Trip-by-Trip vs. Annual Travel Insurance: Which is Better?

When planning for a trip, whether within the country or internationally, making the right preparations is important. This includes several things big and small. For example, it starts with ensuring you have the budget for the vacation you desire. Many countries may ask you to provide some proof that you have enough go through this vacation and return home safely. Other things can fundamentally be categorised as paperwork. These include ensuring that your passport is valid for at least the next six months (or as per the requirement defined by the country you are visiting), booking your tickets and accommodation based on your travel plans, getting the right type of visa, and getting your travel insurance online or offline. Most of these requirements are standard across the board, i.e., the details of these are defined by the rules and regulations of the country you are visiting. For example, the type of visa you will be required to get depends on the purpose of your visit and the length of your stay in the country. Even travel insurance may not always be optional. Some countries around the world have made international travel insurance a requirement if you are going to visit them. For example, when applying for a Schengen visa, you may be required to produce your insurance policy. Without it, you may not be granted a visa. Whether mandatory or not, it is ideal to get insurance coverage when setting out for an international trip. However, there is a choice offered to you when it comes to buying a travel policy. You can either choose single-trip travel insurance or a multi-trip one. To make this choice wisely, you should know what these plans are, what they offer, and who they suit best.

Single-Trip Travel Insurance

This is a rather common form of travel insurance any traveller can easily opt for when they have decided to travel to a foreign destination. It is easily available online as well as offline and covers your trip for the entire duration or 180 days, whichever is lesser. The cover is available separately for each of your trips and ceases when your trip ends. So, who should buy a single-trip travel insurance plan? A single-trip travel insurance policy is available and accessible to almost everyone. You can buy it for yourself, your family, or the entire group of travellers for the trip you are taking. Ideally, if you take not more than a couple of trips per year, with each of them lasting not more than 180 days, single-trip insurance may be the right choice for you.

Multi-Trip Travel Insurance

The other option that you can easily opt for when looking for travel insurance is the multi-trip travel insurance policy. Also known as the annual travel insurance policy, this type of insurance is the one that covers almost all your trips during a year. For example, if you have about four international trips planned in the next 12 months, it is ideal for you to have all these trips covered with travel insurance. However, it can be a tad inconvenient to buy travel insurance from India separately for each of your trips. Not to mention, it can add to your overall travel costs, too. While it may not seem like too much, most people would rather save the effort and money required to buy a separate policy for each trip. One of the solutions you can implement for this is a multi-trip insurance plan. This will cover each of the trips you take in the duration in which the policy is active.

Which One is Better?

It might not be the right approach if you are trying to gauge which of these policies is better. In practicality, one policy type may be more suitable for one type of traveller than the other. If you are not going to take more than a couple of trips over the next year, you may not find much use for an annual travel insurance plan. Furthermore, if you are taking trips for which coverage is already offered, such as business trips insured via your employer or tours where the tour planner offers insurance, it reduces the number of trips you need coverage for. In such cases, it may be best for you to take single-trip insurance. On the other hand, if you consider yourself a frequent traveller, you may want to take a look at multi-trip travel insurance. This allows you to take as many trips as you like, even some impromptu ones, without worrying about getting insurance coverage for each of them. Thus, the choice between multi-trip and single-trip travel insurance is best made after considering your requirements. Ensure that you compare the policies and understand their features before making the choice.   *Standard T&C apply Insurance is the subject matter of solicitation. For more details on benefits, exclusions, limitations, terms, and conditions, please read the sales brochure/policy wording carefully before concluding a sale.