Planning to head to Canada or the Alps in search of powder? Or is skiing in Japan with a side of Tokyo sight-seeing more your scene? Perhaps you prefer to stick closer to home, and are zipping across to New Zealand, or simply driving to the Australian ski fields?
No matter where you’re planning to hit the slopes, don’t forget to sort out travel insurance before you go.
Our experts have examined thousands of quotes for travel insurance that includes snow sport cover, to help find you the policies with the best prices and best cover.
Travel insurance is a necessity for any overseas snow trip. And even if you’re staying in Australia, it’s also worth considering for cancellation cover – ski trips can be very pricey. Skiing and snowboarding are usually an optional extra in travel insurance, meaning that you’ll need to opt in and pay the extra fee to make sure you’re covered for any mishaps.
Even in countries where there are reciprocal medical arrangements with Australia, travel insurance is a must for things like ambulance cover and medical repatriation
As always, medical cover is essential if you’re heading overseas. And, given the expense of most alpine getaways, you’ll want a good level of cancellation cover too.
Medical cover for winter sports
Any snow sport, including skiing and snowboarding, comes with a level of risk, and if you do get hurt outside of Australia, your cover for medical care and medical evacuation is vital.
Even in countries like New Zealand where there are reciprocal medical arrangements with Australia, travel insurance is a must for things like ambulance cover and medical repatriation if you’re seriously hurt.
Mountainous environments are prone to extreme and unpredictable weather events that can disrupt travel.
In addition to causing serious injury, avalanches and blizzards can block roads and shut down resorts, restricting your access and delaying travel.
Do a ‘find’ (Ctrl F) on your digital PDS and search for ‘natural disaster’ to check for cover or exclusions. Don’t rely on ChatGPT or other AI tools to do it for you (we’ve tried it, it’s not always right).
You’d be hard pushed to find a snow holiday that doesn’t break the bank, so if you want to be able to recoup costs should you need to cancel, a comprehensive travel insurance policy will have your back.
If you’re buying travel insurance for your trip to the Australian fields, you’ll notice that domestic policies don’t include medical cover. This is because you’re covered by Medicare (and maybe private health insurance) as usual. But given the cost of skiing in Australia, you may still want to consider domestic travel insurance to cover cancellation expenses.
Which winter sports and activities are covered by travel insurance?
Cover for skiing and snowboarding is usually an optional extra that you need to add to your policy when you buy it – and that’s the case with all the policies we mention in this article.
This option covers you for skiing and snowboarding on-piste. If you need cover for other winter activities, skiing or snowboarding off-piste or outside resort boundaries, cover varies policy to policy – so cross-country skiers and snowshoers take note!
Cover for skiing and snowboarding is usually an optional extra that you need to add to your policy when you buy it
Cover for snowmobile use and tobogganing can also vary, though we found that when skiing is covered, these activities usually are too.
The price scores for skiing are calculated using quotes for the destinations listed, with the winter sport option selected.
Usually you have to add winter sports as an additional option, which increases the price of your policy. Adding this cover will increase the cost of your travel insurance by roughly 60% on average, according to our analysis of the price increase to 26 single-trip policies.
What is the cheapest travel insurance for snow sports?
The cheapest policy to cover snowsports for holidays in New Zealand is Allianz Comprehensive with a Snow Pack. For all the other popular and chilly destinations we looked at – Japan, Europe, US, and Canada, Zoom Comprehensive with their Winter Sports Pack was the cheapest option.
We used our extensive database of travel insurance quotes to find the cheapest policies for snow holidays to various destinations around the globe
We used our extensive database of travel insurance quotes to find the cheapest policies for snow holidays to various destinations around the globe. Note that these don’t provide the most extensive cover, so make sure you read the policy details to understand the cover they do and don’t provide.
As a CHOICE member, you’ll gain access to all of our expert, independent reviews including the best value travel insurance policies for skiing in various locations. Unlike other insurance comparison websites, we don’t get paid by any of the insurers we’re comparing. So we only recommend the best insurance policies for you. Log in to unlock this members-only content, or join CHOICEto get instant access.
Jane Bardell is a Content producer in the Insurance and utilities team. She writes about home, car, pet and health insurance. Previously at CHOICE, she checked facts, figures and statistics as a Verifier with the Editorial and investigations team.
Jane has a Bachelor of Science from the University of New South Wales.
Find Jane on LinkedIn.
Jane Bardell is a Content producer in the Insurance and utilities team. She writes about home, car, pet and health insurance. Previously at CHOICE, she checked facts, figures and statistics as a Verifier with the Editorial and investigations team.
Jane has a Bachelor of Science from the University of New South Wales.
Find Jane on LinkedIn.
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