When citizens from foreign countries visit the US, they need insurance to cover any possible medical expenses

Many foreign citizen’s live here in the United States, attending schools, working, or just enjoying the country. When their family from home comes here to visit, they will need some sort of insurance to cover potential medical expenses.

This is very common with visiting parents; due to their age, the risk for accident or illness is higher.

For example: A family from India, living in New York for 10 years, invites their parents to visit. They decide to stay for 6 months so they can spend time with their grandchildren and even travel the country a little.

While in the Unites States, their insurance coverage from home will not provide coverage. In the case of an accident or illness, they will need coverage to pay the bills.

Citizens from foreign countries need to purchase travel medical coverage when visiting the United States. The basic coverage included in travel medical policies include:

• Emergency medical and dental expenses
• Medical evacuation
• Trip interruption (some companies)
• Baggage (some companies)
• 24 hour emergency assistance

There are two basic types of travel insurance coverage

Much of what we review, and what is in the mind of travelers, is called travel protection or a package plan. The main feature of a package plan is the trip cancellation coverage, but they also include medical emergencies, medical evacuation, and lost baggage.

The other type of travel insurance policy is called a travel medical plan

The main feature of these plans are to provide medical emergency/evacuation coverage. With some plans, there is some coverage for baggage (usually a small amount), or trip interruption due to the death of a family member.

Most travelers are not aware that their medical insurance from home will not cover them while in a foreign country

Travel medical plans are typically much less expensive that package plans, because the coverage is so reduced. Since there is no cancellation coverage, a very large financial risk is taken away, making travel medical plans much cheaper.

Travel medical plans are meant for travelers going overseas for a longer period of time, even up to a several years. Some examples of travelers who might use a travel medical plan include:

• Students studying abroad for a semester
• An employee spending a year at a foreign office
• Anyone living abroad
• Foreign citizens visiting their family here in the US

Travel medical plans are popular for both US citizens going abroad, as well as foreign citizens visiting the US

The plans are generally available from as little as 5 days, and up to 3 years. Travel medical plans are available to citizens from all over the world. Here in the US, ethnic communities are frequent users of travel medical plans.

For example: a resident of India is living and working here in the US. Their parents want to visit for a year and do some sightseeing. Their insurance from home would not cover them, but by purchasing an international medical plan, they can recieve coverage.

One of the advantages to shopping for and purchasing travel insurance online is receiving immediate coverage

Travelers can sign up for their policy, use a credit card to purchase, and get an immediate email confirmation.

Unfortunately, not all online companies provide this benefit. If you purchase a travel insurance policy online and do not get “real-time” confirmation, cancel the policy and purchase elswhere.

(By the way, insurance companies are required to offer a “free-look” period, where a customer can purchase the policy and return it for a full refund with a certain amount of time, usually 10 days. There is often an administration fee of around $5 to cancel and get a refund, but it is an option.)

Why is it important to purchase travel insurance real-time?

Let’s say you purchase a travel insurance policy for a trip, and you’re leaving the following day. If you don’t recieve immediate confirmation, your order will sit in an email until someone comes into the insurance office the next day. Then they will enter your information into a computer and issue a policy. It may be too late at that point.

They can also make typing errors or even have further questions about your trip, but cannot get in touch with you in time. There is more room for error, and the policy may not be in effect in time.

When you do buy from a good company and recieve an immediate confirmation email, you will have a policy number, and a copy of the policy details. Print this out and read it. Even though most companies will mail you an actual paper copy of your policy, this email is confirmation of coverage and you are covered as of the effective date.
When buying travel insurance, use a company that actually promotes their “real-time” purchasing

Comparison sites will list policies side-by-side, and you can see how they issue policies; usually by immediate email, as well as a paper copy by postal mail within 10 days.

(see How to Compare Quotes with a Travel Insurance Comparison Site)

What is this site all about and how can it help me?

Travelinsurancereview.net is an independant look at the travel insurance business. We review companies, products, and websites. We get your reviews with the Feedback Forum, which works much like the eBay Feedback system. We answer general questions about travel insurance, provide definitions & explanations, and basically just help you find the right way to go.

Think of us as the Zagat of trip insurance

With our Feedback Forum, you can see which companies are easy to work with, and which ones aren’t. Anyone can give feedback; it’s fast, simple, and the more feedback people give, the better choices travelers can make.

