DirectAsia Travel Insurance—MoneySmart Review (2024)

When it comes to offering the most affordable travel insurance in Singapore, the fight to the bottom continues. DirectAsia travel insurance is one of the more popular budget travel insurance providers that comes to mind.

If I’ve learnt one thing from going budget, it’s that you must read the product labels or descriptions to find out what you’re really paying for.

So, is Direct Asia travel insurance worth considering for your next holiday? Or should you still buy from the usual few like FWD travel insurance? Let’s check them out.

Learn more about our travel insurance rating system.

 

DirectAsia travel insurance review (2024)

1. Is DirectAsia travel insurance safe?
2. DirectAsia travel insurance—What plan tiers do they offer?
3. DirectAsia travel insurance review—Is the coverage worth the price you pay?
4. DirectAsia travel insurance—Covid-19 coverage
5. DirectAsia travel insurance—Extreme sports and outdoor adventure coverage
6. DirectAsia travel insurance—What to look out for in their terms and conditions
7. DirectAsia travel insurance—Claims process
8. DirectAsia vs FWD travel insurance
9. DirectAsia travel insurance promotion
10. DirectAsia travel insurance review—Final thoughts

 

1. Is DirectAsia travel insurance safe?

Before we even get into the travel insurance plans, you may be thinking: Is DirectAsia safe?

Yes!

Direct Asia is owned by a Bermuda-based insurance provider called Hiscox. Hiscox is an established company that’s been around since 1901. It’s listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:HSX) and is part of the FTSE 250 Index.

Oh and by the way, in case you’re wondering where the heck Bermuda is: It’s an island owned by the United Kingdom in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, somewhere under New York City.

Now that that’s sorted, let’s go back to travel insurance.

 

2. DirectAsia travel insurance—What plan tiers do they offer?

DirectAsia’s travel insurance plan comes in annual multi-trip and single-trip plans, the latter of which has 3 tiers for you to choose from:

• Voyager 150
• Voyager 250
• Voyager 500

FYI, the tier Voyager 1000 is only available with their annual plan, so we won’t be covering it in this article.

	Voyager 150	Voyager 250	Voyager 500	Voyager 1000
Single Plan	✓	✓	✓
Annual Plan		✓	✓	✓

Source: DirectAsia

As you can probably guess, the Voyager 150 plan is the cheapest single-trip plan but comes with the lowest coverage. You pay the most for Voyager 500 and also get the highest coverage.

Now that you’re orientated to where DirectAsia comes from and the plans it offers, let’s review how good their coverage is for the price you pay.

 

3. DirectAsia travel insurance review—Is the coverage worth the price you pay?

How does DirectAsia price their plans?

Aside from the obvious—you pay more for a longer trip and higher coverage—the price of your DirectAsia travel insurance is largely determined by the country you’re travelling to. Like most of the travel insurance plans you’ll find in Singapore, Direct Asia’s travel insurance premiums are divided into 3 categories based on geographical region:

ASEAN	Asia	Worldwide
Brunei Cambodia Indonesia Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Thailand Vietnam	Australia China (excluding Tibet and Mongolia) Hong Kong SAR India Japan South Korea Macau New Zealand Sri Lanka Taiwan	All countries except: Afghanistan Iran Iraq Libya Nepal North Korea Sudan Syria Democratic Republic of Congo Somalia Yemen

DirectAsia travel insurance—Summary of coverage and benefits

Here’s a summary table of the key coverage and benefits you’ll get from Direct Asia travel insurance:

Direct Asia Travel Insurance	Voyager 150	Voyager 250	Voyager 500
Price (ASEAN)	$35/week	$40.25/week	$54.25/week
Price (Asia)	$41.56/week	$44.22/week	$59.85/week
Price (Worldwide)	$73.12/week	$78.47/week	$98.08/week
Medical expenses (overseas)	$150,000	$250,000	$500,000
Emergency medical evacuation	$1,500,000	$1,500,000	$1,500,000
Personal accident (death & TPD)	$100,000	$300,000	$500,000
Travel delay	$1,000 ($100 for every 6 hours)	$1,000 ($100 for every 6 hours)	$1,500 ($100 for every 6 hours)
Trip cancellation	$3,000	$10,000	$15,000
Baggage delay	$1,000 ($200 for every 6 hours)	$3,000 ($200 for every 6 hours)	$5,000 ($200 for every 6 hours)
Baggage/ belongings loss	$1,000	$3,000	$5,000
Covid-19	Add on: Covid-19 package
Adventure activities	Add on: Extreme Sports and Activities

Price

Is Direct Asia’s travel insurance good? DirectAsia travel insurance plans will set you back between $49 and $68 for a 1-week trip to an ASEAN country. Comparing this to other travel insurers in Singapore, that’s on the low side.

