Travel Insurance Review

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How Much Travel Medical and Evacuation is Enough?

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How much travel medical and evacuation is enough?Two recent, and devastating, media stories:

are prompting this post.

In at least one of the cases, the injured traveler will be held liable for at least $20,000 in foreign medical costs. In both cases, the traveler did not have travel insurance that covered emergency medical evacuations and in both cases, their families and friends are trying desperately to raise the funds necessary to transport them home and to cover their medical care.

Unfortunately, these are not uncommon stories. They happen frequently and just as unfortunately, those travelers and their families could have been spared the heartache and fear with a very affordable travel insurance plan.

Some travelers get bogged down by determining how much coverage is enough, so let’s review the following steps to determine how much coverage you need on any trip you take in the future.

Determine how far you’re traveling

The cost of medical care and emergency medical transport is determined by a limited set of factors: the patient’s condition and their location.

More specifically, the treatment for a patient with massive internal injuries on remote mountain in South America is going to cost more than a patient with food poisoning in Cozumel. In the latter example, medical treatment could be received locally. In the first example, the insured would likely have to be airlifted to a nearby hospital where initial treatment to stabilize their condition could be administered before a second evacuation could take them to their home country and back into their own health insurance network.

Either way, if you’re going a long way or to a place where medical care is very expensive (like the U.S. and Canada), you’ll need a little more coverage.

Determine the coverage you have already

Some U.S. health insurance plans have coverage outside the U.S., but most don’t. While Medicare doesn’t cover seniors for medical treatment outside the U.S. borders, many Medicare Supplement plans have some coverage for emergency medical treatment.

How do you determine the coverage you already have? You’ll have to pull out your plan’s description of coverage and read it.

If you can’t figure out whether you have coverage in the country you want to visit, call your insurance company and ask them specifically how much you will have to pay for an emergency room visit with a broken nose in the country you want to visit. You’ll have a much better idea what coverage you need after a question like that.

Determine what medical care will be available

In some countries, medical care – even for foreigners – is covered by the taxpayers of that country, although some of those countries are currently considering requiring travelers to show evidence of medical coverage upon entering the country. Most countries expect the patient to bear at least some, if not all the cost and that’s where medical insurance comes in handy.

So, how does a traveler determine the availability and quality of medical care where they will be traveling?

The U.S. State Department’s country-specific pages are a great source of this type of information. For example, here’s what it says about Mongolia’s medical care:

Medical facilities in Mongolia are very limited and do not meet most Western standards, especially for emergency health care requirements. Many brand-name Western medicines are unavailable. The majority of medical facilities are located in Ulaanbaatar. Medical facilities and treatment are extremely limited or non-existent outside of Ulaanbaatar. Specialized emergency care for infants and the elderly is not available. Doctors and hospitals usually expect immediate payment in cash for health services.

Good to know ahead of time: When you receive medical care in a foreign country, you are typically required to pay the bill immediately (often before treatment). This is true even with some travel insurance plans although some providers will pay the medical facility directly.

Define your personal risk

Not all travelers are alike. Some travelers are content to lie on comfortable chairs by the pool and read books; others need the adrenaline rush of jumping off high bridges on bungee cords. Of course, there are all the ranges in between as well as those one-off situations where a traveler decides to try something new on a whim.

Here are some of the risk factors to take into account:

  • Will you be participating in activities considered ‘high-risk’, like hang-gliding, para-sailing, skiing, SCUBA diving, and more?
  • Will you be traveling to a remote location where medical care is extremely limited?
  • Do you have any pre-existing medical conditions that could be affected by your travel?
  • Are you traveling to a location known to have specific medical risks, like malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, and more?
  • Are you carrying medications that may be difficult to replace in a foreign country if lost or stolen?
  • Are you older or in frail health?

Combine your trip factors with common sense

Now that you’ve thought through your trip factors, let’s combine those with a little common sense. Lots of travel insurance policies will give you high limits, but you may not need that much coverage and every dollar of coverage means less in your pocket on your trip.

When it comes to emergency medical evacuations, not many medically necessary evacuations cost more than $100,000 or $200,000. For example, a medically equipped air transport for a traveler who suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma in China to return to New York recently cost $183,000. In this case, it was a long-distance trip with a patient who had a known medical condition. According to the website set up to help one of the injured travelers mentioned at the start of this post, the cost for her medical transportation from Croatia to Toronto is reported to be $93,550 U.S.

