If you’re reading this I’ll assume you’re looking for solid, straight forward advice on backpacker travel insurance from a seasoned traveler. After almost a decade living abroad, and taking numerous off-grid risks ourselves, SafetyWing has earned its place as our top choice for the best backpacker insurance when we need it.
Keep reading to find out why.
This article was last updated on November 30, 2022.
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SafetyWing is easy to sign up for and it packs a lot into a policy.
For a flat rate of $40 for every 4 weeks you’re covered, it’s our opinion that SafetyWing is the best travel insurance for backpackers. It’s “pay as you go”, covers $3,000 of lost luggage, COVID-19 treatment, has a $250k maximum limit, and you can even pick up a policy after you’ve started your trip if you need to.
While it may not have a million dollar maximum coverage limit like other insurance companies do –coverage you may not need– it’s just a fraction of the cost of its competition, and it’s ideal for far-flung destinations like Southeast Asia, Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond.
It offers substantial coverage for both travel and medical needs, making it the best value for backpackers, full stop.
If you would like a higher maximum limit, check out World Nomads.
In this article, we’re going to take a deep dive into what’s covered, what isn’t, and get into very specific details to help you decide if SafetyWing is the best choice for you.
Visit SafetyWingWhat does SafetyWing Backpacker Insurance Cover?
Before we get into the meat and potatoes, we have an obligatory legal disclaimer we’d like to share, because this is insurance and we’re publishers talking about insurance.
Par for the course, I guess.
As full-time travelers and bloggers, we have a professional relationship with SafetyWing (and World Nomads), and they keep us in the loop on policy changes to ensure our content is accurate –however, we encourage our blog visitors to review their policy at the source before purchase.
If you find that this article makes your life a little easier and choose to purchase your insurance policy via our referral link(s), we will make a small commission at no additional cost to you.
SafetyWing is the cheapest travel insurance we’ve found to date, has the simplest billing process, a flat rate, and in our 10+ years travel experience it offers the most bang for the buck in terms of what’s covered.
We’re confident you’ll be happy with them, otherwise we’d go find some other company to write to you about.
Alright, buckle up folks –let’s get right into it.
Deductible and Coverage Duration
SafetyWing backpacker insurance has a small $250 deductible, and coverage can be purchased in advance, or ‘pay as you go’. One month of coverage is calculated as 4 weeks, or 28 days –and is charged at a simple flat rate of $40 per cycle.
You can purchase back-to-back backpacker travel insurance coverage for a maximum duration of 1 year, although you can always restart your coverage afterwards if you’re looking for long term travel insurance.
If you’re ‘pay as you go’ and you want to cancel your backpacking insurance, there’s a big “stop insurance” button in your Safetywing dashboard you can click. No bullshit, they won’t try to charge your card in a sneaky way, or make it hard to cancel if you want to.
And of course, you can also choose your policy termination date in advance.
What’s Covered
As regular travelers ourselves, we understand that there are a number of things that absolutely must be covered if you’re going on a lengthy, international backpacking trip. If they weren’t, it would be a deal breaker.
The following circumstances are covered under SafetyWing travel insurance for backpackers;
Motorised scooter accidents are covered, as long as you’re not drunk, racing, or any other exclusions are applicable. This is a huge win for SafetyWing as many other insurance companies will not cover moped accidents on their “cheap” tier.
Unexpected injuries and illnesses including eligible doctor and/or hospital expenses or prescription drugs are covered (PDF).
COVID-19 treatment is covered by SafetyWing travel insurance.
Emergency medical evacuation and bedside visits are covered.
Travel delays and checked luggage that gets lost are covered.
Worth mention, if you’re passing through Europe on a flight that gets delayed or cancelled, we wrote an article about how to get the maximum flight delay compensation –you may want to save that article for later.
COVID-19 Backpacker Insurance
As of August 1, 2020 Safetywing modified their policy to include COVID-19 travel insurance, whereas World Nomads does not.
