Best Long Stay Travel Insurance with Discount 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 October 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.

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 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 October 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 October 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!

How does long stay travel insurance work?

Long stay 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.

Long stay travel insurance is essential because the longer your 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 long stay 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.

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 benefits that will be most relevant to you, so you can find 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.

• Extensive 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 in case of 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 long stay 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 long stay travel insurance is the price. Today, the average price for 3 months is around €200 per traveller.

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

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

When to buy long stay travel insurance?

Insurance companies typically focus on flexibility and customisation when it comes to insurance for long-term policies and round-the-world travel.

This is mainly because these types of trips are often very unpredictable. Even if you have a start date and an end date, you may decide that you want to extend your trip and continue the adventure! Haven’t we all wanted to extend a trip before?

With this in mind, 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.

I should mention that most companies offering long stay travel insurance give you the possibility to add extra coverage to your insurance, such as trip cancellation, or adventure sports. You should carefully consider whether you might need these add-ons!

How do I buy long stay travel insurance?

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to take out long stay 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. Firstly, the duration of the trip. Here you should bear in mind that the minimum is 3 months, and the maximum is 12 months. There is always the possibility of renewal if the trip lasts longer! Secondly, the number of travellers. Finally, the countries you will be visiting. 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!

Long stay travel insurance reviews

On the Internet, you can find thousands of opinions on travel insurance for long holidays and backpacking trips, which gives you a good idea of how people rated their experiences with their travel insurance providers.

That’s why I’ve created a section to give you an idea of what people online have said about their long stay travel insurance.

Some positive opinions about contracting long stay travel insurance include:

• The medical coverage is broad, and valid for all countries of the world;
• Customer service is fast and efficient;
• There are various options regarding payment of the insurance;
• It can be taken out from abroad, once the trip has begun;
• It includes a refund in case of interruption of the trip.

On the other hand, here are some points that customers were less satisfied with:

• Trip cancellation is an additional cost;
• Sometimes the traveller has to pay money in advance before the company reimburses you;
• Some insurance companies have an age limit for contracting this type of insurance.

Why take out long stay travel insurance?

It might seem terrifying to think about something going wrong while you’re abroad, but what’s truly terrifying is not being insured when the worst-case scenario becomes a reality.

Perhaps even more frightening, is when you’ve taken out insurance, but the incident isn’t covered. This is why taking out the right long stay travel insurance is so crucial.

With this guide, you can ensure that you get the most complete long stay travel insurance for your trip. Once you’ve purchased your policy, and made use of our travel-hacks, you’ll be ready to go!