When it comes to travel medical care, severe injuries or illnesses will of course cost more than mild ones so depending on your age, your current health, and the risks where you are traveling you may need a little more or a little less. Luckily, you don’t have to leave this decision up to a judgement call or a coin toss.

Our travel insurance comparison tool gives you some guidance:

How Much Travel Medical and Evacuation is Enough?

Just to make the point about the cost of travel insurance plans, we used these trip factors:

  • One 38-year old traveler from California
  • Visiting Chile for one week
  • No pre-existing medical conditions, trip cancellation, or hazardous activities

and found many plans with at least $50,000 in medical coverage and at least $100,000 in evacuation for less than $10.00:

How Much Travel Medical and Evacuation is Enough?

Wherever you go, having travel medical and evacuation coverage is simply a no-brainer. As they say, don’t leave home without it.

Visitors to Yosemite Warned after 2 Hantavirus Deaths

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Visitors to Yosemite Warned of Hantavirus DeathsThe Yosemite National Park recently confirmed the deaths of two park visitors as a result of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS).

Park officials are now warning visitors of the risks of hantavirus, which is a rodent-borne virus. HPS is contracted through contact with the urine, droppings or saliva of infected rodents, particularly deer mice.

Most infections occur as a result of breathing in small particles of mouse urine or droppings that are stirred up into the air.

Symptoms of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)

The symptoms of HPS are flu-like and include fever, aches and chills, but the disease can progress rapidly to a life-threatening illness. The symptoms can occur from one to six weeks after exposure. Early medical attention is critical to your survival as the disease progresses rapidly to severe difficulty breathing.

Where HPS was found at Yosemite

Yosemite National Park has identified the Curry Village Signature Series Cabins (those numbered in the 900s) as the location where visitors contracted the disease. All reported cases were contracted in mid- to late-June this year in that location only.

The park closed and cleaned a large number of the tent cabins and increased rodent-proofing efforts. In addition, Yosemite National Park has set up a public information hotline (209) 372.0822, for individuals to call for additional information. The park is also contacting visitors by email to alert them to the symptoms and all visitors to the park now receive a brochure about the virus with details on how to protect themselves.

HPS Prevention

The following are the steps recommended by the Yosemite National Park and the California Department of Public Health to prevent HPS:

  1. Keep food stored in tightly sealed containers and off the floor of tents
  2. Minimize storing luggage and other materials on the floor
  3. Avoid stirring up dust and do not touch live or dead rodents
  4. If there are signs of rodent droppings in your cabin or room, contact housekeeping immediately

See the Yosemite park alert for additional information.

8 Insurance Tips for Traveling Seniors

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Insurance Tips for Traveling SeniorsEvery year more baby boomers retire and when asked about their retirement goals, well over half of all retiring seniors say their plans are to travel.

That means over 80 million older adults will be traveling in 2012 and that number will continue to rise as more retire.

Senior travelers have a different set of concerns than younger travelers do. Sure, you may no longer be required to return to work to handle a business meeting or care for a sick child, but there are other risks you can encounter.

As a senior traveler, it’s important to manage those risks for your health, your family, and your financial security.

See the following insurance tips for traveling seniors before you make your next travel plans, and be sure to share these tips with other senior travelers you know!

1. Check your Medicare supplement plan for travel benefits

Some time ago, the Medicare Supplement plan providers caught on to the fact that traveling seniors were putting their health at risk when they traveled outside the borders. After all, Medicare by itself doesn’t pay for health care received outside the U.S. So some of the Medicare Supplement and Medicare Advantage plans began including travel medical benefits, including international emergency health care.

Before traveling, seniors should check their supplemental plan’s travel benefits by reading the explanation of coverage for details. If they have limited or no medical coverage where they are traveling, a travel medical plan can fill in those gaps.

2. Recognize the limits of evacuation and repatriation

A medically necessary evacuation can cost as little at $25,000 or as high as $100,000 or more depending on where you are, how far you have to go, and what medical personnel and treatment you need in-flight.

Evacuation coverage provides the funds for and coordinates medically necessary transportation to a medical facility or back home after you’ve been treated. Evacuation coverage typically encompasses repatriation too – that’s the coverage necessary to coordinate and pay for getting an insured traveler’s body home should they die on their trip.

Evacuation coverage would have helped this injured traveler and his family, but it’s important to note that evacuation and repatriation coverage doesn’t work inside your home country. So, if the bulk of your travel will be inside the U.S., this coverage may not be useful to you.

