Long Stay Travel Insurance: a complete guide in 2024

Best long stay travel insurance for overseas students

If you’re planning a semester abroad, I recommend a student travel insurance plan, as they are tailored to students’ needs. Not only that, but if you plan to be overseas for over three months, taking out insurance is a must.

Chapka Student is perfect for students heading abroad. This policy is especially useful for students studying in countries with high medical costs, such as the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

Get a 5% discount on Cap Student in April 2024:
Click here: Activate Discount

1. Fill in your trip info (country of residence, travel dates, type of insurance).
2. Click on “Calculate your Insurance”.
3. All done! The discount will be applied automatically.

Cap Student also covers travel and accommodation costs for a family member to visit you if you are hospitalised for 2 days or more:

• Repatriation and early return.
• Chronic, pre-existing or congenital conditions.
• Dental expenses.
• Personal injury from motor vehicle accidents.

How does long stay travel insurance work?

Long-term travel insurance works like any other type of policy, and covers you for trips of over 3 months. If you’re planning a long-term trip, you’ll want to start thinking about which travel insurance option is right for your journey.

Travel insurance is essential because the longer you stay overseas, the higher the chance that you’ll need to make a claim at some point. Also, it’s important to travel with peace of mind, so you can really take in the adventure and enjoy yourself!

When deciding on travel insurance, you should consider the following factors: possibility to renew at destination, medical expenses, and repatriation. You must also consider whether you need to add cancellation cover, or sports activities to your plan.

If you intend to travel to a high-risk country, please refer to the UK Government website and their travel recommendations. This is crucial because travelling to a country with an official travel warning will affect your insurance coverage.

When to contract long stay insurance?

Although long stay policies are known for their flexibility, it is important to note that most companies do not allow you to contract your insurance once you’ve embarked on your trip.

For this reason, it is important to always ensure that you have insurance before you travel.

Once you’re abroad, insurance companies allow you to buy or renew your overseas insurance for as long as you like, before your cover runs out. Beware that once you’ve renewed your policy, there will typically be a 72-hour waiting period.

What does long stay travel insurance cover?

Travel insurance for a long-term trip should include a wide range of benefits that effectively cover all aspects of your travels. This will allow you to travel with peace of mind, the most valuable travel companion of all!

Here’s an overview of the most useful benefits, so you can select the ideal policy. All of the policies that I’ve mentioned above provide the following benefits, but to varying degrees, so read your policy carefully!

• Repatriation and 24-hour assistance. In the event of serious illness or accident, repatriation allows you to return to your country if necessary. It is also a necessary benefit for countries where natural disasters are common.
• Medical and hospitalisation cover. Travelling around the world involves visiting a multitude of countries, and each one has a different health system. In most cases, for tourists, health care is brutally expensive, and thus, comprehensive medical coverage will save you a lot. The European Union has created the Re-Open EU website, which provides fully up-to-date information on this subject.
• Dental, physiotherapy, psychological, or chiropractic expenses. During long journeys in particular, one is likely, at some point, to suffer from dental or physiotherapy problems, among others. Having acute pain can be a scary experience while overseas, hence the importance of including this expense in the policy.
• Early return of the insured person(s). Being away from home for such a long time, circumstances may arise that require you to return early, such as the death or hospitalisation of a family member. This cover is essential for any long-term insurance, as you want to know you’ll be able to see your loved ones.
• Accident benefit. This provides compensation for permanent disability or death, in the event of an accident at your destination or during your trip.
• Compensation for theft or damage to luggage. It’s also very important to highlight the coverage of electronic equipment, especially for digital nomads. Digital nomads travel the world as remote workers, so their electronic equipment is essential to their livelihoods.
• Legal advice abroad. In the event that you need it, insurance companies will provide a lawyer by telephone to advise you.
• Public liability. Includes expenses in the event of damage to property or injury to third parties. It’s important to remember that you can’t foresee the types of situations you’ll find yourself in.
• Search and rescue costs. This type of cover is particularly important for the more adventurous travellers. Remember, rescue costs are extremely high in all corners of the world.
• Extension and renewal of insurance. Long-term trips are unpredictable, and you may want to extend your trip, especially if you’re an avid traveller. Therefore, it’s essential to have an insurance policy that offers renewal. Please beware, however, that there will typically be a 72-hour waiting period upon renewal.

In addition to these services, each insurer offers extra services that may vary depending on the plan, and the destination you choose. It’s always a good idea to read the full policy when contracting travel insurance.

