In Reply to: yes, but..... posted by stormy on Monday, 25. August 2008 at 21:02 Bali Time:
.. offered by my gold visa (remember this is a 'perk' of the additional cost of gold card membership rather than a 'freebie') and compared it word for word with the policies available for sale and I discovered the cover is actually almost identical and often underwritten by the same insurance companies.
The only difference(as you have mentioned) is a higher excess on claims however if you don't claim (which is most people's experience as travel insurance is usually only a "just in case") then its not a problem and if you do claim then by the time you add the price of the purchased insurance - say $100 to the excess - say $50 then its only a $50 difference and I can live with that. Over the past 5 years I have travelled overseas on 6+ occasions and never had to make a claim so my premium savings over this time will easily cover any extra excess cost in the case of a claim.
Cheers
Sheryl