The question of travel insurance arises quickly when preparing a vacation or along trip of a few months to a few years. So what can we use to replace the social security and mutual insurance that cover our health care in France?
We had to think about this issue when we were organizing our world tour. To be honest, this was not our favorite part of the preparation, but it is important to take the time to compare the different offers. And above all, read the reviews carefully in order to get a concrete idea of the different covers.
We will not present the different travel insurance offers here, as many blogs have already written comprehensive articles on this subject. We will focus on our opinion and feedback, as we purchased Chapka insurance a first time in 2016 (for our round-the-world trip) and then a second time in 2022 (for our year in a motorhome in Europe).
We will explain in which case we had to use our insurance, for our two trips, if it was simple and how we were reimbursed!
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Why is it advisable to purchase travel insurance?
Simply in order to properly cover your possible health expenses while on vacation or while traveling, even though we obviously wish you to remain in good health throughout your trip.
You certainly wonder what could happen to you on vacation or while traveling, some examples, a scooter crash in Asia, altitude sickness in South America, an animal bite (monkey, dog…), the Covid 19… And as you can see just below, theinsurance for your bank card offers you very low guarantees.
It should also be noted that today some countries require travel insurance with COVID fees included. Some bank cards will be able to provide you with a certificate, make sure that the mention COVID 19 appears on it. Don’t panic if your credit card doesn’t cover this, you can take out travel health insurance.
Am I covered with my credit card?
Yes, a bank card generally offers travel insurance and repatriation assistance for 90 days (but you should check with your own bank).
However, while carrying out our research, we realized that a classic bank card offered very low guarantees, the limits are lower than with traditional travel health insurance and do not cover all activities abroad, such as diving that we had practiced in Thailand without being insured at the time, because we did not know it. And generally for a medical consultation a deductible will be asked.
In addition, an interesting point in the current context, bank card insurance does not cover all health costs related to the contraction of the Covid-19 abroad.
So in order not to take any risk we advise you to take a travel insurance, for example the Chapka Cap Assistance 24h/24 : the assistance and repatriation insurance for your trip of less than 3 months.
When is it for a trip longer than 3 months, such as a world tour, a European tour, a Working Holiday… It was kind of THE question we couldn’t find an answer to. The easiest way for us was to ask our bank directly. With our VISA and MASTER CARD cards, we were covered for 90 days if and only if we had a return ticket (with a date not exceeding 3 months after your departure date) in our possession.
This was clearly not the case for us. We therefore chose for our two trips to subscribe to the Cap Aventure package on our first day of travel in order to leave with a light mind on this point.
How to choose your insurance ?
For us, to leave with a good insurance for our world tour and our tour of Europe in motorhome was an obvious choice, knowing that during our second long trip we left with a one and a half year old baby.
We wanted to be covered in case of a problem or the slightest doubt, we wanted to be able to go to the doctor without hesitation, which is what we did.
We compared different insurance offers and found useful information on many blogs. Generally speaking, all the insurances you will find on the market offer the same kind of formula. Rates vary according to several criteria:
- Amount of coverage provided
- Your age and the number of people covered
- The destination (Or zone: Europe / USA – Canada / Rest of the world)
Why did we choose Chapka?
After comparing the different offers at Chapka, AVI and April. We decided to choose the Cap Aventure formula from Chapka Assurance. In our opinion, this is the most interesting offer on the market. It offers a good ratio/guarantees/price.
Chapka is a Paris-based travel insurance broker that has been providing travel insurance services since 2002. The Chapka company is acclaimed by the majority of long-distance travelers and the reviews you will read are generally very good. Overall, if you have a medical problem that falls within the scope of your contract, your care will be reimbursed once you have sent us the supporting documents. As you can read the opinions on the ease of use of the site and the application are unanimous.
It is also a 100% online insurance, convenient when for all the nomads, with an easy to use website and contracts that we find understandable. Chapka offers contracts for all types of travelers, vacations, tourdumondists, PVT, expatriates… We detail the different offers below.
And now the teleconsultation service is included, few travel insurances offer it and with a baby it was very reassuring (we used this service, we’ll tell you more about it below).