We also provide Editorial reviews and recommendations, based on real-person everyday use, mixed with the knowledge of a licensed insurance professional.

Most of all, TravelInsuranceReview.net is a starting point

When you’re planning a trip, you take your time. You research places to go, hotels to stay in, airlines to fly, and tours to take. You make decisions over time, and put your plan together.

The same goes for your travel insurance. You look around online, reading about different policies from different companies and not being sure what to do.

At TravelInsuranceReview.net you can read about the benefits of some policies compared to others. You can see how different sites work, and what the process will be like. You can get recommendations for the best policy from the best company.

Subscribe to the RSS feed to read posts over a few weeks. Take your time and find the right policy to protect your trip.

Scott McCartney, writing for the Wall Street Journal and syndicated on Recordonline.com, writes about some real-life travel situations where insurance may, or may not, be needed.

From the article:

“Michael Beriss received lots of cooperation from his airline and hotel when he had to cancel a trip to the Caribbean at the last minute last year. His son came down with high fever 12 hours before the family’s flight was scheduled to leave. The diagnosis: strep throat.

“I have never purchased travel insurance because the premiums look too high relative to the risks,” he said. “Of course, my first thought was that I had made a mistake by not purchasing insurance.”

Instead, his airline agreed to a full refund after he sent a letter from his son’s doctor. The hotel also waived a cancellation fee. “We did not lose any money from the last-minute cancellation, though we were disappointed to miss the trip,” Mr. Beriss wrote. “Given the policy of the airlines and hotels, I really don’t believe travel insurance is appropriate.”

It should be noted that airlines and hotels aren’t always as generous as they were to Mr. Beriss; often a change in plans means penalty fees and a credit towards future flights, not a refund. That’s one reason some people prefer travel insurance, and travel insurance does offer other benefits”

Mr. Beriss was very fortunate to be able to work with the travel providers to get refunds. This is oftentimes not the case, and travelers end up losing the non-refundable, pre-paid costs.

Also from the article:

“Travel agent Steve Danishek from Seattle, whom I’ve known for many years as a wise voice on travel issues, pointed out that the cost of a medical evacuation can be huge. “My mother, now deceased, wasn’t worried about the possibility of losing the $3,000 cost of a Panama Canal cruise and didn’t purchase insurance, but was stung by the $31,000 cost of the air ambulance from Panama City to Seattle for her broken hip,” Mr. Danishek said. “

In this case, the smaller potential loss of a few thousand dollars did not concern the traveler. Oftentimes, a traveler will think a small potential loss, $1000 for example, is not worth insuring. When insuring for less than $1000, it costs you are larger percentage in premium.

For example: A $500 trip costs $45 to insure, which is 9% of the total trip cost. However, a $1,000 trip costs $74 to insure, which is 7.4% of the total trip cost. A $2,000 trip costs $140, which is 7% of the total trip cost.

Despite this, the medical evacuation in the example above cost $31,000, an expense that travel insurance would have covered.

The article also mentions ski trips and an example of a $15,000 Air Ambulance claim by an injured insured. It is important to note that many policies exclude injuries suffered during dangerous sports or activities. You can, however, opt for hazardous sport coverage with many plans. This costs a little more, but will provide coverage for that skiing accident.

Related Links
Article from WSJ Online
Medjet Assist provides emergency medical evacuation coverage

In another story, this time from the UK, we are reminded that our travel insurance will not provide benefits for injuries sustained while intoxicated.

Many travelers purchase insurance for their vacations. The travel insurance provides benefits for cancelled or interrupted trips, lost baggage, and medical expenses. As with all insurance policies, there are exclusions. Policy exclusions are circumstances under which an insurance will not pay a claim.

Common travel insurance exclusions include:

• self-inflicted injuries
• injuries resulting from dangerous activities like skydiving, etc
• injuries suffered while committing a felony or illegal activity
• injuries suffered while intixicated

Trip insurance is meant to cover expenses for unexpected and accidental injuries. When you consume too much alcohol it is not exactly an accident when you fall down and hurt yourself.

It is common knowledge that alcohol affects our judgement and motor skills. Drivers are arrested everyday for consuming too much alcohol and operating a vehicle. When drinking and driving, they are at a higher risk of injury to themselves and others.

