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World Nomads Travel Insurance offers insurance protection for when you need it the most. At home, you can reasonably prepare for some of life’s more unfortunate, but likely events. While traveling, this process is a little harder. Thankfully World Nomads makes it a little easier to be prepared financially in case of an unforeseen event.
World Nomads insure for a variety of events and activities while you’re away— from scuba diving, mountain biking, skiing, surfing, and even bungee jumping. World Nomads actually insure a total of 272 activities.
Mountain IQ Travel Expert Mark Whitman has traveled with it for this very reason: “The detailed activity disclosure offer where [you] can quickly search for an adventure or sports activity, like hiking up to 6,000m or water-skiing, and add the activity to [your] policy to ensure full coverage.”
While you’re researching, we recommend also checking out the ‘Stories’ section on their website. It’s essentially a travel blog of submissions from people who have traveled with World Nomads. The stories are full of interesting adventures and unique viewpoints of different cultures which may even help inspire your next travel plans.
Though you can’t use it for year-long excursions, World Nomads is perfect for trips 180 days or less. You only pay for the time you’re away from home, and you can even sign up while traveling. This is a definite perk compared to the lengthy commitments mandated by some other companies.
Below we have provided an in-depth World Nomads Travel Insurance review.
World Nomad Review
- In business since: 2002
- AM Best financial strength rating: A+
- Policy types: Travel, medical, extreme activities
| Pros | Cons |
| Adventurous Travel Plans Educational Resources Charitable Contribution Opportunities | No pre-existing condition coverage Limited plan options |
Standard Plan
- Trip Protection: $2,500
- Emergency Medical Insurance: $100,000
- Evacuation and repatriation: $300,000
- Baggage loss and theft: $1,000
- Number of activities covered: 67
Explorer Plan
- Trip Protection: $10,000
- Emergency Medical Insurance: $100,000
- Evacuation and repatriation: $500,000
- Baggage loss and theft: $3,000
- Number of activities covered: 140
The Bottom Line
If you’re looking for a great insurance provider to cover all of the exciting activities in your globe-trotting journey, World Nomads might be a great fit for you. While plan options are somewhat limited and pre-existing condition coverage is restricted, it was nice to see a company that caters to travelers who choose to expand their horizons and experience unique cultures around the world.
The Claim
World Nomads claims to provide “inspiration, opportunities and travel insurance to help you fuel your curiosity, find your journey and travel bravely.”
Is it true?
Yes, for the most part. While some of those claims might seem a little lofty, it is true that World Nomads provides the travel insurance and, as a result, the opportunities to travel bravely and confidently. The company’s travel insurance covers a huge variety of adventurous activities, allowing you to strike out and see the world from high in the air or on the open sea. We weren’t the only ones to notice just how in-depth the coverages are; Mountain IQ Travel Expert Mark Whitman also spoke to the “detailed activity disclosure offer where [you] can quickly search for an adventure or sports activity, like hiking up to 6,000m or water-skiing, and add the activity to [your] policy to ensure full coverage.”
We were also impressed with WorldNomad.com’s Stories section, which delves deep into life-changing experiences across the world. Perusing that section alone will give you insight into the various cultures and unique excursions to be had. On top of all that, the company also makes it possible to donate to community development around the world and provides useful insights to help you be a more responsible and respectful traveler.
“I’ve used World Nomads insurance personally on every trip I’ve taken in the past three years and also highly recommend them to my clients. They cover a very wide range of activities (including extreme adventure activities) and their platform makes it easy to extend, update, and add additional countries to your trip insurance plan.”
Cassandra Brooklyn Founder of EscapingNY
Product Overview
- Pros: adventurous travel plans, educational resources, a chance to donate to worthy causes
- Cons: No pre-exisitng condition coverage, few plan options
Features
| Standard Plan | Explorer Plan | |
| Trip protection | $2,500 | $10,000 |
| Emergency medical insurance | $100,000 | $100,000 |
| Evacuation and repatriation | $300,000 | $500,000 |
| Baggage loss and theft | $1,000 | $3,000 |
| Number of activities covered | 67 | 140 |
Adventure sports coverage
World Nomads’ travel insurance covers all sorts of adventure sports activities, including skiing, parachuting, whitewater rafting, and more. Many travel insurance providers don’t cover these types of activities because of the increased potential for injury. If you plan on participating in adventure sports during your vacation, you should definitely consider this coverage from World Nomads, which takes care of your trip and any medical bills.
Excellent online learning resources
World Nomads offers an extensive amount of online resources to help you learn more about your destination and about traveling safely. If there’s a natural disaster or safety alert that might make travel to a particular location dangerous, you’ll know about it via safety updates on the company’s website and Twitter page. Its Ask-A-Nomad service lets you ask questions to other members of the World Nomads community, and online journals help you find fun activities to participate in at your destination. If you’re traveling to another country and want to learn some common words and phrases, World Nomads also offers 25 free language phrasebooks.
Option to support a cause
When you purchase a travel insurance policy from World Nomads, you can choose to make a small donation to one of the ongoing Footprints projects, which help improve communities all around the world. Some of the projects involve improving education for children, while others work toward ensuring clean water for rural towns. Although this obviously doesn’t have an impact on the overall quality of its travel insurance, it’s nice to see World Nomads giving something back to others who are less fortunate.
Possible drawbacks
Doesn’t cover preexisting conditions
Not only does World Nomads not cover any medical treatment due to a preexisting condition, it also don’t accept a preexisting condition as a reason for canceling, interrupting, or delaying your trip. Although World Nomads isn’t the only travel insurance provider with these restrictions, it is one of just a few. If you’re worried that a preexisting condition of yours may impact your trip, it might be a better idea to choose a travel insurance provider that does include this coverage option.
Only two plans
World Nomads offers only two plans: Standard and Explorer. While the differences in the emergency medical coverage and the evacuation and repatriation aren’t that noticeable, there are sharp declines in coverage in other areas. For example, Standard trip protection is $2,500, while Explorer jumps all the way to $10,000. The Standard plan also covers less than half of the activities that are covered under Explorer. It would have been nice if World Nomads offered a middle option instead of presenting a seemingly all-or-nothing decision.
The competition
World Nomads | HTH Travel Insurance | John Hancock | |
| Our review | Our review | ||
| Available plans | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| AM Best financial strength rating | A+ | A- | A |
| Annual plans | None, but you can insure trips up to 180 days in length. | ✓ | ✓ |
| 24-hour travel assistance service | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
World Nomads vs. HTH Travel Insurance
World Nomads has far fewer plans than HTH Travel Insurance. HTH’s plans are also more flexible than those of World Nomads, allowing the traveler to choose their coverage and deductibles. However, we would not recommend HTH over World Nomads if you plan to do any zip lining or hang gliding, as HTH does not cover those kinds of extreme activities.
World Nomads vs. John Hancock
While ancock doesn’t have an abundance of plan options, it does offer one more tier than World Nomads — giving you a little more flexibility when searching for coverage. Similar to HTH, John Hancock does not cover any “extreme” activities on your trip.
World Nomads FAQ
About the Authors
Lauren Ward is a personal finance writer who regularly covers consumer insurance products. Her work has appeared in a variety of online publications, including Bankrate and The Simple Dollar. She graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in Japanese.