3. Make arrangements to carry medications

Travelers can carry their medications in a carry-on or in their checked luggage, but at least some (if not all) of their medication should be carried with them in case of lost luggage. Medications should always be carried in the original bottle with the prescription label to avoid problems at the border if the bag is searched.

Seniors who take prescription medications daily can order a 90-day supply ahead of time through mail order to be sure they have enough on hand for longer trips. Combine the full supply you need for your trip into a single prescription bottle to save room in your luggage.

Some frequent travelers also like to carry a copy of their prescriptions as well in case they need to get refills while they are away from home.

4. Consider a pre-travel medical exam

Before traveling outside the country, seniors should see their doctor for a pre-travel exam (ideally at least 4 weeks prior to their trip) to:

  • Assess their general fitness for travel
  • Identify and prepare for any potential medical problems, such as altitude sickness
  • Identify any potentially necessary vaccinations
  • Get prescriptions for diseases they may encounter on their trip, like malaria

If the senior has any pre-existing medical conditions or their doctor makes a change in their medication, that traveler will need to purchase a travel insurance plan with a waiver for pre-existing medical conditions.

5. Carry your basic medical info and a travel medical kit

All travelers should carry a personal emergency medical kit – particularly one that meets the needs of the traveler and the medical issues they are likely to encounter at their destination.

In that travel kit, you should also carry your basic medical info. Your basic medical information includes:

  • The name, phone number, and email of your primary doctor
  • The name, identification number, and phone number of your medicare supplement plan
  • The name, identification number, and phone number of your travel insurance plan
  • A list of allergies and medications

See this travel safety tip: What’s in your Travel Medical Kit for more details.

6. Decide on annual versus per-trip coverage

Many travelers who travel often throughout the year find that an annual plan saves them time, but it’s important to run the numbers to be sure it will also save you money. Having the same coverage for every trip you take during the year means:

  • Less time researching travel insurance for each trip
  • Less time putting together the travel documents for each trip
  • One travel assistance hotline to call – all year long

The key, of course, is to look at where you plan to travel and how many trips you’ll be taking during the year to see if the cost savings work to your advantage. This is where using our travel insurance comparison tool is a great help.

7. Determine your cancellation risk

Many travelers, including senior travelers, are loathe to purchase trip cancellation coverage. After all, it can be expensive and you have no intention of cancelling your trip anyway.

Unfortunately, there are certain situations when it can be helpful, including:

  • If a member of your family gets sick, injured, or dies
  • If a hurricane or natural disaster strikes your destination
  • If a terrorist attack occurs at your travel spot
  • If your home is damaged or burglarized before or during your trip
  • If your passport is lost or stolen before your trip

No one plans for any of these disasters to happen – especially when a trip is planned – but they do happen and paying a little extra to ensure that you can get all those pre-paid trip costs back is often worth it. See our post on What determines my total trip cost for details on what to insure and what to ignore.

8. Remember that getting home may be critical too

Even if you decide not to purchase trip cancellation coverage, consider a plan with trip interruption coverage. Trip interruption coverage reimburses a traveler for their unused trip costs if they have to abandon their trip and return home for a covered reason (see #7 for some of the reasons).

Trip interruption coverage also provides reimbursement for and helps an insured traveler make emergency flight arrangements, secure transportation and hotels, and even returns them to their trip once the emergency has been handled.

While trip interruption is usually bundled with trip cancellation, many travel medical plans also include trip interruption.

See also:

Safe and Healthy Travel for Senior Citizens from the CDC

Young Toronto Woman Injured and Stranded in Croatia with No Way to Get Home

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Young Toronto Traveler Stranded in Croatia without Travel InsuranceAnna Leibenko, a Toronto resident of just 24 years, is stranded in a hospital in Croatia after falling from a boat and hitting her head. Unconscious at the scene of the accident and suffering internal bleeding, Anna is now on life support and in a coma with internal bleeding and numerous head and face fractures.

Anna was taken by helicopter to the nearest hospital in Split, Croatia where she’s been treated, but administrators at the hospital have informed her family that she will be responsible for the cost of treatment if she is unable to deliver health insurance documentation. Unfortunately, Anna didn’t purchase travel insurance.

Anna’s family is now trying to raise the money necessary for an air ambulance to bring Anna home – reported to be $93,000 (CAD) – and to pay her medical bills, which are reported to be over $20,000 (CAD) now.

