Monday, October 13, 2014

travel insurance

To purchase or not to purchase, that is the question. It's never been something I think of when I travel, but I'm going to Europe: a lot of pickpocket hotspots. Now that I'm thinking of adding Barcelona to my trip, I'm even more paranoid. I saw my friend today, and she'd been in Barcelona for exchange for a year. To my question of, 'Did you get pickpocketed?' she gave me a sheepish smile: 'Three times.' Two iPhones and her wallet. 'But Barcelona was very safe!' And then there's also Paris. Enough said.

I'm just indecisive of what to do. My university's insurance will cover my leisure travel as part of exchange, which is limited to health and medical. It's the pickpocketing I'm worried about, if my camera or laptop goes missing. I hate paperwork - and insurance companies aren't going to make it easy. Who knows what loopholes or how difficult that will be. I guess for me it'd be: counting my losses v insurance bureaucracy.

I also have bureaucracy issues with getting my student visa for China, so I might have to take a gamble and go to America and ship my passport back to Sydney. It's cheaper than flying back, and infinitely more fun! I don't think I'll need extra travel insurance for Canada/USA, so if I do, it would just be the Europe leg, and I'm not sure how that would work. Even though I will be staying with friend and family for the American leg, three months of holidays is going to be expensive.

Experiences with pickpocketing in Europe and travel insurance, and advice?

7 comments:

  1. Two iPhones and a wallet, your friend is super unlucky! I've been to Paris, Rome and Prague, which are all pretty notorious for pickpocketers, but I've been able to avoid them so far *knock wood*. I've usually read up on all the tricks they use beforehand and I clutch onto my bag for dear life anyway! Cross body with outside and inside zipper compartments is your best bet, I think.

    I usually get travel insurance, mainly to cover any medical costs that might crop up. I've never needed to make a claim though, and apparently it's quite annoying to claim for items. I note down serial numbers and take pictures of my electronics before I leave, I've heard that makes claims easier.

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    1. Ah, what about your bag when you take photos? I'm worried it'd be the moments with my camera up and the bag there. I don't think I'll leave anything valuable in the bag, but I'd hate to get it snatched!

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    2. Taking photos definitely leaves you open for a bit, haha. I just zip up my bag and keep one hand on it, if I'm travelling with someone I usually ask them to keep an eye on our surroundings while I do take photos.

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  2. Travel insurance is more for piece of mind than anything more often than not. When I went on exchange and travelling, I bought an extra travel insurance (in addition to UNSW's free one) to supplement what I thought were gaps, and for the almost 6 month period, it was $600. I usually take one out in case of anything related to the medical aspect (especially for the US).

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    1. I heard that about the US! Who did you go with for travel insurance? I just don't know where to start with choosing.

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  3. I wondered around Paris on my own, waving my iPhone around while trying to reach some internet to guide me home. I got home fine but my mate nearly got mugged. He joked it's cos I have a really old phone. I reckon you'd get something knicked in Paris is you stood around long enough.

    Buckets & Spades

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    1. Lucky you! But the amount of pickpocketing sounds so depressing!

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