I just read an article about travel insurance that I found interesting, quite frightful and something that anyone who travels with known (or even unknown) health concerns really needs to be aware of.

If you have medical issues and plan to travel READ YOUR TRAVEL INSURANCE POLICY CLOSELY! There is probably a list of pre-existing conditions you MUST declare BEFORE you travel to make sure you are covered (the company in this article lists 3,100 pre-existing conditions!). If you would need medical treatment and turn it into the travel insurance company it may or it may not be covered. Our personal health insurance at home may or (probably) MAY NOT cover you while in a foreign land, and if they do it will be minimal if you opt for a cheap plan.

Wow.

I was really shocked to read this. As a traveler I SHOULD have known this about the pre-existing conditions since I have more than my share, but I didn’t, and that is still no excuse. We cannot take our health or insurance coverages for granted while traveling to a foreign country no matter how healthy we think we are. I felt fine and had a heart attack.

Some years back, I knew a family whose son was on a trip to “figure some things out” (i.e. “find himself”) before deciding on a career. He went to Asia, traveling to places like Viet Nam and Cambodia. A very cool trip.

As I remember, his travel group was in Cambodia and I think they may have been at the Angkor Wat temple so I believe they were relatively isolated. He was accosted by a bunch of aggressive monkeys and fell off a wall trying to escape, breaking his leg in the process with the bone sticking out through the skin – a very bad injury. And, he is in Cambodia.

He had to have surgery in Cambodia. His travel insurance covered the medical costs as well as his return flight home. It also covered the cost of his mom flying from Washington to Cambodia to escort him back home for a very lengthy recovery, and I believe they flew them back in Business Class because he needed the extra room and the ability to lie flat since he could not bend his leg. He had screws, bolts and pins up & down his leg and eventually got on crutches. His follow-up with a surgeon here in the States said the surgical team in Cambodia did a very good job taking care of his injuries and he was healing nicely.

He had the foresight to get travel insurance in case something happened on this epic adventure. I imagine he was thinking more about losing the trip, but that invaluable insurance policy also covered medical expenses. His experience with that pushed me to invest a few dollars in travel insurance on my Europe trips to cover trip loss. I had private health insurance that would have covered me.

But, after my heart attack and ongoing healthcare for that, I need to really consider travel insurance coverages for medical on my future foreign travel adventures. This doesn’t only mean airtravel; it would also include by land or sea going to Canada (or even Mexico, but that is not in my travel plans).

When traveling to a foreign land it is a big trip and a huge planning undertaking. If you do all your own arrangements (which is what I always do), it is really easy to overlook medical insurance coverage in all that planning. I know it is now a priority that is high on my list. You could take a chance, but it could cost thousands – maybe tens or hundreds of them – as you see in the article.

It really needs to be looked at and figured into your travel costs along with airfare, accommodations, and ground transportation. The extra cost may really play a big role in if you can even afford the extra expense so your plans may need to change to a domestic trip so you can use your own insurance. Again, this is why I always say you have to be flexible and ready to adjust for anything that affects your plans.

✈️

Another travel insurance consideration in the news this week is that the US government brain trust (and these days I use that term VERY loosely) decided that it is now okay for the airlines to again screw consumers and give us no way to seek relief for lousy customer service, delays and cancellations. And, it is likely to get worse since they want to roll back even more regulations, like the ones that require airlines to disclose all fees and extra charges when advertising airfares.

I really do not understand why airlines fight this requirement as it is simply good customer service and doesn’t dig into their pockets. Why wouldn’t you want to give your customers COMPLETE price information? This means that you go through all the trouble of searching flights, starting a reservation, filling out all your information and then all of a sudden when you go to pay there are a bunch of extra costs. I really hope this bites them in the ass.

We have to be our own advocate since our “representatives” do not represent citizens. The hoax known as “deregulation” simply means that Korporate Amerika will simply bend the consumers over even farther and more often and get away with it so it is on us as those consumers to be vigilant and fight back for what is right. I will be contacting a few domestic airlines that I would be prone to fly to express my displeasure with them fighting these regulations and the ensuing surprise billing at the end of the transaction. I want full disclosure of what it will cost me upfront; it doesn’t cost the damn airlines more money to do it now or later, so why the fight against full disclosure?

I mention this because it also falls under the travel insurance umbrella to the extent of making sure your coverage includes trip cancellations, which I think is smart. Most of us don’t spend the ridiculous extra amount for a refundable ticket (I don’t) which usually goes into an airline wallet account and you never see the cash back in YOUR wallet. Better to protect yourself.

If it is how it will be, then I will fly domestically as little as necessary and I will only fly foreign carriers internationally since they treat customers like people should be treated. Domestic airlines can kiss my ass for this behavior if they go along with it. They have asked for a fight and they deserve it. I do like a good road trip anyhoo so driving is not a problem for me most of the time.

Again, I really try hard to exclude politics from this blog but this BS affects those of us who travel for ANY reason, be it for business, pleasure, family emergencies or funerals. This IS a travel blog and I feel it is important to talk about the whys & the affects of BS like this and pass important travel news along so people can be informed and not surprised. Hopefully they will inform others as well as express their concerns and complaints to these companies.

We will get through it – fight the power!

Until next time…

Shawn