At Travel Insurance Review, these kinds of new stories are disturbing. It’s important for readers to understand that international travelers like Anna have access to compare travel insurance plans. A week’s worth of travel insurance for a Canadian resident visiting Croatia of Anna’s age would run less than $10.00 U.S. and have:

  • Emergency medical – $50,000
  • Emergency evacuation – $300,000 – $500,000

Travel insurance plans like these also pay round trip transportation for one person to visit the insured traveler in the hospital, so Anna would have someone familiar with her as she gains the strength necessary to be airlifted home.

 

Stranded and abroad? 4 Tips to Getting Home Safe

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Stranded and abroad? 4 Tips to Getting Home Safe If there’s any certainty to travel it’s this: travel is uncertain. Every year, travelers around the world are stranded by disasters abroad.

It can be difficult if not downright impossible to predict what events you may encounter when you travel. There are, however, some common sense strategies that travelers can use to avoid a worst-case travel disaster of epic proportions.

The following are 4 tips to getting home safely when you’re in danger of being stranded abroad.

1. Know before you go

Take a little time before you settle on your trip plans to know the risks before you go. Taking care to check the local weather conditions and the current travel warnings.

See the country-specific information available on the State Department’s website for safety and security risks as well as crime information. It’s a good place to start to learn about where you’re going before you get stuck.

2. Avoid total digital blackout

While it’s tempting to shut off completely and avoid current events, it’s still important to maintain some contact so you know what’s happening where you’re traveling should something go wrong. This is where you might consider the U.S. State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or STEP, a useful tool.

When you sign up, you’ll indicate where you are traveling and when and you can add or delete trips based on your current travel plans. Once you indicate travel plans, you’ll receive the current information about the region to where you are traveling – helpful for #1 above.

During your travel dates, you’ll also receive travel alerts and travel warnings appropriate to your destination. STEP makes it easier for officers in the U.S. embassies and consulates around the world to contact you and those back home during an emergency. As they say, a well-informed traveler is a safe traveler.

3. Get out before the going gets bad

Some natural disasters hit without much in the way of warning, so this one is tricky. If you are aware of an impending risk, it’s better to evacuate early rather than waiting for others to evacuate you. This is where travel insurance plans with non-emergency medical evacuation coverage can be handy.

The covered reasons for non-medical, security, or political evacuations typically include:

  • Natural disasters – like a hurricane or earthquake
  • Civil uprisings, military coups, or political unrest
  • Identification as a persona non grata or being expelled from the country you are visiting

That last one is a bit peculiar, but in essence, it means you are officially asked to leave a country you are visiting.

It’s important to note that the travel insurance provider is the one to determine whether an evacuation is a covered event or not, based on the circumstances and the terms of your plan. In addition, you may not be evacuated immediately home, but to a place of safety first.

4. Take cover when it hits and be realistic

The Federal government does not automatically send out rescue teams for their citizens caught in disasters. Even when transportation is made available, it’s paid for by those who are rescued. In March of 2011, after the nuclear crisis in Japan, the State Department sent chartered planes to evacuate U.S. civilians who wanted to leave, but changing weather conditions caused delays.

Once a disaster hits, take cover immediately and pay attention to the orders from local authorities. You can’t assume that help will be immediately at hand when a disaster strikes, but if you’ve done your homework and purchased the right travel insurance, you can get in touch with the assistance services team for information and advice.

If you are unable to access the Internet due to blackouts or get through on your cell phone, having family members or friends back home with your travel itinerary and travel insurance documents on hand is a great backup.

Remember that SMS or text messages often get through when voice communications are jammed. In some cases, those back home have better access to information about unfolding events that you do on the ground, so stay in touch.

Injured American Lawyer left in German Hospital while Family Tries to Find Medical Transport

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Bill LyngWhile visiting Frankfurt, Germany to see his newborn granddaughter, Bill Lyng, a respected lawyer from Kissimmee, Florida, landed in a hospital just prior to returning to the U.S. and there he’s stayed.

After a two-week visit with their daughter and military son-in-law, the Lyng’s were headed home when Bill was suddenly found lying on the floor in a pool of blood, bleeding from his ear. He was taken to the hospital where he had brain surgery and then follow-up surgeries. Currently in a nursing home and unable to sit or stand on his own, his private health insurance won’t cover the costs to transport him back home.

