World Nomads Travel Insurance Review

Like (presumably) everyone else on the planet, I hate buying travel insurance. It's boring to work out which is the best travel insurance and I've struggled for a long time wondering if travel insurance is even worth it. (Spoiler alert: travel insurance is worth it and the best travel insurance out there in my opinion is SafetyWing.) But because SafetyWing are relatively new on the block, they weren't always the company I used, instead I used to use World Nomads. Hence why I'm writing this World Nomads travel insurance review here today.

Our World Nomads Insurance Review: A Long Story...

You might ask "well, you obviously prefer SafetyWing, why are you reviewing World Nomads" and the truth is this: having used World Nomads for years, I have enough information and experience to review them. Additionally, I feel that because I'm not currently using them, I am able, (unlike many other bloggers), to give you a review of them that is actually fair. I'm not trying to sell you on them, I'm just here to tell my truth. Finally, to be perfectly honest, I hate the thought of my hours of research and experience going to waste, lol, I want you to use my knowledge and skills! So whilst I do personally opt for SafetyWing, today I will be reviewing my previous bae, World Nomad. In this review of World Nomads travel insurance I'm going to tell you:

• 1. Why you must buy travel insurance;
• 2. Why World Nomads Travel Insurance is the one I used to buy;
• 3. Pros of World Nomads Travel Insurance;
• 4. Cons of World Nomads Travel Insurance;
• 5. What is covered on World Nomads Travel Insurance;
• 6. What is NOT covered on World Nomads Travel Insurance;
• 7. Is there a World nomads alternative;
• 8. How much is travel insurance;
• 9. Is World Nomads Travel Insurance worth it (and how to make it cheaper);
• 10. World Nomads Travel Insurance Discount Code;

The Most Important Point: Why You Must Buy Travel Insurance

This is an idea that I struggled with for ages. As a Brit I was used to free healthcare (which is something I'm eternally grateful for) and the idea of paying for travel insurance seemed ludicrous to me and like a giant waste of money. Seriously, if you've ever wondered if travel insurance is worth it - I've been there, and I probably wasted more time wondering about it. It seems like if you buy travel insurance you lose either was, right? Because, it's either:

a.) You buy travel insurance and nothing happens thus travel insurance is a waste of money and it's not worth buying or

b.) You buy travel insurance and something does happen and you have an injury abroad - sure you use your travel insurance and it wasn't a waste of money to buy it, but you're still injured abroad.

It's a lose-lose. Like what else do you buy in the hope that you won't have to use it? I've had this eternal struggle for years and there have been times, especially when I first started travelling where I travelled without insurance.

TRAVELLING WITHOUT INSURANCE IS A NOT A GOOD IDEA

The longer I travelled, the more times I was injured abroad - it's just a numbers game, I would probably have been injured in the UK too. And the number of times I was almost injured abroad rose too, and the number of stories I collected about friends being injured abroad rose exponentially.

One of the times we were injured abroad: Tom broke his arm in Australia

It's simple statistics, the longer you travel for, the more likely you are to get injured abroad and thus need travel insurance. But even if you've just started travelling, there's still a chance you could get injured abroad immediately. Travel insurance is a must, like looking for food it's something that just has to be done. Because if you don't buy travel insurance and you do get injured abroad you will end up paying hundreds of thousands of pounds on medical bills abroad. But if it helps, I don't even like to think of it as buying travel insurance, I like to think of it as buying peace of mind. Sometimes I like to think of it as a jinx free way to travel. One time, for example, I was travelling in Slovenia hanging out with friends and swimming in the river. Next to the river was a rope swing and a slide. Everyone was having fun swinging and sliding. I got to the top of the slide (it was super steep) and I thought "I don't have travel insurance, if something goes wrong here - if I fall from this height, if I cut myself on this rusty slide, if I hit a rock in the water, anything I will be in deep shit"

I still slid down the damn thing, and I was fine, but it scared me so much and I felt so dumb I bought travel Insurance the next day. Travel insurance is never a waste of money and travel insurance is always worth buying.

Why World Nomads Travel Insurance Is the One I Used to Buy

Hopefully, by now you know that travel insurance is worth it and something you simply can't go abroad without. And for those of you that want travel insurance, which one do you buy? With so many companies out there it can feel like a nightmare trying to choose the right one. I'm happy to announce that after many years and a lot of research, I now think that SafetyWing is the best travel insurance. Put simply, they offer a number of (essential) things that other travel insurance companies don't offer. I renew my policy with them every trip and will continue to do so unless a better option comes onto the market. But before SafetyWing I used to use World Nomads. (For a full break down on why I switched check out my blog post: SafetyWing vs World Nomad.) Before SafetyWing came along, World Nomads seemed like the only good option on the market and, put simply, that was the reason that they were the one I used to buy. I will go into more detail now with a pros and cons list:

The Pros of World Nomads Travel Insurance

Here are some of the positive aspects of World Nomads insurance:

They covered everything I could possibly need

This is a basic need from a travel insurance company, but funnily enough, many travel insurance companies don't even bother covering your basic travel insurance needs. This is so important I've dedicated a whole section to what World Nomads Travel Insurance actually cover (see below).

