With veganism directly associated with a reduced risk of nine out of ten of the leading causes of death in the USA, certain companies like Clal Insurance are offering life and health insurance policies to vegans at a discounted rate. Yey. But when it comes to travel medical insurance, vegans might not be so lucky – being vegan won’t prevent you from breaking your back skiing; it won’t help your family get your body back home if you die abroad; and as much as we can hope being vegan gives us good karma – it won’t guarantee that there won’t be any flight cancellations. Put simply, vegans need travel medical insurance like everyone else. With many different travel medical insurance providers out there, the search may seem daunting. Don’t worry, I’m here to help:
Vegan Travel Insurance: SafetyWing Review
SafetyWing provides travel medical insurance for nomads all around the world at a very competitive rate (just $37 for four weeks). The company offers a mix of travel and medical coverage – aka they won’t just help you with medical problems: getting to the hospital, treatment at the hospital etc; they will also help you with travel problems, such as travel delays and lost checked luggage. SafetyWing was founded by nomads for nomads: they are flexible, affordable and always available – offering 24/7 support for customers. As much as I love them, it would be kind of a stretch (read: lie) to say they are an exclusive vegan travel insurance provider even though I did consider making a case that they’re vegan because their graphics include birds:
So no, they’re not a vegan travel insurance provider in the sense that they offer discounts to vegans or sell travel medical insurance exclusively to vegans (and as far as I’m aware no travel insurance provider does this yet). But this last point highlights what I like about SafetyWing in general: they don’t discriminate, and isn’t that what being vegan is all about? Not discriminating based on anything/species? Here is a list of people that SafetyWing does not discriminate against:
#1. Long-term (vegan) travellers
As vegans, you may have found certain things aren’t available to you – your boyfriend’s grandma’s grandmotherly-love for example. Unfortunately, if you’re just becoming a nomad, I have to tell you, you’ll find certain other things aren’t available to you either: for example, most travel medical insurance companies won’t cover long-term travellers. SafetyWing are one of the only travel medical insurance companies out there that provide insurance to long-term travellers. Long-term traveller is defined as someone who is travelling for longer than a month, so if that’s you, listen up :). As I mentioned earlier, SafetyWing was founded by nomads for nomads – they understand what we’re going through because they’ve been there themselves.
#2. Forgetful (vegan) people
Another big plus of SafetyWing and another section of people they don’t discriminate against are people who forget insurance and need to book it whilst they’re abroad. Similarly to my point above, SafetyWing are one of the only travel medical insurance companies that do this. This flexibility is amazing.
#3. Where you’re from
With most travel medical insurance providers, where you’re from plays a big role – for example if you’re from the USA you’re most likely going to have to pay more than someone from the UK. That works out well for me of course (being British), but unlike most other Brits, I do try and think about others. The fact that SafetyWing doesn’t mind where you’re from and treats everyone the same is a big plus in my book. Why should where you’re born (something you have no control other) dictate how much you have to pay for travel medical insurance?
#4. Where you’re going
SafetyWing offers worldwide coverage except for North Korea, Iran and Cuba – with around 197 countries out there, this is not a very high percentage of coverage. (Note: they do cover the USA but at a higher price.) Offering worldwide coverage really helps us nomads to be flexible – instead of having to choose the specific countries /continents you’re going to and plan ahead a lot, you are free to decide independently of your travel medical insurance. Another gigantic coverage advantage that’s actually exclusive to SafetyWing is home coverage: they offer coverage in your home country for 30 days out of every 90 days (or 15 if you’re from the USA). As a long-term traveller, trust me, this is invaluable: if you’re homesick, if there’s an emergency back home, if you have an emergency abroad, anything – you have the freedom and flexibility to go home.
#5. Price
Yet another way that SafetyWing doesn’t discriminate is with their prices – $37/4 weeks. Which is much more affordable than your average travel medical insurance. Put simply, almost anyone can afford to be insured by SafetyWing. And don’t worry – it’s not like they’re cheaper because they skim on covering things. SafetyWing Insurance provides coverage for unexpected illness or injury:
SafetyWing does not cover missed flights, but because I always book my flights through flight comparison site Kiwi that’s never been an issue for me (and trust me, claiming through Kiwi is a walk in the park compared to claiming through another travel insurance provider).
#5. World Nomads Alternative
Speaking of other travel insurance providers, World Nomads has held the monopoly over travel insurance for a long time and, like SafetyWing, they too were created by nomads for nomads. In my opinion, SafetyWing is not just a good World Nomads alternative, it’s the best World Nomads Alternative. If you want a long-winded version of why I think this, check out my post: SafetyWing – a World Nomads Alternative? If you want the short version: SafetyWing is more flexible, easier to use, always available and (what you’re probably most interested in): SafetyWing is cheaper than World Nomads.
Wrap Up: SafetyWing Insurance Review
All in all, I hope it’s clear why I like SafetyWing and why I think they are a good vegan travel insurance option. A quick browse of their website will be a breath of fresh air to anyone who is bored about reading about travel medical insurance – SafetyWing’s website is concise, simple and above all clear. I particularly love that they offer 24/7 support, and how simple their prices are. Let me know if you have any questions! Also, here is a vlog of when I actually got injured abroad and travel insurance came in handy 🙂
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