International Travel Insurance – Follow Up
Sunday, September 28th, 2008Hey Trippers,
I just got off the phone with a friend, whom I will call Beddie, just returned from a dream three-month trip to Peru, Ecuador, and the Galapagos Islands. This was a “Turning 40″ celebration meeting up with various friends and family along the way. As a part of her trip package – they REQUIRED she buy travel insurance. She did and here’s how part of her trip went . . .
Beddie was on a boat on her way to Ecuador. She was on a top bunk and fell out of bed, slammed her head in the process, and broke her toe. A helpful sympathetic co-traveler gave her some liniment to rub on it to make it feel better – so she did. Three days later she stopped using it because she had an allergic reaction to it. A week later she was in her hotel in Peru and spent the night scratching her foot in blissful relief and it turned into festering blisters.
Beddie told her hotel front desk that she needed doctor. The doctor came to the hotel and gave her a cortisone injection and a prescription at a cost of $55.00 (Cheap!). She had a six day trek to Machu Picchu planned the next day. She postponed her trek a day while she tried to heal her foot. It was a guided trip with a guide, a cook, a cook’s assistant, and porter – for three people. Cost – $650.00 each. One trek member got sick and had to stay behind. So, now Beddie is on the trip with her broken toe and healing foot – with one other trekker. Beddie started on her trek and became sick with vomiting and diarrhea. She says it was from the food the cooks prepared. It became so bad she had to be admitted to a hospital in Cusco, Peru. She was put on IV’s with Cipro (anti-biotic) and saline to re-hydrate and kept over night. They did tests and found out she had Giardia (Beaver Fever in Montana, USA) and Salmonella! Cost of hospital stay – $291.68.
She insisted she not spend another night in the hospital and went to a hotel and called her Travel Insurance provider – World Nomads (a subsidiary of Access America). Beddie said it was like calling her mother, genuinely concerned, empathetic, keep her receipts, and insisted she not worry about the bills and get better.
Beddie ended up taking the train to Machu Picchu with her sister, Snady, and enjoyed the magical site after all. The train cost $181.00 round trip – including breakfast and entrance fee to Machu Picchu.
Bottom Line? Beddie was out:
- $55.00 for the Hotel Doctor Visit (Bloody cheap!)
- $650.00 for the shortened trek to Machu Picchu
- $291.68 for the hospital stay and tests (cheaper than luxury a hotel!)
- $15.00 Extra hotel fee to stay over beyond check out. (What! No massage?)
- Total: $1011.68 – this was what the Travel Insurance covered her for – despite her being up front with doing a couple days of the trek to Machu Picchu (where they gave her the giardia and salmonella) – they reimbursed her for all $650.00!
Now, what did she pay for this coverage? $52.66 per month for three months. Total: $158.00
Beddie says she will never travel without the travel insurance again. Remember, her package required it. Otherwise, she would not have purchased it. Here’s what her World Nomads Insurance covered:
Note: Beddie had two different policies – “Trip Cancelation” and “Medical” for the above price.
- Lost Baggage - Maximum Coverage per individual bag – $2500.00
- Emergency Medical Evacuation – $500,000.00 (think this one through- why so much because it can cost so much to evacuate you form somewhere remote)
- Emergency Medical and Dental – $50,00.00
- Sporting Equipment, Trip Interruption Protection (think Beddie’s trip to Machu Picchu) – $1000.00 each
- Travel Accident Coverage – Up to $10,000.00
All this coverage for $52.66 per month.
I have ZERO affiliation with this company. I just have a personal testament from a trusted friend to a company with genuine care and service in mind. Bravo!
Travel Insurance? Hell, yes!
Cheers,
Carter
