detroit1010

I've completed planning a 2-week trip to South Africa in November. Now I'm trying to think of everything that needs to get done for the trip. Do people generally get trip/travel insurance when traveling to Africa? If so, can anyone recommend a good agent/agency?

lovetravellingoz

I would not contemplate not having travel insurance for any international trip.

As Amex would say, Don't leave home without it.

SafariCraig

Travel Guard and Access America are good. The claims my clients have filed get processed efficiently if the reason is a covered one. Depending on who you booked your trip with you may want to check-out the supplier bankruptcy protection clauses. A few US based safari agencies are "covered" and it is a free "rider". So, if the agent goes bankrupt or ANY of the lodges/hotels, you get your money back.

Where are you going?

Craig Beal - owner - Travel Beyond

SafariCraig

If you are ex-military and happen to belong to USAA then you can get insurance through them. I am an ex-Navy submarine officer and buying the exact same coverage with USAA is usually 10% less than any other source...

Craig Beal - Owner - Travel Beyond

detroit1010

We are going to South Africa only - Cape Town, Hermanus, and Kruger/Sabi Sands.

Are the agencies you listed used to cover the trip should something fall through (as you indicated) or do they provide insurance for events that may occur during the trip (ie: medical/injury, lost luggage, etc)?

Steve_ZA

Private medical care in South Africa is both excellent and expensive so I would make sure that you are covered for medical emergencies. Unless you are critically injured they will typically ask for payment or insurance details before starting treatment.

Free medical care is available at state hospitals but not recommended.

SafariCraig

The companies I listed provide all the basic stuff. Typically this is up to $500k in medical evacuation, treatment (secondary or primary depending on policy), full refund for death in the family or medical incident to the traveler.

Craig Beal - owner - Travel Beyond

CFFrost

I am planning a trip to SA and struggled to find good information about this.

I used InsureMyTrip.com to buy a trip through Nationwide. It was reasonably priced, and includes the two things I care most about - medical ($250k) and emergency med evacuation ($1mil) - as well as all the other standard provisions.

While I can't vouch for the plan as I haven't made a claim - InsureMyTrip was really easy to use and really easy to decipher all of the different options. I've seen it recommended other places on FT as well.

detroit1010

Thanks for the tip. Good site, however I am shocked at how expensive the insurance is! Granted I've never booked travel insurance before, but I was shocked that most policies are ~$500/person.

CFFrost

The price will vary drastically based on the indicated price of the trip. Keep in mind that anything that is refundable or not prepaid should not be included. For me, everything was booked on points with the exception of two nights at Kwandwe - which is only partially prepaid. So my only "cost" was ~$1000.

As I understand it, the trip cost you indicate only impacts cancelation and interruption limitations. You can lower your cost substantially if (like me) you are less interested in cancellation / interruption insurance and more interested in medical / emergency evacuation and maybe baggage and travel delay policies. List a lower price for the trip, and you will have a lower price for the policy - with the trade-off of lower coverage levels for cancelation and interruption insurance. You will still have the same coverage for other areas that are not dictated by the cost of your trip.

My policy cost $77 for two people for a 3 week trip.

susiesan

What did you put in as the value of your trip? How old are you? Don't choose the most expensive option insuremytrip.com shows. Don't include the value of your plane ticket if it was an award. I always buy the cheapest policy offered that gives the best medical/evacuation covereage.

detroit1010

We are in our late 20s, currently planning our honeymoon.

Thank you for the tip about the price of the trip. As you and others have stated, it's far cheaper when we reduce the price of the trip. Seeing as I'm more concerned with medical/evacuation coverage, this seems like the way to go.