His wife, Sherie Lyng, has been navigating the sea of red tape and trying to get her husband home but found the cost estimates ranging from $25.000 to $35,000 for medical transport. And an air ambulance, which is what he really needs, would cost $70,000 to $90,000 and the family simply doesn’t have the money.

In the meantime, as they search for a solution, the family has returned to Kissimmee and Bill remains in a German facility.

While it’s difficult to determine the exact details about this very desperate traveler disaster, we at Travel Insurance Review feel completely awful when we hear about situations like these. Unfortunately, they do happen. People get hurt and become ill and not always in the most convenient places or at the most convenient times.

While your coverage back home may be adequate, it’s not going to come through when you need something so specific as a medically equipped air ambulance to fly you home where your treatment and recovery can be continued. We urge all travelers – even those traveling to countries where health care is free – to be sure that they have the ability to get back home no matter what their health condition.

We wish the absolute best of outcomes for Bill Lyng, his wife, and his family.

Before you Study Abroad: 6 Steps to Verify your International Coverage

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Before you Study Abroad: 6 Steps to Verify your International CoverageAs the fall season approaches and students (and their parents) get ready for a new school year, many students will be traveling much farther than their home town.

In fact, according to the Institute of International Education, enrollment in American study abroad programs has tripled over the past two decades. In more recent years, students have also begun heading to less traditional destinations – into countries where English is not the primary language.

Many universities include a pre-negotiated, one-size-fits-all insurance package with their programs, and for many healthy students, that’s enough. But consider the fact that in 2011, study abroad programs and their insurance providers had to scramble to gather, protect, and evacuate thousands of students out of Egypt – and many parents had to pay those costs because the standard plans offered by the universities didn’t provide coverage for that event.

The standard programs offered by universities may not cover:

  • overseas medical treatment for students with pre-existing conditions
  • trip interruptions if the student has to return home due to an emergency
  • theft of a student’s passport, identification, and ultimately their identity
  • emergency evacuations for medical and non-medical reasons

Not all universities have an overseas insurance plan for their students. In some cases, universities are cautious about making recommendations to students out of concern they will be held liable for the decisions made, so the decision is left to the student and their parents.

The following are 6 steps to be sure you, or your student, is covered before they travel abroad.

1. Get the university’s insurance policy – and check the limits

If the university has an international insurance plan, get a copy of it and read it. Typically, this will be in your study abroad packet, but it’s critical to verify the coverage and policy limits. In some cases, the policy limits for international medical care are too low for a student who encounters a serious illness or is badly injured. In some cases, medical evacuation is not included in the plan – and that can make a big difference if the student has to be flown home for treatment.

Just as you would need to do with any insurance plan, it’s important to get the details and read it carefully so you understand the coverage.

2. Determine where you will travel during your time abroad

Lots of countries are smaller in size than America, and as a result, they’re closer to other interesting places to visit. If you’re studying in India, will you have the opportunity to visit Nepal or Bangladesh? If you’re studying in France, will you take a train into Switzerland, Spain, Italy, or Germany?

Determine the places you will travel to during your time abroad and make sure the coverage you have extends to those areas as well.

3. Consider the activities you will be doing while abroad

Every place in the world offers unique experiences: hiking in the outback of Australia, diving in Bali, skiing in Switzerland. If you have the opportunity to do some of these things, will your insurance coverage still deliver?

It’s important to think about those activities you’ll have the opportunity to do and look for exclusions in the university plan to be sure you’ll still have coverage. Even travel insurance plans have exclusions, so your overseas plan from the university is likely to as well. And you don’t want to get caught by an unexpected exclusion just when you need your coverage the most.

4. Research the unique risks for the region

Student travelers are exposed to new germs, viruses, and diseases – some native and some transported in by other travelers. Knowing what those risks are ahead of time is essential. Students are also exposed to the local crime, political and environmental conditions, and other threats to their safety and security.

If the university’s study abroad program hasn’t informed you of necessary vaccinations and cautioned you on other risks, it’s a good idea to find those out for yourself. Two websites can offer insights into the unique region-specific risks:

Knowing the unique risks means you can ensure that the insurance protection you choose will have the coverage you need for the area you’re visiting.

5. Think about special circumstances

Are there any special circumstances to consider? If the traveler or someone back home has a pre-existing medical condition, will they have coverage? Will your student be participating in sports while studying abroad? Many special circumstances are excluded from standard international insurance plans, so it’s important to review the university plan and be sure it fits your trip and your student.

