[Mainland China travel insurance guide] Do you need insurance for a day trip to Shenzhen or Guangzhou?

2024-12-16

5 Mins Read

Why is travel insurance necessary
What to consider when choosing travel insurance for mainland China
How AXA protects your journey | AXA SmartTraveller Plus

As mainland cities continue to grow, their wide range of food and entertainment options has become increasingly appealing to Hong Kong residents, especially during holidays. Unlike traditional long-distance trips, cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen have turned into popular weekend getaways thanks to their convenient transportation and relatively affordable prices. A one-day round trip lets you dive into a variety of activities, including dining, shopping, and entertainment.

While we all recognise the importance of purchasing travel insurance for long trips, have you considered buying travel insurance for a day trip to Shenzhen or Guangzhou?

Why is travel insurance necessary, even for a one-day trip to mainland China?

Risks from recreational sports: Adventure enthusiasts are increasingly seeking out more thrilling and extreme sports, moving beyond traditional sightseeing activities. However, the excitement and challenge of these pursuits often come with higher risks. With the ease and convenience of accessing these sports today, safety concerns have also risen.

For example, skiing, which was once only possible in countries like Japan or South Korea, can now be enjoyed in an indoor ski resort in Guangzhou. However, skiing is an extreme sport that inherently carries high risks. Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, accidents can happen and may even lead to serious injuries. In these situations, timely assistance is crucial for the safety of the injured. So, even for a one-day trip or a short getaway, choosing the right travel insurance ensures you have adequate coverage, allowing you to fully enjoy your adventure without any worries.

AXA SmartTraveller Plus provides comprehensive coverage, including specific protection for extreme sports. Whether you're skiing indoors or outdoors, AXA offers extensive protection, ensuring that you are covered in case of injury or other accidents. If the worst happens, the insurance can cover medical expenses, hospitalisation fees, travel arrangements, and even follow-up consultation fees within three months after returning home, ensuring you’re not left anxious due to unforeseen circumstances.

Unpredictable risks: Travel plans are often disrupted by unforeseen factors, such as sudden bad weather, which can completely ruin your itinerary. Delayed or cancelled flights, or other travel interruptions caused by weather conditions, can cause significant inconvenience and losses.

Imagine you’ve already booked your high-speed rail tickets for a day trip to Guangzhou, reserved a restaurant, and paid for various entertainment activities, only for the weather at your destination to suddenly worsen. Without insurance, you might face non-refundable ticket fees or additional costs due to changes in your itinerary.

In such cases, AXA SmartTraveller Plus offers peace of mind with coverage specifically designed for cancellations and delays caused by bad weather or other uncontrollable factors. For instance, if your flight or train is delayed or cancelled due to a typhoon at your destination, the insurance can cover related costs. Additionally, if your journey is interrupted, AXA can provide compensation for the altered plans.

Planning your next adventure?

AXA SmartTraveller Plus has you covered every step of the way.

What to consider when choosing travel insurance for mainland China

Basic coverage: Pay attention to the coverage for overseas medical expenses, trip cancellations or delays, and personal property loss.
Recreational sports coverage: If you plan to engage in high-risk activities, ensure that the insurance covers all potential risks. Many travel insurance policies provide protection for common activities such as gym workouts or swimming, but coverage for higher-risk sports like rock climbing, scuba diving, or skiing may vary.
Medical coverage: Travel insurance usually includes medical coverage for accidental injuries or illnesses that result in medical expenses, including consultation fees, surgery costs, medication, etc. Some policies also cover emergency medical transport or repatriation services, ensuring you receive appropriate treatment in a timely manner.
Personal accident coverage: Travel insurance typically includes compensation for accidental death or permanent disability.
Premiums and coverage period: The cost of single-trip insurance is generally based on the duration of your trip and destination. Coverage periods typically range from a few days to up to 360 days.