I found the median price of travel insurance for a 1-week ASEAN trip to be $70, while the most expensive tier from DirectAsia, Voyager 500, comes in at $68. Other insurers price their plans higher—for example, Allianz travel insurance plans cost between $59 to $126 for a trip of the same duration.

Cheap is one thing. But is it value for money or not?

Coverage

I compared the coverage limits in 5 main areas:

Putting DirectAsia up against the other travel insurance providers in Singapore, I noticed that DirectAsia’s coverage is below average in some areas and above average in others:

1. Overseas medical expenses: Below average. The highest coverage they offer is only just hits the median coverage amount among travel insurance plans in Singapore.
2. Trip cancellation: Average. Their 3 plans are, respectively, below the median, at the median, and above the median.
3. Travel delay: Slightly above average. Voyager 150 and 250 offer the average coverage other travel insurance plans in Singapore offer ($1,000), while Voyager 500 offers slightly higher coverage at $1,500.
4. Baggage loss: Below average. Voyager 500, the highest tier, offers the median coverage limit, while Voyager 150 offers the lowest coverage limit for baggage loss among the travel insurance plans in Singapore that I surveyed.
5. Baggage delay: Above average. DirectAsia seemed to flip their baggage loss and baggage delay standards—Voyager 150, the lowest tier, offers the median coverage limit, while Voyager 500 comes out on top with the highest coverage limit for baggage delay in Singapore.

Overall, DirectAsia travel insurance is relatively cheap, but the coverage limits are average at best. The most expensive Voyager 500 tier is closer to a typical second tier travel insurance plan that other competitors are offering.

That said, if you want an affordable plan with high coverage in specific areas (namely, trip cancellation and baggage delay), opting for DirectAsia’s Voyager 500 isn’t a bad choice. Just be aware that it is average at best in other areas, such as medical coverage and baggage loss.

Of course, the 5 areas above aren’t all there is to travel insurance. Now we’ll look into other important things to consider.

 

4. DirectAsia travel insurance—Covid-19 Coverage

Don’t go around assuming that all travel insurance plans in Singapore have Covid-19 coverage included. Yes, most insurance companies have got Covid-19 coverage included in all of their plans. However, several other insurers such as FWD and DirectAsia’s travel insurance plans do not include Covid-19 coverage by default.

Instead, you’ll need to add on Covid-19 rider from their a la carte menu. Here are the Covid-19 benefits you’ll get from the add-on:

Direct Asia Travel Insurance: Covid-19 Add-On
Price (ASEAN)	$13.73/week
Price (Asia)	$18.50/week
Price (Worldwide)	$31.70/week
Trip Cancelling/ Shortening	$3,000
Trip postponement	–
Medical expenses (overseas)	$150,000
Medical expenses (Singapore)	$2,000
Emergency medical evacuation/ Repatriation	$100,000
Overseas hospitalisation allowance	–
Overseas quarantine allowance	–

Unfortunately, Direct Asia travel insurance’s Covid-19 coverage is not the most adequate for your travels.

You can claim up to $3,000 for any trip cancellation or disruption in the event you test Covid positive pre-trip or during your trip. If you test Covid-19 positive prior to departure and want to postpone your trip instead, you won’t be covered.

You get a sufficient $150,000 for Covid-19 medical expenses overseas, and another $100,000 for emergency medical evacuation or repatriation of your body—which may not be sufficient if you’re terribly ill in a far away country, such as the United States.

Once you add on the cost of Covid-19 coverage, DirectAsia’s pricing is not

Take for example, if you are going to Bangkok and buy the most basic DirectAsia Voyager 150 plan at $35 for 7 days. You throw in another $13.73 for the Covid-19 add-on. That makes your total premium almost $50 for a basic tier travel insurance plan.

$35 + $13.73 = $48.73 for 7 days in Bangkok

For the ~$50 price range, you can get the middle tier of FWD travel insurance ($54/week with Covid-19 coverage) with  higher overseas medical expenses coverage ($200,000) and more benefits such as Covid-19 hospitalisation and quarantine daily cash allowance. The most basic FWD tier with Covid-19 coverage will cost you $43/week. Do note that FWD also doesn’t automatically include their Covid-19 cover; the aforementioned prices are inclusive of the optional add-on.

 

5. DirectAsia travel insurance—Extreme sports and outdoor adventure coverage

DirectAsia travel insurance plans do not automatically cover extreme sports. The normal travel insurance plan, however, covers regular sports and activities such as:

• Racquet and ball sports (e.g. tennis and basketball)
• Golf
• Cycling
• Running
• Swimming
• Fishing
• Hot air ballooning
• Snorkelling
• Hiking without ropes or specialist equipment up to 1,500m in altitude.