6. Get supplementary travel insurance if necessary

If you’ve reviewed the university plan and the risks you’ll face and everything is covered, great! Have a good year abroad. If you’ve found a few gaps in their plan that you want to cover, or if the plan is your responsibility instead, then click to compare plans that deliver just the coverage you need for the area where you’ll be traveling.

Not sure exactly what you’ll need? See our Student Travel Insurance tutorial for details.

Before you go, see the Students Abroad site from travel.state.gov for information on handling emergencies, finding the embassy, and preparing your travel documents.

5 Steps to Prepare for an African Safari Trip

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Preparing for a Safari TripA safari trip is considered by many travelers to be the ultimate ‘bucket list’ trip, the experience of a lifetime, and with a little research it can be.

The centerpiece of most safari trips is viewing and photographing wild animals in their natural habitats, and many tour operators are happy to oblige, driving their guests into the national reserves and locating watering holes where animals can be viewed from open trucks.

Accommodations on an African safari can range from simple tents to more luxurious tented camps with en-suite bathrooms.

If you’re considering an African safari for your next trip, you’ll want to think carefully about the risks posed by this particular trip, just as you would any trip.

1. Choose the Region and Season for your African Safari

First-time safari-goers often choose the popular game parks located in Kenya and Tanzania, the two largest regions of Africa. The most famous game park in Kenya is the Masai Mara National Reserve, which is also the northern extension of the most popular in Tanzania is the Serengeti. Together, these parks are home to some of the grandest and most complete collections of large wild animals that make Africa famous.

Many safari-goers are steered plan their trips in the winter months because they are drier and water holes where they are more like to spot game are smaller and farther between. The end result is that more animals come to the same watering holes to drink, but on the flipside, the landscape is also dry and less colorful. The best time of year is the one that coincides with your personal goals for your safari trip.

2. Look up and Understand the Health Risks

Just like any trip, the health and safety risks a traveler is likely to face while on safari are mostly predictable and manageable as long as you are aware of them. For example, malaria may be a minor problem in South Africa, but it could be a primary issue in some parks depending on the season.

Common health risks include:

  • Malaria – often occurs in major game parks while on safari because safari activities often include sleeping in tents and observing animals at dusk near watering holes – all of which puts the traveler nearer to potentially malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Take appropriate preventative medication and use all your personal protection techniques, including wearing loose, long clothing, using insect repellent, and sleeping under permethrin-treated mosquito netting.
  • Yellow Fever – a vaccination is recommended for nearly all parts of sub-Saharan africa and some countries require a yellow fever vaccination certification as a condition of entry. Your safari tour group will be able to tell you if you need a vaccination, but you can also see CDC’s recommendations for yellow fever and malaria by country for details. Some safari trips involve more than one country, so be sure to check the requirements for each on your itinerary.

Less common, but still problematic, health risks include:

  • African Tickborne Fever – which occurs primarily in rural areas of southern Africa and are caused by a tick bite. Many of your malaria prevention techniques help with preventing this illness, which is typically rare among travelers. Regularly check your body for ticks on your safari and watch for the symptoms which include fever, enlarged lymph nodes, and rash.
  • African Sleeping Sickness – also called trypanosomiasis, is transmitted by tsetse fly bites, which occur in the daytime. Again, malaria prevention techniques are useful for preventing these bites, especially wearing loose, light-colored clothing. Watch for symptoms of fever, headaches, and nervous system involvement as well as swelling at the site of the bite.
  • Myiasis – a rare skin disease caused by fly larvae that penetrates the skin causing a swollen area to appear on the skin with a central opening. The eggs are often laid on clothing that is left out to dry overnight and then burrows into the skin when worn. Clothing should be thoroughly dried indoors using conventional methods and/or ironed well before wearing.
  • Tungiasis – another rare skin disease caused by the direct penetration into the skin by sand fleas which causes painful nodules under the skin often on the foot near the toenails. Preventing this disease is done by wearing closed-toe shoes and avoiding walking outdoors with bare feet.
  • Schistosomiasis – an infection that is widespread throughout Africa and caused by freshwater snails that live in ponds, lakes, and rivers. All fresh water sources should be considered contaminated by travelers; however, ocean and well-chlorinated pool water is safe.

It’s important that travelers understand they may be asymptomatic for weeks after their trip. When symptoms do appear it’s important to inform your doctor of your recent trip to aid a more accurate and prompt diagnosis.

