It seems like there’s insurance for everything these days! I met someone at a CouchSurfing event on Thursday who worked for a company the insured insurance companies! So, it’s only fitting that insurance has found it’s way to the travel industry.
You’ve probably seen travel insurance offers before. Nearly every flight booking site offers you the option to purchase a trip protection policy when you’re checking out. This simply recovers the cost of your flight if you have to cancel for some odd reason (note that it usually has to be a good reason). But, airfare protection is only the tip of the travel insurance iceberg.
Travel insurance plans come with a wide array of features (which, of course, vary by the kind of money you are willing to spend and are all available individually). For starters, there’s Trip Cancellation coverage, which usually will reimburse your airfare, as well as the cost of any pre-booked (and paid for) tours should anything come up.
There’s also Trip Interruption, which is more or less the same as trip cancellation, though takes effect when you have to return home for some reason once you’re at your destination. Some plans will pay for return airfare for you in the event of an emergency.
Bags don’t show up? They’ve got you covered if you elect coverage for Lost & Stolen Baggage. Plans vary on the time allotment for when compensation for lost baggage kicks in. Heck, some cadillac plans even provide coverage if your flight is delayed or you miss a connection, as well as personal liability coverage!
Most importantly, many package plans contain some semblance of Emergency Medical and maybe even Medical Evacuation coverage. Chances are that you’re own health insurance will only provide minimal coverage abroad, if any. In my case, it would all be out-of-network and I’d have to meet my heft deductible before they would kick in at all, and even then I’d have to pay co-insurance. There tend to be varying degrees of coverage, where the maximim amount they will pay out varies on how much you are willing to spend, as well as your age.
Generally speaking, these plans do not cover pre-existing conditions and you will have to submit your claims for reimbursement. There’s also a condition in almost all plans that coverage stops as soon as you are back in (or, at times, within 100 miles of) your home city. Medical plans also come with a plethora of restrictions, so make sure you read your Certificate of Coverage very carefully!
I have to admit that travel insurance was nowhere on my radar when I first began to plan my Asian adventure, but I’ve since read so much about the importance of obtaining a policy for long-term trips. The medical and evacuation coverage themselves are worth their weight in gold. So, I did some comparison shopping amongst the big names…Travel Guard, Access America, Travelex, and HTH. They all seemed to provide similar benefits for roughly the same price range (which was a bit more than I was willing to spend).
In the end, I selected a plan provided by World Nomads, which came highly recommended by Lonely Planet, Rough Guides, as well as dozens of my fellow backpacker bloggers. They offer coverage to nationals of a wide variety of countries and the cost is fixed regardless of your destination, age, health, or the price of your trip. They also provide coverage for a wide variety of adventure activities, such as skiing or trekking (and everything in between), which most other plans omit. At least in the U.S., they only provide coverage for individuals aged 61 or younger, and some elements of its coverage aren’t quite as comprehensive as the pricier plans, but you do get what you pay for. Speaking of which, I certainly couldn’t complain about the price. I got 3 months of coverage for $172.00. When booking coverage, their website gives you the option of adding a small donation to a development cause in a country of your choice, like establishing village goat banks in Laos, or training teachers in Nepal.
I certainly hope that I will never need to use this coverage, but it certainly provides me some peace of mind. It also allows me to cancel my pricy health coverage while I’m abroad, which will save me a good chunk of change!
