Best Travel Insurance in Austria for 2026

By Best:in Editorial Team · Updated September 2026

As of September 2026, Wiener Städtische, Europäische Reiseversicherung (ERV), UNIQA, Allianz and ÖAMTC are the strongest travel insurance options for trips from Austria. Single-trip cover runs about 3-8% of the trip price, Schengen visas require at least EUR 30,000 medical cover, and annual policies pay off once you travel two to three times a year. Wiener Städtische currently leads on independent price/value rankings.

Best Travel Insurance in Austria for 2026, ranked

1.

Wiener Städtische Versicherung AG

Wiener Städtische placed first for price/value among travel insurers in the independent ÖGVS "Branchenmonitor 2026" study. Its Auslandsreise-Krankenversicherung reimburses 90% of costs when no social-insurance benefit applies, or the cost difference when it does. Cover runs up to 42 days per trip, and the PLUS RISK add-on bundles cancellation, interruption, luggage and liability with an SOS repatriation service for up to two adults and eight children per family.

Best for: Best overall value (independently ranked)

Official website See full facts
2.

Europäische Reiseversicherung AG

Europäische Reiseversicherung (ERV) offers the highest stationary-treatment cap in this comparison at EUR 1,000,000, plus a flat EUR 500,000 personal-liability limit. Majority owned by Generali, it runs a 24-hour worldwide emergency line and is the insurer the Austrian Foreign Ministry points travelers toward. Single-trip plans start from as little as EUR 15, making it competitive for short breaks as well as long-haul cover.

Visitor note (Google Maps) "The process was trouble-free, but the processing time was far too long."

Best for: Best for high medical coverage limits

Official website See full facts
3.

UNIQA Österreich Versicherungen AG

UNIQA Österreich Versicherungen AG bundles overseas medical treatment, luggage, accident and cancellation cover into one policy billed as a single premium based on trip length. Its foreign-guest product pays mountain and water rescue, including helicopter rescue, up to EUR 2,920, and repatriation of remains up to EUR 1,950 per person. Exclusions are explicit: professional trips, military service, and travel undertaken despite a level-5 travel warning are not covered.

Visitor note (Google Maps) "It's good to have insurance and, ideally, not need it."

Best for: Best for clearly itemized benefit limits

Official website See full facts
4.

Allianz Reiseversicherung

Allianz's Austrian travel insurance brand traces back to an ELVIA branch opened in Vienna in 1986 and now operates as AWP P&C S.A., Niederlassung für Österreich. Its annual policy covers every trip from the first overnight stay up to 62 days, longer than domestic rivals' 42-day caps, and bundles alpine helicopter rescue valid inside Austria. A standalone legal-protection add-on costs EUR 239 per year.

Best for: Best for longer annual trip limits

Official website See full facts
5.

ÖAMTC

ÖAMTC does not underwrite its own travel policies; it brokers products from UNIQA and Europäische Reiseversicherung to its 2.6 million members through ÖAMTC-Betriebe GmbH. Its Gepäck- und Stornoschutz covers trips up to 42 days (luggage and cancellation cover up to 92 days), and family cover extends to one extra adult plus five children aged 18 or under. It suits existing club members more than insurance-first shoppers.

Best for: Best for existing ÖAMTC members

Official website See full facts

What Does Travel Insurance in Austria Cover in 2026?

Travel insurance in Austria works alongside the public e-card rather than replacing it. Travel insurance in Austria complements the E-Card with cancellation, medical, accident and luggage cover. The Austrian E-Card with EHIC logo covers only "medically necessary" public-system treatment in the EU/EEA and not medical repatriation. Austrian policies are governed by the Insurance Contract Act (VersVG) and supervised by the Financial Market Authority (FMA).

A standard package bundles four building blocks: overseas medical treatment, luggage, personal liability abroad and trip cancellation or interruption. UNIQA's travel policy pays accident-related costs during a trip, plus contractually owed cancellation and interruption costs when a trip cannot start or must be cut short. Insurers such as Europäische Reiseversicherung add search-and-rescue and 24-hour worldwide emergency hotlines to the same package, and although travel insurance is not obligatory, the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs strongly recommends it to all travelers, both within Austria and abroad.

How Much Does Travel Insurance Cost in Austria in 2026?

Price depends heavily on trip length and whether you buy single-trip or annual cover. Single-trip policies typically cost 3-8% of the trip price; an annual family policy ranges from around EUR 80-180 (2025 market data). International data points to a similar range for visitors: travelers spend $6,891 on average when traveling to Austria, and Austria travel insurance costs between $250 to $300 on average, depending on your age, trip length, and coverage needs.

