How can I get free travel insurance?

Bankwest Zero Platinum Mastercard

Photo: Bankwest

Here at Tight Arse Travel we are always on the lookout for ways to make our travel dollar go further; why pay more for something when you don’t need to? The further your money goes, the longer you can travel; or with the money saved, you can afford to splurge occasionally. Then there is the thrill of the hunt! That said, we don’t always take the cheapest option if it compromises safety or increases risk.

One of travel’s little necessities is insurance, and even though we have never needed to use it, the peace-of-mind it affords is well worth the price. Imagine having an accident in the U.S. with no medical insurance, you may end up with a debt for life. Alternatively, falling ill in a third-world country with poor medical facilities; not only could your condition deteriorate quickly, without insurance you may not be able to arrange or afford repatriation home.

To that end, travel insurance is worth every cent as long as it covers every eventuality of the trip – read the fine print.

We heard from a friend who has travelled extensively that some credit cards are bundled with a travel insurance component, so like a truffle pig we started grubbing around the Interwebs for the scent of a product that would suit our needs. Now, it is not hard to find a credit card with bundled travel insurance, but there is usually a catch: some only provide insurance if you buy your travel tickets with the card, others have an annual fee; yet others provide only a very rudimentary coverage, forcing you to pay more for the things you really need.

Then, Eureka! Could it be true? Had we found a card with no annual fee and a great insurance policy? Wait a minute, surely there had to be a catch. As we said earlier: read the fine print! After checking everything twice, we have found the perfect product – Bankwest Zero Platinum MasterCard. Although there is a requirement to buy your travel tickets with the card, you have to buy them somehow! By using the card the bank and the insurer have evidence of your purchase and intended journey.

The application process could not have been easier – it can all be done on-line. A good thing too … Bankwest is based in Western Australia with no branch network in the eastern states where we live. Approval took about 2 days, and about a week later our shiny new credit card arrived in the mail.

Now we have a line of credit for emergencies when travelling, the peace-of-mind good travel insurance affords (for free, we might add), and it did not cost us a cent!

Check it out here -> http://bit.ly/1gYgKzJ