All policies purchased from Safetywing Nomad Insurance on or after August 1st will include COVID-19 coverage.
Safetywing travel insurance coverage for COVID-19 works the same as any other illness as long as it was not contracted before your coverage start date, and does not fall under any other policy exclusion or limitation.
Pay For Obligatory Quarantine
An additional benefit of Safetywing I’d like to mention is that they will cover your forced or mandated quarantine if a physician deems it necessary or some politician decreed it. If you’re going to be coerced into giving up your rights, it’s pretty great that at least one insurance company has your back.
The coverage isn’t perfect, and it might not be enough if you’re stuck in a $2,000+ Canadian quarantine, but Safetywing is the first insurance company I’ve seen pay any mind to quarantine at all.
Here’s the facts:
- You must have Safetywing nomad insurance for 28 days minimum to get quarantine coverage
- You must be outside of your home country for quarantine covered by insurance
- Your quarantine must be mandated by a physician or governmental authority, because you have either tested positive for COVID-19 OR you are symptomatic and waiting for your test results
- Planned hotel quarantine is not covered –if you test negative or you do not have symptoms, quarantine is not covered
- You can claim quarantine coverage of only $50/day for up to 10 days (with the limitation of being once within a 364-day period)
Until there’s some kind of Nuremberg Code sequel, Safetywing is your best bet to soften the blow of medical apartheid. Like what you see? Get Safetywing.
Pay For COVID-19 Testing
Testing for COVID-19 will be covered if deemed medically necessary by a physician. The antibody test is not covered, as it is not medically necessary. In other words –you’re only covered if you’re in a medically life threatening situation, which is all most people really need.
Have an Existing Policy?
If you have an existing Safetywing insurance policy, you’ll need to update it in order to be covered for COvid-19 treatment. Here’s how to update your policy:
1. Click on the “Update Policy” button
2. Read the details and agree
3. Submit payment for the plan (you will be refunded within 5 business days for any overlapping days from your “old” plan)
There’s a really, really big list of sports and backpacking “adventure activities” that are covered under SafetyWing’s insurance policies. I’ll list them below, although I do advise you visit their FAQ for an up-to-date list if this is a concern.
Paid professional sporting activities, or those you’d do in a league on a regular basis aren’t covered –just the ‘touristy’ stuff.
+ Archery
+ Badminton
+ Ballooning
+ Baseball
+ Biking – includes touring and organised tours
+ Bowling
+ Bungee jumping
+ Bushwalking up to 4,500 meters
+ Camel riding / trekking
+ Camping under 4,500 meters
+ Canoeing
+ Canyon swing
+ Canyoning
+ Capoeira dancing
+ Clay pigeon shooting
+ Cricket
+ Cycling under 4,500 meters
+ Deep sea fishing
+ Dirt boarding
+ Dog sledding (not racing or competing)
+ Fell running / walking
+ Fencing
+ Fishing
+ Flying as a passenger
+ Football (Soccer)
+ Glacier walking up to 4,500 meters
+ Golf
+ Gymnastics (only as exercise or for fun; not competitive or organized)
+ Hiking up to 4,500 meters
+ Horse riding
+ Hot air ballooning as a passenger
+ Hunting (excluding big game)
+ Ice skating (indoor or outdoor)
+ Ice climbing up to 4,500 meters
+ Jet boating
+ Jet skiing
+ Kayaking
+ Land surfing
+ Moped biking except as excluded below
+ Motor biking except as excluded below
+ Mountain biking up to 4,500 meters
+ Netball
+ Orienteering
+ Outdoor endurance
+ Paintballing
+ Rambling
+ Rap jumping
+ Rifle range shooting
+ Roller blading
+ Roller skating
+ Rowing / sculling
+ Safari tours
+ Sailing
+ Sandboarding
+ Sandskiing
+ Sea canoeing
+ Sea kayaking
+ Skateboarding
+ Skiing (recreational, not against the advice of local authority)
+ Sleigh rides
+ Sledding
+ Snorkelling except as excluded below
+ Snow rafting
+ Snowboarding (only covered for recreational snowboarding skiing. No cover provided while skiing away from prepared and marked in-bound territories, and/or against advice of a local authority)
+ Soccer (Football)
+ Speed boating
+ Squash
+ Stand up paddle surfing
+ Stilt walking
+ Surfing except as excluded below
+ Swimming
+ Table tennis
+ Ten pin bowling
+ Tennis
+ Trail bike riding
+ Trekking up to 4,500 meters
+ Tubing
+ Tubing on snow
+ Ultimate frisbee
+ Via ferrata up to 4,500 meters
+ Volleyball
+ Wake skating
+ Wakeboarding
+ Walking
+ Water skiing
+ Weightlifting, cardio and classes at the gym (note that training for or attending a powerlifting competition is excluded)
+ Windsurfing
+ Yachting (coastal waters only)
+ Yachting (outside coastal waters)
+ Yoga (in class or alone)
+ Zip line
+ Zorbing
That’s a pretty extensive list! It doesn’t change often, although you may want to double check on their website before you purchase your own travel insurance.