At the budget end, single-trip medical cover from an Austrian-based insurer can be cheap: Austrian-based ERV provides single-trip plans from EUR 15. Add-on products carry their own separate pricing, for example a standalone legal-protection package: the Rechtsschutz Single Basis package from Allianz costs EUR 239 per year (Allianz.at, checked 2026-09-27). Multi-trip households usually save money once they travel often, since annual travel insurance becomes cheaper than single-trip cover at around 2-3 trips per year.

Is Travel Insurance Required for a Schengen Visa to Austria?

Schengen-visa applicants face a specific legal minimum. As of April 2026, Schengen visa applicants must have travel insurance with minimum EUR 30,000 medical coverage valid across all Schengen states. This requirement exists precisely because Austrian public health insurance (e-card) covers EU/EEA travel but not non-EU trips. Even inside the EU/EEA, the statutory e-card leaves gaps: the EHIC/E-Card covers EU/EEA emergency care but not repatriation or rescue costs.

Outside the EU/EEA, medical cover with repatriation stops being optional in practice. Travel health cover with repatriation is essentially mandatory outside the EU/EEA, since a single serious incident can trigger evacuation costs the state system will not reimburse. Non-EU nationals visiting Austria face a parallel rule: hosts arranging cover for a foreign guest, for example through UNIQA's guest policy, must buy a product that includes repatriation and rescue, not just outpatient treatment.

How Do I Choose Between an Annual and a Single-Trip Policy?

  1. Count your annual trips

    Count how many trips you take per year before comparing quotes. Annual travel insurance becomes cheaper than single-trip cover at around 2-3 trips per year. Below that threshold, a single-trip policy priced at 3-8% of the trip price usually works out cheaper overall.

  2. Check each policy's maximum single-trip length

    Check the maximum length allowed for any one trip inside an annual policy, since limits differ by insurer. Wiener Städtische's annual cover insures every trip within the contract term for a maximum duration of 42 days, or six weeks. Allianz's annual travel policy protects every trip from the first overnight stay up to a maximum duration of 62 days. A traveler planning a seven-week posting abroad needs the longer cap.

  3. Match medical cover to destination risk

    Match medical cover to destination risk rather than buying the cheapest headline price. Travel insurance for an Austrian Schengen visa needs EUR 30,000 medical cover at minimum, but leisure travelers to countries with expensive private healthcare, such as the United States, should look for far higher limits: Europäische Reiseversicherung's ReiseSchutz covers stationary treatment abroad up to EUR 1,000,000.

  4. Compare rescue and repatriation extras

    Compare rescue and repatriation extras line by line, since these benefits vary the most between providers. UNIQA pays mountain, water and accident rescue, including rescue helicopter, up to EUR 2,920 under its foreign-guest policy, while Allianz's annual policy bundles repatriation and helicopter rescue in alpine terrain, including within Austria. Skiers and hikers should treat this line item as a priority, not an afterthought.

What Do Austrian Travel Insurance Policies Typically Exclude?

Standard packages exclude a consistent set of scenarios across Austrian insurers. UNIQA does not cover damage on professional trips or during military service, or on trips undertaken despite a travel warning of level 5 or higher. It also excludes damage caused by entry or exit bans, flight cancellations, hotel closures, terrorism, or any kind of war.

COVID-19 is typically treated as a normal illness rather than a blanket exclusion, but the travel-warning rule still applies. Wiener Städtische's Komplett-Schutz package includes COVID-19 cover, but only for as long as no travel warning is issued or in force for the destination. Travelers heading into a region already flagged by the Foreign Ministry should expect gaps in cover rather than assume automatic protection.

How Are Austria's Travel Insurers Ranked in This Guide?

This guide ranks providers on five weighted criteria: overseas medical coverage limits, price and value, rescue and repatriation service, trip-duration flexibility, and independent market recognition. Recognition matters because independent studies do track this market: in the ÖGVS "Branchenmonitor 2026" study, conducted by the Gesellschaft für Verbraucherstudien GmbH, Wiener Städtische placed first for price and value among travel insurers.

No single insurer wins on every criterion. A broker model such as ÖAMTC's packages relies on underwriting partners rather than its own paper, brokering products from UNIQA Österreich Versicherungen AG and Europäische Reiseversicherung AG as an insurance agent, which can mean less direct control over claims handling than a direct insurer. Readers should weigh the ranking against their own trip length, destination and budget before buying.

How is this ranking computed?

  • Overseas medical coverage limits: 30%
  • Price and value: 20%
  • Rescue and repatriation service: 20%
  • Trip-duration flexibility: 15%
  • Independent market recognition: 15%

Entity references

Full factual profiles for each entity on this page:

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