Instead, you’ll have to add on the Extreme Sports and Activities optional benefit from the ala carte menu to cover any other outdoor adventure and sports you plan to participate in. Here are the prices:

• Asia: $89.54
• Worldwide: $115.67

The good news is that this optional benefit covers a wide range of activities:

Winter Sports Activities Skiing, Snowboarding, Snow tubing, Snow rafting, Tobogganing, Snow Shoeing, Sleigh rides, Sledging
On recognised piste, organised by a licensed operator, accompanied by a licenced guide and within official area of a ski resort.
Winter Sports Activities	Skiing Snowboarding Snow tubing Snow rafting Tobogganing Snow Shoeing Sleigh rides Sledging	On recognised piste, organised by a licensed operator, accompanied by a licenced guide and within official area of a ski resort.
	Glacier walking Snowmobile	Organised by a licensed operator and accompanied by a licensed guide at all times.
Water Sports Activities	Diving	Up to 30 metres only with the use of artificial breathing apparatus
	White and black water rafting	Up to grade 4 equivalent and with a licensed guide only
	Canoeing / Kayaking	Up to grade 4 equivalent
	Cave/River tubing	Under supervision of a licensed guide at all times only
	Dinghy sailing	Leisure only and within 5 mile limit of the coastline or on inland waters
	Yachting	Leisure only and within 12 mile limit of the coastline or on inland waters
	Jet boating / Kite boating	Passenger only and organised by a licensed operator only
	Jet Ski Sea walking Sail boarding Wake boarding Body boarding Kite boarding Paddle boarding Wind surfing Water Surfing Flow Riding Water skiing Dragon boating	Organised by a licensed operator only
Aerial Sports Activities	Parachuting Sky diving Paragliding Parascending Hang gliding Bungee jumping	Obtained appropriate license requirements, organised by a licensed operator and accompanied by a licensed guide at all times.
Land Sports Activities	Hiking or trekking up to 4,000 metres in altitude	Organised by a licensed operator and accompanied by a licensed guide at all times.
	Caving Pot holing Mountaineering Rock climbing (indoor / outdoor)
	All-terrain vehicle (ATV) Go Karting Sand Buggy

Source: DirectAsia

The big caveat you must take note of here is: the Extreme Sports benefit is only available for annual multi-trip plans. So if you’re only looking to get extreme sports coverage for a single trip, you have to look elsewhere.

It gets more complicated. The Covid-19 package is only available for DirectAsia’s single-trip plans. So, you can’t get Covid-19 coverage and Extreme Sports coverage at the same time.

 

6. DirectAsia travel insurance—What to look out for in their terms and conditions

Are there any other terms and conditions in DirectAsia’s travel insurance policy wording that you should know about? Yes, in particular these:

• Air Miles and Hotel Reward Points: DirectAsia states in their policy wording that they “will not pay for any air miles, holiday points, membership or credit card redemption.” That means your flight or hotel bookings won’t be covered if you booked them with air miles, hotel membership points, or credit card reward points.
• Medical Expenses (Singapore): If you fell ill overseas but want to seek treatment back home, you must consult a doctor within 48 hours of your arrival back in Singapore. You should also get approval from Direct Asia before you go to your private clinic or hospital of choice.
• Emergency medical evacuation: In the event you need to be evacuated, DirectAsia gets to choose how and where and will make the necessary arrangements themselves. If they decide you can take a commercial flight back home, they will only pay for admin charges to change the date and time of your return flight.
• Pre-Existing Conditions are not covered by Direct Asia’s travel insurance plans. If you need coverage for your pre-existing medical conditions, try MSIG travel insurance or Income travel insurance plans instead.
• Death and permanent total disablement claims only cover accidents and not illnesses and diseases.
• Theft or Loss of Personal Belongings (part 1): You must have original purchase receipts and documents from your police reports, hotel reports, and airline reports to support your claim. You have to make a police report for lost belongings within 48 hours. This is reduced to 6 hours when reporting to your credit card issuer about credit card loss.
• Theft/ Loss of Personal Belongings (part 2): While Direct Asia covers theft or loss of personal possessions, the terms and conditions state that they don’t cover belongings that were “misplacement by you” or the “mysterious disappearance” of your belongings.
• Pet Hotel benefit only covers cats and dogs. They must also be staying in a a kennel, cattery or pet hotel during your trip—so no, DirectAsia will not compensate you to pay your friend’s friend who decided to become a petsitter.

