A cheap travel policy is cheap for identifiable reasons. Some of them are perfectly acceptable trade-offs; others are the whole point of the insurance.
What gets cut
A high excess — the amount you pay before the insurer contributes, applied per person and frequently per section.
A lower medical limit, which is the one that matters.
Excluded regions, most commonly the US and Caribbean, where treatment costs multiples of European treatment.
A short maximum trip length, often 30 days.
No adventure activity cover, which excludes a great deal more than people expect.
Lower baggage and cancellation limits, which are the smaller risks anyway.
When cheap is fine
For a short European trip with:
No adventure activities. No expensive prepaid bookings. No medical history to declare. A destination with reasonable healthcare costs.
A basic policy with a decent medical limit covers the realistic risk, and paying more buys limits you will not reach.
The mistake is buying cheap cover for a trip whose actual risks it excludes.
The medical limit is the one to keep
Limits in the millions sound absurd until you price the things they cover.
An air ambulance repatriation from a remote destination runs into six figures.
Intensive care abroad, particularly in the US, accumulates at a rate that exhausts a low limit in days.
Medical escort flights, where a nurse accompanies you home, are charged for the seats they occupy.
This is the section where a cheap policy's saving is the false economy.
The health card question
Reciprocal health arrangements between European countries cover state healthcare on the same terms as a resident.
That means they do not cover repatriation, do not cover private treatment, and do not cover costs residents also pay — which in several countries is substantial.
They are a useful supplement and not a substitute for insurance. Carrying both is the sensible position.
The excess trap
A policy at half the price with a high excess can cost more on any small claim.
Work out the actual figure: if the excess exceeds the value of the things most likely to be claimed for, the cheap policy only helps in a catastrophe.
Which may be exactly what you want it for — but it should be a decision rather than a discovery.
Where cheap policies are genuinely inadequate
Any trip involving a scooter or motorbike, where the licence exclusion means no cover at all without the correct category.
Trekking above a stated altitude, which catches out Himalayan and Andean trips.
Diving beyond a certain depth, or without qualification.
Ski trips, particularly off-piste.
Long trips exceeding the duration cap, where cover simply stops mid-trip.
Anywhere your government advises against travel to, which voids everything.
The practical approach
Decide what you actually need covered, then buy the cheapest policy that covers it — which is a different exercise from buying the cheapest policy.
Read the exclusions for the specific product. Prices and terms change continuously, and no article can tell you which is currently cheapest for your circumstances.