Travel Insurance: Best Companies
By Wendy Perrin
A reader who saw Travel Insurance: Caveat Emptor posted this question:
"Are there any particular travel insurance companies you recommend over others? What does travel insurance cost?"
If you're headed to a place where medical care is unreliable and your main goal is to get the best local care and emergency evacuation to the nearest reliable hospital, use International S.O.S.
If you want a guarantee that you will be evacuated by plane to your hospital back home in the event that you are hospitalized overseas, use MedjetAssist.
If your main goal is to avoid losing money if you must cancel a trip, ask the travel company if it sells a cancellation-penalty waiver. If it doesn't, consider policies offered by Travel Guard International and Access America, but read the fine print before buying so that you fully comprehend what reasons for cancellation are not covered.
As for the cost, it varies enormously and depends on your age, trip cost, and trip length. Travel Guard and Access America policies tend to cost on average about $6 for every $100 worth of coverage. An International S.O.S. policy for an individual trip can cost hundreds of dollars; if you travel overseas a lot, it's a better deal to buy a yearly membership. An annual membership in MedjetAssist costs $205.
RSS Feeds
Question for Wendy:
My grandmother would like to take our extended family on a vacation over the December holidays. Unfortunately, we can only go between Dec. 23 and Jan. 3 because of school schedules. Do you have any advice for a cruise or other trip that we could do that wouldn't be extra expensive, given the time of year?
Posted by: raffertylinda | August 25, 2006 at 01:41 PM
so it seems SOS International doesn't provide travel MEDICAL insurance, more of a med-evac type of deal. do you have a travel MEDICAL insurer that you would recommend?
Posted by: cschiu | December 08, 2006 at 04:34 AM
You can visit the web site such as http://www.buyamericaninsurance.com/travel/tripcancellationinsurance.jsp You will find many different products from different insurance companies. You can get instant quotes, compare them side by side and make an instant purchase online. And if you have any questions, you can call toll-free at (866) INSU-BUY.
Posted by: nick2 | March 06, 2008 at 03:40 PM