 

7. DirectAsia travel insurance—Claims process

DirectAsia overseas hotline: Call +65 6991 3555 (international)

DirectAsia claims hotline (Singapore): Call +65 6532 1818

Claims deadline: Claims must be made within 30 days of your return to Singapore.

Claim reviews for DirectAsia on Google have been mixed—with some users praising they had a smooth claims process, but others ran into long-drawn claims processes that were eventually denied. Unfortunately, the more recent reviews have been negative. Check them out for yourself below.

 

8. DirectAsia vs FWD travel insurance

Budget to budget travel insurance provider, is DirectAsia or FWD’s travel insurance better? We compare:

	DirectAsia Travel Insurance	FWD Travel Insurance
Price (ASEAN)	$35 to $54/week	$33 to $57/week
Price (Asia)	$42 to $60/week	$35 to $68/week
Price (Worldwide)	$73 to $98/week	$55 to $93/week
Medical Expenses (Overseas)	$150,000 – $500,000	$200,000 – $1,000,000
Emergency Medical Evacuation	$1,500,000	Unlimited
Travel Delay (Overseas)	$1,000 – $1,500	$300 – $1,000
Trip cancellation	$3,000 – $15,000	$7,500 – $15,000
Baggage loss	$1,000 – $5,000	$3,000 – $7,500
Adventure activities cover	Yes, add on	Yes
Covid-19	Yes, add on	Yes, add on

Benefits wise, it’s clear that FWD’s travel insurance offers more in coverage for a similar or lower cost.

 

9. DirectAsia travel insurance promotion

DirectAsia has an ongoing promotion where you get 40% off all single trip plans, no questions asked.

That makes these plans more affordable. A week’s coverage in Asia will cost $21 for Voyager 150, which makes the plan more value for money. You can also upgrade to Voyager 250 and pay $24.15.

You’ll also receive up to $25 via PayNow and a $30 Revolut cash reward when you meet certain premium amounts.

On top of that, apply via MoneySmart and you could bag additional rewards! There are over $1,900 worth of gifts to be given away, including

• Apple iPhone 14, 128GB (worth S$1,159.60)
• $100 Revolut cash reward when you are the 8th and 88th person to sign up for a Revolut Account each week.

 

10. DirectAsia travel insurance review—Final thoughts

For regular Singaporeans going on holiday, Direct Asia is certainly a cheap budget travel insurance with adequate coverage for the important things such as emergency medical evacuation and overseas medical expenses. Adequate no doubt, but overall still below average unless you get the highest tier, Voyager 500.

If you’re one of those people whose had Covid-19 more than once and suspect it could happen again, Direct Asia’s travel insurance is not for you. The Covid-19 add-on rider isn’t too pricey, but its coverage is below par compared to other insurers.

On the plus side, DirectAsia does well on the travel delay and baggage delay fronts. It also covers a wide range of extreme sports—but only under its annual plan.

 

About our travel insurance rating system

• We compiled the prices and coverage limits for over 50 travel insurance plans from 18 different providers in Singapore in a massive spreadsheet.
• For each price/coverage category (e.g. trip cancellation, travel delay, etc.), we determined the minimum, median, and maximum values across all travel insurance plans. These values then form scales showing the lowest, highest, and average price/coverage amounts for different travel insurance plans in Singapore. 
• Finally, we plotted where each travel insurance plan stands on those scales and assigned a star rating for the provider based on the results.

Star rating and description	Visual example
★☆☆☆☆ 1 star: All plans under that provider perform average or lower than average, and 1 or more plans is the worst performing. / If there is only 1 plan, it is the worst performing.	1 star:
★★☆☆☆ 2 stars: All plans under that provider perform average or lower than average, but none of their plans is the worst performing. / If there is only one plan, it performs below average. OR see 3 star rating below for penalty star scenario.	2 stars: 2 stars (3 stars – penalty star):
★★★☆☆ 3 stars: All plans under that provider perform between the minimum and maximum. / If there is only one plan, it performs average. – Add a bonus star if one of the plans is the best in Singapore. – Deduct a penalty star if one of the plans is the worst in Singapore.	3 stars:
★★★★☆ 4 stars: All plans under that provider perform average or above average, but none of their plans is the best performing. / If there is only 1 plan, it performs above average. OR see 3 star rating above for bonus star scenario.	4 stars: 4 stars (3 stars + bonus star):
★★★★★ 5 stars: All plans under that provider perform average or above average, and 1 or more of their plans is the best performing. / If there is only 1 plan, it is the best performing.	5 stars:

NOTE: These are flipped for the Price component—for this, the lower the better.

 

 

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