Travel Insurance

There are many types of travel insurance, including emergency medical insurance and trip cancellation insurance. Be sure to compare benefits and exclusions carefully so you will purchase the policy that you desire and need.

General Information

• Emergency Medical Insurance - Covers emergency medical treatment and emergency evacuation to a treatment facility and to your home. It should be reasonably priced, usually below $150 depending on the duration of the trip and your age. Pre-existing conditions may not be covered. This coverage can also provide helpful services, often 24 hours a day, 7 days a week that can include concierge services and emergency travel assistance. It can be purchased at any time before your departure. There may be other benefits available such as lost luggage and missed connection coverage.
• Trip Cancellation Insurance - Trip cancellation protection provides trip reimbursement for non-refundable trip payments and deposits if you must cancel your trip before you start. Trip interruption protection provides trip reimbursemnt for non-refundable trip payments and out-of-pocket expenses if your trip is interrupted after you leave home. It usually includes emergency medical coverage also. This coverage is more expensive, usually costing 5-7% of your trip cost. Important note: this coverage usually must be purchased within 14-days of your deposit check date to cover pre-existing conditions. Please carefully check the terms and conditions of the policy.
• Insuring Valuables - We are very concerned about, but not responsible for, the safety of your valuables. Generally speaking, while on a guided tour, it is safe to leave equipment in the vehicle under the care of the driver, but we do not guarantee the safety of your valuables. We do recommend keeping items of significant value with you or in hotel safety deposit boxes. Some items may be covered by travel insurance, but you should check your policy carefully for limitations and restrictions. If you have expensive camera equipment, you may consider purchasing an additional insurance policy; contact your insurance agent for information. It is best to leave expensive articles that are not needed, such as jewelry, at home.

Insurance Limitations

Whatever insurance you purchase, be sure to carefully check the terms and limitations of your coverage, especially those for:

• pre-existing conditions
• trip cancellation reimbursement rules
• valuables such as cameras and computers
• pandemic exclusions that may exclude all coverage in the event H1N1 flu is classed as a pandemic.

Our requirements

It is not possible for us to include travel insurance in our trip costs due to the wide range of our client requirements and nationalities.

Our trip itinerary and reservation form will tell you if emergency medical insurance is required or optional for your trip:

• Optional Emergency Medical Insurance - For those tours where insurance is optional, we still stongly encourage you to purchase a policy due to our remote destinations. Emergency evacuation and medical care can be very costly and difficult to coordinate in international locations. If you decide to decline this insurance, you must tell us in writing on your reservation form.
• Required Emergency Medical Insurance - For some of our most remote expeditions, such as to the Antarctic and Arctic regions, we do require you to purchase emergency medical and evacuation insurance.

We do not require trip cancellation insurance for any of our tours. But we encourage you to consider purchasing this policy if there is any chance that you may cancel your reservation close to your departure date. Once close to this date, we will not be able to refund anything or perhaps only the small amount stated in your itinerary.

Our recommendations

• Access America

We have had good experience with Access America. Review their different policies on their website or we can send you their brochure upon request. You can purchase a policy from them by mail, on their web site, or by calling (800) 284-8300.

Most of our clients purchase the Access America Classic Limited policy that covers emergency medical and evacuation. The Access America Classic Comprehensive policy covers emergency medical plus trip cancellation and may be of interest to you. For a higher level of coverage, you can purchase the Access America Deluxe Limited or Comprehensive policies. Offering the lowest level of coverage, the Access America Basic Limited or Comprehensive policies may not be enough to cover all your expenses.

Read Access America's Travel and News Alert covering Novel Influenza A (H1N1) outbreaks and Iceland Volcano Eruption/European Travel Disruptions.

• Squaremouth

You can compare different travel insurance to make sure you get the best benefits for the best price at Squaremouth. Their website also has lots of information on travel insurance.

Squaremouth also sells insurance for travellers from the United Kingdom and other countries around the world.

• QuoteWright

You can also compare different travel insurance at QuoteWright. They include Access America in their comparisons.

Return to top

Updated May 2010

All material © Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris.
All photos © Doug or Ted Cheeseman, unless otherwise credited.
Home | Current Trips | Site Map | Contact