invisible

Good friend of mine is going to three continent trip on US-Europe-Asia and back. The trip will last 2.5 month, involving viziting nine countries, couple of dozen flights (Delta, Chinese carriers and bunch of Asian LLCs) and hotel/airbnb/homestays.

I told her that she will need travel insurance. She'd be happy to purchase one, but I can't advice her - we are living in different markets/geographical areas.

What would be your criteria when purchasing travel insurance for such trip?

obscure2k

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Obscure2k
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Calliopeflyer

Mostly I would want emergency coverage, and coverage to fly back or have a companion fly out to meet me if I were hospitalized. Both those things are pretty common to most policies, though.

txflyer77

I only purchase overseas medical and evacuation insurance, not the travel insurance peddled for trip delays and such, and generally only if I'm traveling somewhere that evacuation might be necessary—I don't bother if I'm just flying to Germany or whatever.

I've always bought through World Nomads but since I've never actually had to invoke the policy I can't really say how they handle claims.

RevJim

This is a tough one. First pick between annual or single trip. Annual covers unlimited trips during the policy, single covers one trip and then ends.

Single trip will and cover more (ie flight cancellation and the cost of replacement flights, hotels if needed, trip rerouting, etc) and will probably cost more for a trip of this length. Annual will cover less (mostly emergency medical, evacuation, repatriation, liability, that sort of thing).

Annual policies usually limit the number of days per trip, and 75 days on a single trip is a little on this high side, so check the fine print. Single trip insurance may require a fixed itinerary at the outset, so home stays / couch surfing may be a problem.

Just some items to consider when shopping around... this trip is big enough that it might be worthwhile talking to an independent insurance agent that offers travel insurance.

airsupply

1) First find out what coverage she has- i.e. credit cards may offer trip interruption/cancellation, flight insurance
2)Medical coverage- does the health insurance offer some coverage internationally. Don't know what her country of residence is but for instance Blue Cross/Blue Shield (US) has some coverage abroad-see their mobile app. if applicable
3) What activities she needs coverage for- anything high risk? sky diving, diving, hiking Himalayas, riding motorcycle etc.- make sure it is covered
4)Are the LCC 's covered
5) Hospital admission- is it reimbursement procedure policy or will the insurance pay right away
6)medical evacuation
7)Look here for pretty extensive coverage info, no idea how competitive their rates are though.
http://www.statravel.com/travel-insurance.htm

Be up to date on vaccines, doctor and dentist appointments

invisible

Folks, thanks for taking your time and write quite an informative replies.

She told me that she paid for all her air tickets via Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Now this cards comes with visa signature benefits and travel insurance AFAIK is included.

Would it be reasonable to look for only medical evacuation coverage and use Chase card with the provided travel insurance?

FirstInFlight

If you Google "insure my trip" you will find websites that can help you assess the different coverage issues and options. If it were me, for that extensive a journey, I'd buy a comprehensive policy. it's pretty easy to get some routine bug over a three month period just staying home.

jgomes

Hi all, since this situation sounds similar to one I am having, and the posting rules indicate not to post a new thread on this, I am hoping you can also help me on this. My husband and I will be taking a trip to New Zealand for 3 weeks (not 3 mos like the original inquiry) and have purchased all of the nonrefundable portions of the trip on my Chase Sapphire Preferred card which totals $15k. (I think the Chase card now covers up to $10k per trip for cancellation). I also have a Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy that will cover overseas for treatment and transportation to nearest appropriate facility. I know its simpler to just purchase a comprehensive policy like Travelex Basic but it will cost nearly $900 for a basic policy (per insuremytrip) which is quite a lot. I see someone else noted just purchasing medical evacuation insurance. Any suggestions are much appreciated. And sorry for intruding on this thread if it was inappropriate.

airsupply

Just review the Chase Sapphire Travel Coverage guide, as there some different rules for trips over 30 days, may need l to contact Chase/Visa to clarify the coverage for trip over 2 mo length with travel legs in between.

https://cdn.f9client.com/api3/file/1...95d15ebe75f650
She needs medical evacuation policy and maybe medical insurance policy, depending what her current health coverage is. While paying for a quick visit for something like sore throat maybe a few dollars, putting down a few thousand dollars deposit for a hospital admission for dehydration may be difficult. YMMV

Price out different vendors and see what you comfortable with.
My daughter's college alma mater uses this vendor. I have no personal experience filling claims with them.
https://hthtravelinsurance.com.

Interestingly enough they offer also long term expat policy.

airsupply

Yes, comprehensive insurance is quite costly.
Have you contacted your health insurance about their coverage in New Zealand?
Find out if they have a list of preferred providers/ hospitals and how are the claims handled- i.e pay upfront and get reimbursed. Do you have to get a pre approval for outpatient/inpatient services etc.

Btw, I just realized that vendor from my post above uses GeoBlue/blue shield as their international coverage provider. Did not know they were selling separate international health insurance.

purceller

Cancel for any reason coverage may also be very useful, also is having no health lookback period. Give www.tripinsurance.com a change, I'be been using them for years and they are one of the good ones. Sorry if I broke a rule by naming a company? I am in no way affiliated except as a satisfied customer.

jgomes

Thanks for the suggestions. I've checked my Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy for overseas and it appears that it's by reimbursement and they (of course) prefer Preferred Providers which you're supposed to get from a list or call their Worldwide Assistance Center to get one. I think if it's an emergency, they'll work with a nonpreferred hospital to arrange billing, however, they say I will likely have to pay the difference between the allowed costs and the actual billing (not so great, but at least there's coverage). I've communicated on-line with Tripinsurance and they're helpful, although I didn't ask about anything but comprehensive coverage thus far. I didn't think they sold partial insurance, judging from their website, but I imagine they might if I just called and asked. Thank you for the tips!

airsupply

Isn't insurance fun? I think my home owners policy is about 60 pages long.
Anyway, I just checked on bluecardworldwide and you can find the list of providers there, based on which city in New Zealand you are traveling to. The worldwide assistance center should be able to give you specifics as what to do should you need an appointment- non emergent, and hospital admission, medical limits and deductibles, inpatient and outpatient coverage , medical evacuation benefits. Might as well find out rather then paying for something you already are anyway .

Good luck!

SeriouslyLost

It's New Zealand: they have a universal healthcare system covering accident care. It should be cheap to insure as they only have to cover extras and follow up.