Amazing Cheap Travel Insurance

[Alexandra]

For travel insurance limited to medical, repatriation, search and rescue ONLY (ie no cancellation or baggage cover) you might like to look at joining the Austrian Alpine Club. Membership includes the insurance and costs £41 per calendar year for those born 1950-1984 or £31 for those born before 1950. Children of 2 members are covered free. There is NO UPPER AGE LIMIT and no questions are asked about medical conditions. This in itself seems to me almost miraculous. (Travel insurance can double in price for over-70s and be hard to get at all for over-80s.) You can download a leaflet about the insurance from the AAC site:

https://www.aacuk.org.uk/benefits.aspx

It seems too good to be true, but I have read and re-read the literature and I can't see any snags. You do have to use your EHIC card first, and you do have to leave info on your proposed route in case they have to search for you - but unless you were unfortunate enough to be unconscious, the combination of mobile phone and GPS should make a sweep search unnecessary.

I am now wondering about insuring my luggage just for the flights - has anyone found a cheap way to do this? I suspect claiming on my house insurance would just lose me my no claims bonus.

NB I have no financial interest in promoting the AAC or EHIC cards!

[Ady In Accy]

This in combination with your E1-11 and houshohold insurance that covers personal belongings away from the home seems a good bet. My father is 78 and is spending more and more time out of the country and his current insurance only covers him for 30 days at a time away from the UK so he is going to look into this.

[IanDarkpeak]

I was a member of the AAC (Britania Section) for many years, I always used their insurance and had many cheap holidays. a great club

[Alexandra]

This in combination with your E1-11 and houshohold insurance that covers personal belongings away from the home seems a good bet. My father is 78 and is spending more and more time out of the country and his current insurance only covers him for 30 days at a time away from the UK so he is going to look into this.

AAC insurance may help with your father's problem, but perhaps not solve it completely. Members are covered for the first 6 weeks of each and every trip. Members permanently living abroad are also covered, but I'm not clear if they are covered in their country of residence. It seems to me probably not, but your father could check.

NB form E1-11 no longer exists, you now need an EHIC card instead - please see my recent post on this.

[Runningfox]

Is Austrian Alpine Club insurance just for travel in Austria, or are people covered in the Swiss or French Alps, where AAC members have reciprocal rights to use mountain huts in those countries? And are EHIC cards valid in Switzerland? I didn't think they were.
EasyJet do cheap travel insurance to cover loss of baggage, delayed departure or abandoned trips - for as cheap as £12 for a single trip.

[Alexandra]

Is Austrian Alpine Club insurance just for travel in Austria, or are people covered in the Swiss or French Alps, where AAC members have reciprocal rights to use mountain huts in those countries? And are EHIC cards valid in Switzerland? I didn't think they were.
EasyJet do cheap travel insurance to cover loss of baggage, delayed departure or abandoned trips - for as cheap as £12 for a single trip.

Anyone considering joining the AAC for the travel insurance should download their booklet from https://www.aacuk.org.uk/benefits.aspx

It says the insurance "... is valid worldwide, with the exceptions that the third-party insurance and legal protection insurance are restricted to Europe". However, the sums of money would likely not be enough for all medical expenses in hyper-expensive countries eg USA.

Reciprocal rights: "In all mountain huts belonging to the national mountaineering federations of Austria, Germany, South Tyrol, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Slovenia, Belgium, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, our members enjoy reduced accommodation rates." However, in my experience many refuges do not belong and so give no discounts.

Ehic cards: presumably where EHIC cards are not valid the insured can not be expected to have used one.

Easyjet cheap travel insurance: Be very careful if you are going abroad to walk or do other activities off road. The only travel insurers I have been able to find who cover search and rescue are: BMC, Snowcard and AAC. Search and rescue abroad are NOT free, and helicopters are often used, which cost thousands. Once again, it is vital to READ THE SMALL PRINT.

[Alexandra]

are EHIC cards valid in Switzerland? I didn't think they were..

I just found this by moneysavingexpert.com: The free European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) entitles the holder to medical treatment in state run hospitals in any EU country plus Iceland, Norway. Liechtenstein, & Switzerland at the same cost as a local. So if it's free for them its free for you.