UAE Travelers Rush Through Insurance Choices; Experts Warn of Hidden Financial Exposure

Pavan Poojary has a simple observation about UAE travelers: they will spend hours comparing flight prices, then buy the cheapest travel insurance they can find in under five minutes. That gap, he says, is where serious financial risk begins.

Poojary, from Luxury Travels, frames the problem precisely. The issue is not that residents skip insurance altogether. It is that they purchase the lowest-priced option without reading what it actually covers. With thousands of UAE residents expected to travel during the summer holiday season, industry professionals are urging a more deliberate approach to what is, in practice, the most consequential purchase in any trip budget.

The selection process should start with the destination itself. Different regions carry distinct risks, and the right policy for a European sightseeing trip looks nothing like the right policy for adventure activities in Thailand.

For Schengen travel, insurance is partly a legal requirement. Member countries mandate minimum medical coverage of 30,000 euros (approximately 125,271 dirhams). Travel agents recommend exceeding that baseline. A comprehensive European policy should cover trip cancellation, baggage loss, emergency evacuation and personal liability. Travelers who focus only on meeting the visa threshold, Poojary warns, may regret overlooking those additional protections if hospitalization or a disrupted itinerary follows.

North America demands a different calculation entirely. Medical treatment in the United States and Canada is substantially more expensive than in Europe, which means coverage limits matter far more than premium amounts. Anas Mistareehi, CEO of eSanad Insurance Brokers, recommends a minimum of 100,000 dollars in emergency medical coverage, combined with medical evacuation and repatriation services. For trips specifically to the United States or Canada, he suggests pushing limits to between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars, given the healthcare costs in those markets.

Southeast Asia presents a third category. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam attract travelers with affordable airfares and beach itineraries, but many of the activities that define those holidays carry coverage gaps. Scuba diving, trekking, jet skiing and island excursions frequently fall outside standard policy protections unless explicitly selected in advance. Subair Thekepurathvalappil, senior manager at Wisefox Tourism, put it plainly: “In reality, many adventure activities are excluded unless you specifically choose that option before you travel.” Travelers often assume comprehensive means exactly that. It rarely does.

Personal health circumstances add another layer. Existing conditions including diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure may require supplementary coverage that standard policies do not automatically include. Baggage protection, similarly, operates under specified limits rather than covering the full replacement value of lost items.

Travel patterns matter too. UAE insurers offer single-trip plans for occasional travelers, annual multi-trip policies for frequent journeys, family plans, student insurance for overseas studies and dedicated business travel coverage. Medical coverage through UAE providers typically ranges from 50,000 dollars to 500,000 dollars, depending on the plan and destination.

Rather than filtering by price alone, Poojary recommends examining six areas: medical coverage limits, emergency evacuation provisions, trip cancellation and interruption protection, baggage safeguards, adventure sports coverage where relevant, and access to 24-hour worldwide emergency assistance. The financial difference between a basic and a comprehensive policy often comes to between 40 and 100 dirhams. That modest gap can prevent thousands of dirhams in out-of-pocket costs if an emergency disrupts the trip.

The open question heading into the summer travel season is whether that message lands in time. Habits around insurance comparison have been slow to change, and the minutes saved at checkout can cost considerably more on the other side of a medical emergency abroad.