Best Annual Travel Insurance Plans In Singapore (2023)

Looking for the best annual travel insurance plan? We've shortlisted 8 of the best annual travel insurance plans to buy. 

Best Travel Insurance in Singapore on SingSaver for March 2023

Allianz Partners Travel Insurance | AIG Travel Guard® Direct | FWD Travel Insurance | Singlife Travel Insurance | MSIG TravelEasy | Etiqa (TIQ) Travel Insurance

If you're planning to visit a few destinations this year, you’re probably shopping for an annual travel insurance plan.

Compared to a single trip plan, an annual travel insurance plan (also known as an annual multi-trip plan) provides coverage for up to one calendar year, offering greater value and convenience while saving on cost. 

So if you’re unsure which annual travel insurance plan to get, we've compiled 8 of the best plans to buy. 

Singlife 

Singlife travel insurance offers three different tiers with varying levels of coverage based on your budget: Travel Lite, Travel Plus, and Travel Prestige. As you can probably tell, the difference between the three is the level of protection and benefits.

For instance, the Travel Prestige plan, which is the highest iteration, offers unlimited overseas medical expenses and emergency medical evacuation. Furthermore, you’ll also get the highest coverage for personal accidents, travel delays, and baggage loss/damage, among others. 

Moreover, the Travel Plus and Travel Prestige plan has trip cancellation for any reason benefit (including pre-existing conditions) of up to S$15,000 and S$20,000 respectively. 

However, the downside is that overseas medical expenses and emergency evacuation coverage are shared, and there’s no coverage for pre-existing conditions. 

Income Travel Insurance Standard/Enhanced PreX

Income travel insurance offers good coverage in areas such as overseas medical expenses (up to S$350,000), travel delay (up to S$2,000), baggage loss (up to S$8,000), and personal accident, accidental death and permanent disability (TPD) (up to S$500,000). On top of this, it also covers COVID-19.

That said, the premiums are high. Moreover, it doesn’t have miscellaneous benefits such as extreme sports coverage, and you might have also noticed that the coverage for overseas medical expenses and emergency evacuation are combined, which is made worse by the fact that the Standard plan only allows you to claim up to S$350,000, depending on your tier.      

However, this travel insurance stands out because it has a pre-existing condition plan (Income Enhanced PreX). If you have a pre-existing medical condition, getting protection when you travel is a no-brainer. Income’s Enhanced PreX plan covers medical expenses of up to S$1,000,000 for pre-existing conditions such as asthma, stroke, hypertension, and diabetes. 

Also read: Travel Insurance 101: Does My Policy Cover Damaged Baggage and Contents?

Allianz travel insurance

Allianz travel insurance is for travellers who want high medical coverage when travelling abroad, especially to countries with high medical treatment costs. 

That’s because it covers up to S$1,000,000 in emergency medical and dental expenses, and all three tiers (Bronze, Silver, and Platinum) also have unlimited emergency evacuation coverage. Each plan also covers you against medical costs, trip cancellations, and travel delays caused by COVID-19. 

What’s also unique about Allianz travel insurance is that the policy includes automatic coverage extension. So if your return is affected due to something unforeseen (flight delays, medical emergencies, strikes, etc.), your period of cover will be extended without any payment or premiums.

Additionally, the Silver and Platinum plans also come with rental vehicle excess cover of up to S$1,500 and S$3,000, respectively, though this isn’t available for the Bronze tier.

However, premiums are expensive, and you can get similar coverage with other insurers at more competitive rates. Moreover, you can't buy an annual travel insurance plan if you're travelling to the ASEAN region. 

Tiq by Etiqa travel insurance

Tiq by Etiqa travel insurance is one of the few insurance plans that cover pre-existing medical conditions. It’s also one of the most affordable travel insurance plans around, providing comprehensive coverage across the board, even for the Entry plan. 

Like most travel insurance plans, Etiqa Tiq travel insurance offers three different tiers to cater to travellers with different budgets — Entry, Savvy, and Luxury — and each tier has a different level of coverage. For instance, the Entry plan starts with S$200,000 for overseas medical expenses and S$1,000,000 for the Savvy plan. 

Aside from the high overseas medical expenses coverage, Etiqa Tiq travel insurance also offers high emergency evacuation coverage, up to S$1,800,000 (combined with the repatriation of mortal remains to Singapore).

The downside of Etiqa Tiq travel insurance is that the travel delay, rental vehicle excess, and baggage loss coverage are lower than most. Moreover, while there’s a COVID-19 add-on option, it’s unavailable if you’re on the Pre-Ex plan. Additionally, pre-ex coverage isn’t available for multi-trip plans. 

FWD travel insurance

With premiums starting from about S$260 for a multi-trip travel insurance plan, FWD travel insurance is one of the most affordable annual travel insurance plans around, making it worthwhile to budget-conscious and frequent travellers who want no-frills coverage.  

Offering three different plans (Premium, Business, and First), you get good coverage for overseas medical expenses, emergency evacuation (unlimited), trip cancellations, and personal accidents, accidental death, or TPD. FWD travel insurance also comes bundled with extreme sports coverage for scuba diving, skiing, skydiving, bungee jumping, and more. 

