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Travel insurance Thailand: why a bank card is not enough

by Pierre To
10 minutes to read
Travel insurance: why a bank card is not enough

To differentiate between credit card insurance and real travel insurance and find the best insurance for a trip to Thailand.

Buy AXA Thailand travel insurance!

First, a very comprehensive article from April International:

Visa and Mastercard insurance: limits abroad

You are going abroad and you think you are well insured by your bank card (Visa or Mastercard)?

Some explanations to understand the limits of bank card insurance and the interest of taking out international travel insurance.

There are two types of guarantees: the insurance cover (death/disability, luggage, cancellation, delay, liability) and the assistance guarantees (medical expenses in case of accident or illness, medical repatriation, early return...).

Your bank card abroad

Who is covered by your bank card?

Most cards cover the following persons: the cardholder, the cardholder's spouse, partner or civil union partner, unmarried tax-dependent children under 25 (whether or not they are travelling with the cardholder), unmarried grandchildren under 25 and tax-dependent ascendants (travelling with the cardholder).

How long are you covered abroad with your bank card?

  • For insurance cover: during the first 3 months of travel with Visa, Visa Premier, Mastercard and Gold Mastercard. Coverage begins if you are more than 100 km from your home.
  • For assistance benefits: during the first 3 months of travel with Visa, Visa Premier, Mastercard and Gold Mastercard cards, outside the country of residence.

How can you benefit from travel insurance/assistance with your bank card?

  • To benefit from the insurance guarantees: you must have paid in full or in part with your bank card (depending on the bank). Any reimbursement will be made on the total amount of the trip.
  • To benefit from the assistance guarantees: a valid card is sufficient; it is essential to contact the assistance service before incurring any expenses.

What does your Visa or Mastercard insurance cover?

You have health expenses:

For entry-level cards, reimbursement limits are insufficient in countries with high health costs.

For example, a day in hospital can cost up to €7,500 in North America, Asia or South Africa.

  • Visa and Mastercard limit: €11,000
  • Visa Premier and Gold Mastercard limit: €155,000

In addition, deductibles of €50 to €75 apply, which limits your reimbursement. For example, with a Mastercard, if a consultation with a specialist doctor costs you €80, you will be reimbursed €5 because an excess of €75 is applied.

You change or cancel your trip:

  • With Visa and Mastercard: you are not covered.
  • With Visa Premier and Gold Mastercard: you are only covered in the event of the death of a family member, serious damage to your home or redundancy.

For all other cases, cancellation insurance is not valid. For both cards, the cancellation insurance limits are €5,000 per year and per card.

Your luggage is lost, damaged or stolen:

  • With Visa and Mastercard: you are not covered.
  • With Visa Premier and Gold Mastercard: you are covered for €800 to €850 per piece of luggage (with an excess of €70 applied to the total amount of the loss) and only if the luggage was under the responsibility of a public carrier.

What about your civil liability?

  • With Visa and Mastercard: you are not covered.
  • With the Visa Premier card: you are covered up to €1,525,000.
  • With the Gold Mastercard: you are covered up to €2,000,000.

Why take out international insurance?

With an international insurance policy, you will have much better coverage than with a bank card:

  • You are insured for stays of more than 3 months.
  • You have real health cover with high ceilings (up to €200,000 to €1,000,000/year) and lower or no deductibles.
  • By taking out cancellation insurance, you are covered for a very large number of cases of travel cancellation and the cover limits are much higher.
  • With the luggage insurance, you are covered in case of theft, loss or destruction during the return journey or during the stay.
  • The civil liability guarantee, you are insured for damage caused to others.

For more information on bank card insurance:

For details of the guarantees and exclusions specific to your bank card, consult the websites Eurocard Mastercard and Visa.

Source: april-international.com

Which travel insurance should I choose?

Here is an article from Axa on travel insurance in Thailand followed by a presentation of the insurance created by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Axa has an interesting offer if you are travelling for more than 2 months, but if you are staying for less than a month, there are much cheaper offers.

If you are on a budget and speak English well, or if you are going to be in Thailand for a long period of time and want to be insured without breaking the bank, then Thai travel insurance may be the answer.

The Axa article:

Are you planning a trip to Thailand?

The French authorities strongly recommend that you take out Travel Insurance for Thailand that guarantees the coverage of medical and hospitalisation costs on site as well as the medical repatriation in case of need.

How to choose your travel insurance before leaving for Thailand?

Whether you're going away with friends or family, choose a travel insurance policy that matches the type of trip you're going on.

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You won't need the same guarantees if you're staying in the bustling capital Bangkok, or if you're planning to take it easy on the beach, or if you're planning a two-wheeled tour of the northern roads.

In any case, check the guarantees covered by Travel Insurance that you are considering and the situations that trigger these benefits.

For example: will you be compensated for late delivery, theft, loss or damage of your luggage?

Can you cancel your trip if a member of your family has a serious health problem in the days leading up to your departure?

Also check the ceilings for these guaranteess, in particular for themedical expenses insuranceThe following information is provided for the purpose of this report: - the applicable deductibles and exclusions.

Regardless of the type of holiday you choose, Thailand Travel Insurance will provide you with 24/7 assistance, to advise you if you need help during your stay and provide you with tailor-made solutions if necessary.

Why take out AXA Assistance travel insurance before leaving for Thailand?

A hospital stay in case ofaccident or serious health problem can be expensive.

With coverage of up to €160,000 for your medical and hospitalisation expensesour Travel insurance Thailand will allow you to travel with peace of mind and will protect you and your family in case of medical problems during your stay.

You may also be confronted with the loss of your luggage on arrival or delayed delivery, especially if your France-Thailand flight includes one or more stopovers or if you plan to take domestic flights.

Travel Insurance Thailand covers loss of luggage up to €2,000 for the reimbursement of your personal belongings and, in the event of a delay in delivery, will compensate you for your basic purchases.

With our 3 Voyageo packages, short stay travel insurance we offer you guarantees adapted to your stay.

Choosing AXA Assistance means taking advantage of recognised expertise and knowledge of local medical structures and health risks.

AXA Travel Insurance online quote

Take out insurance in Thailand?

Every year, hundreds of tourists without insurance or with bad insurance that covers only part of the treatment end up in hospitals with medical costs and without the possibility of paying for them.

To address this problem, the Thai authorities have created a special travel insurance for tourists.

It is an insurance that can be easily taken out, online, on their website (see link below).

Thailand Travel Shield, the Thai tourist insurance

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has cooperated with the major insurers:

Muang Thai Insurance, Chao Phaya Insurance, Siam City Insurance and Krungthai Panich Insurance,

to propose a "travel insurance specially designed for foreign tourists". who will be travelling to Thailand, in the form of a online insurancepractical and offers a wide range of instant coverage.

In addition, after making an online payment, the insurance policy is sent immediately by e-mail to the insured.

The premium starts from only 650 Baht and the highest sum insured is 1,000,000 Baht with full coverage, for :

  • the accident,
  • cancellation of the trip,
  • loss of or damage to luggage / personal effects,
  • accommodation costs in case the airport is closed,
  • 24-hour emergency assistance from Allianz Global Assistance

Suitable for foreigners who travel to Thailand (input only).

Area of coverage: every region in Thailand.

Buy AXA travel insurance in Thailand!

See also :

Thailand is the world champion in two-wheeler deaths, insurance companies refuse to pay!

Health in Thailand

Transport in Thailand, getting around in the land of smiles


Source: travel-insurance.axa-assistance.com Cover photo: frankieleon

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