You can buy travel insurance once your trip has started

This was exclusive to World Nomads Travel Insurance (but is now also something SafetyWing does). So this applies to naughty people (like me) who realise once their trip has started that they need travel insurance. (If this is you and you've decided to get it now, hence why you're reading this - I'm so proud of you!) So this this is something that's exclusive to World Nomads Travel Insurance (and also SafetyWing lol) no other company will let you buy travel insurance outside of your home country aka when you've already started travelling.

But this extends past naughty people and also applies to long-term travellers and/or people living abroad. You've been away for a year, you bought your yearly travel insurance before you left, now you need to renew it, but you haven't gone back to your home country yet. Which is the only company that will let you buy travel insurance abroad? World Nomads Travel Insurance (and SafetyWing). The reason I like this aspect so much is because it's like - yeah, why shouldn't we be allowed to buy it whenever. One of the most annoying things about insurance are all the silly little rules that come with it. So I like the World Nomads Travel Insurance (and SafetyWing) are chill about when (and where) you buy your insurance. It's so much more practical and free.

You can extend your policy abroad

This is also exclusive to World Nomads travel insurance (and SafetyWing). The flexibility of this is something that's perfect for nomads, backpackers and all manner of long-term travellers. Loving life in Thailand? Found a soul-mate in Argentina? Found a dream job in Berlin? Not ready to come back yet? World Nomads Travel Insurance caters to you, you can extend your policy without coming home something no other travel insurance companies are offering.

They were created by travellers, for travellers

Fellow travellers who were sick of being taken for a ride by travel insurance companies became the founders of World Nomads Travel Insurance. This is one of the main reasons I trusted them - they know what it's like to be in our shoes. Literally!

The things NOT included by World Nomads Travel Insurance are reasonable

I've read through a lot of fine print on a lot of travel insurance companies (I utilise my anxiety to help you), and let me tell you, the number of companies that don't include things that should definitely be included is criminal! World Nomads Travel Insurance isn't like that - like I said it was created by real life travellers and thus you can trust them not to screw you over by not covering simple things. But more on what they do and don't cover below.

The Cons of World Nomads Travel Insurance

Here are the negatives of World Nomads insurance:

The costs differ depending on where your home country is

How much your travel insurance is with World Nomads depends on lots of different factors, like age and where you're going, which kind of make sense. But the one that annoys me the most is where your home country is. For example, Tom's World Nomad Travel Insurance costs more than mine, because Tom's home country in Germany and mine is the UK. I'm not 100% sure why this is, perhaps because healthcare in the UK is paid for by general taxation, whereas in Germany individual health insurance is compulsory to the entire population. I don't know. But more on how much is travel insurance below.

The cost differs depending on where you are going

This is my biggest con with World Nomads - ostensibly their prices look reasonable enough, but they go up astronomically for different countries - e.g. if you're from the UK travelling to Hungary, insurance with World Nomads is about $60 / month. But if you want to go to Turkey it's about $100 / month - why? Medical care is cheaper in Turkey than Hungary. I could understand putting the USA on its own more expensive list, but I feel like all other countries should cost the same. It feels unnecessarily complicated and, perhaps even, xenophobic? I know some people will go to the country they want to go to regardless of the cost, but for others cost is a huge factor and deciding to go to a different country because the insurance is cheaper is something that happens and is unfortunate. All in all, this is the main reason I switched from World Nomads to SafetyWing - because SafetyWing costs $45 / month for almost every country (with the exception of the USA which is more expensive, and certain high risk countries which they won't insure you for). All in all, in this aspect, SafetyWing is fairer.

World Nomads Travel Insurance doesn't cover you if you're drunk (or high)

As someone who used to be drunk a lot, this is really annoying. And really, let's face it a lot of accidents happen because people are drunk, and what are we going to do, not drink? So if World Nomads Travel Insurance finds out that you were drunk (or high) they will reject your claim. This is also true for all travel insurance companies. But for past me (until better option SafetyWing came along) the pros for World Nomads highly outweigh the cons, and this is something I consistently used to hear from my other travelling friends (who, incidentally all used to use World Nomads). Next, let's now look at what is and isn't covered on World Nomads Travel Insurance:

What is Covered on World Nomads Travel Insurance

The main things that World Nomads Travel Insurance covers are:

• Emergency medical expenses abroad
• Emergency medical evacuation
• Emergency dental expenses abroad
• Trip delay, cancellation or interruption due to an unforeseen event
• Delayed, damaged or stolen goods if they've been checked with a carrier

What Is Not Covered in World Nomads Travel Insurance

Like all travel insurance companies, World Nomads Travel Insurance won't cover everything - one of the main reasons we like them though is the things they don't cover are pretty reasonable like:

• Items left unsupervised in a public place
• Non-emergency medical expenses like contact lenses
• Cosmetic procedures
• Expenses related to a existing condition unless your policy says otherwise.  

