Heymondo travel insurance review: Our experience as backpackers and Digital Nomads
Yes, Heymondo is worth it — we’ve used it for five years, filed a real claim, and got paid without a fight. That’s not a marketing line, it’s the short answer to what you’re actually here to find out. We’re Toti and Ale, and we’ve been full-time travellers and digital nomads for five years. Heymondo…
Yes, Heymondo is worth it — we’ve used it for five years, filed a real claim, and got paid without a fight. That’s not a marketing line, it’s the short answer to what you’re actually here to find out.
We’re Toti and Ale, and we’ve been full-time travellers and digital nomads for five years. Heymondo has been our insurer for most of that time, across short trips and long ones. We’re not paid to say this: we pay for our own policies, and we’re only still using it because it’s worked when we needed it to.
Below, we walk through exactly what happened the one time we had to make a claim, what the plans actually cover, what they don’t, and who we’d steer away from Heymondo entirely.
What happened when we actually filed a claim
The real test of any travel insurer isn’t the app or the marketing — it’s what happens when something actually goes wrong. For us, that was a cancelled flight in Georgia.
We’d spent five days in Istanbul and were flying onward to Batumi with Pegasus. At Sabiha Gökçen airport, our flight was delayed on the board for two hours, then delayed again for another four. After six hours of waiting, Pegasus cancelled it outright.
Pegasus put us up in a hotel near the airport for the night, which is standard airline obligation when they cancel a flight. What Heymondo covered was everything Pegasus didn’t: our meals, drinks, and other costs for the roughly 24 hours we were stuck there. We filed the claim through the app, and the payout landed in about a week or two.
That’s the distinction worth understanding before you buy any travel insurance: it’s not there to replace what an airline already owes you, it’s there for the gap. In our case, Heymondo covered that gap cleanly, with no argument.
What you will find in our Heymondo Travel insurance review
- Our experience with Heymondo
- Heymondo Discount
- Why chose heymondo
- Heymondo Insurance plans explained
- US Travel Insurance Coverage
- Heymondo Travel Insurance for Backpackers
- Digital Nomads Insurance with Heymondo
Why we chose Heymondo
When we first started out as digital nomads, we didn’t think much about travel insurance. Like a lot of backpackers, we figured that money was better spent on nights out.
Then a string of bad luck changed our minds. We had flights cancelled, missed connections, a rough experience in Koh Samui, and — the one that really got us — our phone and charger stolen from an Airbnb in Chiang Mai. We were renting an apartment for two months in a residential area behind Central Festival, on our third visit to the city. We got lucky: our laptop, tablet, two cameras, a drone, and our lenses were all in a separate room, in a closed cabinet, and the thief never found them. But the phone was gone, and Heymondo covered the claim.
That’s when we started taking travel insurance seriously, and Heymondo is what we landed on. No confusing jargon, no endless fine print — just clear coverage options. The app makes it easy to file a claim or chat with a real person, which matters more than it sounds like it should when you’re dealing with something stressful.
You can also customise the policy as you go. Going skiing or skydiving on one leg of a longer trip? Add the cover for just that stretch, then drop it again once you’re done.
Heymondo discount
As we travel a lot, we use travel insurance like candies, so after good experiences with Heymondo, we joined their affiliate program and promoted it to our readers.
Heymondo is revealed to be a great partner and has a reliable platform. That’s why we are pleased to give you a 5% discount on your next policy through this link.
What Makes Heymondo Stand Out?
Here’s the thing: not all travel insurance offers the same coverage and conditions and applies to different people, too (age, country of residence, and destination influence the price).
We’ve tried other providers before—World Nomads and SafetyWing, to name a couple—and while they have their merits, Heymondo has a few unique perks that set it apart. For full transparency, we constantly use Safetywing, too, and it mostly depends on the trip.
1. Comprehensive Coverage
Heymondo offers a range of plans tailored to different needs. Whether you’re backpacking through Southeast Asia or working remotely from Europe, there’s something for everyone.
