Recommendations for domestic travel insurance and accomodation in Tasmania

Geewhizz on 30/10/2013 - 10:46

We're planning to travel to Tasmania for a couple of weeks in November - December.

We recently applied for and received a platinum mastercard which I, wrongly, assumed was going to cover hire car excess (it's only good for overseas,) so I'm now looking into Travel Insurance, mainly for that purpose.

Can anyone recommend a company, or make suggestions for any that should be avoided? We're with Bupa for health insurance and I can get coverage for those couple of weeks for $136. Never having used travel insurance before though I don't know if this is a good price, or if they are reasonable to deal with???

We're also looking into accomodation - somewhere clean with a comfy bed are our only real requirements, and would prefer to stay around the $100 per night mark, but less would be better. There are a few places on Air BNB that look ok, but hubby works in human services and really prefers to veg out in the rare time he has off, so isn't really likely to be that thrilled with the idea of socialising. Is there anywhere that you would recommend, or do you know of any great offers that are going at the moment?

Travel

Comments

  • Adz81 on 30/10/2013 - 11:09
    +1

    When I went ot Tassie, I used Columbus Direct Travel insurance which was $71.30 for both of us for a week (including additonal sports/leisure activities pack)… It might be worth a look…

    As far as accommodation goes— I'm not sure what your best bet will be here… sorry…

    • Geewhizz on 30/10/2013 - 12:08

      I'm guessing their prices must have gone up since then. The online quote for those 15 days was $90.

      The Aust Post cover is only $55. Has anyone here used them before?

  • Car-la-la on 30/10/2013 - 11:21

    i'm not convinced that domestic travel insurance is of any real benefit.
    but yes get car hire insurance

    • Adz81 on 30/10/2013 - 11:37

      Domestic travel insurance (even including it's excess), generally tends to work out cheaper than the excess reduction that hire car companies charge… that's why I buy domestic travel insurance..

      • Car-la-la on 30/10/2013 - 11:38

        umm no…
        from experience i'd expect to pay under $60 for excess reduction/hire car insurance in australia for the 2 weeks. of course this wouldnt be through the car hire company itself but rather through a 3rd party

        • Geewhizz on 30/10/2013 - 11:50

          The only one I checked for this this morning before posting was Thrifty, and their rate was $35 per day on top of the cost of the car hire.

          Whereabouts would I look for those third party options please? Google wasn't much help.

        • Adz81 on 30/10/2013 - 12:03

          Which 3rd party if you don't mind me asking? I've seen between $10-14/day for vehicle rental insurance (as opposed to the car hire company's $38), but I can't see anywehere offering it for $5/day?

  • mskeggs on 30/10/2013 - 12:24

    Some of the roadside assist companies include car hire excess in their offering.
    I know the one ANZ resell does/did.
    This cost something like $50 a year, so would be a viable alternative, and may be of use when you aren't traveling too, or if you take another trip (read the fine print, of course).
    Also, my platinum card includes domestic car excess (westpac black) so it might be worth checking others as well.

  • goosegog on 30/10/2013 - 15:53

    For travel insurance try Southern Cross ( SCTI ) they are reputable & go the extra mile to help out with any claims or queries + are cheaper than most others ( know from unfortunately having to make a claim earlier this year) Don't know about hire care though - ask the question. They are on line only although you will receive contact numbers to call should it be necessary. OH - just found their number from our previous policy -0282160200 ( although that does state for worldwide assistance)

    • Geewhizz on 31/10/2013 - 08:17

      Thanks. They look really good, and the premiums are hard to beat, but they don't do domestic cover. Will definitely keep them in mind for future reference though.

  • tonester on 31/10/2013 - 03:37

    travel insurance offered by qantas/virgin when booking flights is cheap and covers cancellation, luggage and personal effects

    bankwest gold/platinum includes interstate flight inconvenience insurance, as does citibank signature/select which also adds rental vehicle insurance excess cover

    anz gives free domestic travel insurance to seniors and unlike others, nothing has to be paid with anz platinum to activate its rental excess cover :)
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/33092

    • Holysmoke on 24/03/2014 - 22:53

      Citibank signature/select rental vehicle excess cover is for international travel only.

  • bt91 on 31/10/2013 - 15:58

    Typically, when requiring Comprehensive domestic or international insurance I use Virgin Australia's insurance, who are underwritten by Allianz.

    However, when only requiring certain benefits I go for Worldcare "Select a Benefit" which allows me to bring the price down and only cover basically what I need. You can't choose only car hire excess but you can cut out some of the other stuff to bring the price down a bit. Last time I used them was around $30 for 2 adults for 4 days to have the travel delay and extra pack which includes the car excess cover.

  • tonester on 01/11/2013 - 16:29

    However, when only requiring certain benefits I go for Worldcare "Select a Benefit"

    can't seem to find this at https://www.worldcare.com.au?

    op, besides worldcare, consider good2go or insureandgo, the latter being 15% off with promo code Entertainment15 :)
    http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/110367#comment-1499814

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