So... Is There a World Nomads Alternative?

Put simply, yes. I'm sure you know who I'm going to say, but in case you skipped to this section I would say that SafetyWing are a better alternative than World Nomads. I have used both and whilst I have no real issues with either, I conclude that SafetyWing is superior. Not only are they cheaper, they cover almost everywhere indiscriminately and, when it comes to claiming from either of these companies - SafetyWing's claiming system is much smoother and easier, and they pay out quicker (at least in my experience). Still, from my experience, if you go with either of them you will find a flexible and secure travel insurance.

How Much is Travel Insurance?

The cost of World Nomads travel insurance depends on many things including where you're travelling to, your age and what's your country of residence:

Wondering what your country of residence is? It's the place where you have all of the following:

• Are a citizen or a legal, permanent resident 
• Have access to long term medical care through a national health insurance scheme and/or private health insurance (not including reciprocal health agreements) 
• Will be repatriated to for ongoing medical care if you're unable to continue your trip 
• Have unrestricted, unconditional right of entry 
• Have a residential address

World Nomads insurance can be anywhere from $60 / month depending on where you're from and where you're going. So let me highlight this: SafetyWing is cheaper than World Nomads, at $45 / month.

Is World Nomads Travel Insurance Worth It? (and How to Make It Cheaper)

So you've looked at your prices, and you're wondering is World Nomads Travel Insurance worth it. Of course, I think SafetyWing is better, but for all the years I used World Nomads, do I think it was worth it? Well, I think travel insurance is worth nothing if they don't cover what you need and ultimately if they don't pay out. As they were made by travellers for travellers they are pretty hot on covering the things you need. When it comes to paying out, I personally never had an issue, and I don't personally know anyone that has. You can of course find reviews by people who have had issues - but these people are often people who didn't read the terms properly. Not that that's wrong - I hate that insurance companies are so picky about these things. All in all, I think it was worth it back when SafetyWing didn't exist, but now that they do exist, I think it's worth going for them instead. Saying that, if you didn't want to go with SafetyWing for some reason, I think you'll be okay with World Nomads too. Anyway, here are some of the discount options World Nomads provides:

Yearly World Nomads Travel Insurance Discount Code

World Nomads Travel Insurance offer incredible discounts if you opt for year long travel insurance. For example, going for just 1 month costs more per month than if you go for 12 months. (The total price of 12 months is more of course, but that total price divided by 12 is cheaper than that 1 month price.) So if you know you're going to be travelling for 6 months or so, have a quick check and see how much World Nomads Travel Insurance is for 12 months, you will find that the daily cost is a lot cheaper and you might even find that the overall price is cheaper too!

Continental World Nomads Travel Insurance Discount Code

Depending on where you're going and where you're from, you might find some continents are cheaper for you. For example for me, I found that travelling just in Europe was a fraction of the cost of travelling world-wide, even if I then added on separate countries as a separate transaction: I knew I was going to be travelling around Europe for the next 6 months, but I wanted to take a 5 day trip to Morocco too. I checked worldwide, I checked Europe and Morocco, and I checked Europe + a separate transaction of 5 days in Morocco. The latter choice was a fraction of the first two - the only thing I had to do was remember to book my Morocco insurance once I had set dates!

Similarly, excluding the USA from your travel plans will often make your insurance a lot cheaper - Canada has a lot of the perks of the USA without a lot of the bad things :P, but if your heart is still set on travelling the USA, consider just getting USA travel insurance for your dates. For example, last year we checked 'worldwide excluding the USA' and then (in a separate transaction) bought USA insurance for the 18 days we were in the USA - it was so much cheaper!

World Nomads Travel Insurance Discount Code

Last, and certainly not least it always pays to use a World Nomads Travel Insurance Discount code, luckily there are always a few of them floating around. Here are some ones I've tried that work: Use and insert 'WNFIND5' at the Enter Promotion Code box for a 5% World Nomads Travel Insurance. If that doesn't work try JW83YG87.

Wrap Up: Why You Must Buy Insurance

So there you have it, hopefully, this has helped you work out whether travel insurance is worth it or not. In our honest opinion, World Nomads Travel Insurance is the second best travel insurance after SafetyWing.

Also, here is a video we made about our best and worst travel moments (including our accidents and injuries) to show you why it really is worth getting travel insurance:

Disclaimer: We are affiliates for SafetyWing, which means for every sale we send them, we get a normal portion of their profits (at no extra cost to you), it's essentially a kind of thank you to us for sending you there. But travel insurance is a big deal and we wouldn't recommend them to you unless we hadn't personally tried and loved them. Like I said we use them every year. 

 

P.S.: In case you're interested, a way of travelling and getting accommodation cheaply is housesitting (yeh, also very middle class but there's less wage labour involved at least!). Trustedhousesitters.com was kind enough to provide us and our readers with a 10% discount, click on the link to use it! :)