For this same reason, travel insurance companies will not pay for injuries suffered while intoxicated. If they did, trip insurance premiums would be higher and travelers would have to pay more to protect themselves and their financial investement.

Related Posts
Story from Manchester Evening News

A travel insurance company is selling a “Tee, Tour, and Travel” plan that pays your bar tab if you get a hole-in-one.

The next time you and your friends plan a golf getaway, consider covering your trip expenses with Travel Guard’s “Tee, Tour, and Travel” plan. The plan covers trip cancellation expenses, lost baggage and golf equipment, lost greens fees due to bad weather, and pays your celebration bar tab if you get a hole-in-one.

There is small print, as usual, but this plan offers the standard trip coverage with some special modifications for golfers.

The TravelInsuranceReview.net Feedback Fourm is an eBay style way for consumers to provide reviews for travel insurance companies. It is quick, easy, and most importantly, effective.

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to TravelInsuranceReview.net and select Feedback Forum
2. Enter the name of the company you are reviewing
3. Select one of 3 Feedback choices
• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative
4. Provide a short comment

It’s really that simple.

Again, just think of eBay and how easy it is to give and recieve Feedback. The eBay Feedback system would not work as well if they allowed long narratives or complicated reviews. They keep it simple with positive, neutral, or negative…and a short line of comments.

Why do the same for travel insurance? So people use it. By making it simple, fast, and effective people will use it, and provide other shoppers with some basic information about their potential choice. Epinions has some reviews for trip insurance, but less than a dozen.

Writing a narrative review like those on Epinions is complicated, time consuming, and subjective. That is why there are only a few of them, a fraction of a percent of the travel insurance buying market.
Imagine having several thousand “votes” in the Feedback Forum giving you some idea of where to start your search for travel insurance. Some companies would move to the top, while others would not. The people have spoken.

Here are the 3 top ways travelers find trip insurance:

1. Referral A friend, relative, or co-worker directs you to a company they have used and liked
2. Travel Agent When booking your vacation, a travel agent mentions insurance and offers you a travel insurance option
3. Online Search Go to Google, type in “travel insurance”, and start clicking

Referrals from friends, family, or co-workers
Trusted advice from friends, family, and co-workers is always a comfortable way to make any decision. If everything went well for them, you figure it will for you too. The only problem, especially with something like medical insurance, is that everyone has different needs. Maybe they found the right company for themselves, but it may not be the right choice for you.

Travel Agencies
This is a very commmon way to begin the travel coverage process, because here in the US most travelers do not even think about travel insurance (only around 30% of US travelers purchase coverage, compared with over 90% in other countries)

You book your trip with a travel agent, and at some point they probably offer travel insurance. Some agencies offer their own line of products, and others simply obtain an insurance license allowing them to be an insurance agent selling insurance products. They make a commission from insurance sales because they are an insurance agent.

This is why most travel experts will advise against buying your travel insurance from your travel agent. A travel agent might have a deal with a particular insurance company, with the incentive of higher commissions. Do you want a travel agent making insurance recommendations based on the amount of money they make? No, you want to find the right product for your trip.

Travel agencies can also have higher overall prices for travel insurance. They build in more profit for themselves, knowing most travelers will buy from them directly instead of shopping around.

Online Search
Finally, you might go to Google and type in “travel insurance”. As of today, there are over 211 Million results for “travel insurance”. In the first page or two, you will find many of the leading insurance companies where you can buy direct. You will also find comparison sites that sell most of those same companies’ products. These comparison sites act as an agent for the companies, and earn a commission. Note: Buying directly from the insurance company will not be any cheaper, the comparison sites will have the same quotes as the insurance company.

Travelers can purchase trip insurance up to the day before they depart.

This is actually a very common question. Many people think of the insurance process as being complicated and time consuming. Travel insurance, however, has become a very streamlined business thanks to the web.

Travelers looking for cruise, vacation, or tour coverage can do their research online and compare several different plans at once. You can get instant quotes, pay with a credit card, and recieve an email confirmation almost immediately.

There are benefits to purchasing your trip coverage early

To benefit from financial default coverage and pre-existing medical condition waivers, travelers should get their travel insurance as soon as they start planning and paying for the trip. An archived post, Reasons to buy travel insurance when you book you trip, discusses this further.

Related Links

Reasons to buy travel insurance when you book your trip

Quotetravelinsurance.com Trip insurance comparison site