To figure out your own exact backpacker travel insurance costs, they’ve created a handy price calculator that you can find here.
What’s Not Covered
It won’t be much of a surprise that pre-existing conditions –that are really inconvenient on a backpacking trip and require treatment, like cancer, aren’t covered.
If you want cancer coverage, or coverage for other pre-existing conditions as a self-employed person, or freelancer, gig economy worker, or you work from home, with or without kids –check out their other insurance.
Routine checkups and preventative care that you’d normally do back home aren’t covered with this backpacking insurance, either. Not many dentists in the woods, though. I think that’s alright.
Simply put, SafetyWing is not intended to be an alternative to your major medical insurance provider from your home country. It’s backpacker insurance that’s intended to cover travel and medical expenses when you’re on the road, and that’s it.
If you want regular “at home” health insurance, look at this instead.
The Dark Parts
We live in interesting times. Let’s look at some of the darker possibilities of international travel like global pandemic(s), kidnappings, et al.
COVID-19 treatment is covered by SafetyWing travel insurance.
You are covered for travel to any country on the planet except for Cuba, Iran, and North Korea with very few exceptions, if any.
If the country you plan to go backpacking in is under sanctions from the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), you’re not covered if you’re robbed at gunpoint at the ATM, or kidnapped in these countries.
But that’s terrible, rare, and I’m sure you’re not going to visit any of these places, anyway (ie. Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Venezuela, and a small handful of others). They’re not exactly known for being ideal backpacking destinations for the average person (in spite of what some other blogs may tell you, they’re full of shit).
You can find SafetyWing’s current list of countries that aren’t covered on their FAQ.
Inside Your Home Country
Most people traveling abroad don’t need their travel insurance to protect them in their home country, but it’s worth knowing what’s covered, whether you need it or not.
If you visit your home country after you’ve been travelling abroad, you’re covered for 30 days out of 90, provided you’re not getting treatment for medical issues that started while you were abroad.
If something happens after you return to your home country, that’s covered within the time window I mentioned above.
If you’re from a country with pre-paid or ‘socialised’ healthcare, this point may be moot.
If you’re an American you only get 15 days coverage for every 90 days with this backpacker insurance policy because the USA is bloody expensive –although they have a US travel add-on you can buy at any time.
In Summary
Well, that’s a wrap. We’ve covered the big questions our readers have when it comes to backpacker travel insurance, but if you feel like we’ve missed anything it won’t hurt to visit the SafetyWing website for yourself.
We update this post religiously, just for our readers –and if you look around, you’ll notice that just about every travel blog suggests SafetyWing. And now you know why!
In summary, many competitors have too many caveats and exceptions, making SafetyWing the best backpacker travel insurance for our needs. They’re easy to understand and put it in plain English.
Interested in World Nomads Instead?
If you’re interested in SafetyWing’s biggest competitor, World Nomads, we wrote a side-by-side insurance comparison for further reading.