses and personal liability (e.g. if you get into some legal trouble while you're away) but that's about it.
If you want a little more, you can also get covered for trip cancellations, delays and theft.
What should student travel insurance cover?
These are some of the essential things it's worth having included in your policy:
Medical expenses including evacuation. A really basic policy will cover this. Sometimes it can cover repatriation as well if you get sick or injured and need to be flown back to Australia.
Accidental death. If the worst was to happen, travel insurance can pay to get your remains flown home.
Cancellation and amendment fees. For example, if you need to cancel or rearrange your trip for reasons outside of your control. Not all basic policies cover this.
Luggage and personal belongings. For example, if your luggage or personal items are lost, stolen or damaged during your trip, travel insurance can reimburse you to replace them.
Personal liability. This pays your legal fees and penalties if you accidentally injure someone or damage their property while travelling.
Reciprocal health care agreement
Before you head overseas, it's worth seeing if the country you're travelling to has a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia. If so, you might be able to get some or all of your medical expenses covered. That's not a reason to not get travel insurance as well, but it is still very nice to know.
Travel insurance for people who take risks
If you're a student, or just young, you probably take more risks. This could be your activities - think skiing, skateboarding, diving or motorbike riding. Or it could be you habits...I'm mainly talking alcohol here.
If you're going to be doing some more extreme activities on your coming trip, you'll need to get a policy that specifically covers your activity. Read out page on extreme sports travel insurance or ski travel insurance to find out more. While it's not particularly extreme, this also applies to cruise travel insurance, if you're hitting the high seas with mates. The prices of these policies will be a little higher, but without them you won't have medical cover while you're out having fun - trust us, it's not worth it.
Travel insurance and alcohol
Gen Z are drinking less than older generations, but young people are still more likely to have a night out or two when they travel. It's important to understand the read the exclusions on your travel insurance - all of the include alcohol. Specially, you won't be covered if you're drunk.
The importance of student travel insurance
"I spent as much time as I could travelling as a student. I was always on a very slim budget so travel insurance felt like an annoying additional expense. But it's really worth it if something goes wrong. It's worth noting too – you won't be covered if your insurer finds you were under the influence of alcohol or drugs."
If you're studying abroad, travel insurance can be helpful for a bunch of reasons. It can provide:
Cover if you get injured or become ill. Let's say you take a side trip to the Alps and break your ankle. Your travel insurance will cover your medical treatment, ambulance rides and daily spending money while you're in the hospital. It also includes dental cover.
Cover if you go exploring outside your host country. It's pretty common for students to go travelling during spring break or on the weekends when you're on exchange. Most travel insurance will cover these trips as well as long as you've let the insurer know. If you're lucky, you might be able to get this cover without additional costs as well.
Cover if your money or belongings get lost, damaged or stolen. Just as studying in a new city gives you invaluable memories and experiences, you're not a local, which can make you a little more vulnerable and less prepared. If a pickpocket takes your wallet, a storm damages your passport or an airline loses your luggage, travel insurance will pay for you to replace what's lost.
Cover if a family emergency calls you home. If a family member dies and you need to return to Australia, travel insurance will pay to send you home and even pay for you to get back to your new country.
Cover if you have to cancel your trip (or any side trips). Travel insurance will pay you back for any non-refundable tickets or fees if you have to unexpectedly cancel your trip. For example, if you fall ill with the flu before you are due to travel, you can get reimbursed for the money you've spent on booking the trip.
Cover if you damage something or injure someone. If you injure someone or damage something, you could be on the hook for thousands of dollars. Travel insurance will help cover your legal fees and any money you owe.
Long-term travel insurance
For longer trips, such as a semester or full university degree studying abroad, or a working holiday after you finish uni, you should look at getting a long-term travel insurance policy. Some policies can cover you for up to 18 months. If you're staying longer, you will need to take out cover again after 18 months, or 2 years with a policy extension. This can cover you for the entire time you're away – for medical expenses, lost or stolen personal belongings and more.
Frequently asked questions
It isn't different at all, but as a student, you're likely on a budget, so you may just want cover for the essentials like medical expenses, luggage and cancellations.
Yes. It usually covers things like medical expenses while you're overseas, replacing lost or stolen luggage and repatriation costs if you get injured or sick and need to come back home. Depending on where you travel, you might be required to have some form of insurance in place.
It depends on where you travel. Some universities may require you to have some form of insurance in place to cover things like medical bills.
We always recommend getting travel insurance as soon as you start booking your trip. This is because you can be covered for pre-departure benefits such as cancellation.
As an example, say you just booked and paid for a 1-month trip to Asia, you booked your flights, your accommodation and a few tours in between. Soon after, you accidentally take a fall and break your leg, the doctor informs you that you can't travel.
If you have travel insurance, you would be reimbursed for all your travel expenses. If you don't have travel insurance, you'll have to deal with pursuing refunds and will be charged the cancellation fees.
An excess is the out-of-pocket expense that needs to be paid if you end up making a claim. Excesses often range between $0 and $250.
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To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by Tim Bennett as part of our fact-checking process.
Gary Ross Hunter was an editor at Finder, specialising in insurance. He’s been writing about life, travel, home, car, pet and health insurance for over 6 years and regularly appears as an insurance expert in publications including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Guardian and news.com.au. Gary holds a Kaplan Tier 2 General Advice General Insurance certification which meets the requirements of ASIC Regulatory Guide 146 (RG146). See full bio
Gary Ross's expertise
Gary Ross has written 644 Finder guides across topics including:
Jessica Prasida is a travel insurance expert for Finder. She lives and breathes travel, having worked as a travel agent and branch manager at STA Travel for over 4 years, then writing about travel insurance with Finder for another 5 years. Jess has a Bachelor of Business from the University of Technology, Sydney and a Tier 1 General Insurance qualification. See full bio
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