All coverage conditions appear in each quote. It should be checked carefully to make sure all your needs are met in case you run into any issues.

How much does long stay travel insurance cost?

One of the most frequently asked questions when it comes to purchasing travel insurance is the price. Today, the average price for 3 months is around €200 per traveller, but this depends heavily on a number of other factors.

Here are a few factors that can affect the price of your travel insurance:

• The number of people contracting
• Discounts and promotional offers
• The amount of medical expenses covered
• Adventure sports and cancellation coverage

Your destination will also affect the final price. Here are some average prices for long-term trips:

• North America: 40-125 € per month
• Rest of world: 32-62 € per month

How do I buy travel insurance?

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to take out travel insurance:

The websites of the insurance companies I mention are straightforward and intuitive, so don’t worry!

1. Go to the website of the insurer of your choice and click on the insurance option that corresponds with a long-term trip (over 3 months). Different companies use different names for this type of trip.
2. Once you have selected the insurance, you will see a “Contract” button, or something similar. Click to start the contracting process.
3. Once there, you will need to fill in your trip details. Fill in the following: duration of the trip, origin, destination of the trip, and number of travellers. Most companies offer a “Worldwide” option for travellers who don’t know which countries will be part of their adventure.
4. Fill in the details of each traveller and add a supplement if necessary. This is usually the cancellation or adventure sports option.
5. Read the insurance conditions carefully, and that’s it. You now have your long stay travel insurance!

Tips and tricks for saving money on your long-term travels

There are countless ways to make your travels cheaper. Choosing insurance that is tailored to your needs is vital, but remember that flights, accommodation, the card you use, and how you book your activities are crucial factors as well.

Budgeting and saving money becomes even more important when travelling for an extended period of time, so try to save where you can.

Here are a few tricks I’ve learned over the years. They may take a little time and effort, but they’ll help you reduce the cost of your trip, so you can focus on the things you enjoy about travelling!

Fly at reduced prices

You know, flights don’t cost the same from all countries! To pay for my cheapest flights, I use NordVPN.

Basically, it’s a private network that allows you to access Internet sites from locations other than your own, and this can have some serious benefits:

In April 2024, enjoy a 59% discount on NordVPN.
Click here: Activate Discount

Flights from Barcelona to Buenos Aires don’t cost the same if you buy them from Spain as from India, for example. So, once you’ve installed NordVPN, simply access websites like Skyscanner and compare prices by entering as if you were browsing from different countries.

The 8 countries from which it is cheapest to buy flights are: Malaysia, Bulgaria, India, Turkey, Romania, Indonesia, Portugal, and Thailand. Once you have NordVPN, head over to Skyscanner and start paying reduced prices for flights all over the world!

Stay at a discount all year round

Access Booking.com now and get discounts of up to 15% in April 2024 by becoming a Genius user.

There are also ways to save money when booking your accommodation with Booking. The first of which is becoming a Genius user, something you get from making 2 bookings (Genius level 1), and 5 bookings (Genius level 2).

As a Genius user in Booking.com, you can enjoy:

• Discounts on room rates.
• Free breakfast.
• Upgrades to superior room categories.
• Free parking.
• Late check-out.
• Welcome gifts.

In addition, there are hotels in Booking.com that directly offer you a 10 to 15% discount on your rate for being a Genius user.

Access to get discounts of up to 15% by becoming a Genius user.

Finally, Booking.com has a Minimum Price Guarantee program, so if you find a cheaper price for your hotel on any other website, they’ll match it!

Get the best travel card

If you travel frequently, the Revolut Metal Card is another great way to save money. For starters, they offer you unlimited currency exchanges without paying any fees!

This Card allows you to make unlimited domestic transfers free of charge, and withdraw up to £800 a month from international ATMs.

If you spent £650 abroad in a month using a standard card, and withdrew £350 at ATMs, you would have paid around £44 in fees.

With the Revolut Metal card, you would have paid £0 in fees.

Reserve your activities and entertainment in advance

GetYourGuide is an indispensable tool for organising any trip to any destination. It’s a platform that helps you book tourism and leisure activities for your trip.

With GetYourGuide, you can book your activities online to avoid queues, and take advantage of a discount for online bookings. This way, you save time and money, so you can enjoy more activities during your trip!

You may be thinking that some of these money-saving techniques don’t seem like they’ll save you a lot, but trust me, if you save a little here, and a little there, you’ll end up saving a lot. It just takes a little commitment on your part!