Chapka Travel Insurance + Promo Code
Vacations or short trips (less than 3 months)
- Cap Assistance 24h/24: assistance and repatriation insurance for your vacations or your trip of less than 3 months – (5% discount by clicking on the link)
- Cap Annulation, the cancellation insurance in case of unforeseen events (in particular the cancellation of the trip in case of contraction of the COVID 19)
- Cap Schengen : Schengen visa insurance for your short stay
Around the world, PVT, studies, expatriations
- Cap Aventure: the insurance for your world tour or trip of more than 3 months
- Cap Working Holiday: the complete PVT insurance for your stay abroad
- Cap Student: health insurance for your internships and studies abroad
- Cap Tempo Expat: health and assistance insurance for your first year of expatriation
How to activate your 5% discount code:
- Click on the link
- Click on the button “Quote / …)
- The mention “Your 5% discount will be automatically taken into account during the calculation of your estimate” appears
Chapka insurance and Covid 19
Most Chapka insurance policies offer Covid 19 benefits. If your certificate states that the policy covers health reimbursement for Covid-19 contraction, you will be covered in the event of a Covid-19 infection while on vacation or travel. You will be reimbursed for related medical expenses.
In the event of a trip cancellation due to Covid, you will be reimbursed only if you have subscribed to Chapka Cap Cancellation. In these cases, you will be covered if you are infected with Covid 19 prior to departure, quarantined prior to departure, or denied boarding due to a temperature check.
Our insurance for our long trips: Chapka Cap Aventure
As mentioned above, we chose to subscribe to the Cap Aventure package for our two trips. Here is a summary of the guarantees offered by the Cap Aventure formula, the insurance for long-distance travelers and Tourdumondists. This formula covers trips, for tourist purposes, of more than 3 months.
- Coverage of medical expenses (illness or accident during the trip)
- Repatriation in case of accident
- Baggage compensation in case of loss or theft
- Civil liability coverage abroad
- Medical teleconsultation with a French-speaking doctor (big plus in our opinion)
For our world tour we were on a rate of 40€ per person per month, then for our European tour in Camping, we were on a rate of 100€ for the 3 of us (2 adults and 1 baby) per month, please note that we took advantage of the family discount (-15%). Rates vary depending on the length of the contract.
Our opinion and feedback
We will explain below the cases in which we had to provide medical care abroad and therefore call our insurance and whether or not we were covered. Spoiler alert, we were fully satisfied with the service offered by Chapka, during our two long trips
Obviously we are not going to go into details, the goal is to show you that on trips of several months, even if you are in excellent health, it is really important to take out insurance. Be careful, the following is not the most glamorous, we tell you quickly in what situation we needed Chapka and our opinion!
Notice 1 : Toothache in Laos
The not at all pleasant situation at the other end of the world. I went to see a French dentist in Laos, who treated me quickly and correctly. It was our first experience with Chapka, they were reactive, after sending the medical questionnaire and the invoice we had no difficulty to be reimbursed (amount of care about 100€).
Notice 2 : Mycosis on the hands in Burma
Before leaving we would never have imagined that small mushrooms were going to invite us to the trip, we had to consult a doctor in Myanmar, the capital, then take an adequate treatment. The treatment is long so I didn’t want to wait until we got back to France to start it. Again everything was taken care of after sending the documents and photos (about 30€)
Notice 3: Teleconsultation Service
Clearly we were quite reassured to have this free option, we contacted them twice for our daughter. The first time the doctor was great, he sent us a prescription directly to get a treatment. The second time, the doctor immediately referred us to the emergency room. We were in southern Italy, in the Puglia region, we were well taken care of and we didn’t have to deal with anything in the pediatric emergency room.
We advise you to download the Doctor Please! application as soon as you subscribe to the Cap Aventure contract. There is no amount if you take 2 teleconsultations in France with a general practitioner it is about 22€ per act. (about 44€ for the 2 services)
Opinion 4 : Consultation with a gynecologist in Greece
We were “broken in” so I arrived with the questionnaire and I remembered to ask for the invoice, I then declared the claim on my application the refund was almost immediate (about 40€).
How to be reimbursed by chapka?
You should remember to bring and have the doctor complete the online form, we advise you to print a few copies before you leave. Then send the form within 5 days along with all the supporting documents to trigger the reimbursement of expenses, everything is done 100% online. For a long hospitalization, we advise you to contact Chapka directly.
It’s not the most amazing article on the blog, but it’s still an important subject to study before your departure. We hope to have given you some useful information and concrete feedback. Be sure to read your contract carefully so you know what is covered and what is not.
A last advice you can consult Chapka’s blog which is full of advice and the articles are clear and precise.
Do not hesitate to give us your opinion on Chapka, or on other travel insurances and / or to ask us all your questions, we will answer you with great pleasure.
