Choosing the best type of travel insurance can be tricky for even the most well-rounded traveler. It’s important to understand how to compare travel insurance to determine the best one for your needs. But is it even necessary to purchase insurance while traveling?
Traveling brings culture, foods and adventures you might otherwise never experience. However, no one is certain how those factors might affect you. Accidents and illness happen everywhere and if you don’t have any insurance, you’re going to be responsible for medical expenses out of pocket. A huge medical bill is not a souvenir anyone wants to bring home.
So, What Kind of Insurance Should You Purchase?
Trip Protection Insurance
Picture this, you book your tickets for the trip of a lifetime a year in advance. Sure, your little brother is graduating but who’s thinking about that when you’re envisioning the future country jumping through Latin America. That is until your brother announces his graduation date – and it just so happens to land on the same day you’re supposed to fly out. You can’t miss this. So, what do you do? Use your trip protection insurance.
Things happen; should you need to cancel or delay your trip for any reason, no problem. You won’t incur any additional fees. You’ll also be reimbursed for any non-refundable, pre-paid trip costs, or any unused transportation costs. If the airline loses your luggage, or if it’s stolen or damaged, your trip protection plan can help to replace the cost of your items.
Different plans will offer different levels of protection (such as the percentage of reimbursement). You might also be able to add medical coverage and other benefits such as 24/7 traveler assistance.
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Student Travel Insurance
Student travel insurance is perfect for those who choose to study abroad; whether spending a semester taking academic courses or studying a foreign language. Student travel insurance provides coverage for the following:
- Medical expenses – covers any medical expenses to secure treatment and any reimbursement you end up paying out of pocket
- Emergency transportation – covers transportation expenses to get you to the nearest facility that can expertly handle your medical situation
- Emergency evacuation – emergency medical evacuation to a facility, medically equipped flights home, or the repatriation of mortal remains to your primary residence
Below are some other factors you might consider when choosing student travel insurance:
- Trip interruption – Family emergency back home? This could interrupt your trip. If you need to come back to complete a final after taking care of personal matters, you’ll be covered
- Passport and credit card coverage – helps you with lost or stolen documents and emergency cash until your items are replaced
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International Travel Medical Insurance
Travel medical insurance provides coverage to those traveling abroad. One of the main factors for choosing the kind of insurance that’s right for you depends on how long you plan to travel. For example:
- Short-term or single trip plans cover trips up to 90 days
- Long-term or multi-trip plans cover trips up to one year
- Expatriate plans cover people living overseas
Since it’s likely the health insurance plan you’re covered by back home won’t provide international coverage, that means you’ll be responsible for a medical bill should something happen to you abroad without any insurance. Whether it’s something as mild as an allergic reaction or something more serious like a torn ligament.
Consider your own health and how adventurous you plan to be while abroad (water rappelling, anyone?) Below you’ll find the various types of medical coverage to determine how much protection you want:
- Emergency medical care – usually doesn’t include routine exams or physicals
- Emergency dental care – usually doesn’t include checkups or cleaning
- Medical evacuation – covers the cost of transporting you to the nearest hospital equipped to handle your medical emergency (even if that means flying you to another country)
- Repatriation of remains – assists with the cost and red tape of returning your remains
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You can mix and match your desired plan. However, deductibles, out of pocket maximums, coinsurance options and other aspects can vary between plans. Make sure to do your research to determine what’s suitable for you while abroad.
Maximo Nivel absolutely recommends all program participants purchase international travel medical insurance. In the same way you want to be protected at home, you should be protected worldwide.
Having the right insurance offers peace of mind for you and your family. Life has enough worries, and international medical expenses shouldn’t be one of them. Do your research and travel freely with the right international medical insurance for you.