That said, the compromise is you get lower limits for travel delays and loss of personal belongings. Also, the Premium plan (the most basic tier) lacks behind in coverage compared to the Business and First plans. 

While there isn't any pre-existing condition coverage, you can include a COVID-19 add-on, starting from S$100. 

MSIG TravelEasy travel insurance

Starting from S$289 for an annual insurance plan, MSIG TravelEasy travel insurance is among the most affordable travel insurance around.

However, it doesn’t skimp on benefits as it covers you up to S$1,000,000 for overseas medical coverage, up to S$1,000,000 for emergency evacuation, up to S$500,000 for personal accident and TPD, and up to S$15,000 for trip cancellations, among others. You’ll also get other perks like personal liability coverage, adventurous activities cover, rental vehicle excess, and golfer’s cover.

Travellers who want travel coverage for their pre-existing conditions can purchase the MSIG TravelEasy Pre-Ex plan, which provides coverage for asthma, diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and high blood pressure, allowing you to travel confidently. 

However, the drawback is like Etiqa Tiq, the TravelEasy Pre-Ex plan is only available for single trips only, so won’t get coverage for pre-existing conditions if you’re on the annual plan. Also, it’s also worth noting that the Standard plan (which is the most basic tier) excludes some of the benefits you’ll get from the Elite and Premier plan. For instance, you won’t get rental vehicle excess cover, adventurous activities cover, and golfer’s cover.

DBS TravellerShield Plus (Chubb)

DBS TravellerShield Plus offers high coverage for overseas medical expenses, baggage loss, and travel delay, and thus can be ideal for travellers who want coverage in these areas. It also provides coverage for extreme sports, which is great for sports enthusiasts. Though, note that extreme sports coverage isn’t included in the “Classic” plan, which is the basic tier. 

While the Classic plan is competitively priced against other competitors with similar range of coverage, the mid-tier “Premier” and top-tier ”Premium” plans are pricey, and may not fit well for those on a budget or want good value for their money. In fact, you can get similar coverage at lower rates from other insurers. 

AIG Travel Guard

AIG’s travel insurance plan, Travel Guard Direct, offers comprehensive coverage in most categories, particularly for overseas medical coverage, emergency evacuation, and rental vehicle excess. 

Sports enthusiasts and golfers who want protection will be glad to know that Travel Guard Direct also offers extreme sports coverage and other golf-related benefits. 

However, it’s also one of the most expensive insurance plans. The Basic tier or Classic plan also offers significantly less coverage than its mid-tier “Superior” and top-tier “Premier” counterparts. 

As such, budget-conscious travellers may want to look elsewhere if they want similar coverage at lower prices.  

How to pick the right annual insurance plan

Deciding which annual travel insurance to go with can be overwhelming especially when there are so many options around.

While you might be tempted to choose the cheapest option, it’s also important to know what you’ll be covered for and the covered amount, among other things. 

So here are some factors to consider before buying an annual travel insurance plan:

What does your travel insurance plan cover you?

Travel insurance plans typically cover overseas medical expenses, emergency evacuation/repatriation, loss of luggage, personal accidents and TPD, trip cancellation, and travel delays.

However, no travel insurance plan is the same. So beyond these staple benefits, look at other benefits you might need during your trips such as COVID-19, pre-existing conditions, sports coverage, natural disasters, credit card fraud, and even kidnapping.

Some travel insurance plans also offer more family-oriented benefits; for instance, FWD allows you to claim up to S$1,000,000 for adults and S$300,000 for children for overseas medical expenses. 

Also read: 11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know Your Travel Insurance Can Cover

Aside from that, travel insurance also comes with varying claim limits, so ensure that you work out how much coverage you need.

For instance, if a trip is cancelled for a covered reason, such as medical emergency, natural disaster, or civil unrest, you'll want to ensure that your policy's trip cancellation coverage is enough to compensate you for things that you've prepaid such as flight tickets, hotel rooms, car rental, cruise, and tours. 

Individual or group plans?

Like a single trip travel insurance, you can also choose whether you want an individual or a group annual travel insurance plan.

While they both offer similar benefits and coverage, the difference is the cost per person, policy limit, and customisation. For example, a group plan has a lower cost per person because you can add family members with no additional cost. However, the drawback is that the coverage limit is shared and lower than an individual plan. 

Here's an example for overseas medical expenses for an individual vs group plan:

Source

Your travel destination

When buying a travel insurance plan, you're often asked to choose your travel destination. Usually, this is divided into different regions, such as ASEAN, Asia, and worldwide. The farther your destination, the more expensive the plan.

For instance, the ASEAN region is cheaper than the worldwide region as the latter covers all eligible travel destinations, while the former only covers trips to ASEAN countries.

Thus, if you're visiting the same region for the entire year, you can select the narrowest region to save money. However, if you're travelling to countries in different regions (e.g. England, Hong Kong, New Zealand), then you'll need an annual travel insurance plan that provides worldwide coverage. 

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