Their policies cover medical expenses (including COVID-19), trip cancellations, lost luggage, and even adventure sports.
For us, the medical coverage was the clincher.
While exploring the north of Vietnam, we met a group of people at our hostel and sat on the motorbike to chase waterfalls in Sapa. The return is still vivid in my mind; one of the bikes slid down badly toward the drop.
Panicking moments, but luckily, the guys were covered by insurance, which took care of the hospitalization (everything was good) and the extra time they had to spend in Sapa to recover. Everything is covered in our Sapa guide.
Is Heymondo Worth It?
Well, let’s discuss the topic: Is Heymondo the best backpacker insurance out there? Based on our experience over five years of full-time travel, we’d say yes—but with some caveats.
If you value ease of use (the handy app and human support), comprehensive coverage, and responsive customer support, Heymondo is hard to beat.
However, if you’re on a tight budget or need coverage for extreme sports like skydiving or mountaineering expeditions, you might want to compare it with SafetyWing (our comparison here).
Recently, Heymondo introduced the Long Stay policy, which allows you to travel for three months consecutively and renew it, which is ideal for Digital Nomads and Backpackers.
Different Plans with Heymondo
We’ve used all three of Heymondo’s main plans at different points, depending on the trip. Here’s how they break down:
Single Trip Insurance: we book this one for anyone taking a single, dated trip. The price depends on how many days you’re away, and you can add their premium no-excess option so a medical claim doesn’t cost you anything out of pocket: No-excess policy, which means you don’t pay anything in case of medical attention. // GRAB YOUR DISCOUNT HERE!
Annual Multi-trip: this is the one for people doing lots of shorter trips in a year rather than one long one. It covers you for up to 60 days per trip, as many trips as you want in the year: CHECK HERE!
Long-Stay Insurance: this is the one most digital nomads and long-term backpackers end up on. It covers three months at a time and renews, and you can activate it even after you’ve already left home: GET YOUR INSURANCE NOW!
USA Travel Insurance:none of the plans above include the US by default, since healthcare costs there push the price up. If you’re heading to the States, you need to add this on separately: GET YOUR USA INSURANCE NOW!
Is Heymondo for backpackers?
Yes, heymondo is perfect for backpackers, but it doesn’t come cheap. It is quite a mid-range insurance, which to be honest covers more than cheapest ones.
We used it while in Bali, as we rented a scooter and went on day trip adventures, and generally, because of traffic and windy roads, it offers better coverage for medical care with no excess. We wrote an extensive guide on why you should have insurance when visiting Bali.
Is Heymondo for Digital Nomads?
Yes, they have recently introduced the long stay policy, which allows Digital Nomads to be more than 90 days outside the usual place of residence covered by insurance.
Also, you can extend the original policy. However, when for long periods we are still preferring SafetyWing, as it generally works out cheaper. However, in expensive countries we go for Heymondo, thanks to their waiver excess policy.
Regarding Heymondo long-stay insurance, this means that if you plan to spend 3 months in a place and then extend it to another 3 months, you can easily do so.
You don’t need to source another insurance that allows you to book when you’re already abroad. Through the Heymondo App, you can extend your policy with one click, no further questions asked.
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Heymondo
Use the app: Seriously—it makes life so much easier.
Check exclusions: Always read the fine print to avoid surprises. State the length of your trip. Understand the excess for medical expenses.
Take advantage of discounts: Look out for a Heymondo discount when signing up. This is a 5% discount for you.
Customize your plan: Only pay for what you need (Exclude US, if not travelling there), include theft or excess coverage, tailoring your plan.
Keep receipts for all your electronics: When somebody broke into our apartment in Chiang Mai, we had to file a police report and communicate what was missing.
They requested a receipt of the purchase, which, luckily, we had stored on our cloud, as we do with all our equipment. If you can, keep the receipt in a Google Drive or in your email. After all, it can come in handy even for a warranty.
