Choosing Travel Insurance for Backpackers in Southeast Asia 2025. Without the BS.

If you’re travelling to Southeast Asia, travel insurance isn’t exciting, but skipping it, is exactly how people end up with four-figure hospital bills and panic WhatsApp's home.

What’s interesting right now is how people are searching for insurance. They’re not Googling “best travel insurance” anymore. They’re Googling specific companies. Things like Great Cover, Gigasurance, Saga, CoverForYou, and even Expedia flight insurance. That usually means one thing. They’re already close to buying and just want to know if they’re about to make a mistake.

This article is here to answer that honestly, especially if you’re backpacking or travelling long term through Southeast Asia.

Why These Insurance Brands Are Trending Right Now

Most travellers don’t start with specialist backpacker insurance.

They start with:

• Whatever pops up cheapest
• Whatever their bank or airline suggests
• Whatever brand name sounds familiar

That’s why searches like:

• “Great Cover travel insurance reviews”
• “Gigasurance travel insurance reviews”
• “Saga travel insurance login”
• “CoverForYou travel insurance”
• “Expedia flight insurance”

So let’s break them down properly, without pretending they’re all perfect for Southeast Asia.

Great Cover Travel Insurance

Great Cover is getting a lot of attention because it shows up in comparison tables and looks good on price. If you’re doing a short, fixed trip with return flights booked, staying in hotels, and not riding scooters, it can be fine.

Where it starts to fall down is long term travel. Southeast Asia trips rarely go to plan. Dates change, countries change, activities happen. Policies like this are usually built for holidays, not backpacking. Also, always check the motorbike section. That’s where most people get caught out.

Gigasurance Travel Insurance

A lot of people search for Gigasurance reviews because they want to know if it’s legit. That’s fair.
Gigasurance often works as a middle layer, not always the insurer itself. That means the actual coverage depends on the underlying policy provider.

That’s not a deal breaker, but it means you really need to read the policy wording instead of trusting the brand name alone. If you’re staying short term and know exactly what you’re doing, it can work. If you’re planning to bounce between Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia, you need to be careful.

Saga Travel Insurance

The fact that “Saga travel insurance login” is trending tells us a lot. People already have policies and are managing them. Saga is a well known UK insurer and generally reliable. It’s designed for a very specific type of traveller.

If you’re travelling comfortably, staying in resorts or hotels, and not doing much adventure stuff, Saga can be solid. If you’re backpacking Southeast Asia, riding scooters, island hopping, diving, and extending trips on the fly, Saga usually isn’t built for that style of travel.

It’s not bad insurance. It’s just not aimed at most people reading this article.

CoverForYou Travel Insurance

CoverForYou is popular because it’s affordable and easy to buy. For short trips to Southeast Asia, it can do the job. Plenty of people use it for two to three week holidays without issues. Where it becomes less ideal is long stays and flexibility. Extensions, activity cover, and multi country travel can get restrictive.

If your trip has a clear end date and limited activities, it’s a reasonable option. If not, read carefully.

Expedia Flight Insurance

This one catches a lot of people out. Expedia flight insurance is not full travel insurance. It mainly covers:

• Flight cancellations
• Delays
• Lost or delayed baggage

It does not replace proper medical insurance. It does not cover hospital stays, scooter accidents, or emergency evacuation.

If you buy it, fine. Just don’t rely on it as your only coverage in Southeast Asia.

Why Backpacker Focused Insurance Often Works Better in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia trips are rarely neat. People extend visas, cross borders last minute, stay longer than planned, and rent scooters without really thinking twice about it. Most standard insurance policies just aren’t built for that.

This is why backpacker and nomad-focused providers like SafetyWing, Genki, and similar alternatives exist in the first place. They’re not magic, but they’re built around how people actually travel in this region.

SafetyWing

SafetyWing is popular for a reason. It’s simple, flexible, and built for how people actually travel. You don’t need to know your end date. You pay monthly, it renews automatically, and it covers multiple countries without having to tell them every time you cross a border. If you’re moving around Southeast Asia, that alone makes life easier.

The medical coverage is solid for everyday travel issues, and it works well for people staying long term in places like Thailand, Vietnam, or Indonesia. Where you need to pay attention is activities. Scooter riding and higher risk stuff can come with conditions or require add-ons, so you do need to read the policy properly.

What really makes SafetyWing stand out for me is real-world experience. I know plenty of people using it, including someone who needed surgery that cost over 450,000 baht. The claim was paid without drama, no back and forth, and most importantly, no excess. That’s where SafetyWing really shines in my opinion.

If you're considering SafetyWing, consider supporting BudgetBro, and use our referral to sign up and get $40 in credit 💚

Genki

Genki is a newer name that’s getting a lot of attention with long-term travellers and digital nomads. What people like about Genki is that it feels more modern and health-focused. It’s built more like international health insurance rather than holiday insurance.

It works well if you’re:

• Staying in Southeast Asia for months at a time
• Living in one or two countries
• Wanting strong medical cover without worrying about return flights

Genki is less about lost luggage and more about proper medical coverage. That’s often what matters most in this region anyway. It’s not the cheapest option, but for people who care more about hospital cover than trip cancellations, it makes sense.

Final Thoughts

If you're going to get insurance, do the research, because if you don't, you're potentially paying for coverage which is void from day one. I get it, I hate paying for it but, needs must, right? Do yourself a favour, do your parents a favour. Get the right level of coverage.