When planning a trip abroad, it’s important to make sure you don’t miss any steps on your seemingly endless checklist. You plan out your vacation days, find the perfect destination for your family, look out for the best deals on flights and finally research activities, restaurants and hotels. And just when you think you’ve triple checked everything, you miss perhaps the most crucial preparation: protecting your family from the worst-case scenario.
Every year, more than 10-million travelers are hospitalized, and for these unfortunate individuals, the perfect family vacation turns into a complete nightmare. It’s hard to think about, but if your family were involved in an accident, or if one of you became seriously ill and hospitalized while traveling, what would you do?
To help ease these fears, we’ve compiled an easy list to help you navigate the process.
Don’t Skip Out on Travel Insurance
Many travelers make the regrettable mistake of viewing travel insurance as an unnecessary cost. But no matter how careful you are, there are no guarantees that everything on your trip will go as smoothly as planned. Passports get stolen, accidents happen, flights get delayed or canceled, airlines go on strike and luggage gets lost in all the chaos. In the US, travel insurance for a family of four on a two week trip is, on average, as little as $200, which isn’t much considering the possible money you’ll save and the peace of mind you’ll gain. Trip protection, plus a travel medical component, is a must have.
Don’t Assume Your Plan Covers the Whole Family Automatically
Unless you’re traveling solo, make sure you choose a plan that covers the whole family (including children) and not just the policy holder. In most cases, a family insurance plan will be significantly cheaper than multiple individual plans. However, an exception to this is if you’re traveling with an elderly person. Many companies charge higher rates for people over the age of 65 because they’re seen as a higher risk, so consider finding family members above 65 a separate insurance company that won’t break the bank for everyone else.
Do Shop Around
As tempting as it may be to just choose the first or cheapest option, not all travel insurance companies offer the same protection. Some insurance policies don’t cover medical emergencies, and very few cover pre-existing medical conditions. If you’re a frequent traveler, or even expect to take two or more trips in a year, you will probably save money in the long run by purchasing an annual policy. Take the extra time to make sure that you’re making the smartest decision when it comes to buying travel insurance.
Do Read the Fine Print
This should go without saying, but let’s be honest, how many of us actually read the fine print when making a purchase? Reading the terms and conditions means you can catch any loopholes that aren’t immediately obvious and could potentially invalidate your protection. Many policies don’t cover accidents that occur while intoxicated or those that occur in zones that your government has placed a travel advisory on. They might also require that you wear a helmet during certain activities or keep valuables on you at all times. Reading the fine print on your policy may seem like a headache—but it’s nothing compared to the headache you’ll have when you’re denied coverage simply because you weren’t aware that removing your life jacket for 5 minutes voided your insurance. Or that a moped is considered a motorcycle, therefore injury while riding one is not covered…
Don’t Leave It Until the Last Minute
Travel insurance isn’t only active while you’re away. It also covers any unforeseen circumstances prior to your trip, like family emergencies that may cause you to need to change or cancel your travel plans. Don’t lose all the money you’ve already invested into the trip because of procrastination. The sooner you purchase travel insurance, the sooner you’re protected from unexpected conflicts.
Don’t Wait Until Something Happens to Learn How to File a Claim
Research exactly how to file a claim prior to embarking on your travels. The last thing you need is any added stress or confusion when you’re in the thick of an incident abroad.
Do Understand the Limitation of Travel Insurance
In case of a medical emergency, most travel insurance policies won’t get you to your trusted home hospital. Most travel insurance will send you to the nearest “acceptable facility.” And that may or may not be up to your own medical standards. Travel insurance plans also tend to have a pretty low cap out on medical expenses, so you could end up with a hefty medical bill if you can’t get transferred back to a hospital at home, and back and into your own health care coverage. So what can you do?
Do Purchase Medical Transport Protection Supplements
Purchasing medical transport like Medjet means you’ll be able to quickly fly back to your home hospital of choice, to your own doctors, and use your regular medical insurance. With memberships starting at just $99, Medjet protection is an absolute no-brainer when you consider that without Medjet, you could spend $30,000 – $180,000 on hospital-to-hospital transportation. Plus, with MedjetHorizon, you can also add security and crisis response coverage, covering things like (sorry, scary alert) natural disasters, disappearance, violent crime and other travel safety concerns.
Hopefully you’ll never have to use your travel protection plan, but this list should help make the task of purchasing travel protection for yourself and your loved ones a little less daunting.
By John F. Gobbels, Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Medjet