3. Don’t Ignore the Risks to your Personal Safety

The best way to understand the safety and security risks of a particular region is by going to the U.S. State Department’s site and reviewing the country-specific safety and security information for your destination. In addition, see the current travel warnings and travel alerts posted on the State Department’s website.

Here are some basic rules that should be followed no matter where your trip takes you:

4. Leave the Driving to Others

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes the rate of motor vehicle accidents in sub-Saharan Africa are some of the highest in the world. Poor roads within the game parks, however, discourages speeding and accidents within the parks are far less common.

Travel in rural areas between parks is a higher risk, especially after dark, so nighttime driving in sub-Saharan Africa should be avoided. According to the State Department, poor road conditions and lack of street lights combined with the threat of kidnapping and banditry also make inter-city nighttime driving highly hazardous.

5. Buy Adequate Travel Insurance

Most safari tour operators require their guests to have travel insurance, but even if they don’t, we do. In many regions of Africa, doctors and hospitals require payment in cash at the time of service, so it’s important to know what you’re facing and have a travel insurance plan you can trust – even if it has to evacuate you or a traveling companion out of Africa and back to the U.S. for medical treatment.

We also recommend that you carefully research and compare quotes for travel plans appropriate to your trip. This tool can even help you determine how much evacuation coverage you’ll likely need if that becomes necessary.

A few more tips

What Determines My Total Trip Cost?

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What Determines My Total Trip Cost?Travel insurance is designed to reimburse travelers for unexpected losses, and travel insurance plans with trip cancellation or ‘cancel for any reason’ benefits ensure that a traveler who has to cancel their trip doesn’t also have to forfeit their trip investment (provided they cancel their trip for a covered reason).

Most travel insurance plans require that a traveler insure all their non-refundable travel arrangements that are subject to cancellation penalties in order to have certain benefits.

These include but are not limited to the following:

See 5 Reasons to Purchase Travel Insurance Early for more details.

This means that even if you purchase a travel insurance plan on time (within the required number of days after making your initial trip deposit), you might not be able to cancel your trip for a full refund if you haven’t covered all your pre-paid, non-refundable trip costs.

When you’re filling our travel insurance quote form, you’ll see the selection here:

Compare travel insurance quotes

When getting a travel insurance quote, you’ll need to calculate your total trip cost, which is the cash value equivalent of all arrangements that were booked and paid for.

What factors determine total trip cost?

Your trip costs are determined by adding up the total of the pre-paid, non-refundable expenses that would be lost if you had to cancel your trip. These include:

  • All non-refundable payments, including deposits, toward your trip: hotel, airfare, cruise, etc.
  • Pre-arranged, pre-paid transportation costs like taking a pre-paid shuttle to and from the airport
  • Non-refundable fees you pay for before you leave, including those fees related to tours, conventions, classes, or retreats
  • Any cancellation penalties that you’ll be assessed if you suddenly cancel, such as in the deposit for a condo on the beach (check your rental agreement for the cancellation penalty schedule)
  • Non-refundable tickets such as those to the theater, special events, Disneyworld passes, etc.

What costs are not included in my total trip cost?

These costs are not pre-paid and so they should not be included in your total trip cost:

  • Meal and lodging costs you pay after you arrive
  • Day trips or excursions arranged for and paid for after departure
  • Souvenir, gift, or other costs for items you purchase during your trip
  • Emergency passport replacement costs (although many travel insurance plans have an allowance for those costs if your passport is lost or stolen while you’re on your trip)
  • Any other costs that were not pre-paid

If you include these in your total trip cost amount, it amounts to over-insuring your trip because these costs will not be reimbursed to you.

Do not include these costs in your total trip cost!

Do not include the costs associated with any pre-paid expenses that can be changed. This is where a lot of travelers make a mistake. It’s important to remember that travel insurance only reimburses you for losses.

If the bed and breakfast you reserved in Paris doesn’t allow for cancellations, but they will happily reschedule your stay, then it’s not a loss and you won’t be reimbursed for those costs by your trip cancellation coverage even if you can’t take your scheduled trip for a covered reason.

To protect your trip investment, think carefully about where you book your lodgings, tours, retreats, etc. If their ‘cancellation’ policy doesn’t allow for true cancellations, then reconsider and don’t include those costs in your total trip costs because they won’t be covered anyway.

What about airline ticket purchased with points?

If you purchase your airfare with points or frequent flyer miles, check the rules of your plan. In many cases, if you have to cancel your trip, the airline will re-deposit those points minus a fee.