How AXA SmartTraveller plus helps you travel to mainland China with ease

Comprehensive medical expense coverage

Covers medical expenses resulting from accidents or illness abroad up to HKD1 million, including follow-up consultations within three months of returning home.
Covers a wide range of treatments, including hospitalisation, outpatient care, chiropractic, acupuncture, physiotherapy, and chiropractic treatments.
New virtual medical consultation and medicine delivery services are available for selected overseas locations in Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, offering free virtual medical consultation and covering costs for medicine delivery to your door twice per policy year¹.

Personal belongings protection

Covers accidental loss or damage to personal belongings, such as your mobile phone, tablet, and laptop during the trip.
Provides up to HKD3,000 for lost travel documents.
Offers protection against unauthorised credit card charges.

Trip inconvenience protection

If your trip is delayed by 6 hours or more due to factors like bad weather, airport closures, strikes, or terrorism, you’ll be covered for additional accommodation costs and non-refundable expenses, up to HKD3,000.
Covers overbooking, with protection for overseas accommodation and meal expenses up to HKD10,000.
Provides coverage for trip cancellations, with compensation of up to HK$50,000 for non-refundable transportation, accommodation, or activity costs.

Family coverage

A single journey plan covers all children under the same policy with their parent(s), free of charge².
Cater wide range of age. For annual cover, we accept applications for insured persons aged between 30 days and 75 years old, with the option for renewal up to 80 years old.

Sports and amateur sports coverage

Provides protection for recreational sports, including activities such as skiing and diving, covering accidental injury or death.

Car rental coverage

Covers the motor insurance policy’s excess or deductible if the rental car is stolen or damaged in a collision.

Cruise travel coverage

Covers cruise cancellation caused by public transportation delays for 6 hours or longer, with protection up to HKD25,000.
Provides coverage for failure to board cruise ship and additional transportation costs.

Overseas emergency assistance service

In the event of a medical emergency, our 24-hour overseas emergency hotline is available for hospital network referrals.
Covers interpretation service if you need to communicate with the police or other governmental organisations for emergency issues, up to HKD5,000.

Optional benefit for traveling in mainland China

Our annual cover provides optional mainland China hospital deposit guarantee benefit¹.

Digital platform assistance

The Emma by AXA mobile app makes it easy for travellers to check policy details, submit claims, and access a list of mainland China hospitals and emergency assistance hotlines.
Most claims are processed within 7 working days.

Planning your next adventure?

AXA SmartTraveller Plus has you covered every step of the way.

Comprehensive insurance: essential for worry-free short trips

Whether it’s a one-day trip or a longer journey, travel insurance is essential. The unpredictable risks you may face—such as loss of belongings, accidental injury, or changes to your itinerary due to bad weather—can leave you unprepared. These risks serve as a reminder that we should always be well-prepared for every trip, enabling us to handle unexpected situations with confidence.

If you often take day trips to mainland China, consider getting an annual travel insurance policy. This allows you to travel worry-free, no matter how near or far your destination is, you can enjoy pleasure of travelling worry-free without limits all year round. With the right coverage, you can fully enjoy your journey.

1. Only applicable to Annual Plan.

2. Children must be between 30 days and under 18 years old, named in the same policy schedule as their parent(s), and travelling together with their parent(s) for the entire trip; the benefit limits on medical expenses and personal accident for them is lower under this coverage, however there is an option to upgrade if desired.

Insurance plans vary in coverage and are subject to their respective terms and conditions. For detailed terms and conditions of the plan, please refer to the relevant product brochure and policy contract.

No warranty or responsibility is assumed by AXA Hong Kong and our related or holding companies regarding non-infringement, security, accuracy, completeness, adequacy, reasonableness, fitness for a purpose or free from computer viruses in connection with the information and materials provided. AXA Hong Kong and our related companies and holding companies do not accept any liability for any loss, damage, cost or other expense, whether wholly or partially, directly or indirectly, arising from any error, inaccuracy or omission of the information and materials to the extent that such liability is not excluded by law.