Travel Tips: Travel Insurance
This one is a no-brainer. Do not travel without travel and health insurance. You do not want to be halfway around the world, need a doctor and then have to find planes trains and automobiles to get back to the nearest doctor only to find you should get western medicine.
A friend of mine was in Thailand a few years ago when she contracted pneumonia. Her whole body was in so much pain and she had to be transported off one of the islands to the mainland where she received treatment. She ended up having to get major surgery to re-inflate her lung and her father flew out from Canada to be with her. Almost all of that ended up getting covered by health insurance, but if she hadn’t she would have been facing a huge bill at the end of it all.
I myself experienced a scary moment in Cambodia when I developed a high fever, severe body aches and chills and had to take myself to the hospital in Phnom Penh. It was a bit of a nightmare (read your insurance ahead of time so you’re familiar with what to do), but I was lucky that my insurance covered the fee which was about $5,000 USD in the end for tests, antibiotics and a 4-day hospital stay. Make sure you know your insurance policy and how they deal with hospitals directly and call them en-route to the hospital so you can get the process started. I had to wait in Triage for 8 hours before my insurance went through and I was able to get a room. It wasn’t a fun experience, and after having a quick cry about IV’s in both arms and the language barrier (which this little girl had to witness), I was happy to have some privacy so I could be an emotional wreck away from everyone else.
There are many options out there:
Credit card covered insurance: some providers provide insurance on any purchase that is made with your card. However this is unlikely to provide any health insurance, so read the clauses carefully to ensure you and insured.
World Nomad - I went with this one and I’m happy I did. I got to select the activities I wanted to do, the places I wanted to go and then got a cost back on the total. I can extend or add on at any time before partaking in the activity or country which leaves it flexible.
Local Travel Agency Insurance - AMA is an example of a local insurance that can cover you off for travel. They are often cheaper, but can leave certain activities out. These make sense if you already have insurance with them for other things like your home or automobile.
Do you research and find what works for you!
A few takeaways:
Ensure you are covered for where you are going and what you plan on doing
Ensure you have the right things covered, are you bringing technology with you you need covered in case it gets stolen? A lot of things are not covered, so double check the policy.
Take a copy of your insurance with you in paper form, and save one to your phone. There is nothing worse than needing the documents and not being able to find the wifi necessary to open the email where it sits.
Save the number you need to call in case of emergency so you’re not scrambling for it or running into tech issues.
I do not wish the experience of being in a foreign hospital, but in case anything from a malaria test or dengue fever happens, you want to be glad you’re covered.
Let me know if you have any questions or comments below!
Love, E
Check out more Travel Tips below:
There are two types of booking in my mind. Booking in advance to secure the best place with the group you have, and rocking up the day of or just before in hopes of getting a good deal and staying flexible. Now, I’ve done both and I understand the merits for each.