In brief, you’ll include these costs in your total trip cost amount:

  • The fee to re-deposit your frequent flier points or miles
  • The taxes paid on the airline tickets

Essentially, the fee to reimburse your account with your points is non-refundable, but the ticket cost itself is not.

What if I don’t know all my trip costs – should I estimate?

If your total trip cost is unknown, and you want to purchase your policy in time to take advantage of certain benefits that require early purchase (typically between 10 and 14 days of your initial trip deposit) to be in effect, including but not limited to:

  • Pre-existing condition waivers
  • ‘Cancel for any reason’ benefits
  • ‘Cancel for work reasons’ coverage

It’s wise to round up in order to avoid being precluded from access to these coverage options.

If you later discover that you’ve over-insured your trip, the policy can be updated to reflect the accurate trip cost and the difference in the premium will be refunded to you as long as the changes were made prior to your departure.

Coping with a Car Crash Abroad

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Coping with a car crash abroadMotor vehicle accidents – not crime, not terrorism, and certainly not natural disasters – are the highest cause of American deaths in foreign countries.

As worldwide economics change, many more people in many more countries are gaining the ability to drive, crowding roads even further and causing road safety issues around the globe.

While local residents bear most of the risk of death and injury, travelers are particularly vulnerable because of their lack of familiarity with the local surroundings, road conditions, and driving laws. In cases like these, it’s good to know that travel insurance covers rental cars.

Get the Facts about Driving Overseas

In 2004, the World Health Organization and the World Bank published a joint report: World report on road traffic injury prevention, indicating that 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes each year and as high as 50 million are injured or disabled.

Even worse, 85% of those deaths are in low- to middle-income countries, and predictions indicate that worldwide traffic fatalities will increase to 2.3 million by the year 2020.

While traffic accidents occur everywhere, much of the most recent growth in motor vehicle usage is in developing countries where the roads were built to standards less than we’re used to here in the U.S. Many of these roads are also used by pedestrians and cyclists. In addition, little to no signage, few traffic regulations, and very little enforcement of those laws are further compounded by poor emergency response capabilities.

Be Prepared for Safe Driving in a Foreign Land

Driver unfamiliarity – unfamiliar cars driving on unfamiliar roads with unfamiliar signs – is a big contributor to car crashes abroad. Yet, many tourists prefer to drive on their trips abroad.

If you’ve decided you will drive on your next trip, start preparing before you leave home:

  • Research the driving laws where you’re going (go online, speak with friends, etc.)
  • Get an International Driver’s Permit, but take your U.S. license with you too
  • Research your automobile insurance options and have the right coverage
  • Know the local numbers to contact the police (hint: it’s not 911)

Your auto policy back home plus your credit card benefits may be enough coverage, but check the details carefully. Many auto policies don’t cover driving overseas or even renting a car abroad, and there are significant limitations to the  car rental collision coverage you get with your credit card travel protection.

At the Scene of a Car Crash

If you’re involved in a car crash abroad, it’s important to understand that the training and availability of emergency responders may be well below typical U.S. standards. That means, you could be waiting for help for a rather long time.

The rules at the scene of an accident are similar in a foreign country:

  1. If you’re able, contact the local authorities immediately. You may have to request an English-speaking representative.
  2. If anyone is injured, tell the operators you’ll need emergency medical assistance.
  3. Take down information – driver’s names, the make and model and color of each of the vehicles involved, the address where the collision occurred, and registration plate information.
  4. Take pictures of the accident scene using your phone and/or camera.
  5. If you have travel insurance or car rental insurance, contact the insurance company as soon as possible. Depending on your coverage, they may be able to help you with getting through to the authorities, sending emergency medical support, and even a tow truck.
  6. In many regions, you’ll be asked to fill out and sign a statement – get a copy of that.

Provided you did your insurance homework, you’ll know whether you have to wait to return home to file a claim or do it immediately.

Know Your Coverage Limits and Limitations

Neither your credit card coverage or your coverage from back home are complete coverage if you’re in an accident overseas, and the coverage you get with travel insurance has its own set of restrictions, like only covering cars up to a certain value.

In addition, there are country-specific limitations you should look for, such as some countries requiring the driver to have adequate auto insurance. In some countries, you’ll be required to purchase coverage from providers based in that country. That means your credit card coverage, your auto policy back home, and your travel insurance coverage are useless to you there.

See our review of car rental collision coverage for the full details.